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Evangeline winced and turned away from him. Marisol expressed her displeasure with him aloud. “You’re an asshole.”
Sarus watched the female with the red-gold hair withdraw from the conversation, her expression cold and closed, and saw his opportunity. With a smooth step, he moved to block her return to the small group if she decided to rejoin them and murmured, “What about the healer’s words disturbs you so? Were his words incorrect?”
Stifling a gasp of surprise, for she hadn’t noticed the big male move, Evangeline looked up, way up, to meet his gaze. Instead of the supercilious expression she expected, she found only honest curiosity. That curiosity quelled the irritation and anger that his question sparked. Swallowing her ire, she replied, “Do all males want the same thing in life, or do they have different interests and aspirations?”
He frowned at her tactic of answering his question with one of her own, but did her the courtesy of providing an answer. “Of course, males have different interests and aspirations.”
“The same goes for women,” Evangeline said, trying to maintain a mild, rational demeanor. At his puzzled frown, she added, “The presence of a uterus doesn’t signify the absence of a mind or ambition.”
“Ah, you think we Ahn'hudi would consider you pets.”
“More like breeding stock,” she muttered. With a sigh, she added, “I’m more than just a baby making machine.”
“But reproduction is critical for the survival of any species.”
“True, but shouldn’t it be my choice as to when I have children and how many children?”
Sarus didn’t know how to answer that question, as his people needed females to produce as many children as quickly as they could. Instead, he responded with a question of his own, “There is great pleasure in the begetting of offspring. Would you deny yourself that joy?”
Evangeline exhaled a gust of air through her nose as she felt her ire build. Was the alien male being deliberately obtuse? Or did he truly not understand? She took a deep breath and tried to explain one last time. “Forty weeks of pregnancy and at least eighteen years of caring for a child is a high price to pay for a few minutes of pleasure.” She shook her head. “And pregnancy is no joy ride. My best friend had a baby last year. She was sick almost the entire time with severe nausea and heartburn. Her feet and ankles swelled. She was absolutely miserable.”
Sarus blinked in surprise. “Human females do not enjoy pregnancy or their children?”
Evangeline shook her head again. “I wasn’t clear.” She paused, searching for the right words and hoped she’d get it right this time. “Most women do love their children, but to be happy, they need more mental stimulation than raising their children. I’d guess that most women don’t really enjoy pregnancy either. It’s hard on a woman’s body.”
He nodded to show he understood. “All the more reason a male must care for his mate.”
She only managed not to roll her eyes by closing them and taking another deep breath. Opening her eyes, she said, “Until you’re in that situation, you’ll never understand.”
He nodded again. “Some things must be experienced to be understood. Like battle.”
Evangeline’s eyes widened. “You’ve been in battle?”
He grunted. “I fight against those who would enslave this world and yours.”
She blinked and gulped down the last of her champagne. “Enslave?”
“Has no one spoken of the Sivuul or the Ogranox?”
She frowned, the words sparking memory and said slowly, “Perhaps, but I can’t recall any details.”
“The Sivuul and the Ogranox are separate species, each seeking galactic domination. They are both versions of unquenchable hunger manifested in physical form. The Sivuul are insectoid, each hive governed by a powerful queen. The Ogranox are an amalgamation of machine and flesh—”
“Borg,” Evangeline murmured, referring to the soulless cyborgs ofStar Trekinfamy. She shuddered.
“I am not familiar with that term, Borg.”
“It’s a fictional, evil race of machines merged with human bodies—cyborgs—that are ruled by evil artificial intelligence. The Borg are an ultimate villain inStar Trekmovies.”
Sarus understood the concept of recorded videos for entertainment. Many races throughout the known universe enjoyed such technology. “Why would humans need such a fictional race?”
Evangeline pursed her lips, considering her response, then said, “A wise man named G. K. Chesterton once said, ‘Fairy tales do not tell children that dragons exist. Children already know dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children that dragons can be killed.’” She took a breath, then added, “For humans, the fictional Borg serve the purpose of modern fairy tales: they remind us that evil exists and should be killed.”
Sarus nodded. “I see. Earth—” such an inaccurate name for a mostly aquatic planet “—has not met the scourges of the universe and so must invent such terrible things to remain vigilant against them. Is your planet so peaceful then?” He could not imagine such a peaceful civilization that it needed fictional villains to remind them that evil existed.
She huffed a small laugh, but the sound was bitter. “No, human civilization harbors plenty of evil. We just enjoy inventing more of it. I suppose that doesn’t speak well of us.”
“We Ahn'hudi also have old tales that speak of great battles against ancient evil. I believe every intelligent species does. Every species likes to remind itself that they have the might to vanquish what threatens them.”
