One problem remained.
He knew almost nothing about humans.
Lily had shared fragments, but nothing comprehensive. And as an Unregistered Species, humanity had no entry in the IMPERIUM database. Khar knew this because he had checked. Including the databases most citizens could never access.
Now it was time to return to his little human.
Before he did, he took the edge off. It would not do to pounce on her the moment he saw her again. At least this way, he could confirm that everything still functioned as intended.
He also ensured that Lily’s solitude remained uninterrupted. Especially by tall, grasping, shameless carrion birds who had somehow secured secretarial positions beside star-billionaires.
Lily had asked him to speak to Vegrun, and he had done so. He reported an erachni infestation aboard the Vitromium, a particularly dangerous parasite that nested in power cabling. Vegrun feared erachni. At his age, at least half of his tentacles were more machine than flesh, and erachni were lethal to both.
Khar was not lying by much.
The previous chrono-year, while working alone, there had been a minor incident he never reported. He had followed protocol, shut down the grid, sterilized the ship sector by sector, then replaced the logs with data from a standard chrono-cycle. If Vegrun heard the word erachni, he would not allow even his most trusted aide near Vitro.
That meant seven uninterrupted chrono-cycles of freedom.
At the end, Khar would restore the old logs. No one would know.
A perfect excuse.
He had saved it for something special. What could be more special than letting Lily rest before seeing him again?
She could not know what he had done. Still, he felt repaid when she unknowingly handed him the vital information he needed.
Khar was not naive. He knew Lily found him at least somewhat attractive. But when she admitted that he had appeared in one of her sexual dreams, it took every shred of discipline not to sweep the table aside, pull her into his lap, and take her in front of the entire concourse.
Perfect. Innocent. Greedy little thing.
He would reward her.
Soon.
When she was ready.
That part mattered.
Khar’s life had always been war or preparation for it. That was precisely why he was not a mindless brute. Survival required strategy. He was a cold-blooded tactician, tempered by a thousand engagements, now embarking on the most carefully planned conquest of his life.
Objective: seduce Lily without frightening her with the strangeness of the situation or the intensity of his desire.
Until she wanted it badly enough to reach for him first.
Khar wanted Lily happy. If she chose celibacy, he would obey. He would probably have to castrate himself to survive it, but he would do so without hesitation. Fortunately, that would not be necessary.
Reconnaissance complete, he moved into phase two.
As they walked back to Vitro after their shared lunch, Lily stretched.
“That sunlight felt amazing,” she said. “I did not realize how much I missed it.”
“You could use the light deck aboard Vitro,” Khar replied. “It is usually set to the Lizon-8 nebula pattern, but the feature exists.”
Her eyes lit up. “You think Vegrun would not mind?”
Khar shrugged. “Why would he? The deck requires a daily maintenance cycle when idle anyway. If your work is done, there is no reason not to.”
