Alien's Bride: Lisette (11 page)

“
The Etiken district was
completely closed off from the rest of the planet. In ancient
times, when communication was more difficult, that allowed the
higher castes to imagine the worst kinds of monsters dwelling in
the slums that their sewage and trash poured into. This was
sensationalized by High Council hopefuls who wished to gain the
public’s attention.

“
When a labor shortage
required tapping into the Etiken workforce the tradition of
castration began. Only a castrated Etiken man could be trusted with
women of the higher castes. It’s been so for an eon. Even now, when
we’re at the height of our sophistication, this hideous tradition
is still the norm.”

Lisette sighed.

“
I’ll do my best for both of
us, Lisette. I wish I could promise things will be fine.” He
swallowed. “I can’t.”

“
How long until they come
for us?”

He frowned. “I’m surprised we haven’t
been taken away already. They must be waiting for Lord Elentinus to
arrive from Earth.”

Lisette placed her hand on his. “We
have to…cherish…the time we have left.”

Prax-Denay brought her fingers to his
lips and kissed.

He took her to bed and made love to her
gently. Their bodies entwined and he kept his movements slow,
savoring their connection. She was still wonderfully filled by his
endowment. He gave her amnesia about their predicament by causing
prickly twinges of ecstasy deep inside her. She stayed on the brink
of orgasm while he caressed her and gave soft kisses to her neck.
Her moan triggered him and he thrust with enough strength to bring
them both to exquisite climaxes. After this he remained above her,
still holding her with both arms.

She knew he never wished to let her
go.

***

Armored robots, not unlike the Sentinel
robots who would hunt escaped slaves back at her old colony, came
into the building the next morning. The two were sharing a quiet
breakfast in the kitchen. Neither gave signs of panic when they
heard the loud clanging things enter. Lisette’s heart
raced.

“
Prax-Denay and Lisette
Bellamy, come with us.”

They rose in unison to obey. The robots
flanked them but did not touch them. Lisette thought their arrest
would happen more dramatically. They were simply brought to a
flying car and then switched into a larger craft at the space port.
The three robots buckled them onto a bench seat, side by side, and
sat across from them. Lisette looked at Prax-Denay. He wrapped an
arm around her.

The flight lasted long enough for her
to fall asleep several hours. Prax-Denay nudged her just as they
approached planet Fenterill. As with her previous flight, the
greatest bump in the trip was while entering the atmosphere, after
that the landing was soft.

They disembarked in a spaceport far
busier than the one she’d left. This time three dozen Dak-Hiliah
men were intermixed with the hundreds of robots doing work. Lisette
even believed she saw an elderly female.

They were brought to a flying car that
looked newer and more ornate than the one on Paggellatin. Now
Lisette could see out the windows. It was as if she were looking at
the same landscape on Paggellatin, except populated. There was no
unruly vegetation to conquer derelict roads, nor crumbling walls
with shattered glass. A few other vehicles flew across or below
them. On the sidewalks were swarms of robots and several
Dak-Hiliah. She even saw new construction being done by giant
mechanized vehicles. There were skyscrapers with rounded corners
and gleaming edifices which came together to create a stunning
skyline. Beneath this was a massive dome with a sign that read
‘Hall of Governance.’ Their car landed in the lot before
it.

An effeminate Dak-Hiliah man stood
waiting for them with his arms crossed. The robots brought them to
him.

“
I’m Barrister Graw. Are you
Prax-Denay?”

“
Yes.”

“
I see you lack shoulder
horns. This is indicative of one from the Etiken caste. This is
your caste, correct?”

“
Correct.”

Lisette glanced at his smooth
shoulders.

“
Very good.” The barrister
took out a thin tablet and tapped on it for several moments. Then
he cleared his throat and looked at Lisette. “Is this Lisette
Bellamy?”

“
Yes,” Prax-Denay
said.

“
Is she
pregnant?”

“
Yes.”

“
Is it yours?”

“
Without a
doubt.”

“
Very good. So none of the
facts of this matter are in dispute.” Graw focused on his tablet.
“Prax-Denay, of the Etiken caste, you have been accused of
blasphemy against the druid Archment by defying his explicit decree
that Etikens may not breed outside their caste.” He looked up at
them. “The High Council wishes for both you and the human woman to
appear before them. I shall bring you now.”

With that he led them and their robot
escorts up the short steps to the forbidding doors of the
hall.

The walk down the massive open
corridors would be a blur in Lisette’s memory. She found herself
and Prax-Denay standing in a shallow round pit with the massive
chairs of the seven High Council members looming high above them.
There was an audience area behind them that could seat several
thousands. Only a few chairs were occupied. Lisette vaguely
recalled seeing Jorenkis and his cohorts (except for Tiltawhirl) in
the as they entered. The crest of the building’s dome appeared to
ascend a mile above them. Lisette felt small. She was sure this was
intentional.

In the raised seats before her she saw
the council members Prax-Denay had shown her on the console. Each
chair, which had black stone backs as tall church steeples, had a
number engraved in the desk before it. Elentinus sat at number
three. Matoranis sat at number seven. The seats were not arranged
in numeric order. Number one was in the middle directly before her
and was higher than all the rest.

Barrister Graw went to a podium in
front of them. “Honorable High Council, I bring before you
Prax-Denay, an Etiken, and Lisette Belamy, a human from Earth. I
have confirmed with the accused the facts which bring him before
you. Prax-Denay admits he has impregnated this woman, who is not of
his caste, and has thereby committed blasphemy against the Druid
Archment.”

“
Very good, Barrister Graw,”
said number one. “I believe you may go. If the accused has not
denied his charges then there’s no need for you to speak on his
behalf.”

Graw bowed deeply. “Yes, my lords.” He
exited the circle.

Prax-Denay stepped up to the podium
(where there was apparently some kind of microphone hidden inside).
Lisette moved to stand beside him. Her husband was looking up at
the council with a face devoid of emotion. If she was not so in
tune with him she wouldn’t have known he was terrified.

“
Maybe we can settle the
matter with the human first,” number one said, while turning to
Elentinus. “Elentinus?”

“
Lisette,” Elentinus
said.

She stepped forward to have a clear
view of him past Prax-Denay.

“
I realize this is a most
uncomfortable setting, but I must ask you, did you
choose
to lie with
Prax-Denay?”

“
Yes.” She’d wanted to shout
it, but her voice was barely a squeak. She swallowed down a lump
and braced herself to try again. “He’s my husband and I love
him.”

Prax-Denay gave her a tender
glance.

Elentinus appeared unmoved. “So. You
wish to stay with him.”

“
Yes!”

“
That’s not an option,”
number five, a rotund middle-aged man whom Lisette remembered from
her lesson to be Lord Nayjoor, said. “The penalty for blasphemy is
death.”

Lisette began to cry. Prax-Denay put
his arm around her.

“
I beg your
pardon?”

Lisette looked up just before her
glasses fogged. This was Matoranis speaking.

“
The penalty for blasphemy
is what we decide for it to be. Kindly remember that this is the
scientist who discovered the Instajant vaccine.”

“
Are you saying he deserves
a pass on this crime because of his contribution to our society?”
number one said with neither disdain nor enthusiasm.

Nayjoor scoffed.

“
I would have us continue to
discuss the matter,” Matoranis said, “but can we no longer speak of
execution? He deserves at least that.”

“
We shall not impose a
sentence of execution on Prax-Denay,” number one said.
“Agreed?”

All the numbers, except 5, lit up and
chimed. Number one looked around and then fixed his gaze on
Nayjoor. The older man grumbled and pounded an obscured button on
his desk. His number chimed and lit up.

“
What do you feel needs to
be discussed, Matoranis?” number one said.

“
Oh? Have I the
floor?”

Number one bowed his head.

“
What in the name of the
gods were you thinking, Prax-Denay!” Matoranis said. “You’ve had a
glorious career. The work you’ve been doing lately has been
exceptional. Why would you jeopardize things in this
way?”

Prax-Denay lowered his head. “I fell in
love with her.”

“
You’ve no right to be in
love with her!”

“
I know.”

“
These human women are so
cunning,” Nayjoor said. “She probably tempted him in order to
destroy him.”

“
Watch your tongue,”
Elentinus said. “Lisette was an obedient slave, keen to please her
masters. She had no such aspirations.”

“
No,” Lisette said through
her tears. Everyone fell silent to look at her. She didn’t realize
her soft cry had been heard.

Prax-Denay moved aside from the podium.
She hesitantly took his place.

“
He told me…he told me we
could only…only be colleagues. He told me about his caste and that
if he was caught in a…relationship…with me, that he’d be castrated.
But I…I still kissed him, when he was trying to resist. I convinced
him…to risk everything. I’m the one…the one
responsible.”

“
No,” Prax-Denay said
softly.

Nayjoor gestured to her in disgust.
“She admits it.”

“
Who among us,” number two
said, “would resist such a lovely woman if she pursued
us?”

There were murmurs of
affirmation.

“
I wish to assert,”
Elentinus said, “that she was ignorant of what the Etiken caste
truly is. She saw a fine scientist before her, not a slum dweller.
She could not have understood the taboo of pursuing someone from
his caste.”

“
Slum dweller!” Matoranis
said. “How dare you, Elentinus. That’s such blatant bigotry. Does
not his own brother work as your manservant? My gods…the man gave
us a vaccine that saved our entire race from extinction. What more
does he have to do to prove himself?” He cleared his throat and
rose from his seat. “Fellow council members, if we were to pick one
Etiken out of the entire race whom we felt worthy of a bride, would
it not be this man before us? And, that said, do we intend on
allowing the Etiken race to go extinct? If they’re not permitted to
breed with the humans their race will die off in scarcely two
generations. Many of our people claim to be pleased with this—that
they’re a blight on our society. These same people would certainly
never do the work the Etiken do for us. Not all of them can be
replaced by robots. I say, let Prax-Denay keep his human bride and
be allowed to breed with her.”

Lisette gasped with joy. Prax-Denay
hugged her against him.

Number two thumped a long scepter on
the floor, which seemed to be their version of clapping. Matoranis
righted the armor attached to his dark mesh garb and
sat.

“
Are we prepared to vote on
this?” number one said.

“
Absolutely not,” Elentinus
said. “It’s blasphemy.”

Matoranis scoffed. Nayjoor sneered at
him.

“
You may state your argument
Elentinus,” number one said.

“
It is our lot to follow the
will of the druid in the highest seat no matter what the cost. Even
if that cost is the extinction of one of our races. Druid Archment
decreed that Etikens may not breed with those outside their caste.
If we pardon Prax-Denay we set a precedent which will make all
humans part of the Etiken caste. My dear wife Maritza is not a
member of the lowliest caste of our society.”

“
You’re behaving unusually
repulsive today, Elentinus,” Matoranis said.

“
My devotion to our faith is
not unusual.” He turned away from them. “The love I have for my
wife is well known also. She is not an Etiken. Therefore, neither
is this woman.”

“
I’m an Etiken by
marriage!”

Three of the council members
gasped.

Number four clapped his hands together.
The elderly man wore a gleeful expression. “An
exception!”

Number one and two laughed with him as
though this were a private joke.