Chapter 178: Kicking And Screaming
"What are we going to do with her?" asked Midnight softly, looking at the dead child in his arms. He couldn’t believe that the Sisalik were willing to go that far to recreate another like his mate. And yet, the proof had just stopped breathing.
"We’ll find a bed to put her in," said Mei Xing, coming to her feet. Taking one last look at the room, she sneered. "I was originally going to keep this ship in one piece, a warning of sorts to the Alliance. But I have changed my mind. This ship will be her coffin, and everyone inside of it will accompany her on her way to the underworld."
"No," said Midnight firmly. Cubs were the most important thing to his species, to most species, in fact—especially the females. To be so cruel as to torture a cub made him want to tear every last Sisalik apart, piece by piece. "They do not get to follow her to the Dark Lord. They do not deserve to stand beside one such as she."
"We throw their bodies into space; let them be considered the trash that they are," added Ye’tab, coming up to stand beside his mate.
"Then we offer the ship up as a tribute to her," continued Au’dtair, his voice horse. Turning to Da’kea, he asked, "Do you have all the evidence that you need?" There was nothing that Au’dtair hated more than having to follow the strict regulations of intergalactic politics. He would much rather bathe in the blood of every male on board than worry about evidence of their crimes.
"And then some," grunted the Elder, rising from the computer terminal and joining the others. "There is no excuse for this travesty. Once the universe hears what has happened, the Alliance is done."
They all turned to their mate, who was having a hard time holding back her laughter. "Really? You think that as soon as we put out this information, it will be the end of it all? The Galactic Alliance of sentient Beings, a governing body that has stayed in power for God only knows how long, will be destroyed by this information. Hardly."
"No honorable species would stand by them, knowing that they are torturing female cubs," argued Da’kea with a shake of his head. Even saying the words out loud was enough to make him want to be sick.
"And that is where you are wrong," said his mate, putting her hand on his chest and petting him. "They are not torturing a female cub. They are researching a lesser species that they were just made aware of. One that is not only a universal breeder but produces enough eggs so that 400 offspring could be born. Just think," she continued, her voice turning brighter and happier. "All those species, the sentient ones, of course, that are dying off with no hope for the future will now have access to a lesser species that can give them 400 of their kind."
"But—" said Da’kea, looking around at the other males. Yes, it did sound good the way that she described it, but no one could interact with a human female and think that they were a lesser species of any time.
"But they are an endangered species, so others will only have a limited access to them. Unfortunately, that means that only those with the wealth to care for them will have access, but fear not. They are looking for a way to get to their home planet, where there are millions upon millions of them. And just over four million females of a childbearing age, each one producing 400 eggs. Well, isn’t that enough to ensure that your species never faces extinction?"
"But you said that the females of your race could produce offspring as young as eleven years old," said Midnight, turning his gaze on his female.
"That they do," she nodded with a smile. "But don’t worry. They are a lesser species. You don’t even have to touch them. We will just extract the number of eggs that you have requested, and you can grow your own population that way if that is what you choose."
"And if it is not?"
"Well, then you only have to wait a month to see if your copulation has born fruit. If it hasn’t, don’t worry; there is always the next month."
"That is sick," growled Au’dtair, wanting to go over and place a hand on his mate’s mouth to make her stop talking.
"And yet not wrong," continued Ye’tab slowly, pulling Mei Xing into his arms. He saw just what the comfort of touch did for the youngling. Maybe it would offer his mate some sort of solace, too.
"I refuse to believe that honorable species would allow this to continue," growled Da’kea, but for all of his protests, he also knew just how little honor meant to those on the brink of destruction. He had seen it too many times to count.
"The Alliance will be able to spin it their way and make promises that are too good to be true. But people will buy them because desperate times call for desperate measures," said Mei Xing softly, no longer having the bright smile on her face that she did before.
"I will still let the Elders know what is going on. We are not at the point where we will suffer this injustice for the sake of some more cubs."
Once again, there was a snort of disbelief coming from the female in Ye’tab’s arms. "Fine, go ahead,’ she said with a smile. "Remind me again, how many males vie for a female’s attention when she is ready to mate? There was what... twenty, twenty-five males trying to prove their worthiness for your daughter?"
"It is not the same," protested Da’kea, but he forced himself to pause for a second. The idea of not having to fight so hard for a female was... tempting. He turned to look at his mate, to really study her.
She was smaller than their females, softer. She lacked the claws and teeth that could rip a male apart in copulation. She also lacked the need to be the dominant one. He had never been so relaxed around a female in all of his centuries.
Da’kea took in a deep breath as he bowed his head. She was everything that he had ever dreamed of in a mate and yet didn’t know that he wanted. Knowing this information, most Saalistaja would be on the side of the Alliance, just for a chance at mating with a human.
The Alliance, formable as it was now, would become unstoppable once this information was released to the public.
"What do we do?" he asked, trusting in his mate.
"Well, first, we find a soft bed to lay her down on. Then, we will kill everyone on this ship. After that, we will raid it for any supplies that might be of use to us. Once all that is done, we will release the Sisalik out into space and then set the ship on fire," she answered with a shrug as if she already had everything planned out in her mind. But how was she not devastated about what she witnessed in here? The travesties done to a cub of her own species.
"You forget," continued his mate, a small smile on her face. "I was once strapped to that table, my internal organs taken in and out of my body without anything to block the pain. I was also sent to ’rescue’ another ship in this exact same way... and faced the exact same thing in another medical lab very similar to this one. Mind you, the human female in that lab was already dead, but I think you get the drift."
Ye’tab strengthened his arms around her, trying to offer whatever solace he could. "The only thing that their souls cry out for is vengeance. And I will give that to them."
Au’dtair watched as his mate spun out of Ye’tab’s arms and walked out of the still-opened doors, the Njeriuujk following quickly behind her.
"She is not an easy pet," said Ye’tab, directing his statement toward Au’dtair.
"That she is not. But I wouldn’t have her any other way," grunted the other male as he, too, left the room.
"I wonder how many other males would think the same thing?" muttered Ye’tab, this time to Da’kea.
"Far too many," replied the Elder, looking down at his wrist unit and the information stored on it. "I don’t know if I should feel happy that we are one of the lucky ones chosen or bad for those that aren’t."
"The only thing I feel bad for are those that are going to be caught up in the storm that is our mate. But let’s face it. It is nothing more than they deserve. They thought they found a helpless species that would need them for everything, that would submit to their will, unlike most females. And instead, they have unleashed a beast that no one has ever seen before."
"May the Goddess watch over us all then," grunted Da’kea, leaving the torture room behind him.
"And may the Dark Lord drag those that deserve it to the underworld, kicking and screaming the whole way down."
