Chapter 159: A Matter of Age
At the end of the corridor, Da’kea pulled me aside so that all of the males from the ship could enter first. Then, when the door was quickly closed behind them, he turned to me and my men.
"Do you know the traditions and significance of what you are about to do?" he asked, looking down at me, and I could feel his concern coming through his armor.
"No," I answered with a shake of my head. "But I am interested in seeing the skeletons of animals that I have never seen before."
"Alright, then, this is incredibly important," he grunted, putting his much larger hands on my upper arms. "If you pause at any moment in front of any display, you are showing interest in that male. He would then take it as a positive sign for him to proceed onto the next step of courtship."
"Do I want to know?" I asked with a sigh. It sucked because I was treating this like a trip to a museum or something, only to be told that if I actually looked at the artifact, I would be stuck buying it. What was the point in going to a museum in the first place if that was the case?!?
"The kill room is meant to display their hunting techniques. Once you have approved of their hunting technique by being interested in the prey that they managed to accumulate, the chosen male would then go on to a battle between themselves and any other male that had been selected. After the battle had decided a winner, that winner would then go on to fight you in order to prove that he had the strength and ability to subdue you long enough to successfully copulate."
A bark of laughter was rung out of me when I finally had time to process Da’kea’s words. "Yeah, that is really not acceptable to me," I ground out. Sure, the mating habits were interesting, but as a human female, a fraction of the size of a Saalistaja female, no part of that courtship was desirable to me.
"I take it this is not how things are done on your planet?" mused Da’Kea, and I could hear the interest in his voice.
"Not even remotely the same," I assured him. "In my country, if a male or a female is interested in someone else, they ask them out on a date."
"What does this date entail?" asked Midnight, interested. I could see the other three males leaning forward to hear my response.
"Normally, it involved taking the other individual out for dinner or making dinner at home. It could then include watching a movie or even going shopping," I said, trying to explain modern human ’courting’ rituals as best as I could.
"I provided you with food," grunted GA. "So you have already accepted me as a... date." Well, he wasn’t wrong. On the jungle planet, he did make me dinner, gave me a wonderful show of the sky, and gave me a bunch of furs. As far as a date went, he did pass.
"I took you shopping, and we also had drinks the first time we met," pointed out Midnight, not to be outdone.
"I will take you on a date next," grunted Ye’tab, his hand frantically tapping onto his wrist unit.
"I would like to point out that all dates needed to be agreed on before going. So, technically, none of us had been on a date in that regard. Although GA did come the closest," I said with a sigh.
"Good," grunted Da’kea, "That still gives me time to prove myself. Mei Xing, will you date me?" he continued quickly, sneaking in behind all the guys to come out in front. This time, my laughter was genuine.
"Sure, Da’kea, I would love to go on a date with you," I answered with a nod of my head.
"Thank you. The honor is mine. Now, for what you are about to participate in, please remember to spend equal time in all kill rooms or let me know if there is a male that you are interested in, and I can explain things slowly to him," pressed Da’kea. All of my males stiffened up at that idea, but they knew as well as I did that there was nothing I could do.
"And if I want to take my time and study some of the skeletons?" I asked.
"Then I will take you to my kill room, and you can do all of the... studying that you want," Da’kea said in an assuring way. "But first, the males of this ship would like to show you their kill rooms."
"Well, no time like the present," I muttered under my breath. Not too sure what to expect after all the advance warnings that I got.
The large metal doors opened silently in front of me, revealing a huge room that looked like it could have been a gym at one point in time. However, this one was divided into 25 separate rooms, each one with a door of its own.
I looked up at Da’kea, wishing that I could raise my eyebrow in question. However, I was not willing to remove my armor just so that he could read my facial expressions. That was a recipe for disaster as far as I was concerned.
"A kill room is incredibly private and must be separated from anyone else’s," explained Da’kea, correctly interpreting the look I wasn’t able to give him. "Not all males are on the same level as the others in their hunting troops. Most of the trophies will look the same, except for differences in size. It is not until the males have their coming-of-age ceremonies and successfully complete their hunt that they can then go off on their own."
"They haven’t had their coming-of-age ceremonies?" I asked, more stressed and confused than anything else. I was not interested, nor had I ever been interested in someone who was underaged, and that was not going to start now.
"Many of them have, but not all," grunted Da’kea. "I can smell your stress. Is there something wrong?"
Midnight gripped my upper arms tightly and turned me around to face him. "These coming-of-age ceremonies that the Saalistaja have are for males that have reached their 100th year. None of them are cubs," he said seriously, staring into the visor of my helmet.
"100 years?" I asked, "They are only considered an adult at 100 years old?"
"No," replied GA, going to stand beside Midnight so that I could see him more easily. "At 100 years, they are considered to just pass the threshold into sexual maturity. It will still take them another 50 to 100 years to be considered an adult."
I stood there, shocked. Here was me stressed that they were too young for me when, in fact, I must be considered an infant to them.
"I assume that this is not the same in your culture," said Da’kea as he waved away the males that had come out of their kill rooms.
"Most females are capable of reproduction at 12 years of age," I started slowly, never taking my eyes off Midnight. "We are considered an adult at 18 and can become a productive member of society, but still within the confines of their home. At 21, we are considered an adult."
"How old are you?" asked Ye’tab, and I could see him coming over to stand beside Da’kea.
"I have been working since I was 17 years old as a professor of Anthropology, but I was taken at 19 years old and am now 25," I said as concisely as I could, even as my mind spun. "An average human lifespan is around 76 years. While some individuals were able to make it to 100, it is very rare."
The guys shared a look, and I nodded my head. "Yeah, I am not sure how the age thing works either," I grunted, tapping Midnight’s hands. Gently letting me go, he went to stand just behind my right shoulder.
"Each planet rotates around its primary star a different way," he said, his back straight as he looked straight ahead. "I have yet to meet two species that measure years the same way."
I nodded my head and chuckled. "Understood," I replied, understanding what he was trying to say. The age thing wasn’t an issue unless we made it an issue. "But I still like a more mature man," I continued with a smirk, even if no one could see it.
"Now, is there a particular order I need to go in?" I asked, looking at Da’kea. He stood just behind my left shoulder, a bookend of sorts to Midnight. GA and Ye’tab fell into step after me, watching my back.
"If you will allow it, I will guide you through each of the kill rooms. However, I would like to point out that other males are not normally permitted," said Da’kea. "Unless you specifically ask for one to accompany you."
"I think, for all of our sakes, I am going to need you to accompany me, just so I don’t get lost in all the bones and forget about their significance," I groaned, knowing exactly what would happen if I was locked in a small room with new skeletons.
"There’s not going to be any furs, is there?"
