Ark: A Scifi Alien Romance (6 page)

I looked back, sadly. “Unfortunately, yes. It’s become so easy to jump between relationships that people don’t really try anymore to keep them going through hardships.”

“I did not know our arrival would cause such turmoil.”

“Don’t get me wrong, your arrival didn’t help, but you’re also not to blame. Our society had been moving in that direction for over a hundred years even before you came. Technology is what started it.”

Ark scoffed. “You let your machines change you?”

I nodded. “When you put it that way it makes us sound weak, and maybe we are. But I think instead we were just unprepared for how easy technology would make things.”

“Now I begin to understand how our appearance could change your world so much in such a short amount of time.”

We ate in silence for another minute. I was momentarily despondent at the state of love and romance’s apparent demise back on Earth. “Now,” I said, trying to brighten up. “How about on your world?”

“On our world, we have embraced technology without letting it change us.”

“That sounds hard to believe.”

“Only if you do not understand the heart of a Kreossian warrior.”

“I admit, Ark, that I don’t. You’re the first one I’ve met. And I’m only the second human to have met one of you.”

Ark didn’t say anything, just took another bite of his nutritional supplement. I started to eat again, but Ark interrupted her. “We do not flit from dalliance to dalliance like your species, Melissa. Kreossians go through a short time in their lives, around 3 of our years, in which we play at love.”

“That’s it?” I was intrigued. That wasn’t long at all.

“After that, we choose our mates and remain connected to them for the rest of our lives. No exceptions.”

“For the rest of your lives? You don’t have…divorce?”

Ark furrowed his brow. “I do not understand that word, but I gather its meaning. No, the bonds we forge cannot be broken. It is the second most important choice a Kreossian makes in their lifetime.”

I was still trying to wrap my head around this entire thing. “And the most important choice…is?”

Ark almost snapped to attention. “The most important choice in a Kreossian’s life is how they will serve the empire.” There was no wavering in his voice - this was what he believed, through and through.

“And how have you chosen to serve your empire?”

Ark bristled at the question, like he almost considered it an insult. “Is it not clear, Melissa Crane of Earth? I am a warrior - I go where the empire sends me, and I make sure its will is carried out.”

I took a sip of my drink. “That sounds very exciting.”

“Exciting is unimportant. I do not do it for myself, for my personal glory. What matters is the empire and its interests.”

“Is that all that matters?”

Ark studied me gravely before answering. “No, of course not. That is not the only thing.”

“It sounds like you don’t have time in your life for anything else.”

Ark rested his giant hands on the table. I looked down and couldn’t help but lick my lips as she stared at them. I had always had a weakness for men with strong looking hands and forearms, and despite being an alien, Ark put all the men I had ever fantasized to utter shame in that department.

By now I had forgotten my food, and curiously, I wasn’t hungry anymore when I noticed the plate sitting on the table. Ark also hadn’t taken a bite in more than a minute. Ark’s eyes were dark and as I grew aware that Ark was staring at me, I couldn’t help but become entangled in his gaze. “When I find something that interests me, Melissa Crane of Earth, I do not waste time. A warrior does not deal in deception.”
 

“What do you mean?”

“I do not engage in games. When I want something, I make it clear.”

I couldn’t hold Ark’s strong gaze and let my eyes fall back to his hands on the table. “Oh.”

We sat in silence for another minute before Ark sat back in the tiny chair and looked around the room. “Admiral Kaalax and Ambassador Fuller will return soon.”

I smiled, not wanting to break the connection we shared while the room was ours. “They’re not here yet, though,” I said softly, letting my words hang in the air, a mischievous smile growing across my face. “We still have some time together alone.”

Ark didn’t return the smile, but he nodded. “You are factually correct, Melissa Crane of Earth. Admiral Kaalax and Ambassador Fuller are not here yet.”

I winked at him, before wondering if an alien such as Ark would interpret that gesture the right way. For all I knew, it was a grave insult on his world, and could spark a war; a war that Earth would no doubt lose, and lose badly. “Factually correct is the best kind of correct, Ark.”

Ark nodded. “I have often said the same thing to my men.” He seemed pleased that we had at least something in common, and I guessed from his nod that he was serious and had missed the point of my joke. I briefly wondered whether Kreoss even had a concept of humor. There wasn’t even the hint of a smile on his face, so I could only conclude that they didn’t. “What shall we do with the brief time alone we have left?”

I studied his face again for some hint that he was thinking something amorous, but Ark was as unreadable as a sphinx. If he were a human man, I would take that as a clear sign, but I definitely didn’t know how to proceed with an alien man, even one as hunky as Ark. I went along with it, though - my senses hadn’t been on fire like this in a long time. Whatever this alien was, he was intriguing. “Tell me more about how your people experience love.”

“That would take longer than the time we have, Melissa Crane of Earth, and would require a Kreossian far more eloquent than I am.”

That seemed like as close to a shut down as could be. I stiffened, chastened by the rebuke. “Tell me something about your species, then, or somewhere you’ve been that was exciting.” This was like pulling teeth from a rhinoceros.

“I have seen many worlds, fought in many battles all across the empire. Eventually they all begin to look the same.”

“Has anyone ever told you how much of an amazing dinner companion you are, Ark?” I tried not to sound too sarcastic, but as soon as the words came out she knew I had crossed a line. She could only hope that Ark wouldn’t notice.

Ark nodded again, without a hint of acknowledging my sarcasm. “I have often heard that. When I am not on a campaign I am invited to many dinner engagements, presumably for my company.”

I sighed, and was about to open my mouth again when the door to the anteroom opened and Ambassador Fuller and Admiral Kaalax came out, Kaalax with his arm around Fuller’s shoulders. Ambassador Fuller himself looked tiny and tired compared to the gigantic, hale, and hearty Admiral Kaalax, but even I could see the happiness etched across Fuller’s face.

It must be amazing, to meet the man who changed your life and the entire trajectory of your species after 50 years. The stories they must have to tell each other! It was too bad the conference was only scheduled to last a couple days - they could probably catch up on each other’s lives for months given half a chance.

“Melissa,” Ambassador Fuller called out as I stood up, “it’s been a wonderful dinner, but I think it’s time for me to rest now.” I went to his side immediately and helped him, stepping gingerly toward the dining room’s exit toward the sleeping quarters.

“We will talk again in the morning, Fuller,” Admiral Kaalax called out from behind them. Fuller turned around, resting against me, and I turned with him. Ark had stood up and moved both their dishes to the recycler before taking up his position next to Kaalax, a good head taller than his commander.

Fuller waved back. “Indeed we will, old friend. But for now I must rest. You’ve taken the wind out of me.”

Kaalax laughed, the booming sound echoing over the small dining room. Fuller flinched, and I helped him back to his room. Just before Ark left my sight, I thought he saw him smile for a moment.

So he does know how to smile after all.

Intriguing didn’t even do him justice.

CHAPTER 04 - ARK

For the first time in my life, I woke up with more than one purpose. Before that day I had dedicated my life to the empire, traveling throughout its vast reaches and doing the High Command’s bidding without a second question, relishing in my ability to get the job done and further empire’s interests.

That ache to lead my men, that need to serve my people still burned within me this morning as I lay on the slab in my room at the station. But alongside it was a new purpose, a new goal.

I had known from the moment I had laid eyes on her that this Melissa Crane of Earth was to be my mate for the rest of my life. And now, for the first time, I was no longer able to push down the weight in my chest that called out to me when I saw mated pairs together. The voice inside told me that I should find the same thing, but I had always quelled that voice, and moved on with my life, toward the next lonely place the empire needed my services.

This was different, though. Melissa Crane of Earth was different. Of course, she was human - never in my wildest fever dreams had I thought that a non-Kreossian woman would capture the huge heart that beat in my chest.
 

It had taken all of my will to be able to control myself around her. The turmoil that had coursed through my veins had threatened to derail the control I had so meticulously tried to cultivate, under Admiral Kaalax’ tutelage. It had not been an easy process.
 

On the one hand, I thought as I stared up at the ceiling, it was a relief to know that I wasn’t some sort of aberration - a Kreossian unable to love, unable to feel the power that love could create in a warrior of my species. I had almost begun to believe that I was different from all the rest, that my dedication to my people had meant that I would never be able to find love, that I would be doomed to roam the empire, traveling from battle to battle, gathering glory and conquest but not being able to share it with anyone.

Now that had all changed. I knew for a definite fact that my love did exist, that I had somewhere to place all the emotions and feelings that welled up inside me. That was a relief.

But at the same time, she was a…human woman! How could this have happened? I knew better by now than to question my instincts, but at the same time, this was almost intolerable.
 

Still, I mused as I turned over to my side and looked out the giant porthole into the vast reaches of space, stars shining their unblinking light back at me, messages from eons ago, she was beautiful. She was definitely fit and healthy or the humans would not have let her accompany Ambassador Fuller on a trip like this, but even so I knew that next to me she was positively frail.

That quality had never appealed to me in a potential mate before, but now after seeing Melissa, after feeling her touch, I could understand how my pulse quickened when she drew close, how my mouth dried up when she looked at me. I felt an overwhelming need to protect her, and I couldn’t explain why.

Of course, I laughed mirthlessly to myself in the empty room, it was because she was to be my mate, even if she didn’t know it yet. I could already feel my body changing, accommodating the discovery of my mate, the need to keep her close growing.

Of course, I would have to tell her soon. She would no doubt be wary of the entire idea, especially given the rather lax culture of love that had grown on her planet since they found out they were not alone in the universe. I was sure that Melissa Crane of Earth would warm up to the notion soon enough. Despite the tale she had woven about the short term relationships on Earth, Melissa did not seem like the type to just flit from man to man.
 

And though I had enjoyed the company of women of many species across the empire, it had never been meaningful. Not like I could already anticipate coupling with Melissa to be. The hardness I had woken up with pulsed as I thought of touching her again, of making her my mate.

I shook my head, trying to clear the thoughts away. The Kreossian Empire’s most fearsome warrior laid low by a human woman? Reduced to this lack of strength? This wouldn’t do at all.

At the same time, though, a voice in the back of my head made it clear to me that while I could fight this development, or, rather, this revelation of fate, in the long run this would not be a war I could win.

Still, though, I needed to retain my focus as long as possible and make sure I was still equipped to handle this and any other mission.

I sat up on the slab in my room, pulling my knees in closer and hooking my arms around them while looking out the window into the blackness of space. I was not cold or uncomfortable - the questions that jump into one’s thoughts when staring out at the emptiness beyond, questions of mortality and meaning and relevance and significance, didn’t cross my path.
 

If anything, I was comfortable with who I was - I had fought long and hard to get to this point and that kind of survival and success didn’t come to one who questioned himself.

The voice in the back of my head didn’t speak of such questions, such thoughts. The voice spoke of Melissa Crane of Earth, and I knew better than to try and silence it. Hopefully, it would recede into the fog and I could ignore it until this mission was over, and I could find a new battle to fight, a new war to win, far, far away from Earth, instead of child-rearing jobs like this.

Admiral Kaalax, for all the glory and conquest he had achieved, had grown soft in his old age. He thought more of diplomacy and high-minded notions of togetherness, when I knew the truth, the truth Kaalax seemed to have forgotten: the galaxy was a cold and unflinching expanse that would destroy all inside it without the blink of an eye given the half the chance.

Survival was a constant struggle, and making friends with insignificant weakling races didn’t make the Kreossians any more able to stand the terrors that waited in the infinite night.

Of course, I didn’t have to agree with Admiral Kaalax, I just had to follow the man’s orders, which I would do without question. Still, as I looked out into the darkness and tried to focus on individual stars, I wondered which of them held battles that would excite me.