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Brydis stretched his wings as much as he could within the confines of the space around him. He would be pleased when their service to the commander was completed. He was tired of his assignment: on top of the hours of required training, being put in a position where he was forced to be an intimidating presence standing guard was exhausting. As much as he could fight viciously when necessary—and truth be told, had a talent for it—it was a lifestyle that he had long tolerated only due to lack of options. It was his hope that having a new home so far from Geminos meant a chance for something new. Something different. Something that didn’t require him to wear combat armor—perhaps even a life with a certain human female who occupied his every thought and followed him into his dreams.
She filled him with peace and hope. He wanted to settle down and build their avrhastal and nest, though he doubted he would ever be able to go around completely unarmed out of habit. Still, he was looking forward to a simpler new life with his talia and avrhast that he would have with the imminent settlement of negotiations with Earth.
To his understanding that would be happening any day now, and he was filled with a restless energy in anticipation of it.
Unfortunately, the humans on board were not going to be happy. Not that command had any intention of foisting the human populations from Ganymede. It simply didn’t serve the interest of command to do so. Not only did it expedite resolving negotiations quicker, but the reality was that there were not that many humans on Ganymede to make a real difference to any of the Geminidae settling there. No new humans would be permitted to settle without the consent of the Geminidae council that command was in the process of establishing, but the current populations of humans, and those who already had settlement and work agreements, would have their current residential status on Ganymede honored. However, if humans were like any other species faced with a shift of power, they were not going to appreciate the governing control being yielded to the Geminidae.
His feathers fluffed as he yawned. It wasn’t his problem. That was a matter of those of higher influence to worry about and work out. He had no intention of settling within human habitation areas to keep his interactions with them as minimal as possible. It wasn’t that he disliked humans—he was pretty neutral in his opinion of them, though he noted that not all his fellow Geminidae were of the same stance—but it was clear that the human species had not traveled far outside of their own solar system yet and were unaccustomed to interacting with other sentient species. That made them naturally very wary, and some noticeably afraid of his species.
And that is precisely what he found exhausting. He was tired of being gawked at by humans just by being present and breathing the same air as them. If sharing space on a ship was a strain, he couldn’t imagine living in close confines with them.
His talia was the exception.
His crest rose slightly, a warmth stirring within him, as he caught sight of Jill strolling along the decks as she’d taken to doing as she became more comfortable with their presence. She was probably the only one on the lower levels who spent any length of time out of her quarters since he and Agor were assigned there. He was so accustomed to seeing people hurry by as they either eyed him suspiciously or kept their head down in hope of remaining unnoticed that Jill stood out even without the brilliance of the taliazon flickering over her. He loved that she did not hesitate to linger on the decks for increasingly longer periods, often peering out at the stars or at the dancing light of the fault as she was currently doing.
As if sensing his eyes on her, Jill glanced at him from over her shoulder, the soft dark curls framing her face brushing her cheek. The corner of her mouth tipped in a smile, and she dipped her head in a little nod of acknowledgement of his presence. It wasn’t quite an invitation, and he hesitated to move forward on the assumption, but when he saw a human striding briskly toward her, he immediately stepped forward, bristling at the tight expression on the male’s face. Jill’s brows raised, but she looked over, following his line of vision, and grimaced. To the male’s credit, upon seeing Brydis there, his wings fanning out slightly in a protective stance, his stride slowed and a nervous look crossed his face as he came closer. Brydis doubted that the human knew anything about Geminidae body language, but apparently, the male had enough common sense to work out that he needed to proceed with caution when it came to Jill.
It only took Brydis a moment to place the male. Although he seldom saws him out on the deck—and in fact only met the male once upon his assignment there—he identified the lower deck supervisor, Officer Miller, at once. His sad, thin crest and shortly shorn tresses were readily recognizable. He had briefly seen him at a distance the other day when the male had been surrounded by a loud crowd of humans and could only assume that whatever he was about had something to do with that. Brydis glanced over at Jill, looking for some cue as to how he should proceed. To his relief, she didn’t appear to be upset—merely resigned. Returning his glance—albeit briefly—she gave him a small, reassuring smile before squaring with the supervisor.
Although his approach was now slower, Officer Miller maintained his course even if his eyes flicked over to Brydis frequently, as if reassuring himself that he had not moved from his position. Brydis straightened, his crest rising so high that even his aguila fluffed out. Officer Miller’s eyes flicked to him again, and he came to an abrupt stop and swallowed as he appeared to almost wilt on the spot. The reaction was predictable and exactly what Brydis had hoped to achieve. He had noted some time ago that human tresses—or hair rather, as they called it, though somehow differentiating it from the other hairs that they possessed on their bodies—did not possess the same mobility as Geminidae aguila did. The sight of aguila rising seemed to not only surprise them but bring a certain alarm to them from a sight that was uncanny to them.
“Officer Miller,” he greeted the male politely. “Is there a problem?”
The male shook his head but straightened at once as he happened to look in Jill’s direction, as if suddenly remembering that he was supposed to possess some sort of authority. Brydis hid his smile as he pretended to swipe his hand along his cheek, as if scratching an itch with his claws.
“No, not at all, Brydis. Thank you. I actually forgot you and your twin were still stationed here.” Officer Miller glanced around surreptitiously. “Where is he, by the way?”
Brydis shrugged his wings. “It was his turn to make rounds through the halls while I stand watch here on the open deck within sight of the elevator system. He is due to return soon.”
The human’s mouth downturned as if displeased at knowing that there was a Geminidos warrior loose on the deck, but this should be expected since it was part of their daily routine. But then, Brydis gave up trying to make sense out of most human reactions outside of those he experienced directly from Jill. Shifting in place, Officer Miller drew himself up to his full, unintimidating height as his jaw clenched with obvious irritation.
“I will need to check in with command on this. I’m pretty sure you’re supposed to remain in pairs. Especially on the lower decks. We have a lot of single women traveling to the colony, like Miss Harris here.”
As if Agor were of any threat to those on the deck. Ridiculous. None of the other women on the entire ship bore more than the tiniest hint of a taliazon that was compatible with them. Even if there were another compatible female, he and his twin were now entirely committed to courting Jill, regardless of how inadvisable that was in their current situation. But then, Agor was nothing if not stubborn, and Brydis had found himself being carried along with it, unable to resist. There was zero possibility of any of the other females drawing either of their attention. That was not something he felt to be wise to share with the supervising officer, however.
“Actually, in a way, that’s why I’m here,” Miller continued to bluster, and he looked over at Jill with an exaggerated expression of concern that made Brydis bite back a snarl of offense. “I’ve noticed from my security room that you’ve been out here a lot and frequently in the company of these males, and I wanted to make certain that you were okay… and to remind you that the captain advises all passengers to remain in their cabins when not making their way back and forth between necessary destinations.”
Jill frowned at him in response. “Are you saying that I’m supposed to spend the rest of my time on this ship as a prisoner in my own room? And that the command of this ship has full authority of who I even talk to?”
Miller’s face reddened, but he glowered at Brydis as if he were fully to blame before adopting a conciliary expression as he smiled apologetically at Jill. “Of course not. It is merely a suggestion for your own safety. The staff onboard are responsible for the welfare of all our passengers after all.”
She stared back at him flatly. “I can sign a waiver.”
His smile fell, and Brydis inwardly scoffed behind the neutral expression he’d adopted since Officer Miller’s arrival. Miller’s lips thinned, and they briefly twisted in a sour expression before he pasted on a sympathetic look once more. Unfortunately, he wasn’t as skilled at hiding his annoyance as he believed he was. Jill’s taliazon reacted immediately, moving in erratic pulses in response, revealing her own climbing irritation in response to it. Brydis shifted a step forward, instinctively responding to the needs of his talia. His wings widened in a display of dominance as they gave an illusion of increased size. His long, thin tail uncurled from the pocket along his right pantleg where it remained curled out of necessity for the uniform. The dozens of highly flexible aguila that ran down its length pressed close against his tail, fanning out.
Officer Miller’s eyes cut toward him, and the human immediately shrank back from Jill as he wisely stood down in the face of Brydis’s aggression. The human’s eyes snapped back and forth between Brydis and his talia as if he were mentally weighing the situation at hand. Something shifted in the male’s expression as it went from shock to disgust before becoming one of mocking triumph.
“Ah, I see. So that’s how it is,” Miller remarked with a forced casualness as he adjusted his uniform jacket. “Well, enjoy this little distraction while you can. I hope you managed to get a small taste of pleasure in before this whole thing concludes, since Miss Harris is so free with her company.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Jill demanded.
Her scowl turned furious and Brydis took position behind her, hovering as he directed a silent warning toward the male to not insult her lest he deliver a blast of air by wingclap that the human never forgot.
Officer Miller smirked and took a step back further from them. “What I mean is that I suspect yourfriendhere has about an hour at best before he’s recalled. Negotiations for Ganymede concluded about twenty minutes ago. They’re being sent coordinates to a private compound and landing zone that was established during the terraforming days away from the main ports so as not to alarm any of the human inhabitants before announcements are made. As I said, with orders coming down, I was concerned for your safety since there was no telling what these aliens may do just before they depart.”
He sneered over at Brydis, far too comfortable in whatever immunity he thought he possessed due to the agreement between their ships. What he didn’t understand was that, regardless of his orders to not harm humans and to work cooperatively with the human crew, Brydis would have slaughtered him without a care and gladly suffered the consequences if he stepped over the line.
“Clearly that concern was misplaced, so I will be returning to my own duties and the considerable number of things requiring my attention. Whatever this is,” he gestured vaguely between them, “it’s over now.”
