Lord of Capra (12 page)

“The next major
species of the Alliance is not humanoid in appearance.”
The view screen
changed again.

“Bugs!” Drake
blurted after one look at the picture. He noticed Evana’s stern expression
leveled at him, and explained sheepishly, “I don’t like bugs.” To Nemesis he
directed a contrite, “Sorry. You were saying?”

“The…bugs…are known
as Magirri.”
Now
Nemesis was just mocking him. He clinched his jaw and forced himself to listen.

“They are insectoid
in appearance. Do you have a better association to share other than bugs?”
He could swear he
heard disdain in her voice.

“Okay, Nemesis,”
Drake grumbled. “They resemble the praying mantis mostly, only chunkier.” He
couldn’t help but shudder, and hoped like hell there weren’t any spider people
lurking about on Taneth, or on any other planet, for that matter.

“The Magirri are
also peaceful. Although they are capable of interstellar flight, they rarely
venture beyond their own solar system. Their participation in the Alliance is
purely for the protection of their home world. They are very likeable, and I
hope we encounter them soon so you can feel at ease in their company.

“Unlike the praying
mantis of Earth, the Magirri feed only on flower nectar and do not consume
their mates. Their home world is called Amaggi. It is tropical, lush with
vegetation and blossoms. There are no oceans, only rivers. Their world is
sacred to them. So never insult their home world or you will be banished. You
can identify the male easily. His head and thorax are always a matching green.
The females are colored with brilliant shades in assorted combinations. Very
beautiful.”

“Magirri, peaceful,
eat flower nectar, like to stay on home world,” Drake repeated the high points,
silently thankful the Magirri were happy to stay at home. So far, they appeared
to be the tallest of all the species Nemesis had covered. He figured they had
to be at least eight feet, on average.

The view screen
shifted to the next picture. Drake gaped at the aliens. He knew he shouldn’t,
but he couldn’t help staring in disbelief. They were cats, like really big cats
with slanted eyes, pointy teeth, claws and tails. Holy cow, did they have tails.
Sleek tails, silky tails, bushy tails, short tails, long tails. He couldn’t
speak. He hoped Evana wasn’t staring at him.

“This species is
called D’Lyrian. They are star-faring members of the Alliance and are very
numerous in this quadrant. Many are on Taneth, so you will encounter them. Of
all the species I have shown you so far, they are the most war-like. They are
completely carnivorous and prefer their meat raw whenever possible. I think you
will probably associate them with Earth’s cats.”
Nemesis stopped and waited for him.

Drake cleared his
throat and nodded. “Cats, yes. Cat people, Nemesis?” He still couldn’t believe
how similar they were to cats, but they were humanoid. He decided they
resembled the actors in the play
Cats
a little more than lions or
tigers.

“Be cautious in
your dealings with them. They are a proud species. They respect courage and
honor and see cowardice as shameful. If one ever considers you his friend, you
will have a friend for life as long as you do not betray him or her. Never
attempt to pet one. The males will not tolerate it. The females… Never try to
pet a female. Even if she asks you to, you must refuse politely. Especially if
she asks you to stroke her tail, you must decline. It is an invitation to mate.
It is never an insult to decline. Think of her offer as a complement and just
say no.”

Drake nudged Evana
playfully. “What if I accept her invitation?”

Evana giggled. “Then
you better be ready to have really rough sex with a wild cat. She has a mouth
full of sharp teeth and twenty claws ready to embrace you.”

“And possibly a
male litter mate or other brothers who are more than willing to help defend her
honor if you should back out after accepting her offer.”

“Ouch.” Drake gave
a painful grimace, and to Evana he added, “I prefer your bite.”

“As you should!”
She gave him a quick kiss.

“Aside from the
examples I have shown, you will be pleased to know that most of the species you
will encounter throughout this galaxy will be very human-like in appearance. It
is important that no one knows you are from Earth, since your planet has been
quarantined by the Alliance.”

“Why is that?”

“Remember, Earth is
not ready to join the Alliance. So you and Evana are considered—”

“We’re illegal
aliens?” Drake quickly guessed what Nemesis was about to say.

“To the Alliance,
you are illegal.”

“But, Nemesis, you
took us from Earth.”

“Drake, you forget.
The Alliance does not set my boundaries.”

Yes, he’d forgotten
about that difference. Nothing in the galaxy was off limits to her. “Right. I
forgot,” he mumbled. It’s good to be the mate of the pilot to the queen, he
hoped.

Evana spoke up. “When
I visit other planets and am asked about my origin, I tell them I’m from Capra,
a planet located in an area considered Free Space and far away from Alliance
borders. It’s a simple explanation they accept.”

Drake understood
the-keep-it-simple approach. “So there’s the Alliance and now you say there’s
an area called Free Space. Are there other groups that have gotten together?”

“Yes. It might be
what you consider a long time before we encounter them, but I will show you two
examples that are gaining influence.”

His view screen
wall changed scenes and showed another group of extremely human-looking aliens.
Drake’s first thought was that a convention for humongous body builders was
taking place somewhere in outer space. Every specimen looked as though they
were buff enough to bring down a wooly mammoth with their hands.

“Tough looking
group,” he commented, adding, “and tall.”

“If you were a
Tauran warrior, you would be about average height. However, only the warrior-born
Taurans are so large. The general population is quite similar to Earth’s humans
in size and temperament. This species is considered barbaric by Alliance
standards. I think they show much promise, but for now they are steadily
expanding their border away from the Alliance. That is best. Also, I will not
allow them to encroach on Free Space territory. The group you see here is
particularly primitive looking as they are warrior born. They are not all like
this, so don’t make the mistake of thinking that all Taurans are—”

“Conan the
Barbarian types?” He finished her sentence with his own association. “And I
like the name Taurans.” Evana poked him in the ribs hard. “What?” he grunted. “It’s
kinda familiar,” he defended himself.

“I believe the
Tauran Empire will be powerful by the time Earth has joined the Alliance. At
the moment, the Taurans are grouped into different clans, which then choose a
leader from each one to form a high council. The system becomes confusing after
that, but it seems to work for them. The clans are very stringent, and clan
ties are more binding than family or blood. Perhaps that is why their system
works. For now, I will wait before studying them any closer.”

Apparently, that
was the end of the Tauran discussion as the screen changed again. More human
types, Drake noted. Except they were an elegant race. Not that they were all
tall and slender, they were just very well-formed. It was hard to describe. All
the examples on the screen were dressed in graceful fabrics that draped from
their shoulders to their ankles. A lot like the statues and pictures he’d seen
depicting the ancient Greeks. Except these weren’t Greeks, by any means. And if
this group was truly representative of their species, there wasn’t an
unattractive one in the bunch.

He studied them a
little closer. They had auburn to bright red hair, worn long by both men and
women, dark olive skin, slightly slanted eyes ranging in colors of brown to
gold, and on those who wore their hair tied back he noticed their ears were
definitely pointed. He tried to select an appropriate association from his
twenty-first century background that didn’t come from a television show before
Nemesis…

“Drake, what are
your thoughts about this species?”

Too late. Drake
picked his second choice. “Really tall, nice looking…elves?”

“Interesting
observation,”
Nemesis
stated. He suspected she was just trying to irritate him.

“These are
E’Laysian’s. They are a highly advanced star-faring species and have recently
expanded their Empire in many directions. Very ruthless in their dealings with
other species they conquer, so I will monitor them closely as they push toward
Free Space. At the moment, they are ruled by a king. It is curious, since this
form of government rarely remains stable for very long. However, I intend to
study them. The border between Taurans and E’Laysians becomes closer every
passing century. When they meet, I suspect there will be a violent clash.”

“I’ll bet,” Drake
muttered.

“We will enter
orbit around Taneth momentarily. I have not detected the presence of a wraith
and there are no abominations or creatures on the planet at this time.”

“Excellent,” Evana
said.

Curiosity getting
the best of him, Drake asked. “What’s the planet like?”

“Taneth is mostly a
desert-like planet and has no indigenous advanced life forms of its own. The
Alliance uses it for mining and recreational purposes. There have been some
changes since our last visit. Instead of a single spaceport, now there are two.
The largest one is located near the major industrial/mining area and a smaller
facility for visitors is located near the sliding grounds. I will place you
close to the smaller port. You should be able to secure transportation from
there.”

“Nemesis, I think
we should change into sliding suits before leaving,” Evana suggested. “Have
they changed very much?”

“Yes. The ones I
duplicated for you are the latest style and are more aerodynamic than the older
versions. I believe you will appreciate the improvements.”

Drake didn’t have
the slightest idea what they were talking about, but Evana seemed to be
thrilled since she grinned while tugging him off the couch.

“Let’s get ready.
You’re going to enjoy this!”

He followed her to
the control room. What he assumed was their gear and suits were stacked in a
small pile in the middle of the floor. It looked as if they’d be traveling
light. Evana stripped off her clothes. He copied her and eventually they were
both dressed in the sliding suits, except for the matching gloves and footwear,
which she folded and packed into what he’d call a small backpack.

The suits were
black. He suspected Nemesis had a favorite color scheme. The material was thin
and stretchy, but seemed very tough, much like a full body wet suit. The only
parts of their bodies not covered by the suits were their heads, hands and
feet. Although the suits were tight fitting, he discovered they were extremely
movement friendly while moving his arms and legs experimentally. Studying Evana
made him realize the suits were also very form fitting. Nothing was hidden from
view. He wasn’t sure he was ready to greet all the new aliens while wearing
something so revealing. She must have noticed his unease.

“Is something
wrong?”

He indicated the
general area of his outlined crotch. “Aren’t we missing some other clothes?”

“You look great!”

“I look naked and
so do you. Aren’t there laws against going out in public like this?”

She laughed.
Dammit.
He crossed his arms and glared at her, waiting silently for her to stop.

Between giggles,
she said, “Everyone must wear these if they want to slide. Just wait until you
see the other humanoids wearing suits like this. Believe me, my love, you look
fine. Actually, you look better than fine.”

She slung the
backpack-looking sack over her shoulder, came near him and pressed her body to
his. On tiptoes, she kissed him soundly while grinding her hips suggestively,
rubbing against him.

“Not fair,” he
muttered, reluctantly breaking away from her kiss before his suit got any
tighter. “Maybe I should carry the bag.” He grabbed the backpack and held it in
front of his groin.

Still smiling,
Evana bent down and picked up a couple pair of black boots that Nemesis had
also provided. She handed the larger set to him.

“For you. We’ll be
walking to the spaceport.”

Drake took them and
slipped them on. They looked like leather, but felt smooth and soft. The soles
were flexible and comfortable, not hard like the boots he was used to wearing.
The tops came up to just below his knees and strapped over to fit snug. It
seemed everything in Nemesis’ world was black and fit skin tight.

“Ready,” he sighed,
resigned to visiting his first alien planet wearing nothing much more than his
birthday suit.

Chapter Sixteen

Nemesis placed them
in a shallow depression behind a sand dune, out of sight and detection from the
nearby city that spread out from the spaceport. After climbing to the top, they
had a good view of the area.

Drake took in the
sight of his first encounter with alien city life from a safe distance.
Alongside their position a road led to and from the city. Vehicles of various
shapes sped back and forth, carrying passengers much like automobiles did on
Earth. Except there, most of the vehicles rushing quietly along the road didn’t
have tires. Those that did have wheels were giant lumbering transports. He
could only hazard a guess as to what they carried. He followed the road to the
city with his gaze and was relieved to see the buildings weren’t much different
than those on the outskirts of Anytown, USA. Most were no taller than two
stories, and he noticed there were no multistoried structures or skyscrapers.
All in all, not too alien. However, beyond the city area was the spaceport.

There was nothing
in his former life that he could relate to the sight. Houston’s International
Airport couldn’t even begin to compare to what he saw. At the moment, a large
ship made its arrival at the port. Its shape vaguely reminded him of Han Solo’s
ship, the
Millennium Falcon
, from
Star Wars
. Only this one was
bigger and sleeker.

He watched it drop
from the sky a long distance from the port and approach stealthily until it
hovered above an area of someone’s choosing before it gracefully descended. It
disappeared behind an impossibly tall wall that more than likely surrounded the
entire exterior of the spaceport. There’d been no sound he could detect, even
with his enhanced hearing, but it was a long distance away. He gaped in
amazement.

After the ship
disappeared from sight, he noticed a few smaller crafts flying various patterns
above the landing area, some landing and some taking off, others simply moved
from one area of the port to another. The buildings inside the barrier fence
were enormous also. There were four tall towers located at each corner of the
port. He wondered if they were the equivalent of control towers. Nemesis had
said this was the smaller spaceport. He’d like to see the larger one.

A tug on his arm
shifted his attention. Evana studied him.

He gave her a weak
smile. “Damn.”

“I’ll tell Nemesis
you were impressed.” She laughed and urged him to head toward the road.

“She probably
already knows.”

Evana paused as if
deep in thought before saying, “Yes. You’re right.” She shrugged. “We should
find some transportation before that shuttle full of visitors gets to them
before us.”

“That was a
shuttle?”

“Oh, yes. The
mother ship stays in orbit and is much larger.”

“Damn,” he
muttered, while taking another look at the port.

She tugged him
along and jogged at a quick but believable pace to reach the city. He matched
her speed, enjoying the exercise after being so confined.

* * * *

It wasn’t long
before they ran by the first buildings. Evana slowed to a walk and pointed to a
silver colored shop ahead.

“They’ll have the
skimmers I’m looking for.”

He grabbed her arm.
“Wait!” His voice sounded urgent.

Worried, she
stopped immediately. “What’s wrong?”

“Well…I was just
thinking,” he stammered. “What if I don’t understand what they’re saying? I’m
sure I don’t speak alien…or whatever they speak.”

“Don’t worry.
You’ll do fine. Trust me.” Evana took his hand and pulled him after her. Maybe
they should’ve told him he wasn’t actually speaking English anymore.

She circled behind
the small silver building and surveyed the different skimmers that were on
display. She ignored the older models. Without wasting any time, she found a
group that looked newer and in good condition.

Hearing and
smelling the proprietor of the establishment as he rushed from the building to
help them, she could tell he was Novyr. They’d arrived at a good time. From the
smell of food lingering about him, she figured he’d either just finished eating
and would want to nap or they’d interrupted his meal. No matter, he’d still be
in a hurry to rent his skimmers. She tightened her grip on Drake’s hand and
pulled him closer.

“We want the two
gold ones in the corner,” Evana whispered so low only he could hear. She looked
at him and winked. He nodded once, and they turned to wait for the business
owner.

As she expected,
the Novyr scurried to a halt and addressed Drake. “Sir, we have the very best
skimmers,” he winked slyly, “for the best prices.” His bushy ringed tail
swished ever so slightly. “Perhaps this model will work for you.” He indicated
a small older two-seater that looked as if it might accommodate them if she sat
in her mate’s lap.

Before Drake could
decline Evana gushed, “Oh, how about those shiny brown ones over there.” She
pointed behind the Novyr. “They can’t be over twenty credits each. Let’s rent
those.” His red eyes shifted to the larger skimmers and his tail swished back
and forth, indicating his excitement.

“Oh, sir. I could
make you an excellent deal on those.” He smiled crookedly, showing sharp teeth
as he reached inside his vest and withdrew a business register from the pocket.
“They are forty credits apiece, every day, but for you, only thirty-five each.
Today only.”

Evana gazed
expectantly at her mate. She hoped he enjoyed the transaction as much as she
did. It didn’t matter to her what they ended up paying. The ones she wanted to
rent were fast and seemed in top condition. Twenty credits apiece was a fair
price. So what if they didn’t really have any real credits.

Drake glanced
toward her. He looked a little uncertain so she grinned and exclaimed, “Oh!
Only thirty-five credits!” If she’d had a tail, she would’ve wagged it furiously.
He rolled his eyes at her.

He crossed his arms
and stroked his chin thoughtfully. “I don’t know.” He walked over to the
skimmers and slowly circled them. “Thirty-five credits?” He repeated the
Novyr’s offer and frowned. He looked around at a few other vehicles in a
disinterested manner before he finally indicated the gold ones she wanted. “Those
look like they’ll do. For fifteen credits each we’ll take them.”

The Novyr’s gaze
darted to the vehicles he’d offered to rent. “Sir, those are my fastest
skimmers. I could rent them to you for twenty-five credits apiece, today.” He
gave Drake a cautious look, and asked, “An excellent deal?”

Drake scowled back
at him. She was filled to bursting with pride for her mate. He handled the
transaction so well.

“An excellent deal
is twenty credits apiece, and we are done.” The little alien seemed to shrink
in size at his final offer.

“We have a deal, my
friend. Twenty credits.” The Novyr sighed and held out his paw-hand, palm up.
Evana thanked the gods when Drake didn’t try to reach out and give it a shake.

After quickly
relieving him of his backpack, she rummaged around inside and finally produced
a card she handed to the waiting business owner. He placed it between his teeth
and bit down lightly a few times, testing its authenticity, she supposed. Then
he inserted it into his register, showed Drake the withdrawal of forty credits
from the account and handed it back to him instead of Evana. They watched him
shuffle off toward another group of renters entering his establishment before
either one of them spoke.

“Why didn’t he want
to deal with you?”

“Actually, they
don’t trust any females,” she told him. “Poor guys.”

“I don’t know.
Maybe they’re smarter than the rest of us.”

“Perhaps.” It was
just easier to agree with him. “Come on.”

* * * *

Evana grabbed the
rented skimmer closest to her and flipped a switch on its control panel. It
hummed to life and hovered about two feet off the ground. Drake copied her
actions and held his own skimmer as it rose to the same height. She kept her
hand on what appeared to be a handle and led it effortlessly toward the road.
Doing the same, he was amazed at how easily the skimmer followed after him. It was
a lot like leading a horse.

“It’s illegal to
ride them in the city,” she explained as she continued walking. “They’re meant
for flat, open territory.”

“So what’s keeping
them off the ground right now?”

“Antigravity
generator. The auto stabilizer is keeping it upright.”

“Oh.”

Curiosity aroused,
he took a greater interest in the design. At first, he thought they looked like
motorcycles without wheels. Now his impression was changing. They actually
resembled watercraft, very Seadoo-ish in style. He hoped he wasn’t pulling his
along backward. He did a quick check to make sure Evana led hers in the same
way
. Yep.
They were alike. So the larger end must be the front.

“I’ll show you how
they work when we’re away from the city and the main road. It’s simple.”

He appreciated the
reassurance. Then he remembered something else he was curious about.

“Evana, tell me
about credits.”

“They’re the
currency of the Alliance. Similar to Earth’s, except all transactions are
recorded using a chip card. No one carries money anymore.”

“Nemesis has her
own account?”

Evana gave him a
furtive look. “Well, not exactly.”

“She stole the
credits?” He wasn’t surprised, but he pretended to act as if he were shocked by
such thievery.

“Well, we can’t
just hire out our ‘services’ and expect to get paid.” She sounded defensive. “Besides,
Nemesis always duplicates accounts that are over funded.”

“So now she’s Robin
Hood. Stealing from the rich and giving to the…” Drake couldn’t keep up his
ruse any longer and burst out laughing.

“I don’t understand
what you’re talking about.” She held her chin high.

“Well, maybe not
the poor.” He continued to chuckle. Since she didn’t respond he tried to be
more serious. “Do you ever get caught? Or arrested?” He was trying hard not to
laugh again. The image of Evana being taken to prison was ludicrous.

“Of course not!”
She glared at him. “We’re always gone by the time anyone would suspect, and we
don’t return that often.”

“So you’ve turned
me into an outlaw too?” He grinned, just to let her know he wasn’t all that
worried about being her partner in crime. Her glare softened and a playful
smile tugged at the corner of her lips.

“You were already
an outlaw. I just turned you into a better one,” she shot back. He covered an
imaginary wound to his heart with his free hand and groaned as if he were
mortally injured.

Apparently, they’d
walked far enough, because she said, “Don’t die too soon. We can ride now.”

He watched
curiously as she mounted her skimmer. She ended up lying flat across top of its
length, her arms stretched out to hold the handles and her legs draped to
either side. The bottoms of her boot-covered feet pressed back against what he
guessed were the pedals.

It reminded him of
past summers at his parents’ ranch near Dallas when he was a kid. He was
forever wandering off into the pasture and climbing onto his favorite horse to
relax in just the same manner. The only major difference was that if he’d stuck
his feet into the horse’s flank like she was doing to the skimmer, he wouldn’t
have been relaxing for very long.

“This is how you
ride these. Your right hand controls your speed.” She twisted what he would
call the throttle forward. “This is faster. Back is slower.” Next she indicated
the left handle. “This controls forward.” She twisted the handle forward. “And
for reverse you twist it back. Middle position is neutral.” Drake nodded his
understanding. It did seem very easy. “You control direction with your legs.
Pressing back on the pedal on the right side will turn the skimmer to the
right. Left works the same way, very simple. Now let me show you.”

She pressed another
button on the control panel. It must have been the ignition. A sound much like
a small jet engine roared from the rear of the skimmer and she shot off.

He watched as she
zipped over the surface, the skimmer always maintaining the same distance from
the ground. She made a wide left turn and headed back to his position. Long
before she reached him, he heard the sound from the engine change as she let
off the throttle, went to neutral and reversed the thruster to slowly come to a
stop beside him.

“Easy!” she
proclaimed, her eyes slightly lit from the thrill of the short ride. “Come on!”
She took off again.

Drake didn’t need
much more encouragement. He mounted his own skimmer, flipped the ignition
switch and chased after her over the desert, rapidly closing the distance
between them. He drew closer and held back far enough off the right edge of her
skimmer to allow him to follow easily.