Candidate (Selected Book 4) - Robin Roseau

Candidate Robin Roseau

Table of Contents

A Bad Day I was not having a good day. To understand, you need to know three simple facts. I owned a three-bedroom rambler. I had a renter named Blair. And Blair had a dog named Cookie. The day began badly. My alarm woke me at the usual time, and I stepped out of bed to find Cookie had left me a, well, a gift at the side of my bed. Cookie was fully house trained, so it wasn't that kind of gift, but it was definitely the sort of gift I didn't enjoy stepping in. "Eww" doesn't begin to describe it. Dealing with that put me off my entire schedule. I usually began my day

early so as to avoid rush hour traffic and arrive at work before the office was full, full of people, full of noise, and full of countless interruptions. But Cookie's little present put me off my entire plan, and thus I was able to experience the joy that is rush hour traffic. If ever there were someone likely to go off the deep end during stop and go traffic, it would be me. It hasn't happened yet, but it was only a matter of time. I wasn't high strung in other situations, but there was something about rush hour traffic that hit me harder than I should have let it. And so, instead of arriving at the offices of Westside Foods feeling alive and refreshed, I arrived alive but hardly refreshed.

I was ready to snap off someone's head. Westside Foods was a combination grocery store chain and food distributor. We operated 137 stores throughout the upper midwest and served as the main distributor to a number of independent stores, most of them in small towns throughout our region. I was the executive assistant to Gerri Cambridge, the vice president of Minneapolis/St-Paul metropolitan area stores. I wasn't a secretary. I was Gerri's right hand. She set policy, and then I kept an eye on everyone who reported to her. When Gerri wanted something, she told me, and I saw to it that it happened. We had side-by-side adjoining offices,

although hers was the one in the corner and twice the size of mine. I'd worked for Gerri since graduating from college, moving up as she had. I arrived at my office and then had to scramble to pull together the reports Gerri wanted every morning. Normally I arrived in plenty of time to go through and organize my email, check the major news venues, and still produce Gerri's report well before she expected it, promptly at 9:00. Instead, I had to skip my usual routine and was still a few minutes late. "Bad morning?" Gerri asked as I popped into her office. "Yes," I said. "I'm sorry." She waved a hand. Gerri was

demanding, but reasonable. I handed her the two-page summary and took a seat. For most things, Gerri was perfectly happy to handle the details electronically. But for her morning report, she liked paper. "The numbers just feel more real when I'm holding them in my hand," she once told me, then laughed. "You'd think something so abstract wouldn't require a paper copy." But she wanted hard copy, and she got hard copy. She frowned at the numbers. Then she looked up at me. "Make an appointment with Len Harris." "This afternoon at 2:45," I said. "Gerri, his wife has cancer." "I know," she said in a soft

voice. "You're going to have to take care of the problems in New Hope yourself." I nodded. I'd anticipated that. The New Hope store was having a loss problem. Shoplifting happens, with some stores targeted more heavily than others. But New Hope's numbers were too high, and how does someone make off with frozen turkeys? No, this was most likely employee theft. Len was an area manager for five stores, including New Hope, and it had been his responsibility to deal with this. But no one could blame him for being distracted. Still, I hated having to be the bad guy for stuff like this, and I didn't have room in my schedule for it. I was probably going to have to insert an

inspector or two if I intended to unearth who was stealing from us so heavily. And because I couldn't rule out the store managers, I had to insert the inspector without going through management to do it. Pain in the ass. We talked over a few other priorities for the day. Gerri finished with, "Bob needs us both in his office in twenty minutes. He didn't say what it was about." I checked the time and nodded. "I have just enough time to get the ball rolling on some of these." "Thanks, Andie." That's me, Andromeda Hayes. As a kid, I hated it. As an adult, well, I

didn't mind having such a unique name. But Andromeda is certainly a mouthful, so most people called me Andie, and I've had a few people who use Ann or Anna. Past girlfriends have tried to extract other portions of the name such as Meda and Rome. I don't recognize them as my name and don't tend to answer to them. I'm five-foot-three, long, black hair, brown eyes, and fit. I don't take credit for any of them. I have good genes. Thanks, Mom and Dad. Both my parents were athletic, and they instilled in me a joy in getting outside. However, I despise team sports. I liked to bike ride, ski, and swim. When I would tell people that I skied, the next question was

typically, "Water or snow?" I liked to say, "Yes". If I told them I snow skied, they would ask "Downhill or crosscountry?" And again, I would say, "Yes." I was good at all three, and it was only the last few years that I had passed Mom on a pair of water skis. That was only because she turned 55 years old. When she was 50 and I was 29, she was still better than I was. Go, Mom! If you did the math, yes, I was 34 years old. I returned to my desk and began working on the day's priorities. **** Twenty minutes later found Gerri and me in Bob's office. Robert Smith

was the executive vice president of stores for Westside Foods -- Gerri's boss. With him was Bronson Ray, the company controller, and Grady Jensen. Grady worked for Bronson and was a complete asshole. He caused trouble for Gerri and me whenever he could, and he was a bigot besides. Meetings with him in attendance were never fun. "You've been a bad girl, Gerri," Grady said. He was smirking. "Leash your dog, Bronson," Gerri said. "That borders on sexual harassment, and if I ever hear a comment like that from him again, I will take it to HR." Grady opened his mouth to make

another comment, but Bronson said, "That's enough." Grady closed his mouth, but he was still smiling widely. I didn't know what was going on, but if Grady was happy, I knew my bad day was only about to get worse. "Let's sit," Bob said, gesturing to his conference table. He brought a manila folder with him. We took seats, Bob on the end, Bronson and Grady on one side, Gerri and me on the other. "We have a problem, Gerri. We'd like you to help clear it up." "Of course." "Len Harris," Bob said. "Yeah," Gerri said. "We need to give him some time. His wife is going through chemo."

"Is she out of work?" Gerri looked to me, and I nodded. "Well, he found supplemental income to make up for it," Grady said. "A second job?" Gerri asked. Again she turned to me. "I don't see how," I explained. "Unless he's been lying to me." "I don't think this is the sort of job he'd announce," Bob said. He opened the folder and withdrew the contents. Even from my position, I could see they were expense reports. He arrayed them in front of Gerri. "Is that your signature, Gerri?" Bob asked. Gerri looked at the paper, not

saying a word, then slid all of them to me. It took me all of three seconds, literally only three seconds, to decide, "These are fake." "They are certainly falsified," Grady said. "Good ol' Len has been filing false expense reports, and you've been signing them, Gerri. I don't think I need to worry about you talking to HR about me." "That's enough, Grady," said Bronson. "These are not the expense reports I've given to Gerri," I said. "The expense reports come to me. I review them, and then I give them to her. I haven't reviewed these." I looked at the numbers. "And there is no way I would

have missed this." "So you're in on it," Grady said. "You just heard her, Bob. She admitted a child could see the fraud." I looked across the table. "Did you just make a slanderous statement, Grady?" I asked. "I just told you I've never seen these before." "You just told us that you review the expense reports before Gerri signs them." He gestured. "She signed them." "Fake," I said. "I always handle them the same way. They come to me. I go over them myself with a yellow highlighter in my hand. I highlight the important numbers as I verify them." I lifted one up. "Do you see any yellow highlighter on this paper?" I didn't wait

for an answer. "They're fake. These are not the expense reports Gerri signed. Someone falsified her signature." At that, Gerri set her hand on my arm. I looked over at her, and she gave me The Look that said, "Let me handle this." She and I had worked together for a long time. We had no end of looks no one else could ever interpret. I nodded fractionally, and Gerri collected the expense reports. She turned back to Bob. "I wouldn't have thought Len would do something like this." "Gerri, is that your signature?" Bob asked. "No," I said. "Andie," Gerri said, her hand

back on my arm but still looking at Bob. "Len's been swapping them after Andie looks at them, hasn't he?" "I knew it!" said Grady. "Shut up, Grady," Bob snarled. "What my daughter sees in you, I don't know." He turned back to Gerri. "Len is in the custody of the Hennepin County Sheriff's deputies. We are prosecuting." "Oh god," I said quietly. "His family." "He should have thought about that," Bob said. "Gerri, I need your resignation." He had a second manila folder and slid it to her. Gerri's lips tightened, but she didn't say a word. She opened the folder and scanned the contents. "Two year's

severance. Five year's non-compete. A renewed non-disclose. An agreement not to pursue charges." She read everything again then looked up at Bob. "Who is taking my position?" "I am!" Grady said. He looked at me. "I'm going to enjoy having you under me." "No way in hell," I said. "You can always give your two weeks' notice," Grady suggested. Bob stared at Grady for a moment then turned his gaze to me. "Andie?" "I'm not working for him," I said, pointing. I nodded towards the papers in front of Gerri. "I'll take that deal or my next stop is HR to file a sexual

harassment complaint for his most recent comment, and I've been documenting all his others for three years." "She's only a secretary," Grady said. Gerri ignored him but turned to me. "Are you sure, Andie? Maybe there's somewhere else." I shook my head. "I'm not giving her a two year severance," Bob said. "Branson?" "One week per year of service," he suggested. "And you indicate her position was eliminated," Gerri added, looking at Branson. The two locked gazes for a moment, then he nodded agreement.

Gerri turned to me. "It's the best you're going to get. If you need to file for unemployment, you'll qualify." Inside, I was dying. I'd worked hard for this company. I nodded slowly. "Fine," I said. "I'll sign these once we've seen Andie's paperwork," Gerri said. "With your signature, Bob." "Use my computer," Bob said to Branson, gesturing to his desk. Branson moved to sit behind Bob's desk. "Gerri," Bob said. "I don't think I should comment on this," Gerri interrupted. "There is an ongoing investigation, and my lawyer isn't present."

I didn't say a word, either. It only took Branson a minute or two. He returned to the table with several sheets of paper, fresh off the printer, handing them to Bob. Bob looked them over and proceeded to sign them before sliding them all to me. "It's a package deal, Andie," he said. "You sign everything or you can either resign or look for a position elsewhere in the company." I read through them. They weren't that different than Gerri's, although of course, the numbers were different. I got to the non-compete. "I'm 34 years old, and you're telling me I can't work in the industry for five years?" "You could quit instead," Grady

suggested. "I'm sure you'd land on your feet somewhere. It's not like you're leaving under a cloud of suspicion or anything." "Your skills translate to a job in any industry," Gerri said. I thought about it, nodded, and picked up a pen. Gerri signed her copies. "Security is waiting to escort you out," Bob said. And like that, I was unemployed. **** By 10:30, I was home, stunned. During the freeway drive home, a car in front of me kicked up a piece of gravel, which proceeded to hit my windshield

and leave a ding in it. Could this day get any worse? I shouldn't tempt fate. I really should know that. I sat down in the kitchen, staring into a cup of coffee, and asked myself what I was going to do now. I'd never looked for a job in my life. They'd been handed to me. In high school, a friend of my Dad's offered me a job. He owned a variety of businesses, including several fast food franchises, and so I'd accepted the typical high school job. I flipped burgers. In college, I'd been on work study. And Gerri had been a friend of one of my professors. I hadn't even realized I was on a job interview the day I met Professor Peters and her friend, but

at the end of lunch, Gerri asked me if I wanted a job after graduation. But I had 16 weeks of paid vacation -- 3 weeks of actual vacation the company owed me plus 13 more for my severance package. I could take a few days off. Cookie was sitting on the floor, looking up at me, hoping I would share whatever it was I was eating. I looked down at her. She thumped her tail against the floor several times, her big, brown eyes working their magic on me. I think perhaps that was the first time I appreciated my roommate's dog. "I think I know what we both need, Cookie." Her tail thumped a few more

times. I knew what she thought she needed, but I was also pretty sure she'd be okay with my plan. I headed for my bedroom, Cookie following me. On arrival, she promptly jumped up on my bed, which I hated, but before I could yell at her to get down, she plopped onto her stomach, her chin on her paws, and she looked at me through long, doggy lashes. I didn't have the heart -- or energy -- to make her get down. I changed into running clothes. I didn't actually go running that often. Let me alter that statement. I never went running. I biked. But I wasn't in the mood for a bike ride, and I couldn't take Cookie if I did. So I changed into

running clothes then said the magic phrase. "Cookie, want to go for a walk?" Cookie was very good at expressing herself. I'd never taken a dog for a walk before. I never had one growing up. Oh, I knew the principles. You grabbed the leash and attached it to the collar. That was easy. Then you stepped outside and told the dog to heel. Well, that didn't work. I've seen people take dogs for walks -- and runs. The dog follows along, glued to its master's left ankle. Clearly Cookie didn't know the drill. She stayed glued to the end of the

tightly extended leash, rushing from this point to that point, sniffing wildly before she was off in another direction, yanking my arm from the socket over and over. "Heel, Cookie!" I said firmly. "Heel!" Damned dog. Damned idiot human. What was I thinking? And since when do girl dogs lift their leg to pee? Seriously? I'd planned a long walk, but Cookie changed my mind. We walked three blocks in one direction, took two lefts, and walked back. Long before we returned home, Cookie was panting heavily, and my shoulder felt like it was going to need physical therapy. Well, there was twenty minutes

of my unwanted vacation gone. I decided to clean. **** Lunch came and went. Cookie drooled all over my leg and the floor. I refused to reward such behavior. I roamed the house for a while and decided my bedroom needed fresh paint. I found all my painting tools, identified what I might need that I didn't have, and then drove to the paint store. An hour later I was back home. An hour after that, I was almost done moving all the furniture into the spare bedroom. Cookie was in the back yard; I had gotten tired of her getting in my way as I moved back and forth,

dragging furniture. And the doorbell rang. I ignored it. It rang again about thirty seconds later, and again, twenty seconds after that. "Damn it!" I yelled. "Fine." I peeked out the side window. There were two people on my doorstep, a man and a woman. They were wearing some sort of uniform, and I wondered if I was going to need a lawyer after all. "Damn it," I muttered. I stepped to the door but blocked it with my foot as I opened it. "What can I do for you?" "Andromeda Hayes?" said the woman.

"Yes. What can I do for you?" "May we come in, Ms. Hayes?" "I don't think so. What is this about? Did someone die?" "Nothing like that, Ms. Hayes," she replied. "We have a delivery for you." The man waved an official looking envelope. He had a computer tablet in his other hand. "We must verify your identity and then wait while you familiarize yourself with the contents." I stared at the envelope. "Is that some sort of court summons?" The two eyed each other, and then the woman said, "May we come in? It's blustery out here." "Are you cops?"

"No, Ms. Hayes," said the man. "We're from The Bureau of Extraterrestrial Affairs." "Excuse me?" I said. "What do you want?" "We need to verify your identity," the woman said. "Then you will read the letter. We will verify you understand the contents. May we come in, Ms. Hayes?" "I.D.," I said. I didn't have to ask twice. They both withdrew leather folders from inside their jackets, opened them, and held them out for me to see. On one side was a badge. The other side held a plastic identification. They looked just as official as when I'd been Tested six years ago. "Wait here," I said. "I'm going to get my cell phone."

"No, ma'am," said the man. "We can't let you do that." "Excuse me?" I asked with an arched brow. "Once we initiate contact, we must maintain contact," he said. "I'm sorry. We don't make the rules, but we follow them meticulously." "I'm just getting my phone." "If you invite us in and let us keep an eye on you," he said, "that's fine." "I'm not letting you in until I verify those are real." I gestured to the badges. "You can use my phone, Ms. Hayes," suggested the woman. She

replaced her badge in her pocket and produced a phone. A moment later she handed it to me, unlocked. "Do you need the number?" I studied her carefully. "What do the aliens want with me? I've already been Tested." "Everything is in the letter," said the man. "Please, ma'am. Call in if you want." I made a disgusted sound and handed the woman's phone back to her. "If I let you in, do you agree to step no further than the entryway? I am not giving permission to search my house." "Ma'am," said the man, "Until we leave, you must remain in the same room as us. If you choose to leave the entry,

we must go with you." I made another disgusted sound. "This is not permission to search my home." "We have no interest in searching your home, Ms. Hayes," said the woman. "Fine," I said. I stepped back, holding the door open. The two stepped in, and I closed the door. We turned to each other. "I was getting ready to paint," I said. "I'm having a really bad day. I lost my job today, on top of several other annoyances. Unless you're offering to help me move furniture, let's get this over with." I held out my hand for the envelope. "We must verify your identity

first, Ms. Hayes," said the woman. The man activated the tablet, worked with it for a moment, then read off a variety of information. I verified everything, correcting some of his information along the way. He nodded. "We need to scan your eyes. Please look straight ahead." He held the tablet in front of my face as I looked straight at him. There wasn't a flash, just a click, and then he paused, watching the screen. "Perfect," he said. "Thank you, Ms. Hayes. This is for you." He held out the envelope. "You must read it in our presence." I took the envelope. In my hands, it even felt official. I flipped it over and found there was a tab I could pull to

open it. I pulled the tab, tearing the flap from right to left, and withdrew the contents. It took only a few seconds to understand what it was. "I've been Tested," I said. "Six years ago." "Ms. Hayes," said the woman. "Sometimes the aliens Test someone more than once, especially after a major life change." "Like getting fired?" "Yes," she agreed. "Like getting fired. You know when they offer a human a job, it's nearly always immediately after Testing, even before you go home. Maybe they have a job for you." "I lost my job this morning and they already know?"

"We don't know what they know," said the woman. "You should finish the letter." I lowered my eyes and finished reading. "I have to make an appointment to begin no more than three days from now?" I said. I looked up. "I had two weeks last time." Neither of them responded. I finished the letter then looked at the rest of the material. There was a tri-fold brochure titled, "What to Expect During Your Testing." Another was titled, "Bureau of Extraterrestrial Affairs: Rules and Regulations." I looked up at the two of them. "Three days." "Ms. Hayes," said the man. "Could I ask a question?"

"You can ask." "You lost your job this morning, and this afternoon you're getting ready to paint. Is that right?" "Yes." He nodded. "I did that once. My position was eliminated. I got home, looked around the house, and decided to make a bunch of changes." "I know that feeling." "It's an attempt to take back control. Were you thinking of painting before this morning?" I sighed. "No." Then I tapped fingers against the letter. "It seems I'm still not in control of my life." "Perhaps you'd like to get this out

of the way," he suggested. "Did you enjoy Testing last time?" "You know, I was scared going in, but it wasn't bad." I frowned. "I didn't get to meet any aliens though." "Almost no one does," he said. "It's the biggest complaint we hear, after the inconvenience of it in the first place. Agent Barker and I could help you move your furniture, and we can then bring you to the Testing Center yet this afternoon." "Get it out of the way," said Agent Barker. "That's what I'd do." "The alternative," said the man. He reached into his jacket pocket and brought out some sort of thick plastic ring. "We have to put a tracking collar on you."

"You're not serious." "I'm afraid so. Regulations." "They didn't do that last time." "I know. Sometimes people freak out. You wouldn't believe the reactions we see." "I'm not going to do anything like that," I said, staring at the tracking collar. "Where does that go?" "Ankle." I sighed. "I wouldn't suppose you'd help me paint, too." "I don't think we have that kind of time," said Agent Barker. "But we'll help you put the furniture where you want it. It's not too heavy, is it?" "No, but some of it's awkward

for one." I stared at the tracking anklet for a minute, then looked down at the paperwork I was holding. "Do you have children you are managing?" asked the man. "Or pets? Do you need time to make arrangements?" "My roommate's dog is in the back yard," I said. "She was getting in the way. Are you afraid of dogs? I'll have to let her back inside before I can go." "We love dogs," said the woman. "Let's see the furniture." I nodded. I took us to the kitchen first, leaving the paperwork on the counter. The man looked out the window, his eyes finding Cookie, but then the two of them followed me to the

bedrooms. "I was moving everything from there," I pointed, "to there." "We can finish helping you move it," said the man. "Or we can move it all back. You may prefer things to feel familiar when you come home." I sighed. "Let's put it back." It took us about fifteen minutes. They both helped, and it was a lot easier with three of us than just one. When it was all back in place, I thanked them several times. I looked at the woman. "You're Agent Barker." Then I turned to the man. "I didn't get your name." "Agent Park," he said. "Well, Agents Barker and Park, thank you for your help."

"You're welcome, Ms. Hayes," said the woman. "Ready to go?" "I can't go dressed like this!" I said with a gesture. "Not if it's a job interview." "Do you remember your last testing?" she asked. "They're going to take your street clothes from you, anyway. Remember?" "But-" "When they offered me this job," said Agent Park, "I was still in the chair. Do you remember the chair?" "Yeah," I said. "And those goggles." "A visor," said the woman. "Everyone we work with was still in the

chair when offered jobs." "And we can't really let you out of our sight," said Agent Park. "But if you want to change clothes while I watch..." "You're not serious." "Regulations. Technically, we shouldn't even make that offer." I made a disgusted sound. "Fine, fine. I have to let Cookie in and leave a note for my renter." I wrote the note first, leaving it on the counter beside the paperwork. Then I let Cookie in. She was overjoyed to make new friends, and I was actually rather impressed. They didn't both do it at the same time, but they each knelt down and greeted the dog. It was Agent

Barker who looked up and asked, "Your roommate will be home to take care of the dog, right?" "Yeah. Normally I'm the one who would be home late. It's her dog, and she's a good mom." "Perfect. Are you ready?"

Surprise Testing went very much like it did the first time. Agents Barker and Park escorted me into the Testing Center. The receptionist verified my identity then wrapped the band around my wrist. The agents escorted me to the next room, wished me luck, and departed. I changed clothes, and a few minutes later, another woman arrived. She set the visor in place and activated it, and then she escorted me to the medical facility. It was there I encountered the first change from the last time. The woman was kind and seemed to know more about me than I would have preferred. She got me settled into the

chair then said, "I understand you're having a bad day." "You could say that." "We have a wide variety of programs we can play during your medical exam," she said. "Most of them involve swimming with whales, or being a bird. Things like that. But sometimes we get people who are really upset and scared, and we have special programs to help them calm down. Do you know what you'd prefer?" I thought for a moment. "You know, something calming might be nice." "I like the thunderstorms," she said. "We have a bunch of different ones. Do you want to know my favorite?" I nodded, and she went on. "We have one

that starts like a thunderstorm, and visually it remains that way, but it's music at the same time. It's really quite beautiful. It's not soothing, not exactly. But it's my favorite." "What kind of music?" "Um. I don't know what to call it. It's like the rain is landing on a variety of instruments, but it's done in a way it sounds like music." "That sounds nice. Thank you." It was beautiful. **** I was, the doctor said, quite healthy. Twenty minutes later I was in the hotel room, and a minute after that I was taking a long walk on a beach. Then

there was a shower, and of course, my clothes were missing when I stepped out. I dried and headed for the chair. I don't remember the rest. **** I woke slowly, very slowly. Well, I woke and dozed, woke and dozed, so I guess really I came to awareness slowly. I sat up. I wasn't in the chair. I was in a room, a very boring room. But the aliens hadn't offered me a job. I slumped for a moment. I still needed a job. I looked down. I was naked. I'd gone into the chair naked, and now I was here. I looked around, and I saw the undies and sports bra I'd worn under my

painting clothes. I grabbed them and put them on. I was sitting on a soft bench against the wall. I might have called it a bed, but there were no pillows and no bedding. But one end of the cushion was raised slightly, and there was still a small indentation marking where my head had been. The walls were plain. They looked like grey plastic, I suppose. At one end of the room I saw a sink embedded in the wall and what I discovered was a toilet. The other end of the room was glass. Outside my room was a corridor, and on the other side I saw more rooms like the one I was in. I dashed to the

wall, slamming against it, my hands spread. There were other women in the other rooms. I could see one directly across from me. She was sitting on her own bench, her back against the wall, her knees tucked up. She was staring straight ahead. The cell to the right held another woman. She was pressed against the glass, looking at me. The cell to the left of the one across from me held another woman, but I could only see a portion of her. It looked like she was sleeping. From what I could tell, they were all in sleepwear. The one watching me was in pajamas and a robe. The other two weren't wearing a lot more than I

was. I was in... I was in... I was in a jail cell? Why were we all nearly naked? Where were the orange jumpers? And what had I done to land in jail? The aliens had tricked me. I'd gone from Testing to jail. But this didn't look like a human jail. Was it an alien jail? I pounded on the glass, yelling. The one woman watched me, but no one seemed to react. Then the woman held up a hand, and I stopped pounding. Then she pounded, and it looked like she yelled. I didn't hear so much as a peep.

She only did it for a few seconds, but it was enough. I couldn't hear her, so she probably couldn't hear me, either. Then we looked at each other, and after a moment she pointed up and -for her -- forward. I followed the gesture, trying to look up and out of the cell. That was when I realized the ceiling of my cell was also clear glass. We were in some sort of large room, the ceiling high above us. I followed the woman's gesture further, and I saw some sort of catwalk around the perimeter of what would be the second floor. And then I stared. There were four aliens clustered

together, looking down into the room. I stared. And I stared. I'd never seen an alien in the flesh. Two of them saw me looking and returned my gaze. They looked male, but they were aliens. Who could tell? One was big and covered in a remarkable amount of fur. The other was nearly as big and I didn't see even a hint of hair. There were males looking at me while I was in my underthings. And they were probably looking while I slept, naked. The thought made my blood boil, and I made a rude gesture. If they recognized it for what it was, they offered no evidence. I turned back to the woman. She'd left the window and was sitting on

her own bed, staring straight ahead. I made another rude gesture to the aliens, kicked the wall several times, and then stomped back to my own bed. It took about three minutes to get really bored. It took another minute and a half before I started crying. I hate crying. I really hate crying. I hate it when other people do it, but I really hate it when I do it. But I couldn't help it. What was happening to me? **** It was quite some time later that there was a noise to my right. There was an opening in the wall, and I saw a tray waiting for me. Then there were three

dings, and a nondescript, genderless voice said, "Lunch is waiting." I stared at the tray for a while before getting up to retrieve the food. I brought it back to the bed and sat down. I was expecting what could be described as prison food, so what I found was a surprise. There were covers over the plates. When I lifted things away, I found what appeared to be a healthy meal of chicken breast in a cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, and Brussels sprouts. I know most people hate sprouts, but I loved them. I stared at the food for a while. There was also a cup and silverware.

Everything was made of the same material. It was a little like plastic, but I could tell it wasn't. But it wasn't ceramic or glass, either. I wasn't sure what it was. I set the tray aside, grabbed the cup, and retrieved water from the dispenser. Lunch was actually rather delicious. It was the best prison food I'd ever had. Yes, that was me, attempting to make a joke of the situation. I finished and wasn't sure what to do with everything. I finally decided if the aliens could deliver food like it came from one of those food dispensers in Star Trek, they could take it back that

way, too. I slipped the tray back into the nook in the wall, and a moment later, the door closed. The wall turned into a blank wall again, and I couldn't have told you there'd been an opening there. There wasn't so much as a hairline crack left behind. I went back to my bed, pulled my knees up, and stared ahead, just like some of the other women were doing. **** It was some time later. I couldn't have told you how long. I'd had to make use of the toilet -- and believe me, I wasn't happy doing that with an audience, but what choice did I have? But I'd been back on the bed, staring ahead for some time when I saw motion

out of the corner of my eye. I snapped my head towards the doorway. I saw two guards -- human women -- escorting another woman between them. Her hands were cuffed in front of her. She wore shackles on her ankles. And she was wearing a visor like the kind in the testing center. I ran to the glass and began pounding on it, but if anyone noticed, they didn't do so much as look my direction. I watched the two guards lead the prisoner away. After that, I paid a little more attention to what happened outside my cell. It remained boring most of the time, but periodically, guards escorted a woman one direction or another.

Sometimes there were two guards; sometimes there were four. The times there were four, I could see the woman struggling with them. Apparently none of us was happy to be here. Even the guards looked unhappy. No one reacted whenever I pounded on the glass. That got boring, and I stopped paying attention. I did, however, seethe. **** I don't know how long I sat in that cell, but then the disembodied voice said, "Mating Candidate Andromeda Hayes, remain seated on the bed until

directed otherwise. Failure to follow directions will result in punishment." There was a pause, and then motion from the door. I snapped my head to look, and there were four guards outside my cell: two men, two women. They paused, and then while I watched, an opening formed in the glass. The two men stepped in followed by the women. The four of them looked at me. "What the fuck is going on?" I snarled. But I remained where I was. "Ms. Hayes," said one of the women. "We are here to escort you to someone who can answer your questions. Will you cooperate?" "Am I accused of some crime?" "The only questions we can

answer relate to how we are about to treat you. Will you cooperate, or are we obligated to apply force?" I sighed. "Do I have a choice?" "We will be removing you from your cell and taking you somewhere," she said. "Your choice is to cooperate or fight. The only difference is whether you maintain your dignity." "What dignity?" I asked. "I'm in my underwear while aliens -- and you two men -- stare at me." "I'm sorry, Ms. Hayes," said the woman. "Will you cooperate? Or will we use force?" I looked between them. They were watching me carefully, all four of them very alert, and I had no illusions

regarding my ability to either overpower them or slip past them. "Cooperate," I said. "Good answer," she said. "You will stand, facing away, with your feet shoulder width apart and your fingers laced together on the top of your head. Please move slowly, Ms. Hayes." "You know who I am." "We know your name and we know where we've been told to bring you. We know you arrived since our last shift." "You know where we are." "Yes, but we won't answer that sort of question. Please slowly stand up and turn to face the back wall, Ms.

Hayes." I did what I was told, lacing my fingers together and setting them on top of my head. "You're awfully polite for people violating my rights," I said. "I was wondering when she'd mention her rights," muttered one of the men. "That took longer than most." "About average," said the other man. "And some never say a word." "If you're done talking about me..." The two women stepped forward. "Do not fight us, Ms. Hayes." This was the other one. Then she knelt down behind me, and I felt her wrap something around my right ankle. When I looked down, I saw she had shackles

like I'd seen on the other women. She finished with my ankles and stood up. They shackled my wrists with my hands still in place, but these shackles had tails, so to speak. "Lower your hands to your stomach," she said. Once I did, they collected the tails, wrapping them around my waist and locking them behind my back. That was when she said, "We've got her." "Right," said the one who had first muttered about rights. I turned my head and watched the two men depart the cell and walk away. "Eyes forward, please," said the first woman. I snapped back to face the wall,

but didn't say anything. "We have a hood," she said. "Some of the women begin to panic. Are you claustrophobic?" "No, but will I be able to breathe?" "Yes. It is mildly stifling, but it's not too bad. We've all worn everything during training." "I won't panic, but will you please tell me why I'm here." "We can't answer questions like that," she replied. "You will need to take small steps. If you try to take long steps, you'll trip. We'll hold you by the arms, but if you surprise us, we might not catch you before you fall."

I understand. It was the other one with the hood. She slipped it over the back of my head and then lowered it slowly over my face. I began breathing rapidly and tried to calm down. "You'll be able to breathe," said the second woman. "I'm sorry, but I have to tighten it. You'll still be able to breathe." Then she did something, and it grew snug around my neck, but they were right. I could breathe, even if it was all very frightening. "Why are you doing this?" I asked, my voice catching. They didn't answer. A moment later, they each took an arm. Without words, they turned me,

and I began to slowly walk. **** I wouldn't have called it a long walk, but it was more than a few minutes and involved an elevator ride. They warned me, and they never released my arms the entire time. "There's a chair at a table," said one of the women. "We'll move you to it. Slow steps." They pulled me forward until my stomach just came into contact with the table, Then they shuffled me sideways and said, "Sit." I sat, and I felt the chair immediately swallow my legs. One of them unlatched the chain around my waist, and together they set my hands on the table in front of me. The table

swallowed my arms. Then the hood relaxed around my neck, and the woman carefully pulled it from me. Without another word, the two of them turned around and walked from the room. I looked around. I was seated at a plain table. It wasn't metal. It appeared to be the same material as the walls of my cell, and when I looked, so was the chair. Neither the table nor the chair moved when I pushed on them. My legs were encased up past my knees, and there was a "belt" around my waist, growing right out of the chair. In a way, it was like the chairs used during testing, but different at the same time. And my arms were encased the

same way. I wasn't going anywhere until someone released me. The room was of moderate size, the walls plain grey and boring. Looking around, I couldn't see a single door. But at least the ceiling wasn't glass, and there weren't any aliens staring at me. Of course, they could have alien cameras pointed at me, and I might not realize it. I don't know how long I sat there. It was more than a few minutes but less than an hour. Then, from one moment to the next, an entrance formed in the wall to my left, and a moment later a figure appeared. An alien figure.

She could have passed for a human woman if not for the glowing eyes. Catseye. We watched each other for a minute, neither of us saying anything, then she stepped fully into the room. The doorway disappeared, and after a moment she took a seat across the table from me. She was carrying a wooden case, and she set it down on the table and looked at me. I could have sworn that chair wasn't there before. "I am Administrator Brighteyes," she said by greeting. "You are Andromeda Hayes." "I'd like to know what you think I

did wrong." "Nothing." "Is it common practice for the aliens to throw women in jail for doing nothing wrong at all?" "Yes, actually," she said. "And a few men." "This isn't a job offer, is it?" "No, it's not." "I don't think it's at all coincidence that this happened the day I was fired." "It's not," she said. "Although that was four days ago." "Four. My roommate-" "Has been informed you are out of town, as have your parents. All of

them believe this is a job interview with the aliens." "But it's not." "No, it is not." We stared at each other for a while. "Well, are you going to explain what it is, then?" "When I first began these interviews, I told everyone in a brisk, efficient fashion why they were here. They all fell behind the conversation three sentences in. I've learned to let the candidate determine the pace of the conversation." "Candidate?" "Yes." "Candidate for what?"

"You are here as a mating candidate." "A what?" "You will become mated to one of us." "Like hell I will." She smiled. "That's what most of the women say. And yet, here you are." "Let me put it this way. Over my dead body." "I hear that, too. I also hear over my dead body, or over that of the future mate. I also hear threats against the guards. I'd rather you didn't threaten them." "You don't mind if I threaten you, but you ask me not to threaten the

guards?" "I have thicker skin," she explained. "They are human and can't help but react. But they don't always react appropriately, and sometimes it is another woman who suffers for it." "Did you just blackmail me, telling me if I'm not polite to the guards, they'll beat one of the other women?" "No. When someone is angry, he is not necessarily as kind and gentle as I would rather he be. The guards have never beaten anyone, but they can be brusque. The women in here all feel scared and vulnerable, and I'd rather the guards are able to be as compassionate as possible, under the situation." "Are you that insane?" I asked.

"I have my sanity questioned often," she replied. "Earlier you suggested the timing wasn't coincidence. It wasn't. We know you lost your job, and we know why." "Did you have anything to do with it?" "No. You would have landed here six years ago, but you were borderline. I chose to let you remain where you were, but I flagged your file. You are not in a serious relationship and you are unemployed. Your parents are remarkably healthy, and there is no one directly dependent upon you for care." "So I'm disposable." "No. You are available." "I don't believe that's your

decision to make." "And yet, here you are," she repeated. "So it appears it is my decision." "You have no right!" I screamed. "Ah, there we go. Humans always talk about rights, especially Americans." "I want my lawyer," I demanded. "Ah, I hear that a lot, too," she said. "There are currently two down in the cells. Human laws do not apply in this place." I stared. "Where are we?" "Still on Earth, if that's what you were wondering," she replied. "We are not, however, in the United States any

longer." She smiled. "You had a comfortable flight." "The in flight entertainment left something to be desired." "Oh, humor," she said. "Actually, the in flight entertainment left nothing to be desired, but of course, you won't remember." "Whatever," I said. "I'm not marrying any of you." "We'll see," she said. She turned to the wooden box and tapped it with her fingers several times. "I am going to give you some choices." "Oh, now I get choices?" She opened the wooden box and withdrew from it one of the visors like

they used in the testing center. She closed the box and then set the visor on top. She tapped her fingers against the tabletop several times before speaking. "Your first choice. You arrived at an odd time. We are on a cycle here typically lasting two weeks. In a way, you could consider the women here part of a class. The class is midway through the term. Do you understand?" "I suppose I do." "Your first choice is this. I can tell you nothing, but tomorrow morning, you will be collected from your cell, and a modified version of what typically happens will happen to you. You will go into it knowing nothing more than I've already told you."

"I take it this involves rape?" "No, actually, it doesn't. Your other choice is to ask me to fit this in place. There is a program to play that will explain our normal process. It lasts nearly exactly one hour. But there will be a price." "And then tomorrow whatever you're going to do to me will happen, anyway?" "Perhaps. Perhaps we will reach another agreement." "One where you let me go?" "Of course not. But one that offers you more choices." "What is the price?" I gestured with my nose.

"Two simple promises. You will promise to do your best to be polite. And you will promise to engage in no self harm or threats of self harm." "You're afraid I'll attempt suicide?" "Yes, actually." "So whatever is going to happen is so bad that I'm likely to prefer death?" I shook my head. "You're going to give me to one of those assholes who was watching me, and I'm supposed to take it? Fuck you." I began struggling with the chair and table, trying to free myself, but both hugged me tighter, not releasing me. I struggled harder and harder and began screaming at her. Nothing I screamed was that

creative, but it was certainly heartfelt. The Catseye sat dispassionately until I slumped, panting heavily. "So much for the aliens coming in peace," I said. "Fucking lying rapists." "No one has raped you," she said. "And actually, no one is going to. You actually have some choices. Our placement rate is 87 percent, and amongst those I personally attend to, it's 100 percent." "Excuse me?" "Most of the humans who have come through here are now happily mated. Most of them went through an automated process that is largely managed by my aides. A small number have been attended to more directly by

me, and every single one is exceedingly happy. If you ask for the visor and agree to my terms, I will oversee your process directly. If not, then I will wash my hands with you and let my aides follow their normal process." "What happened to that last 13 percent?" I asked. "Are they dead?" "A few may be due to the vagaries of life," she replied. "But we didn't kill them. Some are back home, attempting to live their lives. Some of those are happy; most are not. The rest found someone else." "So I could still go home?" "That possibility exists, although it is small." "It seems like I should tell you to

fuck off." "You aren't considering the angles." "You haven't told me enough to consider." "You're a smart woman. Put two and two together. If you don't accept my offer, what is going to happen tomorrow?" "You haven't told me." "I've told you enough to make an educated guess." "You're going to give me to another alien, and he's going to rape me." "He's not going to rape you, and it's more complicated than that. But you

have the basic idea. And what's going to happen if you accept my offer?" I looked down at the visor. I stared at it for a while then looked back up at her. "You said we might reach another agreement." She smiled. "Tell me. If your choice is to be given to one of the males, or the chance of some other fate, which would you prefer?" "What other fate?" She leaned back in the chair and didn't answer. I stared at her for a while, trying to glare. It was hard to be taken seriously when nearly naked and as helpless and vulnerable as I felt. "Why aren't I wearing my clothes?"

"The visor explains," she said. "I'm not answering questions like that. You've heard my price. But I'm a busy woman, so I do hope you'll decide in the next minute or two." "Wait," I said. "Just wait." "You have everything you need to know to make a decision, Ms. Hayes." "Just wait," I said. "You told me your personal success rate is 100 percent. How big a sample size is that?" "I admit: it's not very large." "More than zero?" She made a bark of a noise, and I decided it was how she laughed. "Yes. It would take all my fingers and some of my toes to count. So not many."

"Compare to how many the other way?" "A lot, lot more." "Twenty? Fifty?" "Add a few zeros to that," she said. "Oh shit." "I am a busy woman, Ms. Hayes. Have you decided?" "Please just wait," I said. "For a price." "With you there is always a price?" "Yes. If you wish me to wait, you will ask politely, and you will either smile or say something nice about me." "Seriously?"

She started to get up. "Please!" I said. "Administrator... I'm sorry, I forgot." "Brighteyes," she said. "Jasmine Brighteyes. Yes?" "Administrator Brighteyes," I said. "Please give me a chance to think." She settled down and crossed her arms. I couldn't conjure a smile, but I said, "Your eyes are beautiful." "Thank you," she said. "Will you help me, Administrator?" "I don't normally do these interviews, Ms. Hayes. That's what employees are for. The fact that I'm sitting here should tell you something."

"If I send you away, or you grow tired of waiting, then tomorrow you will give me to one of the leering males." "Or something like that, yes." "If I accept your offer, then you'll explain what's going on, and then you suggested something else might happen." "Yes." "You also said your personal success rate is perfect." "Yes. We've reviewed this already." "I think I only have one more question. How many of them were lesbians?" She smiled and leaned forward, staring into my eyes. "All of them."

I felt tears spring to my eyes, I did my best to push them back. I hated crying. I turned my head and stared at the blank wall for a while. "Do I have any other choices?" I asked in a soft voice. "Not today you don't." I turned back. "I would like to accept your offer." She smiled again. "I hoped you would. To be clear, you will do your best to be polite. That means to me and to the guards." "What about to whatever man you try to give me to?" "If I give you to a man, you're free to be as rude as you want." I brightened at that.

"You also will make no attempt to hurt yourself or threaten to hurt yourself," she added. "And you're going to enforce that, how?" "You keep your promises," she replied. "To be clear, I'm allowed to threaten to hurt you?" "And whomever I give you to," she said. "Please don't threaten the guards. It won't do you any good, and we've discussed the harm it causes. They don't really have a choice in what they do, but you don't have to make it worse for them than it already is." "Are you going to explain that?"

"No, but if you are pleasant, sometimes they answer when the mating candidates ask personal questions. If you intend to do so, you may want to wait a few days." "I agree to your terms." "I want you to state specifically what you are agreeing to." "Fine. I will strive to be polite to you and the guards, and I will not use self-harm or the threat of self-harm. I presume both promises have a duration." "For your stay here," she said. "So once I'm not your problem, you don't care what happens to me?" "Actually, I do, but let's worry about the next few weeks."

"All right." "Very good," she said. She picked up the visor. "You know what this is." I nodded. "I will step out while it plays. I will strive to return before it completes, but I may be delayed. I will not leave you overlong." I nodded. She stood and leaned across the table. I held still while she slid the visor into place. It settled in, making itself at home. The ear buds invaded my ears, and then I couldn't hear anything in the room. Then it brightened slowly. I didn't hear Administrator Brighteyes leave.

Understanding I was appalled by what I saw. The opening scene was of an arena -- it looked remarkably like the Coliseum in Rome, although I thought the size was different, and this coliseum was far newer. In the center of the dirt arena was a group of sixteen human women. Most of them looked like they'd been taken from their beds, and I realized something immediately. I also looked like I'd been taken from my bed. I didn't think that was coincidence. Some of the women were crying. Some looked angry. Some looked determined. Some held weapons. Others

didn't. Around the perimeter of the battleground were aliens. The camera panned around them, one after another. Some were small. Others were clearly deeply powerful. They were all male, although there was a voiceover indicating from time to time there were female contestants as well. In the stands were more aliens and a few humans. And then there was a signal, and everyone moved into motion. Some of the women stayed in the middle, most of them seemingly unable to act. The rest sprang into motion. They ran for the exits, some in blind panic, some appearing far more organized.

And the aliens also began to run. There were a lot of aliens. Some moved towards the women. Others moved to cut off the exits. None of the women made it from the arena. Most of them were easily caught and shoved into waiting cages. There was one group of four women who put up a good defense, standing back to back and surrounded by four of the aliens with others waiting at a distance, watching. One of the women thrust with a sword, scoring a red line across the arm of the alien facing her, but then he clasped a massive hand around her smaller one, pulling her away from her friends. He calmly took the sword from her, threw her over his shoulder,

and carried her to one of the cages as she kicked and screamed. He set her down, pushed her in, and slammed the door. The fate of the other three women was similar. Another was taken, and then the last two simultaneously. But that wasn't the end. The video continued, and I watched the aliens fight each other. In the beginning there had been sixteen women in the middle. Then there were sixteen women in cages. At the end, there were many aliens who required help leaving the arena. There were sixteen, most of them hurt, who opened the cage doors, pulled out the women, and carried them from the arena.

**** The visor explained why. I thought it was bullshit, complete bullshit. But then the visor showed me the other competitions, one woman and one alien. Sometimes the alien won. Sometimes the woman won. But as the competitions went on, the women became decreasingly antagonistic towards their aliens. I saw hugs. I saw cuddles. I saw kisses. I saw fierce aliens treating the women gently, even kindly. Then Administrator Brighteyes appeared in her program. "Occasionally

a human escapes the arena, but it is extremely rare. Somewhat more often, but not often, a human wins the final challenge, and she is free to go home. This is most likely when the woman is an exceptionally fine athlete competing against one of the less athletic of the extraterrestrial species." Then she explained how the women go home with their challengers, who is given a period of time to woo them. Then the video showed more women, the setting very alien, and I thought perhaps it was upon their space station. They were with their aliens, and they looked happy, like any newlywed human couple.

The visor dimmed then brightened. It was Administrator Brighteyes again. "We cannot go home," she explained. "The reasons are complicated. Your leaders know we do this. They agreed when they invited us to stay. They changed your laws sufficiently to allow us to take you without interference. They keep our secrets." She spoke for several more minutes, then the visor dimmed. When next it brightened, I was looking at an empty room. **** She didn't make me wait long. The visor provided a small clock in the upper right corner of my vision, and it was only a few minutes. Then

Administrator Brighteyes stepped into the room, smiled briefly, then sat down across from me again. I stared at her. "Now what?" I asked her quietly. "Now we see if you keep your promises. Are you going to say something rude to me?" "How many of the women who go through that are gay?" "The usual percentage," she said. "How many of them attempt to kill their alien?" "About, oh, a third of the women fight with deadly intent that first day. A very small percentage attempt murder during the subsequent challenges." "It's not murder."

"None have made the attempt once reaching their new homes, although a few have attempted suicide." "Attempted?" "Attempted without success, so far, anyway. Every month or two, one or two attempt it in the arena. A similar number do so in the cells. There have been a few close calls, but no fatalities." "What you do to them is barbaric." She didn't respond. "Well, what now?" I asked after a minute. "Well," she said. "The visor didn't explain something to you. You have a choice."

"A choice?" "Several choices, actually. Your first choice, and this is what will happen if we do not come to another agreement. Tomorrow morning you will step onto the arena sands, and it will be much as you saw on the visor, but it will be you and four alien males. There will be two exits, not four, and the males will be from the more athletic species. It is possible you could win your freedom, but unlikely. The most likely scenario is you will land in a cage, and when you are carried from the field, your subsequent challenges will be against the eventual victor." "A male." "Yes. A male."

"Not interested." "Your next choice is to wait until the next group of women comes through, and you will enter the arena as one of them. There is a possibility one or two of the challengers will be female. It is possible she will be the one who eventually carries you from the arena. It is unlikely. However, you will also be allowed to surrender to any of the combatants, and then she is definitely the one to carry you back to your cell to await the remaining challenges." "I see. A chance one will be female." "Of the species in or near human space, there are several that engage in female-female pairings. Catseye are one.

We are of a single gender. There are no male Catseye." "Oh," I said. "I will come back to that. There are two such species that prefer a mating fight. It does not need to be exactly what we do here, but those are details. However, one of those species has no unattached females at this time, so you could possibly encounter the other. Amongst the other species, there are several that experience female homosexuality in a fashion similar to humanity. So there is a possibility you could face one of them." "How big a chance?" "Randomly it is low. If you keep your promises, I can dramatically

increase your chances, but there is no promise the females who might be here at that time would find you intriguing. They may choose to attempt to leave with another." "What are my chances?" "At best? Fair." I looked away, saying nothing. I wanted to scream, but I was sure screaming wouldn't help me and could likely hurt me. "Your next choice is to accept willingly a mate from those species that do not compete in this fashion. I would let people know you were available and then would select someone for you." "Female?"

"Yes." "Someone I don't even know." "Or know only briefly. It is not unlike arranged marriages in some human cultures." I turned to face her. "And if I reject all your proposals?" "Then tomorrow you will find yourself in the arena facing four males." "But I'm allowed to fight." "You will lose." "Do you really think I'm going to stop fighting? Do you really think just because you have rules for my behavior that I'll follow them? Are you sure I won't eventually find a way to put a knife into his heart?"

"You'd have to find it." I stared at her and again pushed back my tears. "Don't I have any way out of this?" "You could win the challenges. It is unlikely. If you do not, then you go home with your challenger, and he -- or she -- has a period of time to woo you. Most succeed. Of course, we cheat." "What do you mean, you cheat?" She smiled. "Would you like a demonstration?" "I don't believe I would." "I won't hurt you, Ms. Hayes. In fact, you would rather enjoy the demonstration." She smiled and stood. "If I release you from the chair, will you

cooperate?" "For now." She cocked her head and the table and chair released me. But a moment later the visor went dark, and I couldn't see. "Hey!" "Yes, I know. You can't see." Then she took my arm. "Come with me." I let her lead me from the room. **** When next I could see, we were in what looked like a very nice apartment living room. We weren't alone. "Andromeda Hayes," said Administrator Brighteyes. "This is Dark

Skies. She is of a species humans call Octals." The alien was petite, smaller than I was, and blue. She stepped forward, offering her hand. I lifted both of mine, still shackled, and we shook, exchanging greetings. The Catseye explained a number of things about the Octals, including the nature of their families." "So you have six wives and a husband?" I finally asked. "No. I am currently single," she replied. "I have so far avoided a battle of wills." "A battle of wills?" I asked. "In an Octal household," said the Catseye, "There is one queen, and

everyone obeys her. The queen is selected through a battle of wills. I brought you here to experience what it is like." "You're giving me to her?" "Only briefly," said the Catseye. "I do not wish my first mate to be human," explained the Octal. "If I accepted a human mate, I would almost certainly lose the next battle of wills." "Administrator Brighteyes-" I began. "You require a demonstration. Dark Skies is the weakest adult Octal I know. Nearly all are older and far more powerful than she is. You will see what she is able to do, and then you will understand what I mean when I say we

cheat." "I don't know about this." "If you are able to win this battle of wills," continued the Catseye, "I will send you home. If not, then you will negotiate in good faith with me." I wasn't the most stubborn woman I knew, but I was pretty darned stubborn. "How do we know who has won?" "You'll know. But let us suggest something the loser will perform for the winner." Then the Octal spoke in one of their languages, and I didn't understand a word. The Catseye listened but answered in English, "It is her choice."

"What is?" "Dark Skies wishes to keep you for twenty-four hours, after which time she will release you back to me. Do you wish to spend the next twenty-four hours with her?" "I don't even know her," I replied. "I promise you would enjoy it," said the Catseye. "But I also believe you would be very upset later. So, you have a choice. A brief battle of wills, and the loser will, hmm. Kiss the winner's feet." "Excuse me?" "If she is able to make you willingly kiss her feet, she wins," said the Catseye. "If you are able to resist, or if she kisses yours, then you go free. I

will return in one hour. Or you may agree I will not return for twenty-four hours, and whatever happens here, happens here." "So we're going to fight?" "We will hug," said the Octal. "And breathe." "Hug." I rattled my arms. "I will hug you. You will allow me to do so. I will not hurt you." "Fine," I said. "We'll hug. Come back in an hour, Administrator." The Catseye spoke briefly in the other language and then turned and left, a door opening and closing on its own. The Octal and I turned to each other. "What do you prefer to be

called?" "Andromeda," I said. I didn't want anyone here calling me Andie. "I prefer my full name, Dark Skies," she said. Her accent was thick, but I readily understood her. But she stepped closer. "I am young, twenty-two Earth years old. Will you be offended if I touch you?" "Are you going to maul me?" "I do not understand." "Will you stop if I ask you to stop?" "Yes," she said. "Then you may touch." She moved closer and set a hand on my arm. She had four spindly fingers

instead of five, and they bent quite differently, but she wrapped the fingers gently around my arm and stroked lightly. She moved a little closer, looking up into my eyes. "Do you work here?" I asked her. "Yes. I am one of the technicians. It is a good job. I am learning. Would you like to sit?" She gestured to a sofa. I didn't answer, so she tugged on my arm, and I let her pull me forward. We sat together, and she moved closer, a hand on the center of my chest. "I am being gentle," she said. "I do not want to hurt you." "I appreciate that," I replied. Then I inhaled deeply. "Something smells good."

"I know," she said. She reached a hand around the back of my head, and when she pulled me closer to her, I let her. She pulled my face into the cleft of her neck and shoulder, and I found the source of the wonderful smell. "It's you," I whispered. "I have never done this before," she said. "Done what?" "A battle of wills. This is my first. Thank you. Remember, if you don't kiss my feet, then Jasmine Brighteyes will let you go home." "I remember," I whispered. I squirmed. I wanted to hold her, but the shackles kept me from reaching for her. But then I manage to reach with both

hands and clasp her cheeks, one hand to either side. Her blue skin was smooth and soft and lovely. She was lovely. And she smelled so good. I breathed deeply. "Do you want me to stop touching you?" "No!" I said firmly. "When does our, um..." "It already began," she said. "You're losing." "No," I whispered. But then my tongue reached out, and I licked the side of her neck. She tasted even better than she smelled. "Do that again," she commanded, and I did, then a third time. I began panting.

"Humans like to kiss," she whispered. "Octals don't kiss, but we do something similar. Do you want me to show you?" "Yes," I whispered. At that she pressed my hands back down then slid a leg across mine, perching over me. She bent me backwards until I was firmly against the sofa, my head bent at an angle. I continued to pant as I stared up into her eyes. "This is an exchange of fluids," she said. "I will only give you a taste. I am giving you a chance to win your battle with me." I didn't have words. But she put a hand behind my

head and lowered her mouth to mine. Then she slipped her tongue into me while pulling my head forward. Her tongue slipped deep inside me, further than a human tongue would have, and then I felt fresh wetness across my own tongue. She brushed her tongue across mine, and after a moment, I felt something new. I was filled with deep, deep pleasure, and I moaned. Dark Skies withdrew from me, although she licked my lips, and when I licked them clean, I was filled with more of the pleasure. "Do you want me to stop what I'm doing to you, Andromeda?" she asked. "No. God, no. Oh god, but what

are you doing to me?" "This is our battle of wills." She looked into one eye, then the other. "I think you'd do anything I asked, wouldn't you?" "Yes," I whispered. "Please kiss me again." "Maybe soon," she said. "If you willingly kiss my feet, you don't get to go home. If I tell you to kiss my feet, what will you do?" My head cleared marginally. Dark Skies watched me. I didn't answer her, so she leaned forward and brushed my lips with her tongue again. I reflexively licked them and moaned again as the pleasure built. "Please, Dark Skies," I said.

"Please, what, Andromeda?" "I-" I didn't know. "Do you want me to touch you?" "Yes!" She set her hands moving, leaning closer, and my panting increased. "I want you to think about something," she said. "If you can still think. I want you to think about belonging to me." I moaned. "Yes," I whispered. "Yes." "Kissing me." "Yes." "Making love to me." "Yes, Dark Skies. Please, yes."

"Already this feels so good, doesn't it, Andromeda?" "Yes," I whispered, dragging it out. "We have only been here for a while, not even ten minutes. Imagine a life with me. I would be your queen, and you would obey me completely, wouldn't you?" "Yes," I agreed. "I will give you a choice, Andromeda. Beg to kiss my feet. Beg to kiss them, and I will make you feel very, very good. Or ask me to stop, and I will walk away." "No!" I said. "Don't go." "Then beg," she said. Then she

licked my lips again, and I was filled with more pleasure and such need. "Please, Dark Skies," I said. "Please let me kiss you feet. Please don't stop. Please... Please..." As begging goes, it probably wasn't very good, but I didn't have enough brain power left for eloquence. She moved from me, standing, and I felt such loss. "Kiss my feet, Andromeda," she said. "Kiss them very thoroughly, and I will give you pleasure." She didn't need to order twice. I slid from the sofa and lowered myself to her feet. I kissed them, and I kissed them, and when she ordered me to lick, I licked. She ordered me to open my

mouth, and then she slid two fingers into me, and I sucked on them greedily. Then I kissed her feet some more before she pulled me to my feet. Then we were kissing again, her tongue in my mouth, and I knew nothing else but pleasure for along time after that.

Negotiation When next I could think, I was back in my cell, lying on my side. The shackles were gone, but I still wore the visor. I didn't remember getting there, but I felt deep loss. Dark Skies was not there. I didn't remember getting there. I didn't remember anything but pleasure after I kissed her feet. I closed my eyes and slept. **** I woke to a voice saying, "Breakfast will arrive in ten minutes, Mating Candidate Hayes." I opened my eyes slowly. I reached up to rub the sleep from them,

surprising myself when I found the visor in place. I tried to remove it, but I couldn't. I lay there for a while, trying to put the pieces together. The battle of wills wasn't a battle at all. I'd have done anything she asked, anything at all. And it took her only a few minutes. Eventually I sat up. Breakfast arrived. I took a look at it then saw to my morning needs, cleaning up as best I could. I found evidence I had deeply enjoyed my time with Dark Skies, although my panties were fresher than they should have been. I didn't ask myself too closely how that could have

happened. I was ravenous by the time I turned to the food. It was basic breakfast: pancakes, eggs, and bacon. There was orange juice to go with. I ate every bite then placed the tray back where I'd gotten it. Then I went back to the bed and curled up, closing my eyes. I didn't sleep, and it was only a little while before the visor dimmed, then brightened. Administrator Brighteyes appeared. "Good morning, Ms. Hayes." "I lost," I whispered. "That was a given. In all fairness, I would also have lost, although

I would probably find a way to cheat." "You drugged me." "I didn't drug you. Dark Skies did." "How?" "Her scent." "Can all of you do that?" "Most species produce pheromones. The Octal are especially potent. But tell me. Do you doubt me when I tell you that we are able to cheat?" "No," I whispered. "Oh god, what did she do to me? I barely remember." "Almost nothing. Dark Skies is a very kind woman, Ms. Hayes. She asked

me to thank you." "Why?" "I think she told you. She's never done that before. Although you were no challenge for her, she gained experience she can use in the future. And she enjoyed your attention." I didn't answer right away. "I don't know what to say," I finally admitted. "It was perhaps an overwhelming experience. Well, it is time to make a decision. Do you wish me to have you collected and escorted to the arena? I can have four males waiting for you." "No."

"Perhaps you wish to join the next group of women to come though. I can give you things to occupy your mind so you are not completely bored." "You said we could negotiate." "So I did. I will have you collected shortly." Her image disappeared, and I was looking at the cell. **** I found myself back on the chair, my legs swallowed, my arms swallowed. The Catseye sat across from me. "What are my options?" "Agree to accept your fate relatively willingly, and I'll work with

you as much as I can. Or the arena is being used right now, but I can have you out there this afternoon." "Those are my choices?" "They are." "What happened to the other choices?" She said nothing but simply waited. "You'd let a male have me." "You can try to resist him," she said. "He'll cheat." I looked away. "I'd let Dark Skies have me." "I know. She'd accept you for a dalliance, but not as a mate." "What do you want?"

"Make me an offer, Ms. Hayes," she said. "An offer." "Yes. Make me an offer. That is the nature of negotiation." "And you'll accept, as long as I willingly marry one of you." "Not necessarily, but that is the beginning of negotiation." I turned back to her. "Fine. An offer." I thought about it. "I don't want to be forced to marry someone I don't even know." "And?" "I don't want to be forced to marry some male." "I still don't hear an offer."

"Are you going to force me to marry someone?" "I will force you to go home with someone, and that person will be allowed to woo you. There are rules. You will follow them. After a period of time, you could be allowed to go home. None of the women who go home are happy for having done so." "Why not?" "Because whoever you're with will have been cheating for months, Ms. Hayes. None of the other species are as powerful in this way as the Octal, but you didn't last five minutes against her. If I let her keep you for a week and forcibly removed you, you'd kill yourself trying to get back to her."

"This is wrong." "Make me an offer." "An offer." "An offer." "An offer." Okay, we were well into a circle there, but I was stalling, trying to think. "Would you let me get to know someone first?" "Keep going." "All right." I smiled. "I'll let you send me on dates." "Dates." "That is the human way," I said. "Dates. With whomever you want, as long as she's female." "And then what?" "And then we'll see what

happens." "Intriguing offer," she said. "Unfortunately, it's not quite good enough. Do you care to sweeten the agreement?" "You can counteroffer." "Fine. I'll introduce you to sixteen of the males here at the center. You can spend a few hours with them and then pick the four you wish to compete against." "That's hardly an offer." "Yours was also hardly an offer. I believe it is your turn to counteroffer." "Introduce me to sixteen females and give me two weeks, but if I don't like any of them, you'll send me home."

"Interesting. If it weren't for the final clause, I'd consider it. Care to remove it?" "Six months." "Excuse me?" "Six months. I'll date whomever you want, as long as she's female, for up to six months. If two of us hit it off during that time, then we do. If not, at the end of that six months, I'll pick one of them." "And if she's not interested after getting to know you?" "Then you send me home." "No. You'll pick again, and again, until one accepts." "No," I said. "I'll pick once, and

if she declines, then I get to pick from amongst them to join me in your arena." "Excluding the species that don't do that?" "No. I get to pick. Four, I believe you said." She considered me. "Sixteen." "You're not serious. Four." "Eight, and I get to pick half of them." "I get veto power. Otherwise they could all come to an agreement, in effect giving me to someone I hate." "If you veto all my choices, I get to fill out the eight with males." "Why would you do that to me?" "So you won't dare veto all my

choices." "You could back me into a terrible corner," I said. "There's no promise you're even going to introduce me to anyone I don't hate." "I will allow you to meet every female who comes here," she said. "It will be their choice to ask you out. I can't do better than that." "If I come to you in six months and honestly tell you I didn't like any of them, what are we going to do?" "You won't." "What if?" "Then we'll extend our agreement." "If you agree to not put anyone

into the arena who I flat out didn't care for, I'll agree to your terms." She smiled. "You'll spend the six months, when you're not on a date, in your cell. Some of the women I introduce to you will want challenges with you before they will go on a human style date. You will do your best to win, or I will find ways to punish you." "No," I said. "You can't leave me in there like that. I'll go crazy." "I'll let you keep the visor. It is very clever." "So six months of television?" "Consider it better than any human computer." "I want a job. A paying job, one

that pays at least what I was making a week ago. And not one moping floors." "A job." "One that uses my brain." "Working for me." "If that's what you want. And exercise. Daily." "You'll accept the rest of my terms?" "Yes." "You will spend your spare time in the cell, but if you behave, you will keep the visor, and I will give you nearly full control over it." "Clothes." "Not while you're in the cell." "Bedding."

"Not required." "Administrator, give me something." "I'm giving you a unique deal. You're the one who asked for six months." I stared at her for a while. "A good job." "My assistant." She smiled. "You'll help run the challenges." "No." "Take it or leave it," she said. "Leave it, and you'll spend most of your time in your cell, and I'll let you have exercise only when it pleases me to do so." "Give me a decent place to live

and I'll agree." "No." "Administrator, I don't want to be down in the cells, looking at those morose women, if you're then going to make me help you treat them like this." "That's fair," she said after a moment. "I can put you in a private cell block. You won't see any other women." "Is that the best you can do?" "No, but it's the offer on the table. You're a mating candidate, and you will spend your time as one." "Fine," I said. "Fine." "Let us review," she said with a smile. "Six months, or perhaps less. I will introduce you to any female

interested in meeting you. You will go out with any who ask. At the end of those six months, you will offer to become mated to one of them. If you cannot make that offer, or she declines, you go into the arena as specified." "Yes." "You will work for me. When you are not with one of the challengers or performing your duties, you will be in your cell." "Exercise." "Right. How often?" "Two hours five times a week. I like to swim and bike." "Biking is problematic. Swimming I can offer, and perhaps other

choices." "All right. Clothes." "I will provide suitable clothing for you. You will wear what I select." "I can't keep dressing like this," I said, looking down. "They're going to get, um..." "I know. I will see to these needs as well." "I wouldn't suppose you could just send me home." "No." I sighed. "Was there more to discuss?" "Your hours will be irregular. Some of the challenges are overnight. Your visor will have your schedule."

"All right." "You begin tomorrow. Spend today learning the capabilities of the visor." "Exercise." She considered me. "We have a pool. I do not promise you will be alone." She smiled. "You're not going to give me a swim suit, are you?" "I will obtain one, but I don't have one ready today. If you want to swim, this is your offer today. However, you could swim as you're dressed, and I will have other things for you afterwards." And so I nodded.

Visor We spoke for another few minutes. Basically, we verified I wouldn't engage in violence. Then, like that, she released me, even freeing me from the shackles. I rubbed my wrists. "I will escort you to the pool," she explained. "After that, your visor will direct you where to go. You may swim as long as you desire, then shower and dress. The visor will guide you back to your cell. You will enter willingly. If you violate your parole, I will have you in the arena with four males, none of whom you will like." "I'll behave." "Good."

A moment later, she said, "See if you can follow the visor's directions." I cocked my head. I had almost forgotten I was wearing it. It wasn't doing anything differently. "How do I do that?" "Look around." I did, turning slowly, and then there was a closed door in the wall behind me. It hadn't been there before, and the door was pulsing blue. "Blue is good." "Blue is good," she agreed. I stood and walked to the door. Administrator Brighteyes stepped around the table, catching up to me just as I reached the door. It opened

automatically. We exited into a hallway. I could go left or right. I looked left, and there was a red haze over everything. When I looked right, there was a set of glowing blue dots hanging in the air. "Follow the dots, I assume." The dots led me to a wall, and then a door opened onto something that was clearly an elevator. I followed the dots. I didn't have to push any buttons. The elevator began moving, and we descended. There were no indications how deep we were going. We stepped out, and there were no more dots. "To our left is a gymnasium," she said.

"It's not red." "You are authorized to use any of these facilities," she said. "But you will probably not be alone. The pool is right." It was a short walk to a glass wall, and on the other side, a large swimming pool. There were other people using the pool, and it was clear some of them were aliens. Others were human. I stared through the glass. "I'm in my underwear," I said quietly. "Is it so different than a swim suit?" "It is much thinner, and once it gets wet..." I trailed off. "I turned to her. "Please, Administrator. Isn't there

something else I can wear?" "Would you be upset if you had the pool to yourself?" "I don't know. Anyone could stop by." "If I gave you the choice of skinny dipping with absolutely no one else in the room, would you take it? I don't promise no one would be watching from here, and there are video cameras." "Who is watching?" "I don't know. Anyone with access to our network who so chooses. It could be no one, or it could be a great many people." "Humans?" "Some."

"I bet you could give me something. I bet you could." "I could, but I'm not offering." "Why not?" "Because this is part of being a mating candidate." "Could I come back when no one is here?" "There is little promise even if you arrived when this room was unused that it would remain unused. I'll make you three offers. You may forego exercise today. You may go swimming dressed as you are. Or I will remove the humans, and you will skinny dip." I sighed. "There is one more rule. You

will not speak to any humans except as required for your duties or theirs. If any attempt to speak to you, you will inform them you are not allowed to speak to a human. You are also not obligated to speak to any of the aliens, but that is your choice." "I think I'd like to go back to my cell," I said in a small voice. She studied me for a minute. "I think you are making a mistake." "I think you could give me a swim suit. Or a pair of shorts. Or another choice." "I probably could, but I have a reason not to." "Why?"

"Because you are a mating candidate, and I want you off balance. If you don't let me do it this way, I'll find other ways." "Get rid of the males, and I'll skinny dip," I offered. She looked through the glass. "No, but I'll let you have a towel and robe, and I'll tell the males to leave you alone. That's the best you're going to get." I turned away. "You're an evil woman. I hope someday someone does something to you like you're doing to all of us." She ignored my comment. "So, do you want to swim?" I didn't look at her, but I nodded.

"Come." She turned us to the right, and we entered what was clearly a locker room that looked like any found at a modern health club. "This is for females." She led me to a rack, and there were waiting robes. Beside them were towels in a bin. I shrugged into the robe and held it tightly around me. "Thank you," I whispered. "There is a rack near the pool," she said. "It is far enough from the water to avoid being splashed." She led me to one of the lockers. "This is now yours. It will open only for you or me. Leave your under clothes here. There will be fresh clothing here for you after your shower. You will return the robe and dress only in what you find here."

"I understand." "Wait here. I will summon you when you should come." "Yes, Administrator." She left me for perhaps five minutes. It was hard, but I took off everything under the robe, setting them in the locker and closing it. Then I pulled the robe tightly around myself and waited. Then in front of my eyes appeared a word. "Come." I looked around, saw the path to the pool, and soon emerged in the big room. The humans were all gone, but Jasmine and a number of the other aliens were watching for me to appear. I walked straight to Jasmine. "They're

watching me." "Yes, they are," she said. "Take off the robe and leave it here." She gestured to a standard clothing rack, complete with hangars. "You can leave your towel here or use one of the chairs." "Please tell them to turn around." She crossed her arms and said nothing. "Fine," I said. I walked to the edge of the pool and called out, "Do any of you speak English?" One of the males moved slightly closer. I don't even know how to describe him. He was clearly an alien. Envision a scene from Star Wars, if you want. Pick one of the aliens. Does it

really matter? "Many of us do," he said, his words heavily accented. "I wouldn't suppose you would give me an ounce of privacy," I asked. He shifted weight and looked around then looked back. "Speak more slowly." "Will you all please turn your backs while I get into the water?" "Why?" "Because Administrator Brighteyes won't let me wear any clothes." "Speak slowly." "Because. I. Am. Naked." He gestured. "You wear this."

"I. Must. Take. It. Off. To. Swim." Again he looked around. "Human females small. Different bodies. Curiosity." "Please," I said. "I'm really upset. Please do this for me." I turned to the Catseye. "Will you at least translate for me?" "You don't need me," she said. "You're doing fine." I turned back, and everyone was still watching. Then the male who had been speaking turned, speaking rapidly in one of their languages. Then he spoke in a second language. A moment later, everyone in the room, except the Catseye, turned his back on me.

"Thank you," I said. "Better hurry," said the Catseye. "They aren't necessarily patient." I ran to the rack, slipped the robe from my shoulders, and shoved it onto a hangar. I sent the towel flying towards a chair and was pleased my aim was gone. Then I ran for the water and dived. I came up, turned around, and looked up to the Catseye. "There," she said. "That wasn't so hard. Were you going to swim laps?" "Yes." "They'll let you have the lane," she said with a gesture. "I'll keep the human males away for two hours and warn any other males who come down to

give you some distance." "Thank you." "You're welcome. Ms. Hayes, you are the first mating candidate to be offered use of this pool, unless it was part of a challenge. When word gets out, others will come. I encourage you to be polite." I nodded. **** I swam slow laps for a half hour. More aliens arrived, including one or two that looked female, but they left me alone. But then, while I was swimming towards the deep end for another lap, one of the females moved into the lane

and waited for me. I would have swum into her, but she caught me before I could actually hit her, then steadied me as I flailed. She pulled me to the edge of the pool, and I gripped tightly. "I am sorry," she said. "I did not mean to startle you." She looked like some of the others, taller than a human, and very broad. She looked human, after a fashion, although her features were quite odd. And she was huge. She wasn't wearing any more than I was. "I didn't see you." "My name is Jessica Maple," she said. She held out her hand.

"Andromeda Hayes," I said. We shook hands there in the water. "What species are you?" "In English, we are called Ardents. You are a mating candidate." "Yes," I said. "And you? Are you here for a mate?" "No. One from my squad. We are here to watch and, how do you humans say? Offer good wishes?" "Cheer him on?" "This is the sound you make at sporting competitions?" "Yes." "Then yes. We are here to cheer him on. Why has Administrator Brighteyes allowed you to use this pool,

and with no guards to oversee you?" "We came to an arrangement. I don't know why she is treating me differently from anyone else." "You should ask her. She might answer. Some from my squad wish to speak with you." She gestured, and I could see a group of aliens watching us." "Are they all males?" "Yes. We have three females in our squad, but I am the only here." "Why do they want to talk to me? I'm nobody." "You must be somebody, as Administrator Brighteyes is treating you differently from the others." "Why do they wish to speak with

me?" "You are new. You are not from the current batch. They wish to know if they may compete for you." I smiled. "You'd have a better chance than they would." "I do not understand," she said. "Three are better warriors than I am. They would surely best me, even if I were to capture you first." "That may be," I replied with a smile. "But if I end in an arena, there won't be any males. Only females." "But you are female." "Yes, I am. Does your species not do that?" "But... you and I could not form a

child." "There are ways around that," I said. "No. Your species and mine both require a male and a female." "My species knows how to take an egg from a female and sperm from a male, combine them, and then place them in a female. Does yours?" "But I am female, and you are female." "And if you and I were to become mated, then if we decide to have children, we would find a male to offer a donation. For humans, our doctor does this for us." "Is not the goal of being mated to

combine... The essence of life to make new life?" "The goal of being mated is to share life with someone you love," I said. "Humans do not need to be mated to produce babies. And they are not obligated to produce babies just because they are mated." She made an expression. I couldn't have told you what it meant, but her eyes crossed, then spread wide, turning outward in opposite directions, then did that again before settling back on me. "Humans have such odd ideas." "From what I hear, every species has odd ideas." "Perhaps they do. Will you talk to the males?"

"What do you wish for me to call you?" "My name is Jessica Maple." "Yes, but different species seem to have different ways they preferred to be address. I am American, and we are informal. You could call me Andromeda. The Catseye is more formal and calls me Ms. Hayes." "You would have me call you by only a portion of your name?" "Yes." "Then you should call me Jessica." "Well, Jessica. I am having a very bad week. It started off bad, and then it got a whole lot worse when I was

kidnapped and dragged here. I am now told I will be forced to marry against my will. I would rather not have a bunch of males clustered around me while I'm swimming naked. If they want to speak with me, they must convince Administrator Brighteyes I may dress properly, and they still must not crowd me." I paused. "Did you understand everything I said?" "I understand your words. I do not understand everything you said." "You understand I do not want to be here." "That I understand." "You understand I find the males deeply intimidating." "You do not find me

intimidating?" "Not at the moment, no. You understand humans feel especially vulnerable when undressed." "I understand this as a fact, but I do not understand why." "Then I think you understand enough." She made a head cocking motion, and then she turned, raising her voice. She spoke rapidly in another language. At a pause, I said, "I'm going to swim." But she put a hand on my arm. "Please wait." Then she finished what she was saying to the males. I have no idea how they felt about it, but they left me alone. Then she turned back to me. "May I swim beside you?"

"I bet you swim much faster than I do." "May I?" "Yes, if you like." Then I turned, kicked off the end of the pool, and began swimming another lap. An instant later, the alien was beside me, swimming the same pace I set. **** She stayed beside me for the rest of my time in the pool. Periodically we stopped so I could catch my breath, and then we talked. I learned her squad was one of several assigned to the ET delegation at the United Nations. "We're here for two years," she said.

"Where do you go after that?" "We'll find out," she said. She asked about me, and we compared notes about family. She'd left her family to come to Earth, but she had her squad mates. She wasn't mated. "But surely some of the men on your squad are interested in you." "That is bad for morale," she replied. "So whom do you date?" I had to explain that concept. "I have not, since leaving our home." "Oh," I said. "That doesn't sound fair." "It is not about fair," she said.

We swam a little longer, then the visor warned me I had an hour until dinner. I came to a stop. "I'm running out of time today. Could you ask them to turn their backs when I get out?" "Of course. May I talk to you more another time?" "I'd like that," I said. "Thank you, Jessica." She changed languages and spoke for a moment. The males were actually nice and turned their backs. I made a dash for the towel, wrapping it around me, then grabbing the robe. By the time I turned, some of the males were watching me again. I tried to ignore them and headed for the locker room. ****

Everything I needed was there. I washed thoroughly, which felt good. But there wasn't a brush, and I realized I should have asked for one. I tried running my fingers through my hair, but it was going to end up drying like this. I sighed and headed for the locker. It opened for me, and inside I found a very small amount of clothing, but there was a brush and hair dryer. I was surprised by that, but I made use. When I was done, words appeared in front of me. You may take the brush with you, but leave the hair dryer here. I moved back to the locker, stowing the hair dryer. Then I stared at the clothing. "Are you watching me,

Administrator Brighteyes?" Dress in the clothes provided. Leave the robe. I sighed. The undies and camisole were new. But it was just a camisole. I couldn't believe she was making me dress like this. "Where is my sports bra?" Laundry. "Will I get it back?" We'll see. After that, I stalled, working slowly. I hung the robe up. I put the towel in the damp towel bin. I poked through the locker in case new clothes suddenly appeared. Hey, they had advanced

technology. I didn't know what they could do. I didn't find out whether they could materialize fresh clothing. It was clear this was all she was going to give me. "Will you talk to me?" A moment later, her image appeared. "What can I do for you, Ms. Hayes?" "You could call me Andromeda." She paused for a moment then inclined her head. "You do not offer for me to call you Andie?" "No," I said. "Administrator, you told me I would be punished if I strayed from expectations. I do not wish to do so

inadvertently." "The visor will warn you," she replied. "You should now return to your cell. The visor will begin to guide you the moment you step from the locker room." She paused. "Did you enjoy your swim?" "I would have enjoyed it more if I could have been a little less self conscious." "As I said, I want you off balance. I will grow weary if you continue to harangue me." I stared for a moment. "Will you tell me why you are treating me differently than past mating candidates?" "Perhaps, but not right now. Return to your cell, Ms. Hayes."

I sighed. "Yes, Administrator." She terminated the call. I turned to the entrance. The blue lights appeared in the air, and they were easy to follow. I retraced a portion of my steps, climbed into the elevator, and went down what felt a short distance. I stepped out of the elevator. The blue lights told me to turn left. I looked right, and everything was tinged in red. At that point, I contemplated misbehaving. I stood still, wondering. Could I get free? I doubted it. I didn't have control of the elevator. I was pretty sure the Catseye could readily track me. The place was filled with guards to fulfill her bidding, both the humans who helped them as well as the aliens I'd

seen. I could make trouble, but I was absolutely convinced any rebellion I might make would be exceedingly short lived. And I had no doubt in my mind the Catseye would implement a far harsher punishment than I wished to accept. I sighed and followed the blue lights. I passed down a corridor lined with cells, but when I glanced at each, they were empty. The lights turned left and stopped at one of the cells. It looked like any other. I stepped up to it and stopped, and a moment later, a doorway appeared. I meekly stepped through, and when I turned around, the doorway was gone.

I was their meek prisoner, and it galled me I'd delivered myself right back into my own cell. I looked around. I couldn't tell if it was the same cell. It looked the same, but they all looked the same. But there were no women across from me. Indeed, I hadn't seen a single person since leaving the pool. I wondered about that. I knew the visor could show me what it wished. I wondered if it could hide things it wished to hide. I decided thinking about that would drive me insane. I sighed and sat on the bed, pulling my knees to my chest. ****

Dinner was only a few minutes. I heard a noise, and then there was a chime and a voice that told me dinner had arrived. I ate. I cleaned up. I sat back on the bed. A minute later, words appeared in front of me. Initiating visor demonstration. Those words stayed there for a few seconds, and then the visor began speaking to me. It gave me a tour of its capabilities. I had to say, I was impressed. The demonstration completed, then more words appeared. Some features are disabled. Oh, of course they were. I

wondered if the Catseye were teasing me, and she had only enabled the boring features. But after a moment, new words appeared. If you wish to begin the tutorial, blink rapidly twice. I read it twice, then quickly blinked twice. The words faded, and then the visor began teaching me how to use it. **** In the end, it wasn't hard. Composing a text message would take time. But the interface wasn't complicated. Once the tutorial was over, I browsed through the features to see which were enabled. I looked for and

found every feature I could remember from the demonstration, and I couldn't figure out what was disabled. There was an email system. I poked my nose into it. I smiled and hit the button to compose an email. Then I tried to select a recipient. There was no way to type someone's address. I could pick from the list of choices, and there were only two: Jasmine Brighteyes and Jessica Maple. I stared for a while. I bet if the Catseye were wearing the visor, there'd be a feature that let her type an email address. I decided I knew what type of features were disabled. But the name was sitting right there, so I selected the Ardent's name

then composed a brief note. Dear Jessica, Thank you for your kind company while swimming today. Perhaps we'll meet again. Andromeda Hayes It was simple and perhaps not very warm. But I wasn't feeling very warm, either. I hovered my gaze over the Send button for a while, then squinted, and off it went. I was wondering what to do when the visor told me I had new mail. That was fast. I clicked the Read Now button to discover a note not from the Ardent, but from Administrator Brighteyes.

Your visor can provide a variety of distractions. It can also help you to sleep, if you desire. I have also added additional options from the main menu related to your job for me. You officially begin tomorrow at ten AM, but if you wish to study tonight, you could. Your visor displays your schedule including meals, times you will work for me, and your windows to participate in exercise. Jasmine Brighteyes I found the schedule. It was accessed directly from the main menu, and sure enough, it made sense. Breakfast was at 7:30. There was a blue period from breakfast until 9:30. I was then scheduled to work from 10:00 until

4:00, and then a blue period until 5:30. Dinner at 6:00, and nothing marked after that. I found the new option from the main menu. It was titled simply, Job. I clicked it, and I was presented with two more options: Videos and Tutorial. I went to the videos first and quickly learned these were from past challenges. The first was listed as an overview, and so I clicked it. It was background. I learned about the challenge process. I learned about the different arenas. And I learned some of the challenges were games such as chess or even cards. After that, I had access to what seemed like an endless number of other

videos, and I was provided different ways to search, sort, and index them. I could search by date, participant, type of competition, or arena used. I figured out how to list the videos by human participant sorted in reverse chronological order. The list showed the woman's name, the date of the earliest video, the number of videos, and the total duration. Near the top was a woman named Apple Hayes. We shared a last name, and so I selected her. This gave me a much shorter list of videos. There was one titled simply, "Contestants." I clicked it. Then I watched. There was video and voiceover. First, it displayed two images,

one of a human woman and one of an alien male. I paused the video and stared at the alien. I couldn't tell relative size, but he looked powerfully built and, well, humanoid, anyway. He had the usual assortment of appendages: one head, two arms, two legs. He was wearing what looked like a vest, pants, and boots. His muscles seemed powerful, and there was something unusual about his skin. It was almost iridescent, and I would see shortly he had scales. Scales like a snake. He was introduced as Tom Baskins. It seemed strange to look at what was clearly an alien with such a normal, western name. Apple Hayes was twenty-two

years old, five-foot-four, and, I decided, quite cute. She had short, black hair and a pert nose. But in her picture, she looked sad. She wasn't smiling, and I thought her eyes looked red. I imagined that was a common look. I wondered who saw these videos. I wondered if they realized when a woman looked like this, it was because she'd been crying. I wondered if the aliens cared. I found it unlikely. Jasmine Brighteyes clearly didn't care how much she hurt us. I let the video run. The video introduced Apple. She was a recent college graduate with a degree in chemistry. I learned a little about her test

scores, which didn't quite make sense at the time. She was a middle daughter. Then the video went on to talk about Tom Baskins, the alien. His information made little sense as well. But then I watched as two guards led Apple into the arena. She ascended a podium and then answered a number of questions. When the questions ended, the video faded. I watched Apple's remaining videos, one after another. I watched Apple as she was led onto the arena floor. This time there were pillars rising from the sand. I counted, and there were sixteen of them arranged in a circle. Apple was led to one. Her hands were pressed to the top, and the stone

swallowed them, just like the table and chairs had been holding me. Other women were led to the other pillars. Then Administrator Brighteyes talked to the women. She gave them one last chance to change their minds and select from a species that prefer a willing mate. A moment later, four other aliens stepped onto the sands and came to talk to the women. One of the women accepted the offer given to her, and she left with one of the aliens. Then the administrator offered one last set of directions before striding from the grounds. A moment later, the women were freed. I expected the competition to begin, but instead, some of the women hurried to the racks of

weapons. Others moved to the perimeter and wandered from alien to alien, sometimes talking, sometimes just moving along. Apple moved to the nearest rack, tested the various weapons, and finally selected a long stick. She gave it a good spin, and she looked pretty good. She did some stretching, spun the staff a few more times, then returned to the center. A few minutes later, all the women had gathered back at the center. Then there was a chime, and the competition began. Apple and another woman, also with a staff, began running for one of the exits. Two of the aliens moved to intercept them, and two more waited

nearer the entrance. Apple and the other woman tried to dodge around the two waiting aliens, but the aliens were faster and interposed themselves. Twice more the women tried to make it around, and each time, the two aliens were faster. Apple and the two women looked at each other, nodded, and took off in the opposite direction. Both aliens chased them. Apple looked over her shoulder, saw the aliens were catching quickly, and yelled, "Spin, now!" Both women spun around, their staffs spinning even faster. The other woman's alien was able to stop outside of range of her staff, but Apple connected hard on her alien's ribs. There was a loud crack! And he drew

backwards. Apple didn't give him a chance to recover. She went after him, attacking hard, spinning the staff quickly, and she hit him twice more, both times in the same place. The alien stepped out of range. The other woman called out. She wasn't doing very well, and she had entered into a game of tug of war with her staff. Her alien was winning. Apple spun, took five steps, and brought her staff down hard on the second alien's arm. There was another crack, and I gave out a loud cheer. "You go, Apple!" I yelled. That alien howled, releasing the other woman's staff, and turned on

Apple. The two women harried him, and they were doing a good job driving him out of their path. Apple's first alien had appeared to retreat completely. But then a new alien arrived. "Not fair!" I cried. "She beat hers." Apple didn't even see him coming. He arrived from behind her. She reached back with the staff, and he grabbed it from her, wrenching it away. "Cheater!" Then he grabbed her, pulled her to her chest, and backed away from the battle. Moments later, he set a screaming Apple into the cage. She

seemed as offended by the turn of events as I was. Apple and the other woman were the last to be captured, having given the competition a better run than the other women. Without Apple's help, it only took a little longer for her alien to yank her staff away and toss it to the side. She turned to run, but he chased after her, catching her one handed, then dragged her to one of the cages and tossed her in. He wasn't as nice as Apple's alien had been. On the other hand, I thought he might have a broken arm. I hoped it hurt, the asshole. At this point, the camera seemed to hover over Apple's shoulder. She stood at the door of the cage, shaking the

door and screaming. It didn't do her any good. But I watched as Apple watched the rest of the fight. Her alien was overcome by another, and that one by a third, and this one was Tom Baskins. Tom held off one challenger, and then it was over. He turned to Apple, breathing heavily, blood running from a wound on his forehead. "I am Tom Baskins," he said in slow English. "I don't care who the hell you are," Apple screamed. "Lay a hand on me, and I swear, I'll do my best to kill you."

"You tell him, Apple!" I yelled. "Are you injured?" he asked. "What do you care, you animal?" "You will be my mate. It is my responsibility to care for you." "I'll never be your mate," she replied. "You can get that idea out of your head right now. You're not my type." "Perhaps you will change your mind," said the alien. "If you are uninjured, you must be returned to your cell. Do you wish to walk, or should I carry you?" "Touch me and I'll kill you." Her threats didn't seem to bother him. He opened the cage door, and she

backed away from him. So he stepped in, cornered her, then simply held out a hand, waiting. Apple stared at the hand for a while. "Perhaps if you pretend to like me, I will grow complacent, and you will find your opportunity to kill me." "Funny," she said. "Get away from me." "I must return you to your cell. Take my hand, and you may walk. Or if you prefer I carry you, I can do so." "Fuck you," she said. She didn't give him her hand. She kicked him, and it looked like a good kick, too, right where it should have counted. It didn't appear to count very much. She cocked to give it another go,

but he reached out and grabbed her, picking her up. He was amazingly gentle about it, although he gathered her flailing limbs so she couldn't continue to fight. The video faded. Over the next two hours, I watched the rest of Apple's videos, one after another. Some of the challenges were quite long, and so those I skimmed. There were five additional challenges between Apple and her alien. They were numbered one through five, so I guessed the first one I'd watched didn't receive a number. Apple won the first and fourth, but the alien won the other three. I didn't think that was surprising. What was surprising was the way Apple's demeanor changed over the

course of the challenges. Each of the videos began with images of what she'd been doing since the previous challenge. At first, she was left in her cell with nothing to do, and the highlight of her day was being allowed to shower. She started the first challenge no happier than she ended the arena. After that, she began spending time with her challenger, and then she began wearing a visor. At the end of the third challenge, even though she lost, she hugged her alien. At the start of the fifth, he had her arm around her, and she was allowing it. At the end, when he captured her for the last time, she laughed and told him he better kiss her before he put her in the cage, if he knew what was good for him.

I couldn't believe it. I went digging for the next one to watch, but the visor told me I had an incoming call from Jasmine Brighteyes. I accepted. "You may stay up all night watching those if you want, but I don't recommend it. Morning comes early." I considered a glare, but I didn't have the energy. "Did you see which one I watched?" "Apple Hayes. Did you pick it for her last name?" "I did." "That was only a few weeks ago," she said. "Your almost-namesake did quite well. In effect, she bested one

opponent herself and assisted to nearly best another." "They cheated after that." "There is no cheating." "She beat hers, but another came and attacked from behind." "Ah. The rule is simple. One challenger per candidate, but if she bests one, then another can step forward." "It was cowardly to take her from behind." "There are some that suggest she should have been more aware," said Administrator Brighteyes. "On the other hand, the others saw what he did, and they were not kind to him during the subsequent battle."

"So they agreed with me?" "They agreed his actions didn't offer Apple proper honor." "And what do you think, Administrator?" She looked at me for a moment. "If I answer, will you agree to tell no one?" I smiled. "This should be good. Yes. I won't say a word to anyone." "I think if-" then she pronounced a name I couldn't reproduce. "-had managed to remain Apple's challenger, I would have helped her win." "Would you really?" "It may have depended upon subsequent actions. My help may have

been limited." "I understand," I said. "You have new mail. You can stay up all night if you want, but I'd recommend you read your mail and go to sleep. The visor can help you." "I saw." "Read your email, and I will stay here in case you have questions." "All right," I said slowly. I went into command mode, which overlaid the menu on top of Jasmine's image. The email was from Jessica Maple. Hello, Andromeda, I enjoyed our time in the pool today. I have discussed you with Administrator Brighteyes. She

explained your desire for daily activity, and so I have an offer for you. Will you accept a Challenge with me? We could share a meal afterwards. Yours, Jessica Maple I read it twice then dismissed it. "You're right," I said. "I have questions. Have you read it?" "No, but she told me what she was going to ask." "She wants me to become her mating candidate?" "That is not the offer. She offers a challenge, but it would be in fun. You would negotiate the nature of the

challenge as well as the reward for the winner." She smiled. "You have been invited on your first date, Andromeda. Are you going to accept?" "I didn't think she was interested in something like that." "She may not be. This may be a date between friends." "I'm not going to go on a date the way you've been letting me dress. For that matter, I'm not doing any challenges like this, either." "If you find yourself in the arena at the end of our agreement, you'll be dressed very much like you are now," she countered. "But no, I agree with you. Did you see that Apple was dressed appropriately for her challenges? You

may not entirely like what I give you, but you will accept my decisions. Do you wish to accept Jessica Maple's offer?" "Is it safe?" "I do not believe you are asking the question that seems most obvious. Yes, it is physically safe." "I guess I was asking if there's anything hidden. Am I agreeing to more than what is obvious?" "You are agreeing to a challenge, the nature to be determined. There would be a reward for the winner, but it would be a minor reward, and it would be arranged between the two of you. You would share a dinner and conversation afterwards, like you might for a date with a human woman. There is no

lingering obligation beyond any implied by the reward of the challenge." "What if she demands a reward I don't wish to pay." "You negotiate, and you may always back out if you cannot come to an agreement. I will not force you." I studied her carefully. "This seems, I don't know. Easier than I was expecting." "I suppose it does. What will you tell her?" "I should accept." "Before you do, I will warn you. I believe you should accept, but I do not promise you will enjoy the challenge. You may hate it, but you won't know

until you try it. But even if you hate it, you'll learn something, and you'll have a nice dinner afterwards." She smiled again. "I believe in your old job, you occasionally were required to manage expectations." I laughed. "Yes, I was. All right. I'll tell her I accept." "Very good. You're already on the schedule. Good luck, Andromeda. I will see you in the morning." Her image faded away. I returned to email. It took me a while to decide what to say, but in the end, I kept it simple. Good evening, Jessica, I would love to accept your offer of a challenge followed by your

company. Thank you. I look forward to our time together. Andromeda And then I lay down and asked the visor to help me to sleep.

Assistant to the Catseye I woke suddenly, but not jarringly. One moment I was asleep, and the next I was awake, my eyes open. I was on my side, staring at the wall. There were no covers, and even in the hottest weather, I always slept with at least a sheet pulled over me. I stared at the grey wall for a moment then rolled onto my back, looking up through the glass ceiling of the cell. I scanned around, but I didn't see any aliens watching me. I stood then took care of my morning needs. With no other choice, I

sat back on the bed and decided to study for work. Breakfast arrived. I ate efficiently, still studying, but then I rose, returned the tray to the delivery nook, and washed up. I consulted the visor. I had time, if I wanted to spend it. I walked to the front wall of the cell and then asked the visor to show me back to the pool. Access granted. A door appeared in the glass. I actually wasn't sure that would work. But I didn't look a gift door in the mouth. I stepped out of my cell. Like it had before, the visor guided me through the facility. I didn't have unlimited time, so I walked

efficiently, padding along the empty passages in my bare feet and skimpy clothing. I hoped I didn't run into anyone. I made it all the way to the females' locker room without encountering anyone, but as I stepped in, I heard voices. I didn't recognize the language. I froze for a minute, but I was determined. I strode in. I collected a robe and a towel and moved to my locker, then I came to a stop. Halfway through a state of undress was an Octal. She was talking to a tall, furry alien. The Octal's back was to me, but the furry alien saw me and raised her eyes to me. Then she nodded in my direction, and the Octal turned. She made a gesture with her

hand. "Good morning, Andromeda Hayes." I smiled. "Good morning, Dark Skies." Then I paused. "This is terrible. You are Dark Skies, yes?" She made the gesture again. "Yes. You cannot tell us apart?" "You are the only Octal I have met. I don't know if I could tell you apart from another." "We are as distinctive as humans," she replied. "But the differences may not be as obvious to you as they are to me." Then she gestured. "This is Gentle Rain. The humans call her species Wookies." "Oh, I think I'll remember that," I said. I stepped forward and offered my

hand. "I am pleased to meet you, Gentle Rain. Do you speak English?" She took my offered hand, engulfing it in her own. "I do," she replied. "If you speak carefully." Her voice was low, with rich tones, like a female version of James Earl Jones. "Oh, I love your voice," I said. "Thank you," she said. She rolled my hand over, still engulfed in hers. Then she reached with her other hand, but she stopped before she touched. "Do you mind?" "No," I said. She caressed the back of my hand with two fingers, then her fingers slid up past my wrist almost to my elbow before she withdrew. That was

when she released my hand. "You also have fur," she observed. "I thought humans wore no fur below their heads." "We actually can be quite furry, although not as furry as you." I paused. "Do you know why humans call you Wookies?" She made a rumbling sound deep in her chest. "I have seen all the Star Wars movies. Humans make such clever movies." "I imagine yours are much better." "Actually, no. My species does not create such art. We perform plays, which can be very elaborate, but nothing like human movies."

I turned to face Dark Skies. "I have been remiss." "Oh? Have you?" "I would not presume, of course, but I wonder." "What do you wonder?" "Do we have a hugging relationship? I thought after our last time together, we might, but human and Octal ways may not be the same." "I was not sure, either," she said. "I would like a relationship that includes hugs." And so I stepped forward, and we wrapped arms around each other. I then whispered into her ear, "Thank you for your kindness during our first

meeting." "You are not upset you lost our battle of wills." "I would rather have gone home, but I could not have won." We tightened for a moment and then separated. "You are here to swim?" she asked. "Yes. Are you coming or going?" "I had just arrived when I encountered Soft Rain," she replied. "Will you allow us to swim with you, Andromeda Hayes?" asked the Wookie. I looked at them and smiled. "If you call me Andromeda. Americans do not usually use both names together past

the initial greeting." "Then I will." "I just need to change," I said. I turned to my locker then offered a small prayer to the Goddess of Mating Candidates. I opened the locker. "Damned goddess," I muttered. No swimsuit had materialized. I turned my back on Dark Skies and Soft Rain, pulled the camisole over my head, then slipped the robe on. The camisole and undies went into the locker, and I closed it. When I turned around, both aliens were watching me while talking in whatever language they were using. I offered a tentative smile. Administrator Brighteyes' plan to keep me off balance

was still working, but I was determined to push through it. "I'm ready." Dark Skies took just a moment. She stripped out of the rest of her clothes, slid a quickly folded stack into her own locker, and then offered a gesture. The Wookie kept her fur on. They followed me to the pool. I walked to the edge of the pool and looked at the small number of swimmers. There were four humans swimming laps: two women and two men. They were wearing swimsuits. I sighed. Then there were several aliens. One was also swimming laps, but he was doing them underwater, and the

entire time I watched, he went back and forth but never came up for air. The Octal and Wookie stepped to my side. I pointed. "Can he breath down there?" "That is a female," said Dark Skies. "I do not believe she is breathing. I believe she holds her breath. But perhaps she has an apparatus or perhaps she has altered her body to allow her to breath in the water." "Oh, wouldn't that be fun," I said. "If you were one of my mates," said Dark Skies, "perhaps I would give you this enhancement." "You can do that?" I asked. "If you were Octal, I could," she

replied. "As a human, I do not know, but I believe we could." There were three other aliens, including another Wookie. "Is that a friend?" "That is a male of my species," said Soft Rain. "Yes, he is my best friend." "Best friend, or a mate?" I asked. She made her rumbling sound, and I decided it was her form of a laugh. "He is my brother. We are twins. We are here growing accustomed to the weather. He wishes to compete for a mate." "And you? Do you wish to compete for a mate?" "I have not decided," she

replied. "Human males do not interest me." Then she looked me up and down slowly. "I have not decided how I feel about human females." She rumbled again. "Perhaps my brother and I would choose to compete for you." I turned and stepped close to her, moving well into her personal space. She looked down at me. I couldn't read her expression, but her eyes looked kind. I set a hand on the center of her chest. "I have no interest in a male Wookie, Soft Rain." Soft Rain stared at me. Beside me, Dark Skies snorted. I turned to face her. "Do you find me amusing?" "I find you very amusing, but currently it is Soft Rain that amuses me

more." "Why does she amuse you?" "Look. You have left her speechless." I turned back to the Wookie. She continued to look down at me, her mouth open slightly, but she was saying nothing. I removed my hand. "Did I do anything wrong?" "No, little human," said the Wookie. "Did you just invite me to compete for you?" "Not exactly, but I bet if you learn more about me, you'll figure out what I did offer." Then I stepped away, moving to the clothing rack. "Would one of you ask the males to turn away until I'm in the water?"

It was Dark Skies who spoke. I turned my back, slid the robe from my shoulders, hung it up, and then tossed the towel at a chair. Score! Two for two. Then I turned and ran for the water, my eyes flicking to the underwater swimmer, then diving deeply, making sure I didn't dive on top of her. Remaining underwater, I swam to the far end of the pool. But it was as far as I could hold my breath, so I came to the surface, took a deep breath, then pushed off from the pool, returning to the bottom to swim back. I did another back and forth, but then when I reached the deep end for the third time, the underwater swimmer was

waiting for me, hovering in the water and watching me approach. I gestured up and surfaced, and a moment later she surfaced in front of me. "Is English your preferred language?" she asked, speaking slowly and carefully. I had to cock my head to understand her accent, but then nodded. "Yes," I said. "I am Andromeda Hayes. You should call me Andromeda." "It is my pleasure," she replied. "You should call me Cherish. I did not know humans could swim in this fashion. Will you explain?" "I'm not sure what is surprising," I said. "Humans swim like that." She gestured with her hand to the men and

women still swimming their laps. "That is one way humans swim," I said. "Have you been altered to breathe the water?" "No. I hold my breath." I demonstrated briefly, then gestured. "One length of the pool is as far as I can swim this way." "Oh, I see. A simple answer. You are not like the other humans here." "We all like to believe we're unique," I said. "In what way am I different?" "You swim under the surface, and you do not hide your body." "Ah. I am considered a mating

candidate. Administrator Brighteyes will not give me a swimsuit. I think she is a voyeur." "I do not know that word." "She likes to watch." The alien gave three quick barks. "I will remember this word," she replied. "I believe you are right." At that time, Dark Skies and Soft Rain swam up to us. I moved to the edge of the pool, using a hand to steady myself. "Do you three know each other?" "I am sorry," said Soft Rain. "I do not know this Tutor." "Tutor? Is that the name of your species?" I asked Cherish. "Yes," she said.

"Well. Cherish the Tutor," I said formally, "This Wookie is called Soft Rain." The two offered greetings. "And do you know this Octal, Dark Skies?" "Yes," said Cherish. "Dark Skies and I have met. My pleasure, Dark Skies." "My pleasure, Cherish," replied the Octal. "Well, everyone knows I am a mating candidate, as unwilling as I may be. Dark Skies works here. Soft Rain is here to support her brother. And are you here to compete for a mate, Cherish?" "The Tutor do not compete," she replied. "I hope for a willing mate. I have not seen you before, Andromeda." "I arrived mid-term, you could

say," I said. "You are unwilling. Have you then decided to attempt to win your freedom in the arena? You know your chances there are slight." "I do not believe I would care to face Soft Rain's brother in the arena," I said. "My time this morning is limited, and I wish to swim, but I have two offers for all of you. I would offer to accept companions while I swim, and I would offer friendship." And then I took a deep breath, kicked off the pool, and began swimming. A moment later I felt a brush against my arm, and Cherish easily swam beside me. And when I surfaced at the other end, I discovered both Dark Skies and Soft Rain were also

swimming with me, but at the surface. And so we swam. **** The aliens stayed with me for my entire swim, and then we left as a group. They spoke together in another language, although that was okay. But they surrounded me for the walk back to the locker, and then when I headed for the shower, they followed me. I washed efficiently, trying to ignore the other three all watching me while they showered. But I turned to the Wookie. "That's a lot of fur to wash," I said. "And even more to dry." "As a child, I hated taking baths,"

she replied. "But I love to swim and do not wish to smell of the chemicals afterwards. And so I must shower." But then she offered her rumble. "I wouldn't suppose you would wash my back." I laughed. "Sure, but then I must hurry." "If you do not have time-" "I have time." I stepped over and collected some of the shampoo from the dispenser. Soft Rain turned her back to me, and I began to work in the shampoo. A moment later, Dark Skies stepped to my side, and so there were two of us washing the Wookie. "Oh," she said. "That feels good." She looked over her shoulder and rumbled. "I am being bathed by an

Octal?" "It looked enjoyable," said Dark Skies. "This is a little like washing Cookie," I observed. "You have met other Wookies?" asked Soft Rain. "No. Cookie is my roommate's dog." It was the Tutor that snorted. "I do not know what a dog is," said Soft Rain. "It is a furry pet the humans keep," explained Cherish. "Oh!" said Soft Rain. "Air Bud!" I laughed. "That dog is a Golden Retriever. Cookie looks different. But

yes. Air Bud." Soft Air rumbled. "I am not a dog, but I understand how I resemble one." Dark Skies and I worked efficiently, and soon we were helping Soft Rain rinse the suds from her fur. Then I looked down at myself and realized I was now a lot furrier than I had been. "Dark Skies, you shed." She looked over at me trying to peel her fur from my skin. "Oh, Andromeda, I am sorry." I smiled. "Don't be. But Cookie sheds like this when she gets a bath, so the resemblance continues." I moved back to my own shower

and rinsed the fur quickly. "Before I go, I want to ask you all something. How can you justify what happens to the women here? How can you justify stealing us from our lives, putting us in those horrible cells, letting the males ogle us all they want, and forcing us to fight for our freedom?" The three exchanged looks. Then Cherish said, "None of that is the Tutor way. I do not justify it. I can explain about the other species..." She trailed off. "But you are here," I said, "Hoping for a mate from amongst the women, none of whom wish to be here." "I wish a willing mate," she said, stressing the word. "No one will go

home with me who does not wish to do so." "What about you two?" I asked, gesturing between the Wookie and the Octal. "Do not ask the Octal," said Cherish. "Her species does not understand the human perspective." "How could you not understand?" I asked Dark Skies. "The details are different," Cherish explained for the Octal. "But Octal mates are not willing. Well, they aren't willing to become mates, but afterwards, they are ecstatic. In her soul, what matters is that the mates are happy. And most of the human women become very happy with their mates."

"And one or two a month attempt suicide," I said. "But what's a few suicides between friends." I sighed. "And you, Soft Rain?" "Wookies compete for mates," she replied. "If we were on our home planet, I would help my brother acquire a mate. She might not be happy about it at first. To us, this is not wrong." "And so if a Wookie you didn't like took you from your family, I suppose you wouldn't have a problem with that?" "Initially I might, but I would bond with my new mate. We would be content." I sighed. ****

There hadn't been fresh clothes waiting in my locker, so I made my way back to my cell in the undies and camisole. I hoped Administrator Brighteyes didn't expect me to dress like this for work. We'd have words if she did. When I arrived at the cell, I stared at it for a minute. For the second time, I was walking into this cell of my own accord. I knew I didn't have a choice, but it still bothered me. Was I becoming complacent so quickly? Was I subconsciously overlooking opportunities to escape? Shouldn't I be more rebellious? And if I were, what good would it do me? I was pretty sure the Catseye

knew I didn't want to be here. I sighed and entered the cell. The doorway closed behind me. I then immediately turned around and asked the visor if I could return to the pool. Access denied. I wasn't surprised, but I wanted to see what it did. I sighed and moved to the bed, leaning against the wall with my knees pulled up. I closed my eyes and leaned my head against the wall. It had been a nice swim, and I'd liked my swimming partners, in spite of their beliefs about how we were being treated. But returning to the cell was a solid reminder of my position here, and I didn't care for it. Maybe I should have used my

time more productively. But I didn't. And so it was ten minutes before the visor dinged. I opened my eyes, and the visor warned me I had an upcoming appointment. I sent a message to Administrator Brighteyes. I don't have any clothes. You promised I wouldn't have to work dressed like this. Her reply came nearly immediately. Do what you're told. Those words hung in space for a moment, and then the visor repeated its warning it was time for me to leave. Grumbling, I stood and walked to the

glass wall. A door appeared, and once I stepped out, the row of blue dots. "We're going to talk, Catseye," I muttered. "Oh, we're going to talk." If she was listening, she gave no indication. And it turned out my frustration was unnecessary. The visor led me from the cellblock and to the wall. As I approached, a doorway appeared, and I found myself staring into a small room. There was curtain rod on one side and a bench on the other. And hanging from the curtain rod was a skirt and blouse. "Oh," I said. Then I repeated it. "Oh." I stepped in, and the doorway closed behind me. Words appeared.

Change entirely. Wear exactly what you find waiting for you, no more, no less. There was a nook, similar to the one that was used to deliver food. I found shoes, undies, and a bra. Everything was in my size. It didn't take long to change. The clothing was of high quality and comfortable, even if it wasn't quite what I normally might wear to work. There wasn't a mirror, but I checked my appearance as best I could. Then I turned to where the door had been, and it opened as I approached. Blue lights guided me from there. **** The lights led me to another

door, and this one was clearly a door, not the sort of appearing and disappearing doors I'd been encountering. There was a sign outside the door. It was in alien script, but as I approached, the visor offered a translation. Control Room C. The lights led me straight to the door, and as I stepped close, it opened. I passed through and came to a stop. I was in a room about the size of a medium sized conference room. Along the walls was one long, continuous desk and a seemingly endless row of computer monitors. They looked like standard human monitors. I looked closer, and it was like the Apple store

had been carried off and deposited here. In the middle of the room, seated on a tall stool upon a raised dais sat Administrator Brighteyes. To the right of her and slightly lower was Dark Skies, and on the other side sat another alien. She turned to me, and I saw the distinctive eyes. She was another Catseye. Most of the monitors were unattended. There were three humans in the room, two men and one woman. They were each wearing a visor similar to mine. Some of the monitors showed what appeared to be control screens of some sort. But many of them were camera views, a great many camera

views, all of them of a jungle scene. Some of them were high in the air, high above the trees. The rest were lower. I didn't see any people. I lowered my eyes. Dark Skies offered a small wave. The Catseye looked at me then turned back to what she was doing. Administrator Brighteyes beaconed with a crooked finger. I stepped forward, coming to a stop at the edge of her dais. "Thank you for the clothing." "You are welcome. We are running three events today, one this morning and two this afternoon." Then she smiled. "And then yours with Jessica Maple." "Andromeda has an event?"

asked Dark Skies. "May I assist, Administrator?" "Yes," said the Catseye. "I want you to run it. I will oversee and offer guidance." "Thank you, Administrator!" said Dark Skies, sincerity in her voice. Then Administrator Brighteyes spoke briefly in one of the alien languages. The other Catseye turned to me, and the Administrator returned to English. "Clover Speckles, this is Andromeda Hayes. Andromeda, Ms. Speckles is one of the senior event coordinators. If I weren't in this chair, she would be." I offered my hand. The Catseye looked at it like I was infected and then

turned her back on me. I stared at her for a moment then said sarcastically, "It's my pleasure, of course." I turned my gaze back to the administrator. "One human, reporting for duty, Administrator Brighteyes." She nodded her head over her shoulder then turned around and stepped from the stool. I walked around the dais and joined her on the other side. The Catseye led me to the nearest bank of monitors. "You've been busy, Andromeda. I thought you would wait for me to introduce you to prospective challengers. Instead, you do my work for me." I looked over at her. I couldn't

read her expression. "Are you angry?" "No. Amused. About that. However." Her tone grew tight. "I am not a voyeur." "And yet, you were listening to that conversation." "No. It was suggested I review the tapes to see what you'd already been doing this morning." "Suggested by..." "Someone you haven't met. I am not a voyeur." "And yet, you like keeping me barely dressed or not dressed at all. You do the same with all the other women. I think you like looking at us, Administrator. Do you care to deny it?"

It was her turn to look carefully at me. "I cannot tell if you are teasing me." "I'll let you wonder," I said with a smile. "You can try denying you enjoy looking at us. You can try denying you enjoy watching us. It will be difficult to convince me, although I admit the possibility I am wrong. Tell me. Do you watch me when I don't know you're watching me?" She paused and then changed the subject. "You have new mail." I laughed. "I presume you have conceded the discussion. Should I know about the mail without checking?" "Upper left corner," she said. I glanced to my upper left, opposite the

time display, and there was a small green dot. "The green dot? That means I have mail? I'm sorry, but that's about the least obvious thing you could do." "There's a setting," she said. "Find it later. Save the mail for now, but you'll have a few minutes before we get started. Background. I oversee the initial arena challenges and about twelve percent of the subsequent challenges. I have three senior event coordinators. It was four until two weeks ago. Clover's wife took a position in Switzerland." I looked over my shoulder at the other Catseye. "So that wasn't me." "No. She's mad at me because I won't let her go until we can train up a

replacement. I can't run this place with only two senior coordinators. Dark Skies is very intelligent, but she is a technician. She is, well, you would consider her a wizard with anything electronic, even as young as she is. But you've experienced how Octals handle interpersonal relationships, and being a senior event coordinator is about far more than running the equipment." "But you're going to let her run my event this afternoon?" "With my oversight. She'll care about the outcome, and she'll realize this is not where her strengths lie. Please do not be upset. I needed a challenge like yours today to show her. Frankly, if she makes mistakes with yours, it's not as

critical as if she makes one with one of our other candidates." "It's fine," I said. "Good. Thank you. This morning I want you to watch. Pay attention to the dynamics of the room and what everyone is doing. If you are able to also watch the event itself, you may do so. But I want you to try to understand the roles in the room." "Why are there so many unused screens?" "This morning's event is moderately simple. Some are far more complicated and require more technicians." "Why are the humans wearing visors, but you are not?"

"We use other technology. To us, the visors are fairly crude. We stole much of the technology from humans, actually, and you are not far off from reproducing much of these capabilities. Of course, it will be a long time before you could make them this compact with this much capability." "And why do you need the monitors at all?" "They are more familiar to human technicians," she said. "And a keyboard is a better input device than your visor." I nodded. "I understand." "You may wander around the room," said the Catseye. "Avoid disturbing anyone, but if she has time to

explain what she is doing, she will tell you." "Are you training me for any particular job?" "Assistant coordinator. That is Dark Skies' role today. But you must understand all the roles in the room and be able to do perform any of them. For now, you watch." "Got it." "Questions?" "What is the event?" "Your visor has this information for you, but I can explain briefly. By far the most popular events from the perspective of the challengers are those that involve catching the candidates. For

some species it is a species imperative to pursue and capture a mate. The pursuit and capture triggers the start of the emotions related to mating: love, protective instincts, and the like. There are differences from one species to another, but do you understand?" "I suppose I do." "Today is a third challenge." "The last then?" "For this pair, yes. The human believes this is a simple challenge. She is being dropped at the south end of one of our large arenas. There is an exit at the north. She has a paper map, simple supplies, and her visor serves as a compass. If she is able to exit the arena, she wins."

"But the event is rigged." "Not the way you think. Her challenger is from a species humans call Implacs. That is short for Implacable. They are the most maddeningly stubborn species known to the federation." She shook her head. "This is the third time for this particular Implac. I ensured his loss the first two times." "Why? I thought you wanted the ETs to win." "He is at least as stubborn as any of them, and he wouldn't listen to me when I told him he was attempting to win the wrong woman each time. You understand, even if he wins the challenges, he must still woo his mate. He gets three months, and after that, if

she wishes to return home, she may." "Right." "During his first two visits, he attempted to capture very proud women who would not be readily pushed around." "I think I see the problem. And this woman will allow herself to be pushed around." "This particular woman had a poor childhood and will respond exceedingly well if her mate is able to convince her of one simple fact." Then she paused. "You're waiting for me to ask, aren't you?" "Yes."

"What simple fact?" "That he will protect her no matter what. And he will not feel fully tested until he is able to demonstrate his ability to do so. They are well matched in this way." "This isn't going to be a simple challenge of the candidate escaping the arena." "She may escape, but I doubt it. There is not one hunter. There are three." "Please tell me you don't have a pride of lions in there." "Better. A friend of yours and her brother." "You have a couple of Wookies in there?" I raised my voice.

She snorted. "Yes, I do. And I told them if they are able to catch and keep the human, then I'll let the male have her. Oh, he'll have his own challenges, but he won't face the arena." "They're going to be deeply motivated." "Oh yes." "Soft Rain didn't tell me earlier." "This was a last minute change," explained the administrator. "They were still drying from their swim when I messaged I had an intriguing offer for them." "Does the Implac know?" She snorted again. "No. If the Wookies catch her first, I'll tell him.

Otherwise he won't find out until the Wookies intercept him." I laughed. "I do not like this Implac," she continued. "If he loses today, it won't break my heart. This way, I don't have to let the human go. The Wookie would take care of her far better than the Implac would. Oh, she'd have a good life with the Implac, but she won't have love. Implacs don't understand the word. But compared to where she was living two weeks ago." She trailed off, shaking her head. "Andromeda, you may think what happens here is barbaric, but it isn't remotely barbaric compared to what humanity does to itself." "I haven't done anything like that

to anyone." "What have you done to help the situation, Andromeda? Wait. Don't tell me. It's not your responsibility." Then she made a sort of snuffle noise. "I'm sorry. You don't deserve that." "You care," I said quietly. "Of course I care! I'd like to put half of humanity over my knee and spank you bloody." "Am I in the list deserving such treatment?" "No. Again, my apologies." She made the snuffle sound again. "A few more details. The human has a compass and a paper map. The Implac gets a proper map with his location marked and a compass. Periodically, he gets a

brief flash of where the human was, but it's offset by five minutes." "Does he know that?" She laughed. "No." "You really don't want him to win." "I don't want to hand him an easy win. If he knew exactly where she was, this event wouldn't last long enough. The Wookies have a similar map. They get a flash of the human half as often as the Implac, but they have a constant indicator telling them where he is. If they catch her first, then I'll add them to his map, and we'll slow the Wookies down so he can intercept them." "Is anyone going to get hurt?"

"Probably. Not the human, but would you want to fight two Wookies?" "They're going to fight?" "Unless he is able to exit the arena a lot faster than I expect him to. Of course, they may encounter each other and forget about the human. She could escape. I hope she doesn't." "You want to marry her off." "She doesn't know how to take care of herself. If I am forced to release her..." She shook her head again. "I'll think of something." "Are you one of those people who thinks a woman needs a man to take care of her?" The Catseye began laughing. It

was sort of a bark, sort of a snort, sort of a snuffle, but it was clearly a laugh. "You do know that Catseye don't have males. I don't think we're even able to entertain the thought you just suggested. No. This human needs a mother." "I'm 34 and still quite capable, but there are times I need my mother." "To make breakfast for you?" "Well, no. I know how to stop by Starbucks." She laughed again then sobered. "Questions?" "I think I've got it. I'm sure I'll have more at some point." "I want you to hold them during this event. We'll have time to talk before

the afternoon events." "All right." **** After that, she released me, returning to her chair. I roamed the room. Little was happening, but I looked at the screens. When I drew near one of the human women, she felt my presence and turned to face me. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to disturb you." "You aren't. I'm Sal. I wondered if you'd like to sit and see what I'll do." "Oh. Sure." She gestured to a chair, so I grabbed it and pulled it over. "Today it's my job to watch the

mating candidate. Gene--" and she gestured to the one of the men, "-will watch the challenger." "The Implac." "Right. That's Danny," she said, indicating the other human. "He's watching the two Wookies." "What do you mean by watch?" "We have cameras. I'm controlling 16. Gene has another 16. Danny has his hands full with 24." "Oh, wow. Okay." "They're like those drones the kids fly," she said. "Here, I can show you." She gestured to a screen. It was like a bird's eye view. The image climbed up through the trees, whizzed

around above the top for a minute, and then approached something hovering in the sky. She was right. It looked remarkably like a drone. "The people in the arena can't see or hear them," Sal explained. "Their visor won't let them. This one is sort of the master drone. The computers here talk to this drone, and this one talks to the rest." "Got it." "The others are smaller. Here's the feed from the master." The image changed, and I saw another drone. It looked much like the first, but was perhaps smaller. "It's about the size of a swallow. It's a bitch to fly when it's windy, and we have to use bigger ones."

"Do you use a joystick?" "I can direct it with the mouse, but usually they go on auto. I tell it who the target is and where I want them. They will follow her around, doing their best to maintain their distance and avoid flying into a tree. That can be difficult, and sometimes I have to help them out." "Got it." "So sometimes my job is easy. I tell the drones what to do and then keep an eye on them. But some challenges are more complicated, and we want more angles." "Got it." "Some events require us to do other things," she added. "And of course, we have to be ready to act fast if

someone gets hurt." "How often does that happen?" "Bumps and bruises are common. The aliens get hurt in the main arena. Out here, the biggest danger is someone deciding to climb a tree and falling out. Stuff like that happens a few times a month." Then she paused. "Oh, here we go." She gestured to the screen, and I saw three of the alien flying craft. They were at a distance, and then they separated. One approached our location, then I watched multiple views as it set down into the jungle. "Sorry, can't talk more, but you can watch." Then Sal turned back to her screens and her keyboard, and her

fingers began moving. I couldn't tell how she was doing it, but I watched the screens as they changed views. Some watched the lander. Several moved to the rear of the lander. Several more moved to cluster around a stone pillar at the center of the small clearing. Then I saw the human. She was dressed in some sort of skin-tight jumper, boots, gloves, and a hat. Her hair was short, but I thought it might be dirty blond. I cocked my head, trying to envision the woman that the administrator had described. There were two women guards, and I thought I recognized them. Each held the woman by an arm and led her from the lander. They were moving

slowly, and the woman was staring straight ahead, not even looking around. "She can't see or hear," Sal said. The guards were gentle. Then pulled her to the pillar, set her hands on top of it, and it swallowed them. One removed the handcuffs; the other bent down and removed her shackles. My heart went out to her. One of the guards squeezed the woman's arm. And then they both turned and walked quickly back to the lander. A minute later, it rose into the air. None of the screens watched it fly away. The drones moved. One set up position above and beyond the woman as if we were looking over her head. If it stayed there, we'd get a feel for what she

could see. Others set up similar positions, some watching the woman, some watching the jungle. Sal turned to me. "You should go look at the other monitors before it starts." "Right. Thank you." I moved around the room, coming to a stop behind the man Sal had called Gene. He looked over his shoulder, nodded, then turned back to his screen. I saw the alien. "He looks like a dog." Gene looked over his shoulder. "Yeah, a really ugly dog." Oh, he didn't walk on four legs

or anything. He was bipedal and looked quite sturdy. Two arms, two legs, and one head. But his facial features resembled a dog. Gene was right. An ugly dog. "The females aren't bad," Gene added. "And even the males aren't all as ugly as this bloke. I hope the Wookies win." I was reminded of a movie line. I moved over to Danny last. He had his cameras arranged, several of them watching the Wookies, the rest on the jungle. The two Wookies were kneeling down, their heads together, and I could see they were talking "What are they saying?" I asked. Danny looked over his shoulder.

"Hell if I know. They aren't speaking English." "Oh. Right. Sorry." "It's fine." But then he turned back to his screen. "Human." I turned, and the crabby Catseye was looking at me. "Come here." I stepped up to her. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't bother them." "That's not what I wanted to tell you." She pointed. "If you wish to see what I am doing, you can watch those screens. They may not make much sense to you, but I have slaved them to indicate what I am doing." "Thank you, Ms. Speckled."

"Just call me Clover, please." "Of course." She held out her hand. "I am sorry I was rude earlier." We shook. "Quite all right," I said. "I've been rude to a few people myself lately." She made that Catseye snorting laugh. "We both have cause. We're about to begin." "Right." I moved away, stepping to the workstations she'd indicated. There were multiple screens, and each screen showed me multiple things. There was a map on one screen with four dots. I knew the human was in the far south.

Two dots were right next to each other, and they were to the far west. The single dot, which must be the Implac, was to the far east. Also marked were two lakes, one of them small, a river, several small streams, and then some additional marks that weren't immediately clear to me. Three more screens showed multiple images of each of the participants. I could see the human, the Implac, and both Wookies. "Begin," said Jasmine firmly. Several things happened at once. The stone holding the human relaxed its hold. The Implac immediately began running, and I would see shortly he was heading directly to the human. The Wookies also

began moving, but they headed closer towards the middle. The woman paused then looked around. I tried to judge her expression or body language, but I wasn't able. Then she knelt down and collected a backpack sitting at her feet. She opened it, looked inside for a minute, then zipped it and slung it across her back. Then she turned slowly before she began moving due north. I watched for a minute, but then words appeared in the area. "You are watching the event. You need to watch us run the event." "Sorry," I said quietly. I turned to the screen that held the Catseye's controls. It didn't make any

sense to me. I watched for a while, but it didn't seem like she was doing much, at least for the moment. I moved back to stand behind Sal. Her cameras were following along behind the human. She looked over her shoulder, smiled briefly, and turned back to her screens. But it didn't look like she had to do very much, at least not right now. I started to move away, but she reached back and set a hand on my arm. "Sit." I grabbed my chair again. Sal gestured. "They all do this. This is the worst path she could take." "Why is that?" "Slide over there," she said, gesturing to the workstation beside her. I

did, and then she slid with me. "This screen." She pointed, and I was looking at the view of one of the drones, and to the right, a map overlay showing the position of the people and at least some of the drones. "I'm going to let you drive the drone. Hit F3 on the keyboard." I did, and a menu popped up in the middle of one of the other screens. "Click on Assisted Flight: Mouse." I scanned the available choices and then clicked the right one. The menu disappeared, and then there was a flashing pointer on the drone's image. "Okay, you turn by dragging the mouse. Forward mouse to look down. Backward mouse to look up. Use your

left hand over the ASDF keys. A and F slew sideways. S is forward, D is backward. Click the S once." I did. I thought the drone would move forward and stop. Instead, it began slowly moving forward. "Steer with the mouse. Gentle movements. Try to fly a circle around that big tree." There was a tree directly in front of me. I moved the mouse slowly, and the image shifted. It was crude, and really slow, but I was able to travel a full circle. "Good. Hit the D to slow down. You only hit S once, so D once will come to a stop." I did that.

"Now, look around. You'll see the girl." I turned the camera, and there was the girl, working her way along a path. "See the path she's following? Move over it but make sure you don't get too close to the girl. Follow the path about a half-mile. You'll see." I moved the drone slowly at first, and then a little faster. "Good. Don't go any faster until you've had a lot more practice." We were moving through the jungle, but suddenly the drone was out in open air, surprising the crap out of me. "Oh shit," I said. "She could fall." "There's a safety net below her.

We'd catch her and lower her down. But she doesn't know that." I used the drone to try to find the safety net. "It's alien technology," said Sal. "You won't find it." "Oh." "Move that drone back up and be ready to watch the girl when she gets here." "Got it." I kept an eye on the woman, another eye on the map, and one final eye on the drone I was flying. But the drone really didn't require much attention. I let it fly slowly back and forth what felt about twenty feet out from

the cliff, flying slowly sideways back and forth while keeping the camera pointed at the trail. I looked over and Sal was just watching her screens. "What am I doing wrong?" She looked over. "Nothing." "You're not having to touch yours." "Mine are on autopilot." "Oh." According to the map, the Implac was still moving quickly, and if he kept his current path, he would encounter the mating candidate's back trail. I didn't know if he'd turn towards her or not. The Wookies were setting up in

the dead center of the arena. I was sure the Implac would find her first. Five minutes later, the woman reached the cliff. She stepped out onto the ledge then stopped and stared. And then I could read her expression, even while she wore the visor. Her jaw dropped open, and she looked around slowly, smiling. Then she sat down, right there at the edge, and pulled her backpack off. A moment later she was drinking from a water bottle. I realized it was a good place for a break. "Andromeda," came Administrator Brighteyes' voice in my ears. "Do you want to help her?"

I turned and looked. The Catseye was in her stool, watching me. I nodded to her. "I'll make a deal with you," she said. "I'll let you talk to her. You will tell her nothing about her opponents. But you may help guide her path." "Is there a price to me?" "Yes. You must convince her to jump." "She won't get hurt?" "No. But would you believe some stranger telling you that?" "No. I can tell her anything I want?" "Do not mention the Wookies and say nothing about the Implac. Otherwise

you may say anything you like." "I could guide her to win." "You can try." "What's her name?" "Emma. Do we have an agreement?" "Yes. I'll try." "Excellent. I consider that choice binding. If she doesn't jump, you will find yourself being hunted." "What?" "By males." I sighed. "I'll do my best, Administrator." "I know you will. Connecting you now." A moment later, the sound

changed. I realized I could hear the sounds of the jungle. A light breeze, some birds. Countless insects. I wasn't sure what else. "Emma," I said. "Can you hear me?" I watched her cock her head. "Who is there?" "Emma, my name is Andromeda, but you can call me Andie." "You're one of them." "I'm human," I said. "I'm from Minneapolis. I'm a mating candidate, like you." "I don't believe you." "Administrator Brighteyes is treating me differently than you. I don't

know why. I'm in the control room watching you." "Sure you are," she said. "What am I doing now?" "Making a rude gesture into the jungle." "You can see me?" "Yes. The aliens watch you to make sure you don't get hurt." "Oh. I didn't know that." "That's a beautiful spot, isn't it?" "Yeah. I'm from Toledo. There's nothing like this in Toledo." "The closest we have is probably along Lake Superior north of Duluth," I replied. "I've never been there."

"The aliens said I could help you." "Why would they do that?" "They play games within games." She didn't reply to that. "You're not going to like this. If you do something very, very scary, they'll let me help you pick a path to the exit." "How scary?" "Are you close enough to see the cliff?" I watched her lean over the edge. "It's high." "You're not afraid? I don't think I could look over the edge like that." "It's not so bad," she said. "What do I have to do?"

"You have to jump." "What? You're trying to get me to get killed." "No. They don't want you to get hurt. There's some sort of safety net. It'll catch you and lower you down. If you jump, then I get to help you. If you don't jump, then I don't, and they're going to punish me besides." "I'm not jumping." "You can't stay there," I said. "Unless you want to get caught." "Do you know where he is?" I glanced at the screen. "Yes, but I can't tell you. I don't know what they'll do to me if I tell you, but I don't want to find out. Emma, do you like him?"

"He's a stubborn jerk. He thinks he's right about everything." "I want you to consider what can happen. If you jump, I can lead you away from him. I can't promise you'll win, but you'll have a better chance. What is going to happen if you stay there?" "He'll find me." She stood up. "I could go this way." She turned, but she didn't start walking. "Is it safe?" "I can't answer that sort of question unless you jump." She peered over the edge. "I don't see a safety net." "Neither do I, but they promised you won't get hurt. I believe them, but I don't know if you do."

She looked over the edge. "It's really far, Andie." "I know." "Are you sure?" "They said it was safe." "I'll do it," she said. "If you're sure." I watched as she backed up. I looked over my shoulder. It wasn't just Jasmine watching me. "Emma, wait!" "What?" "Emma, there are three aliens in this room with me and three humans." I looked around. "Every single one is watching me intently." "I don't know what that means."

"They're watching me, Emma, not you. They want to see what I do, not what you do." "I still don't know what that means." I raised my voice. "Administrator, what happens if she jumps?" "Convince her to jump and find out." There was a pause, then Emma asked, "What did she say?" "I don't think you should do it, Emma." "You said they'd punish you. A bad punishment?" "Yeah. But don't worry about

that." "I don't want to marry him," she said. "He's somewhere behind me, isn't he?" "I can't answer that." "But you can tell me to jump." "Yes, I can tell you to jump, but I don't think you should." "If I wait here, or if I go back and look for another path, I think he'll catch me. If he catches me, then I have to marry him. I don't want to marry him, Andie. No matter what happens, I think jumping is better than marrying him." A lump formed in my throat. "You said there's a safety net." "I couldn't find one, Emma. They

might have lied." "They want you to convince me to jump." "That's what they said, but they play games within games, Emma." "I'm Catholic, Andie. Suicide is a mortal sin. If I commit suicide, I'll go to hell. But if there's a net, I won't die. If I believe there's a net, then even if I die, it's not suicide. It's an accident. I'd rather die than marry him, Andie. What do I do?" I began crying. "Emma. Jump." She didn't wait. She ran for the cliff and jumped into the air. We both began screaming, and I reached out a hand for the monitor.

Both of us screaming, she fell. And then as I watched in horror, she slowed, and slowed further, finally coming to a complete stop ten feet above the jungle floor. I saw most of that on one of the other screens, my drone still watching the top of the cliff. We both stopped screaming, and then it was nearly silent. Then Emma said, "I jumped, Andie." "You did. I don't think I could have." "Did you scream? I thought I heard you scream." "I screamed my head off," I said. "Oh god, Emma." "I'm kinda stuck here." I watched her squirm around. "How do I get

down?" "I don't know," I said. I turned to look at the Catseye, but she folded her arms, still watching me. "Um. Just a minute." I turned to the drone controls. It took a minute, but I managed to fly it down, through the lower tree branches until it was hovering just a few feet above Emma. I used it to look around. Then I smiled. I lifted the drone five feet higher then moved it above a narrow branch. Then, working carefully, I pushed down on the branch, and down, and down. "Emma, look up. Can you reach that branch?" It took us two minutes, but finally she snagged it.

"Yes!" I said. "Now what?" she asked. "Well, no one is stopping me, so I hope this is okay. Pull on the branch." And I watched as Emma began tugging, and slowly she moved up. Soon she reached a thicker part of the branch, and a thicker one, and then as easy as pie, she pulled herself down to the jungle floor. "I made it! Now what?" "I think I soiled myself, Emma." "I might have, too." "Let me look around." I consulted the map. Then I used the drone again, flying away. I found a trail. I followed it for a while. Then I turned

around and flew back to Emma. "Emma, turn to your right. More. More. Okay, walk that way. You're going to find a trail. When you do, if you turn left, you'll be heading north. You can follow the trail for a while, but you're going to have to go through the jungle in a while." "Why?" "I can't tell you. I can direct your path, but I can't tell you why. But I got you this far, didn't I?" "Yeah. You made me jump off a cliff." "But you haven't been caught yet. I guess it was pretty good advice." "I guess so." She began walking, and then the

Catseye was standing beside me. "Emma, this is Administrator Brighteyes. Once you find the trail it is safe for two miles. I need to speak to Andromeda for a few minutes, but she'll be back with you soon." Then the sound of the jungle faded away. I turned to face the administrator. "Come with me." She turned around, and I followed her from the room. **** It was a short walk to another room, and she gestured me ahead of her. Into a bathroom. "Clean up," she said. "Then we'll talk."

I didn't need that much cleaning up. I hadn't actually soiled myself. But I was looking very ragged. I used the toilet, washed up, and then stared at myself in the mirror for a minute or two. Finally I took several deep breaths and turned for the exit. The Catseye was waiting for me. I came to a stop facing her. "You are right. We play games within games. But one game I will never play is one in which one of our mating candidates is seriously hurt. In the end, you believed the net was there." I looked her in the eyes. "I wasn't sure." "You trusted me." "That's easy when it's not my

own life." "I play games. I lie. I deceive. I cheat. I am willing to allow someone to go through significant emotional turmoil." "But?" "But I have never hurt someone, Andromeda." "You destroy our lives." "And then I give you new ones." She smiled. "So, are you going to steer her around the Wookies or right into them?" "Around, of course." "She'd have a better life mated to Fine Mist than sending her back to Toledo."

"What would you do?" She waved a finger at me. "Andromeda, even the Implac represents a better life for her than her old life in Toledo. He won't love her, but he'll treat her gently." "You want her to lose?" "Yes, I do. I'd prefer Soft Rain and Fine Mist to win. But I'd rather the Implac gets her than she goes back to Toledo." She set a hand on my shoulder. "Do not tell her about the Wookies, but if the Implac gets too close, you may warn her." She led me back to the control room. ****

"Hello, Emma." "You're back, Andie!" "I'm back, Emma." "The trail branches. Which way do I go?" "I don't know. Just a minute. My camera is back at the cliff." It took me a couple of minutes to catch up. Emma was crouched down, drinking from her water. I checked the map. The Implac was working his way around to the west again. I guess he didn't want to try jumping. And the Wookies were approaching Emma's location. "Emma, I need you to turn right. That should be east."

I watched her stand up. She turned slowly. "It is," she said. "Or that's what my compass said." "I need you to head east, and you need to move quickly." "Is he coming?" "I can't answer that. You need to move east." Then I moved the drone out ahead, looking at the path. It was heavy jungle, but there weren't any cliffs. The pace picked up from there. The Wookies began moving faster. Off the trail, Emma was slower. But once she was well off the trail, I told her, "Turn northeast, Emma. There's a stream in a while. I think you can follow it. It's not quite the right direction, but it's close."

Two minutes later, the Wookies turned northeast as well, and they were moving faster than Emma was. In the meantime, the Implac managed to circle around the cliff, and he was moving in from the west, also moving quickly. "Faster, Emma," I said. "You have to move faster." "I'm going as fast as I can," she said. I watched her shoving her way through the underbrush, getting scratched by some of the branches and tangled in the others. At one point she came to a complete stop, stuck by the heavy vegetation. It took her two minutes to work her way around it. I kept urging her to go faster. "We could trade places," she

suggested. The Wookies moved faster and managed to cut her off. And the Implac was coming up on her tail. "You have to turn east again, Emma. Um. A little southeast." Over the next twenty minutes, I tried guiding her around both parties, but she was pushed further and further south and east, and she was growing tired besides, panting heavily and not really responding to me anymore. Finally she came to a stop, leaning down with her hands on her knees, panting heavily. "He's going to catch me, isn't he, Andie?" I checked the map. The Impac was southwest of her. The Wookies were

spread out now, blocking the path to the north. I wasn't going to get her out to the east, and if I sent her south, she was further from safety. "Emma," I said. "What's the worst thing that could happen to you right now?" "He could catch me." "Is that worse than if I run you into a pride of lions?" She paused. "Yes, Andie," she said softly. "It is." "Emma, I've been trying to get you to safety. I've been trying to get you back home to Toledo. If you stay there, he's going to catch you." "I know," she whispered. "Is

there a pride of lions?" "I haven't found any. I'm sorry." I lifted the drone higher into the air then moved it east. The edge of the arena was only another hundred yards, and there was a cleared space before a big fence. I stared at it with the drone for a while. "Emma," I said, "I need you to do something. I need you to turn directly east and move as quickly as you can. You're almost to the edge, and it's open ground." She nodded, straightened, and pushed on. The Wookies continued to cut her off to the north. By the time she reached the perimeter, the Implac had halved the distance and was coming on strong now.

"I'm here, Andie." "Emma, the lions are better than the Implac?" "Yes, Andie." She started crying. "He's close, isn't he? Please don't let him catch me, Andie. Please." "Emma, turn left, follow the open ground, and start running. And scream." "He'll hear me!" "Trust me." And she did. She didn't get far. Everyone heard her. The Implac heard her. The Wookies heard her. All three converged on Emma's location, and she ran right into Fine Mist's arms. If she'd been screaming before,

she really began screaming when that happened. And then Soft Rain was there. Emma struggled with them, screaming her head off, but the two Wookies grabbed her. Then Soft Rain produced rope, and as Fine Mist held her, as best he could, Soft Rain bound Emma's hands and legs. Emma never stopped screaming. "I'm sorry, Emma," I said, over and over. "These are Wookies. I thought they'd be better than lions. And I think they're better than the Implac. I tried to lead you to freedom. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." And then I spoke to her, trying to soothe her, trying to tell her she'd be okay. They finished tying her, and then

Fine Mist took her in his arms, and they began loping along the perimeter, heading for the north exit. The Implac was faster. When he saw the Wookies carrying away Emma, he bellowed his defiance. Fine Mist began moving faster, and Soft Rain turned to face the Implac. I watched in horror while trying to be soothing for Emma. I told her the Wookie wouldn't hurt her. I hoped I was right. I had liked Soft Rain, and I hoped her brother was a reflection of her. And I realized I was trusting Administrator Brighteyes when she said the Wookie would treat her well. The Implac reached Soft Rain, and the two launched themselves at each

other. That was when I realized just how big he was. I didn't have any way to judge his size, but I'd seen the Wookie up close, and she was huge. The Implac was bigger, and as soon as I saw that, my heart leapt into my throat. The two fought. It didn't take long to realize the Implac fought from strength. But Soft Rain, in spite of her size, was fast, and she fought from cunning. She had another advantage. She didn't need to beat him. She only needed to slow him down so her brother could carry Emma away. And slow him down she did, delivering a variety of harsh blows in the process while avoiding his own

blows. But then she made a mistake, and the Implac caught her in his grip. He pulled Soft Rain to him, crushing her to his chest. She struggled and struggled, but then he turned and flung her from him, straight into a tree. I barely avoided screaming, clamping my hand over my mouth. And then the Implac was running, following after Fine Mist. Soft Rain lay still. I turned to look at Administrator Brighteyes. She was staring intently into space, but Dark Skies turned to face me. I couldn't read her expression, and then she, too, was staring into space again, her eyes flicking back and forth at the

same time. The Implac reached Fine Mist, leaping ahead. Fine Mist came to a stop, and the two bellowed at each other. Then Fine Mist looked down into Emma's frightened eyes, and very gently he knelt down, setting her carefully to the ground. He caressed her cheek, and it was perhaps the gentlest thing I'd ever seen. Then he straightened, stepped over Emma, and stood his ground. The Implac attacked. I watched as they fought. I watched as they fought over Emma's trussed body as she lay there, helpless. I worried they would crush her in their fight, but Fine Mist held his ground,

taking blows from the Implac, but protecting the fragile human. But he was at a disadvantage. He was smaller than the Implac, and he wasn't fighting like Soft Rain had. He was fighting as if he were holding off a wild animal from a helpless child. But the wild animal was strong and smart, and Fine Mist was going to lose. "I'm sorry, Emma," I whispered. The Implac launched himself at Fine Mist, and this time he got his hands on Fine Mist's throat. He began squeezing, his muscles bulging. Fine Mist beat at the hands, but I was sure it was all over. I really shouldn't try to predict the outcome of competitions of this

nature. I was really bad at it. From behind the Implac, Soft Rain stood. I hadn't even seen her. She carried a tree branch, a very stout tree branch, and she swung with what appeared to be her entire might, the branch hitting the Implac square against the side of his head. He dropped instantly, Fine Mist pushing him away until he lay on the ground. The two Wookies stared at each other for a moment, then Soft Rain stepped over the Implac's body and hugged her brother. Then as Fine Mist checked the Implac, Soft Rain knelt down beside Emma. She, like her brother, offered a gentle caress.

"Are you all right, little human?" she asked in that amazing voice of hers. "I-" said Emma. "Are you going to let me go?" "No, little human. My name is Soft Rain." She hooked a thumb over her shoulder. "That's my brother, Fine Mist. We offer you a choice." "A choice?" "We will leave you here. The Implac will wake up." "No!" "Or we will take you with us, but then you have three new challenges." "With you?" "With my brother." Emma craned her neck. Fine

Mist stood behind his sister, turned sideways to watch both Emma and the Implac. "Will he hurt me?" "Never," said Soft Rain. "Don't leave me here." "If we take you with us, then my brother becomes your new challenger, and you remain a mating candidate." "Please don't leave me." And they didn't. Fifteen minutes it was all over. The Wookies had won. I watched quietly as a jumper came for the three of them. Another jumper collected the Implac. Sal collected the drone from me. Both jumpers headed back to the center. I wasn't sure what happened to the drones.

But then Administrator Brighteyes was standing beside me. "Are you all right?" "I don't know." I looked up at her. "Did I do the right thing?" "In the end? You did what I hoped you would do." "I liked Soft Rain, but we barely met. I haven't met her brother." "Come with me." She turned and strode away, and I scrambled to follow her. **** We walked a short distance, then she took my arm, and a moment later, the visor dimmed. I let her guide me for a seven minute walk through the complex.

And then it was hot, very hot. Slowly, my visor brightened. We were standing outside. It was hot and sunny, but we stood in the shade of the building behind us. I looked around, my eyes settling on the edge of the jungle perhaps two hundred yards away. "Thinking of making a run for it?" I turned to the Catseye. "I don't think I'd get far." "You wouldn't. Please don't try." I sighed. "I won't. But I might think about it." "That is a path to frustration, Andromeda. I will not let you go. You know that, don't you?"

I looked away from her, muttering, "I thought a sign of maturity was the understanding that might doesn't make right." The Catseye didn't answer immediately but she turned away, scanning the sky. "There's something you don't realize. Morality isn't universal." "I don't understand." "It seems like right and wrong are obvious. They aren't." She let me think about that, and finally I said, "All right. Right and wrong can be situational." "True. It can also vary dramatically from person to person and even more so between species. Don't read too much into this, but let me walk

through some examples." I wasn't sure I was going to like this. "Fine." "If someone is going to commit suicide, do you have the responsibility to stop her? It's her life, after all. Who are you to decide if she can end it?" "All right," I said slowly. "I can see both sides of that." "What about if it's an entire species?" I didn't want to answer that, but I said in a soft voice, "Don't get me wrong. I'm glad you stepped in." "Please let me offer a few more examples before you get your back up. In some Earth cultures, arranged marriages

are the norm." "In most of those, the children consent." "Octals mate through a battle of wills, and sometimes both people aren't aware there is to be a battle of wills and may not be at all interested. This is part of their biology and culture, and it isn't questioned." "You were listening to the discussion in the shower, weren't you?" "Yes," she said. "About a third of the species in the Federation either pursue mates in some sort of hunt or the role in the relationship is determined in a hunt or in combat of some sort. This is biology for most of them and cultural for the rest. What happens here is perfectly

in line with their morality. Indeed, humans are the ones lacking morality, as so many of your relationships end in divorce. Most of us are appalled by the human divorce rate." "What is the morality associated with the mating rituals of another species. I don't see anyone hunting you." "That varies from species to species. To a human, what happens here is immoral. To the species you might meet in the arena, it is part of their biology." "And this is supposed to sway how I feel about it?" "No. I am only giving you something to think about. Something that is immoral to you may not be immoral to

everyone." "So they have the right to force me? Or they believe they have that right?" "That is their belief." I thought about it before replying. "I still think you're an evil woman, and I still hope everything you do to us happens to you someday." "I know," she said gently. "Maybe in time you'll change your mind." "Don't hold your breath." She nodded and grew quiet. A moment later she pointed. I followed her gaze and saw a speck in the sky. It drew closer, and I watched as one of the

landers approached. It drew closer, lower, and then came to a hover, thirty yards in front of us. Then it turned around, pointing its back end at us before settling down. The dust dispersed and then the back opened, dropping down like a mouth until it formed a ramp to the ground. It took another two minutes, but then both Wookies with Emma held between them appeared at the top of the ramp. They strode down, the Wookies helping Emma, and then headed directly towards us. As they drew closer, Soft Rain offered a wave, and I raised a hand in return. The Wookies came to a stop in front of us.

"Greetings, Administrator Brighteyes," said Fine Mist, speaking English. "Congratulations, Fine Mist," said the Catseye. "Emma Danver, how are you?" "I can't see," she replied. "There is someone who wishes to meet you. I will allow you to see, but then I will need to blind you again." A moment later Emma turned her head, looking first at the Catseye and then me. "Are you Andie?" "I'm sorry, Emma. I tried to steer you towards freedom, but the Wookies were faster than you and seemed to know where you were."

"You ran me into them." "I did at the end." She turned to Fine Mist. "If I promise not to run, will you let me go?" He looked down at her, then nodded. The two Wookies released the human's arms. She then took three steps and threw herself into my surprised arms. We hugged tightly. "I like him," she whispered. "He looks just like Chewbacca! But his voice. Oh. My. God!" "I know," I said. "Did I do the right thing, Emma?" "Yes, Andie. Thank you." Then she pushed away. "Why are you dressed like this? None of the other

women get to dress like this." "I know. I'm at work. They make me dress in undies and a camisole when I sit in my cell." She smiled at me. "Have you met the Wookies?" "I met Soft Rain this morning. I haven't met Fine Mist." She pulled me forward, directly to her new challenger. "Fine Mist," she said. "This is Andie. She's a mating candidate, too." "Congratulations, Fine Mist," I said. I offered my hand, and he shook gently, offering greetings. Then he took Emma away from me, and I turned to Soft Rain. "Are you all right? I almost died myself when you were thrown into

the tree." "A little sore," she replied. "I'll be fine." "I'm glad." "Well," said the Catseye. "I am dimming your visor, Emma Danver." "Administrator Brighteyes, do you believe my friends would enjoy watching my event this afternoon?" "It will be Fine Mist's choice if he wishes to invite his mating candidate to watch." Emma turned sideways, facing Fine Mist, but staring straight ahead. "Could we, Fine Mist? Please?" "Of course," he said, his voice nearly as amazing as his sister's.

"I will signal you the details," offered Administrator Brighteyes. Then she collected my arm and pulled me to the side. Soft Rain took Emma's other arm, and the two of them led her into the facility. We watched them go. I turned to the Catseye. "Thank you. She looks happy." "Imagine." "He's being very gentle." "Of course." "It is difficult to imagine a species that is so large wanting a human woman. She's not any larger than I am." "Do you believe such a difference should be a limiting condition?"

"We are evolved to be attracted to a good mate," I said. "Human women are most attracted to men who are big and strong." "You aren't." "Yes, but everyone knows I'm abnormal." We paused and then laughed together. "Hungry?" "Starving. Join me for lunch?" "Not today," she said. "Maybe another time. I'll escort you downstairs." The visor was dimming by the time she took my hand. **** She made me change back into the undies and camisole before dropping

me off in my cell, and she smirked at me as I meekly walked into the cell. I know she did. I think she looked at my ass, too. In fact, I'm sure of it. **** The first of the afternoon events was in the main arena, the one that looked like the Roman Coliseum. When I arrived back at Control Center C, it was Clover in the center seat. Dark Skies was seated at one of the computer consoles, and Administrator Brighteyes was talking quietly to Clover. When I stepped in, everyone turned to face me, but then Dark Skies turned back to her screens. I stepped towards the dais. The two

Catseye looked at me. Then it was Clover who spoke. "We use far fewer cameras for this event, and they can largely run on automatic. They are not needed for safety, and so they are only used to record the event. Do you believe you can operate them?" "I only know how to operate one," I said. "We have a half-hour before the event begins," she replied. "Administrator Brighteyes will teach you the remaining controls." "I'll do my best." "Very good." She pointed to my left, the opposite side of the room from Dark Skies. I moved to the console and

sat down, Administrator Brighteyes taking a chair next to me. "We need to wake the cameras. You can control them from your visor or the console. Let's use the console." I followed her directions and found the camera controls. I had to select which set of cameras, which was easy, and then it asked how many I wanted. I waited for the Catseye to tell me. She was silent, and when I looked at her, she was watching me. "How many?" "What would you do if I weren't sitting here?" "Ask Clover." "Then ask Clover." "Clover, how many cameras do

you want?" I looked over her shoulder at me. "Give me four covering the arena, two more high, and four on each participant." I selected 14 on the screen. Then I watched as a swarm of the swallowsized drones left their home and went into a holding pattern above the arena. I learned how to arrange on the monitors the camera views as I preferred. Then I learned how to place the static drones, setting them at the four compass points facing into the center of the arena. I set two more high, pointing down. Then I divided the last eight into two groups. I put most of them into a lower holding pattern, but I took one and

used it to investigate the arena. There were humans moving around, setting up a variety of obstacles. "What is the event?" "Laser tag, you could say. You need to keep the cameras out of the line of fire." "So they don't get hurt?" "So they don't interfere. As long as they are above the highest target, you're fine." The Catseye had me use the cameras to follow one of the workers around, showing me how to set them on automatic. It didn't take long before I understood. "This isn't hard." "Remember to begin recording,"

she said. "I'd turn that on now." She tapped the screen to show me where. "If you forget, Clover would remind you, but then I'll let her punish you for forgetting." "Would you really?" "Yes." "Would you really have given me to one of the males if Emma hadn't jumped?" "It would have been an honor challenge. I wouldn't have given you to him." "Would you have told me that before the start?" "I don't know. Would it matter?" "If I thought you were giving me

to him, I'd be angry at you and also likely to take much deeper risks. Even if you told me afterwards, I would have considered it the end of our agreement." She didn't comment on that. Quietly we watched. The workers finished setting things up. Then I saw two of them put on helmets and pick up guns. They moved to opposite ends of the arena. "Activate the arena, Dark Skies," said Clover. "Andromeda, this is a practice run." "Right," I said. But I sent one swarm to one of the men, the other swarm to surround the second man. I put them on auto, but I was ready to grab manual control if I wanted it.

"You can hear audio," said the Catseye. "Use your visor." I went into command mode and worked through the menu options quickly. It took me a half-minute, but I found the options I wanted. I turned on audio from one drone in each of the two swarms. By then, they were already at it, hiding behind the obstacles. They weren't shooting at each other. They were shooting at a variety of targets. From my cameras, I saw some sort of shimmering turn on and off. "What's that?" I asked, pointing to one of them. "Humans would call it a force field," said Administrator Brighteyes.

"Don't try to fly through one." I nodded then took control of one of the cameras. I buzzed it down and zoomed in slightly, getting a good shot of one of the men, his expression intent, as he fired and fired. "Yes!" he said after hitting his target. He shifted aim. "Everything is operational," said Dark Skies. "Thank you, Dark Skies. Stand down. I repeat. Stand down." The men both lifted their guns to the sky. "Deactivate arena." "Deactivated," said Dark Skies. I moved my cameras higher into the air but let them buzz around.

People began collecting in the stands. I let some of the cameras watch the workers as they left. I used two others to collect crowd shots. Well, it wasn't a big crowd, but it was the thought that counted. But they could clearly see the cameras, and a few made a variety of gestures as the drones slowly flew past them. "What are you doing?" "Crowd shots," I said. "You can't have a live event without catching the audience reaction." Thirty seconds later, Clover asked, "Andromeda, what are you doing?" I laughed and repeated what I'd said. Neither of them stopped me.

Then I set two of the drones on auto, but ordered them to do a slow circle of the arena, watching everyone. I took one more and moved it into place where one of the men had hidden, then did the same with another one. "Now what are you doing?" "Dark Skies," I called out. "Do you understand this event?" "Of course." "Do we have time for you to activate those force field things in a reasonable idea of what's going to happen?" "Clover?" "Six minutes, then I want the arena ready to receive the combatants."

"The real battle will be longer than that, Andromeda. But sure." "Do it," I said. Dark Skies figured out what I was trying to do. As I pointed a camera at a target, she lit it up as if it was hit, and then a new force field appeared. One of my drones was effectively forced towards the center of its playing area. The other drone remained hidden. And soon I found my drone at the mouth of a cage. "He's supposed to force her into the cage, isn't he?" "Yes," said the administrator. "You may reset, Dark Skies. Thank you." Then I went into the menus and activated two more cameras. No one

said anything, but I flew them over and parked them above the cage, flanking it. I grabbed four more. I put two outside the cage, high, facing backwards so we could watch if the mating candidate was tossed in. Then I put the last two actually inside the cage near the back so they could watch from inside. "We've never done that," said the administrator quietly. "In fact, I don't recall ever using this many cameras in this arena except during the group events." "Am I hurting anything to use them?" "No. Feel free." "What happens with all this video?"

"It's all available real time to whomever wants to watch." "So there are a lot more videos I could have picked of Apple's event?" "No. We stream all your cameras live, but I'll have a job shortly. It will be my job to select which images to put into the main feed, the one we actually record." "Am I making extra work for you?" "No. This is good. You'll be able to see which ones I am using. If you decided to do something drastic with one I'm using, warn me." "Right." "Are you good?"

"I'm good." "I'll be right here," she said. And then she moved away to the workstation beside mine. **** The alien arrived first. I recognized him as an Ardent, and I wondered if this was Jessica Maple's squad mate, the one she was cheering on. I checked the other cameras, and sure enough, there was a group of Ardents in the crowd, including Jessica. I set a camera pointing at her for a moment, then put it back on auto. It was another minute before two guards led the mating candidate onto the field. She, like Emma this morning, was wearing a skintight suit, although hers

covered her head, much like a hoodie, and even covered her neck all the way to her chin. The guards led her to a stone pillar in front of the cage. The pillar swallowed her hands, and then the guards removed the restraints. Clover began to speak, and it came in both directly and from the drones. She explained the rules then told the human she was free. I zoomed a camera in on her hands as they were released, and then zoomed out. She looked around then ran to one of the obstacles, picking up the waiting gun. She pointed it to the sky and ducked down behind the obstacle, looking out towards her opponent. I ducked a camera in behind her,

trying to get her view. I couldn't find her opponent. I left the camera there but ducked another one behind him. He couldn't see her, either. "Get those out of there, Andromeda," Clover said. "Event beginning in fifteen seconds, and they'll interfere." "Right. Sorry." I zoomed them both back up above the height of the arena wall and put them back in auto pilot, each watching one of the contestants. "That was good," said the administrator. "If you do anything else like that, tell me so I can catch it sooner." "I don't want to piss Clover off."

The event began. Both contestants began firing their guns. They made sounds when fired, and I could even see the light." "Why can I see that?" "You can't. The computers are adding it just like we're doing to their visors." "Oh. Clever." Force fields activated. Some deactivated. Then they reactivated again. I didn't completely understand. But the woman was forced further and further towards the center. I could see her growing desperate, firing faster and faster but hitting less and less often. I used one of the cameras to see where the Ardent was. Then I looked at

the targets. "Clover," I said. "Trust me." She didn't respond. "Administrator, camera A-13-B." Then I zoomed it away from shots of the group of Ardents, dropped it down into the arena, well clear of the action, and zoomed it along about two feet from the ground. I zipped it around the back, through the cage, and then past the contestant before spinning it around facing the human. She was crying. "Zoom in," said the administrator. "It can follow her face." "Got it," I said. I clicked the proper controls then used another

camera to track what I was doing with the first one. She was pushed directly in front of the cage, and then a force field popped up in front of her. I barely got my camera out of the way before it began moving forward, a few inches at a time. She kept firing, and a glance at the other screens showed her hitting targets, firing through the force field. But then in a series of quick movements, the barrier moved forward, bumping into the human as she set up a last stand in the mouth of the cage. She flew back into the cage and then was suspended in mid-air. I moved several of my cameras to watch her from different directions and sent two more down to track the

alien. He stood up and all the force fields turned off. The alien walked across the arena, his gun held high in the air, and when I looked, I saw the other Ardents cheering for him. He walked to the mouth of the cage, and I moved two cameras into place. "Will you take my hand?" he asked, his words gentle. I let one camera track his hand. Two more watched his face and two watched hers. She was crying, tears streaming down her cheeks, but then she nodded, and I caught the image as she set her hand in his.

**** "Well done," said Administrator Brighteyes. She'd led me to the cafeteria, and I had a glass of lemonade. She had declined anything for herself. "We've never caught images quite like those before." "I did all right?" "You did quite well. Not bad for a beginner." She reached forward and clasped my hand. "Questions?" "Was that their final challenge?" "Yes." I looked down. "She was crying." "She was." The Catseye leaned forward and lifted my face by the chin.

"Her life isn't over, Andromeda. She will go home with him." "To New York." "Yes, at least for now. And he will help her fall in love with him." "Will he, um. Cheat?" "No. His is not a species that produces such powerful pheromones. But in spite of her tears today, she likes him, and he is very kind to her." I nodded. "While it was happening, I was so absorbed in my job. But now I feel bad for her." "Perhaps you should be happy for her. She has a new relationship. This is an exciting time for her. And while this isn't the life she would have picked,

it can be a very good life." "But what has she given up?" "A job she didn't like. She won't see her friends for a while." "Only a while?" "She is from Idaho. New York isn't exactly next door, but it's far closer than Saturn's orbit." "A country girl, and he's taking her to the big city. She'll be swallowed." The Catseye shook her head. "No. For now, her life will be very controlled. He will keep her safe, Andromeda." "The open sky," I said. "Changes. Change can be hard, but it can be good. It is different."

"I'm from a major metropolitan area, but New York would overwhelm me. It's always so loud." "You've been?" "A few times. You can be on the 37th floor of a hotel and still hear the traffic. I'd hate that." "Andromeda, she's going to be fine. He is a good man. All the Ardents are good, and he is one of the best." "Except for the belief he has the right to force her against her will. That makes him evil in my eyes, Catseye, and you know it." "And if she grows to love him?" "Irrelevant. So she grows to love the man who is enslaving her to his will?

When does he rape her?" She huffed. "Never. I've told you that." "So he just takes her choices away and makes her utterly dependent upon him for anything so every small gesture makes him seem kind and caring? Is that the plan?" I sighed and turned away. "I suppose there's nothing I can do about it." "She's going to fall in love." I thought about it. "It's wrong. You know that, right? Frankly, I hope she breaks his heart." She didn't respond to that. "I need to check on some things. I want you to use your visor to review the next event. I'll see you back at the control

room in fifteen minutes or so." "Yes, Administrator." She rose to her feet but then paused. "You may call me Jasmine if you like." She clasped my arm once more then left me to my lemonade. I drank for a moment and then accessed the visor. **** When I arrived back in the control room, it was Jasmine in the center chair. Dark Skies was at the same console as earlier. Sal was seated where Jasmine had been earlier, and Clover was nowhere in sight. "Andromeda," said Jasmine as soon as I appeared. "Can you handle cameras alone?"

"Yes," I said. "Next to Sal." She pointed, and I returned to the same computer console as earlier. Sal leaned over. "Need help?" "I think I have it." I clicked around, woke the cameras, and soon had them positioned. "Jasmine, did you want anything special?" "This is a less complicated event from the last one, but it can move quickly. Don't let a camera interfere. Otherwise use your judgment, Andromeda." "Got it." I put the cameras to the same tasks as earlier then used one to tour the

arena. This was to be basic combat. The human could win either by escaping from the arena or forcing the alien to submit. The alien would win by disabling the human. Each would be provided one weapon, and I saw at opposite sides of the arena a simple stand with a sort of futuristic staff cradled in it. "The human doesn't stand a chance, does she?" I asked Sal. "Oh, I don't know. Did you look at her bio?" "No. I ran out of time." "You should take a look." I accessed my visor and was surprised. The alien was female, a member of a species called Greenbears.

I looked quickly at her first, wondering where the name came from, and it was clearly obvious. She had six limbs, and most of her body was at least as furry as the Wookies. But she had a face that was nearly human and seemed small for her size, almost elfen. Her fur wasn't green, but her face was. "She's beautiful," I said. "The Greenbear?" asked Sal. "Yeah." Using my visor, I switched to the human. She was a woman named Dana Chow from San Francisco. I read quickly. Dana was a martial arts instructor and competed in mixed martial arts.

"Oh shit," I said. Sal laughed. "Their challenges have been good. This is their fourth. They'll have one more." I used one of the cameras to examine the weapon stand. When Sal saw me doing that, she said, "I missed that. Can you do it again?" "Sure." I lifted the camera into the air, did a circle of the crowd, then spiraled down, zooming across the stands until I came to a stop in front of the weapon stand. Then I moved from side to side slowly, examining the entire weapon. "What is it?" "We just call them power staffs," Sal said.

"It looks like it would hurt to get hit." "Not like you think. It's padded, and the human will wear protective gear. But it's powered. A strike actually goes to your nervous system." "Like an electric current?" "Yeah. If either of them falls behind in her defense, the other is almost assured to win." Then I saw there was rope hanging from the stand as well. I examined that. "What's this for?" "What do you think?" I didn't answer. As before, the alien took the field first. I used my cameras to watch

her. She strode in on four legs but was upright from there, a little like a centaur, I suppose. Her stride was odd, and I couldn't place it. "She walks oddly." "Different joints. You're accustomed to Earth animals. Her proportions are entirely different." Like the Wookies, she wore no clothing except a belt worn around her middle just in front of the middle pair of legs. I zoomed a camera around her as she walked to the nearest weapon stand. She first collected the lengths of rope, tucking them into the belt. Then she picked up the staff. At that point, she rose onto her back feet, and I watched as she went through a variety of motions with the

staff, gripping it in any combination of four paws. Hands. Whatever the right word was. Then she dropped back down to four feet, the staff held casually in one free hand. Two minutes later the guards brought the human woman into the arena. Again, I sent my cameras around her, although I kept several watching the alien. And even I could see the hungry look that came into her eyes. "Has she been fed?" "They're vegetarian, actually," said Sal. The woman was led to a pillar, just like each of the other events I'd watched. Her hands were secured, and

the guards left. Once they were gone, Jasmine spoke, outlining the rules. Then the woman looked around, and I knew she could see. A moment later, her hands were free. She set her eyes on the weapon stand, stepped around the pillar, and collected a staff. But she surprised me when she collected her own rope. All she had to do was get past the Greenbear. Both combatants spun their staffs, and then Jasmine called begin. They both ran towards each other. I couldn't remotely follow the individual strikes of the staffs. They were both amazingly fast. The Greenbear was bigger and more

powerful. The human was actually rather petite. She didn't try to block the Greenbear's swings but instead deflected them. And she was amazingly fast to counterstrike. They both landed blows, and they both cried out from blows, pulling back. "She's actually hurting the Greenbear?" "A higher setting on the staff," offered Sal. The two fought, circling each other. And then in a flurry of strikes, Dana drove the alien back then slipped inside her guard, ducked underneath, and somehow -- I didn't see how -- flipped the alien onto her back.

I stared in surprise. At that point I expected Dana to run for escape. Instead she swept the Greenbear's staff out of her hands. The weapon went flying. Then she launched herself astride the alien and began raining down blows from the staff. The Greenbear howled and tried to protect herself. "Ground and pound," said Sal. "What?" "Mixed martial arts. She's doing a ground and pound. She's hoping to make the Bear submit." "Gutsy." The thing is, it looked like it could work. The Greenbear was

obviously much more powerful than the small woman, but Dana managed to use the staff to control her opponent. The Bear howled with each strike, but she didn't surrender. And then she reached up and caught the end of the staff. She screamed at that, but she held the staff, screaming, and then yanked it from Dana's grip, sending it flying. Two more hands reached up and grabbed the human before she could escape, then two more, then the last two. The human struggled, but the bear rolled over, pinning the human to the ground. After that, in spite of her struggles, the Greenbear meticulously tied the woman up.

I was caught staring instead of running my cameras, and Sal had to use the ones on auto. But I zoomed two down, one pointed at the Greenbear, one at the human. The Greanbear finished the knots then slumped onto the ground beside the human, two limbs thrown over her. Then she pulled the human to her, rolling onto her back and holding the helpless woman. I zoomed in as she gently caressed the human face. I watched as Dana laid her head against the massive hand. "Congratulations, Pegasus," said Dana. "Are you all right?" The Greenbear's voice was a rumble. "Yes, Dana. Well fought." And

then she pulled the human closer, and Dana laid her head on the furry shoulder. I focused on that, then I slowly pulled my cameras away.

Challenge As soon as the event was over, Jasmine ordered me to return to my cell. I nodded and let the visor guide me. Of course, it guided me to the changing room. I sighed, changed into my skimpy clothes, and then meekly returned to my cell. I sat down on the bed and sighed again. I was only there for a few minutes before words appeared. Please take care of any personal needs then change into the clothing provided. I looked, and the nook was open. I hadn't heard it. I stepped over to find

boots and one of the skintight jumpers. There was a tube of sunblock and a floppy hat. Ten minutes later I was ready to go. Two minutes later the guards arrived. My visor dimmed even before they had me shackled. **** When next I could see, I was being hugged by a chair, my hands trapped by the table. I thought that was ridiculous given all the running around I'd been allowed, but I didn't say anything. Jessica Maple was seated across the table from me, Jasmine beside her. At the end of the table was Dark Skies. "Hello, Jessica. Was that your

squad mate in the arena earlier today?" "Hello, Andromeda. Yes, it was." "When you see him, congratulate him for me." "I will." She paused. "I must ask. Are you sure you want to do this?" "Did you change your mind?" "No, but I thought you may have." "I'm nervous, but no, I haven't changed my mind." But I turned to Jasmine. "But I would like to know what will happen if I win or if I lose." "Then you should ask the event coordinator," said Jasmine. She gestured towards Dark Skies. So I turned towards her instead.

"That is to be determined," said Dark Skies. "I will say only there will be a reward if you win, and there will be a price if you lose." "You will not say more than that?" "We will come to that at the end of these negotiations." "Jessica Maple has invited me to dinner following our event. If I lose, will I still be able to attend dinner with her?" Dark Skies inclined her head. "That is the agreed understanding." "All right then," I said. I turned back to face Jessica and smiled. "Do I have a chance?"

"It wouldn't be a good competition if you didn't," she said. "Very good," said Dark Skies. "I have been told this event is to be an opportunity for both of you to get exercise, and that it is to be together." I cocked my head. "What do you mean?" "Many of our events begin with the mating candidate and the challenger separated. You saw earlier. But today you wish to interact more directly." "Ah, yes," I said. "I understand." "Very good," said Dark Skies. She glanced at Jasmine. "In order to fulfill the mutually agreed goals, I would suggest you allow me to make some of your selections."

"Which selections?" "I recommend we utilize the smallest of our savannah arenas," said Dark Skies. "It is a rough rectangle two kilometers wide by four long. Objections?" I looked at Jessica. "Whatever," I said. "This is acceptable," Jessica said. "Very good," said Dark Skies again. "Well then. We can work a grid system, or I could recommend an event. Which do you prefer?" Jessica turned back to me. "If you let me make one choice, I will allow you to make the others."

"Oh?" "I wish my goal to be to catch you." I laughed. "That seems like a popular goal." "It is," agreed Dark Skies. "The species that enjoy these challenges enjoy catching their mates." "We're not mates," I said. "But I understand." I smiled then turned to Dark Skies. "Can you devise a competition in which I can perform far better than I did our battle of wills?" Dark Skies snorted. "You couldn't possibly perform worse." "You two had a battle of wills?" Jessica asked.

"It was a taste," I said. "A demonstration only. She let me go after winning." "You have been a very busy human," said Jessica. "Are you upset?" "No. Surprised. Shall we continue?" We both turned back to Dark Skies. "Do you accept your challenger's request, Andromeda?" "I want exercise and I don't want this to be too easy for her." "You sound like you expect to lose." I laughed. "Look at her. Can you even come up with something I could

win?" "Of course," said Dark Skies. "I could produce an obstacle course and have some of the obstacles require crawling through a very small hole." I laughed. "Do you wish me to choose your challenge?" I thought for a moment, looking at all three of them, but their expressions offered no clues for me. "All right," I said. "My decision will be binding," Dark Skies clarified. "Are you sure?" "No, but go ahead." "Very good." She switched languages and spoke rapidly. Jasmine

answered with two syllables. "Not fair," I muttered. "My apologies," said Dark Skies. "If it's any consolation, Administrator Brighteyes declined to comment. This is your challenge. You shall both begin in the center of the arena. Andromeda, your goal will be to escape to the south. Jessica Maple, your goal will be to drive the human into a cage to the north." "This isn't going to last long," I muttered. "You will each be issued a power staff," Dark Skies continued. "Andromeda, you saw them used earlier." "Oh, shit," I said.

"The staffs will start weak," Dark Skies continued. "Each contact will increase the power of the staff. The power will dissipate over time. Andromeda, the staff you hold will start higher than that of your opponent and will weaken more slowly. This is one of two handicaps." "Oh, please," I said. "I'm never going to get close to her with it." "Jessica Maple," said Dark Skies. "You may not touch your opponent except with your staff. Any other contact will enact a penalty. Andromeda, that means if you touch her, she receives the penalty. This is the second handicap." "What penalty?" asked the Ardent.

"You'll undoubtedly find out," said Dark Skies. "Do the two of you agree to this competition?" I looked at Jessica. "Be kind." "If you retreat from me, I will not touch you with the staff," she said. "But are you going to make it easy for me?" I sighed. "No." "Good." "I will consider that assent," said Dark Skies. "Now we must determine rewards for the winner and prices for the loser." "I'm going to lose, so my price better be small." "Andromeda Hayes," said Dark Skies. "You and your opponent may

negotiate a personal reward if you wish. However, The Center offers this reward. If you win, you may pick from amongst a variety of privileges. You will retain the privilege for a period of three days. This is The Center's reward for you for all events while you are here. If you accept a sufficient number of challenges, you could build and retain several privileges." "What sort of privileges?" A list appeared in my visor. I scanned through it and laughed. "A swim suit?" "I thought you might like that one," Jasmine said. "Is there a price if I lose?" "You will lose a privilege for 24

hours," said Dark Skies. I sighed. "What privilege." "First: any clothing worn while in your cell," said Jasmine. "It probably won't get past that very often, if at all." I sighed again. "If you are ungracious as a competitor," Dark Skies continued. "There may be additional consequences." "Right." I smiled and turned my gaze back to my competitor. "Did you wish a private agreement between us?" "I would, but there is no obligation." "Tell me." "We are to have dinner together

afterwards. I wish to ask a question. Is this a date, Andromeda?" "I don't know," I said. "You invited me. Is it a date, Jessica?" She paused, studying me. "Yes." "Good," I said. "Yes, it's a date." "Then during our date, if I win our challenge, I wish permission to hold you." "Hold me, how?" "However I wish." "Is this a euphemism?" "I do not know that word." Jasmine spoke briefly in a different language. Jessica leaned back in her chair. "No, Andromeda. It is not. I only wish to hold you."

"Then if you win, you may hold me, however you wish. And in exchange, what do you offer if I win?" "I do not know what you may like that I am allowed to give you." "Hmm." I leaned forward a little. "If I win, then during our date, you will hold me however I ask to be held." All three offered laughter, and then Jessica said, "I agree." "Then we are agreed." And my visor dimmed. **** It was perhaps thirty minutes before we stepped out into the late afternoon sun. We'd taken one of the jumpers, which didn't surprise me. It

was Jessica that guided me into position, sitting next to me on the jumper and eventually pressing my hands into the stone pillar. She removed my restraints, and then the visor came to life. The jumper was already gone. I looked around. We were in a cut circle of a grassy plain, the grass outside the circle tall, well above my waist. The land was rolling, not flat, and here and there were small clumps of trees. From where we stood, I couldn't see any other distinctive features. I turned back to Jessica then gestured with my nose towards my hands. "This is going to be a quick competition if I'm stuck like this." Jessica gestured. "Our weapons

are there. Have you ever fought with such a weapon before?" "Yes," I said. "It's just a big Nerf stick, right?" "I do not know these Nerf sticks, so I do not know." "Jessica Maple," came Dark Skies' voice. "Collect your weapon and retreat towards the blue marker." "Good luck, Andromeda," said Jessica. "You could let me win, you know. I would really like that swim suit." She offered a laugh, collected one of the staffs, and then turned her back. I watched her walk away perhaps

fifty yards. Then I heard Dark Skies' voice. "Andromeda, I would help you win if I knew how." "This is in fun, Dark Skies," I said. "All I have to do is get past her and run like the wind. No problem. Dark Skies, could I ask a completely different favor?" "Of course." "I'm not going to have dates every night. Do you think you'd like to visit me some of the nights I'm alone. I know you don't want a human for your octal, but maybe we could be friends." "I would consider you for my octal, but in a battle of wills, my entire family fights with the other family. You

are unable to fight, and so it would be two against one. If not for this, then I would be very interested in making you mine." I laughed. "I imagine I'd be very happy." "You would," she said. "I would like to be friends, but does this mean you do not want me to ask you on a date?" "It doesn't mean that at all," I said. "I didn't think you were interested." "I think I would enjoy human style dating, Andromeda." "Would our evenings end in a battle of wills?" "Yes, but I would release you in the morning."

"I believe I would grow addicted." "If I were to toy with you, you would. But if I release you fully, then it is only a very pleasant evening." I smiled. "Perhaps I should focus on this event." "Of course." A moment later my hands were released. "Andromeda Hayes, collect your weapon and retreat to the red marker." I nodded, stepped to the weapon rack, and collected the staff. It was heavy, but not unreasonably so. I hefted it in both hands and practiced swinging and thrusting with it as I moved away from Jessica. I nearly whacked myself. Twice.

"I'm so going to lose," I muttered. I reached the marker and turned around. "Are you both ready?" Dark Skies asked. "Ready," I said. There was a pause, and then Dark Skies called out, "Begin!" Jessica began running straight for me. I turned to my left and began running at an angle to her. Of course, she moved to cut me off, and soon we were both running east, Jessica keeping pace with me, cutting me off, and jabbing at me with her staff as we ran. Each time she did, I veered away. I ran at full speed. I couldn't tell

if Jessica was. But I realized something. I was a lot, lot smaller than she was. I came to a stop. She did too, but it took her a good half dozen paces to do so, and in the meantime, I slipped past her and began running for the exit. Of course, I didn't get far before Jessica ran past me, and I learned she was far faster than I was. In a straight line. As soon as she passed me, I knew she'd turn right, trying to cut me off, and so I cut behind her. She tried to stop, spinning around, and I was able to get another twenty yards. And then she was there, and this time she pushed me in a curve to the left until we were heading to the edge. I put the brakes on again, but

she anticipated me, stopping almost as fast as I did, and while it wasn't quite as fast, she made up with the staff. She whacked me with it, right across my left leg. It stung, but no more than a Nerf stick. I cut hard right and ran the other way, Jessica in pursuit. She caught up and managed to hit me twice more with the staff. They weren't hard strikes. But I swung with my own stick. She blocked it and swung, but I ducked underneath and dashed behind her again. **** It looked like I could actually win. I was far more agile than she was. It took twenty minutes, most of it of hard

running, but the visor told me I was halfway to winning. At that point, Jessica changed strategies. She managed to turn me sideways to my desired path, and just as I was about to stop, she thrust her staff in front of me and then came to a skidding stop. I wasn't able to block her staff -she actually slid it underneath mine and in front of my stomach, and so in effect, I gently ran into it. She used her staff to drag me to a stop. And it began to hurt. She didn't pull back for another swing. Instead, she began using her staff somewhat like a hockey stick, and I was the puck. She didn't hit me with it. She pushed me with it.

And it really began to hurt. I managed to use my own staff to finally push it away, but then she moved straight towards me, using the other side against my back, and that hurt. I shied away, and then it was the first end in my stomach again, and then my back, and then my stomach, and then it hurt so much I turned and ran from her. She gave chase. **** Her new strategy was working. She let me run away from her, and she followed me, not touching me with the staff, but every time I turned, her staff was there. If I slowed, her staff was there. Finally I dropped to the ground,

and she had to jump over me to avoid trampling me. I jumped to my feet and ran. But I was growing winded and had long been sweating. Jessica gave chase and soon caught up to me. Then she caught me with the staff, and I turned off my course. A moment later, she had me turned back towards the cage again. So far, I hadn't done much with my staff. I tried fighting hers off, but she was a lot better with hers than I was with mine. I could bat her staff away, but then she just used the other end. I ran from her, got out ahead, and then spun to a stop, holding up my hand and panting heavily. She came to a stop a few paces from me. We both bent over,

breathing hard. "I'm not pausing long enough for the staff to reset, Andromeda," she panted at me. "I intend to win." "It really hurts, Jessica." "Run that way and I won't touch you." "Funny." "It's a good challenge so far," she said. "We're still on my end, not yours." Then she took two steps towards me. I held my ground. "Negotiate," I said. "Negotiate what?" "I don't think it's fair I haven't hit you yet." She laughed. "You may try."

And then she came after me. I think she actually went easy on me. I tried thrusting the staff at her, but she used hers to brush it aside and then touched me with hers. It hurt, and I pulled away. That became our new pattern. She let me try to hit her with my staff, deflected my blow, and then touched me with hers, and I took a few steps away from her. And so while I wasn't running, I was now walking backwards towards the cage, although it wasn't even in sight yet. "It'll take forever if we walk," I said, swinging again then backing away as yet again, she easily touched me. "I'll make you run again soon."

"I don't even know what I'm doing wrong." Swing, deflect, touch, and back away. "Stop that!" I did that again. And again. And then again but this time instead of backing away from the staff, I spun around, sliding past her staff myself, releasing my staff into my left hand, and I touched her arm with my hand. She yelped and backed quickly away from me, using her staff to fend me off. "Oh, when Dark Skies said you'd be punished for contact, she wasn't kidding." After that, I managed to drive her backwards for a while and then when she shied away from me again, I took off

running, slipping past her. I got forty yards before she caught up, but then she was almost cruel. She slipped her staff underneath my arm, and then she tripped me. I started to fall, but she slipped her staff further underneath me, and I fell onto her staff. She held me up; she held me from falling, but the pain was intense, and when she pushed me back towards the cage, I scrambled away, whimpering. Jessica stalked after me. But she apologized. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to trip you. I was just trying to catch you." After that, she was able to fend me off, and I wasn't able to touch her further. The staff began to hurt more and more, and I began yelping each time she

touched me. She gave me mercy at that point and only feinted at me, letting me back away. But then she got me running, tapping me if I slowed, and it hurt so much I let her drive me most of the way to the cage before I spun around. I blocked her thrust with my staff, but she reached with the other side and caught me, and my defiance was short lived. I tried running back and forth, trying to get around her, but she moved me closer and closer to the cage, cutting me off more and more efficiently. I ran out ahead of her again, then spun around. I tried defending with my staff, but she crowded me, and soon my back was to the cage opening. At that point I put up my best

defense, fighting as hard as I could. Jessica actually let me, defending from my strikes and not counterstriking. We fought that way for far longer than I thought possible, although if I tried stepping from the cage opening, she cut me off instantly. Then she took a full step back and held up a hand. I paused, and we both bent over, panting. "Tired?" she asked after a minute. "Enough exercise?" "Yeah," I said, wiping my face against my arm. "But I don't think I can bring myself to walk in voluntarily." "I know." And she came after me.

Oh, she did it slowly. She reached with her staff, striking mine, then tugging it above my head and thrusting with the other end. I edged away. She did that again, and again. And then she said, "I'm sorry for this part, Andromeda." "What part?" She swept my staff up with hers, high above my head, and then with the other end of her staff, she pushed against my chest. I practically exploded backwards from the pain and flew into the cage, coming to a slow stop in mid air. I dropped my staff and clutched my chest, slamming my eyes shut and whimpering.

"Are you all right, Andromeda?" she asked softly. I nodded. "You won," I whispered. "God, that hurt." "I'm sorry. I wanted you fully caught in the cage." I opened my eyes. I was still floating in the air. That was when I realized there was no door to close. It was the same sort of cage that had been used in the arena earlier. "You won," I said again. "Good match?" "Good match," she agreed. "You did well, I think better than you expected." "Did you go easy on me?"

"I tried to avoid hurting you more than necessary. I could have hurt you more. But no. Your gains were your own. I didn't go easy on you." I squirmed, trying to move towards the door, but the cage held me where I was, my feet a foot from the ground. I couldn't reach anything. "Um. A little help?" She moved to the very edge of the cage door, one hand on the side. Then she reached in, offering her hand. "Will you give me your hand, my mating candidate?" I reached forward and set my hand in hers.

Dinner My vision dimmed and my hands and feet shackled, Jessica returned me to my cell, releasing the restraints before drawing me into a hug. "You have one hour to prepare," she said. "Dinner is in my room. Do you mind? I don't want to share you." "I don't mind." "Good." She squeezed me tightly, and then she was gone. Then my visor came live, and I could see. Immediately I received an incoming call from Dark Skies. I accepted it, and her image appeared. "I hope you didn't hate it, Andromeda."

"No, although wow! That hurt." "I'm sorry." "It's fine," I said. "That was the first challenge I've run." "It was my first challenge, too," I said. "Well done, Dark Skies. Thank you for the exercise." "You are welcome. I am told you will wish to shower, and we have clothing for you. Normally mating candidates are escorted by the guards, but I am told you are allowed to go alone." "I haven't figured out Jasmine's rules about that. She lets me walk to the pool alone, but she sent guards when it

was time for my challenge." "You will be escorted to your dinner," Dark Skies said. "But your visor will lead you to the showers. There will be clothing here when you return. You may wear one of the robes during your walk back." "Thank you, Dark Skies." I expected her to terminate the call, but instead she stared at me. Then she asked in a small voice, "Are you sure it was okay?" "What is wrong, Dark Skies?" "I've never seen a mating candidate get hurt the way you were today." "It was only an hour previously

we watched a very similar event." "I know, but it was in the arena. It was a much smaller area. And the human is trained in fighting of that nature. Have you seen the way they fight?" "Once," I said. "A video. It looked brutal." "You've never done anything like that. I didn't realize how much you would be touched by the staff." "I could have run into the cage, Dark Skies." "That would have been a poor challenge, too." "Do you mind if we talk while I head to the showers?"

"No. Um. You don't have to talk to me." I moved to the front wall and asked the visor to lead me to the showers. Access granted. The door opened, and I stepped out. "Andromeda, I don't know what to do." "I don't understand," I replied. "Jasmine Brighteyes is short a senior event coordinator." "She told me. Clover's wife moved to Switzerland, and Clover wants to join her." "I thought I could help, but you're

not supposed to get hurt. You screamed! Sometimes the mating candidates scream because they're mad or scared. But they almost never scream because they're hurt, and if they do, it's nearly always an accident. But you screamed a lot." "What does Jasmine say?" "I'm afraid to talk to her. She watched the entire event, and her-" Dark Skies broke off. "Her what?" "Um. I think she was upset." "Did she say anything at the end?" "She told me she thought I had much to think about." I reached the showers. "I don't

see robes." "You enter the shower on this side and leave on the other side. There are towels and a robe waiting. Leave your clothing here." "All right. Thank you." A minute later I was in the shower. I sighed. The hot water felt good. "Dark Skies, do you know what I think?" "No." "I think different people have different skills. I bet you are a very good technician." "I am." "Jasmine Brighteyes said you were brilliant, or something like that." "She did?"

"I think your event was okay, but I don't know if I'd let you pick like you did today." "But you don't understand. We tailor the possible selections for the candidate. You don't all get the same choices. It's the job of the event coordinator to assemble the grid of choices, and I didn't have very good ones." "You only learned this morning you would be running it." "I've seen Administrator Brighteyes walk into a room while reviewing the candidate and challenger and have a fresh grid for them by the time greetings were completed." "She has done this before," I

suggested. "Dark Skies, what do you want?" "What do you mean?" "Do you want to be an event coordinator? Don't you like being a technician?" "Jasmine Brighteyes needs help." "Yes, she does, but she'll fill her need somehow. What do you want? Do you want to be an event coordinator?" "No," she whispered. "Is Jasmine pressuring you to be an event coordinator?" "No." "Are you a good technician?" "Yes. I'm very good." "Is this about money? Does an

event coordinator make more money?" "It's not about money. It's about doing a job that is needed." "Does Jasmine need good technicians, Dark Skies?" "Yes." "Then if you don't want to be an event coordinator, and you like being a technician, and technicians are important, too, I don't understand the problem. Be a technician. Jasmine will find someone else to take over from Clover's wife, and someone after that to take over from Clover." "But Clover is my friend, and she is so sad. Peony didn't want to leave, but she was needed right away, and Clover wanted her to go. But she can't follow."

"Dark Skies, I think you are a very good friend. Do you think you are a good event coordinator?" "No." I could barely hear her. "Dark Skies," I said gently. "The human women here need you to do the job you are good at. Clover's situation is temporary, but their situation is not. Their lives have been upended. They have been brought here. They need you to do the job you can do well, and they need the best event coordinators Jasmine can train. Do you think with practice you could be as good an event coordinator as you are a technician?" "No." "Administrator Brighteyes will solve this. Clover will be with her wife

again soon. But maybe we can find a way for her to take a few days off. She could fly to Switzerland and see Peony. Do you want me to talk to Administrator Brighteyes about that tomorrow?" "Could you?" "Yes. I'll do that, Dark Skies. Now, I have to get ready, but I'll see you tomorrow, won't I?" "Yes." "Good. Maybe you can help teach me." "I'd like that." **** I wore a robe for the return to my cell. When I got there, I found a green cocktail dress waiting for me, complete

with everything else I would need. I did my best to look nice, and I was just smoothing everything in final place when I heard noise from behind me. I turned, and two of the guards were waiting. I stood up straight. "How do I look?" "Very nice, Ms. Hayes," said one of the women. She stepped forward, and I let her make small adjustments to my appearance. "Thank you." The other carried the shackles. She held them up. I sighed and nodded. The visor went blank before she began to apply them. After that was a ten-minute walk, a guard on either side. Finally they

pulled me to a stop. While the woman on my left arm held me in place, the other removed the shackles on my ankles and then freed my wrists. I rubbed them, and then the visor brightened. The guards were gone, but Jessica Maple stood before me, watching me. She looked nice. She was dressed in black leather, or something that looked like leather, with red piping along some of the seams. It gave her a very commanding look, and I decided I liked it. "Good evening, Jessica." "Hello, Andromeda." I took two steps closer, looking up into her alien eyes. She also took two steps forward, lifting a hand to my

cheek. Then she gently tapped the edge of the visor. "I would like you to remove this." "I don't know if I can." But I accessed the control menu, and the Deactivate feature was available. I selected it, and a moment later pulled the visor from my eyes. "I guess I can." "Set it there," she said, indicating a table near the door. I stared at the door for a moment. There hadn't been many doors that were clearly doors. But then I stepped over and set down the visor. When I turned back, Jessica was right there, and I found myself in her arms. She'd surprised me, but I pressed against her and looked up. "I wasn't sure if this was to be a proper date."

"I do not know what makes a proper date," she replied. "I have never been on a date." "This is a good start," I said. I lifted my arms and then set my hands on her shoulders, resting my arms on hers. "You are the broadest woman who has ever held me. I would say biggest, but I am not sure if the Wookie is bigger." "Does my size intimidate you?" "Only a little. Do you have a plan for the evening?" "Yes. Food will arrive soon." "So, there will be food. What else have you planned?" "I should have planned something?"

I smiled. "Perhaps we should plan together. You could invite me to sit with you, if you have no other duties before dinner." She released me and turned to step away, but I stopped her with a hand on her arm. She turned back. "If this is dinner between friends, then treat me like you might any of your other friends. If this is a date, then treat me like a date." "I don't know how to do that." I smiled. "How do you want to treat me?" "I-" She paused a moment. "I don't know." "You earned the right to hold me

any way you wish. I think you know at least a little how you want to treat me. Let me help." Then I took her arm, lifted it -- it was heavy -- and stepped under it, letting it settle around my shoulders. I slipped my arm around her back, although I couldn't remotely reach the entire way. So I crooked my arm so my hand rested between her shoulder blades. "There. How is this?" "This is nice." "Now, just like this, you bring me to where we will sit." "Oh," she said. "Oh. I understand." She was a fast student. Together, we walked two rooms away until we reached an obvious living room.

Together we sat. I kicked my shoes off and tucked my feet underneath me, which meant I pressed against her side. Then I reached up with my hand and clasped hers as it rested on my shoulder. "Is this how you wish to hold me?" "This is nice," she said. "Now what do we do, Andromeda?" "Well, first, I give you permission to call me Andie, if you want, but if you prefer Andromeda, that is also fine." "You are named after a galaxy." "Actually," I said, "We are both named after a woman from ancient Greek mythology," I explained. "Do you understand so far?"

"No." "Do you know where Greece is? It is a country in Europe." "Ah, yes." "In English, the people who live in Greece are called Greeks. The ancient Greeks told stories about gods and heroes. They are just stories, but because they are about gods and creation, they are called myths." "I understand. You are named after one of these gods?" "Actually, Andromeda was a mortal, the daughter of the king and queen of Ethiopia, which is in northern Africa. She was said to be very beautiful."

"Was she a real woman?" "They are just stories, and some of the stories involve the gods, so I don't think so. But that is where my name originates." "But you want me to call you Andie instead?" "I offer both and allow you to choose," I countered. "I think I prefer to call you Andromeda." "Then of course," I said. "You asked what we do while waiting for the food to arrive. We talk. We get to know each other." "That is what you do on a date?" "It is what I do on a date such as

this. There are other dates, where we attend events, but still, we talk. We learn how we feel about the other person." I paused. "You are still learning what you want, or so I believe you said. But we shouldn't start there. Perhaps you should tell me how you chose your name." "That begins with a story about a human woman named Skye." **** The evening grew late. Jessica and I spent the entire time talking and quite a bit of it snuggled on the sofa, changing positions periodically to avoid growing stiff. But then she said, "I need to send you home soon." "You're sending me back to

Minneapolis?" She tilted her head forward, and I'd learned this was the gesture she made when I had confused her. "I'm sorry. That was a joke. My home is in Minneapolis. You meant my cell." "I didn't want to use that word," she said softly. "It's fine," I said. It wasn't, but I didn't think she'd help me out of the jam I was in, so there was no good to come from berating her about it. "Do I have to leave now?" "I want to talk to you about something." I smiled. "We've been talking.

Did you leave the important conversation until the end?" "Yes." I laughed. "Did you enjoy our challenge today?" "Is that really what we're about to talk about, or are you skirting the edges." I had to explain that phrase. "Skirting the edges," she admitted. "I enjoyed competing with you," I said. "I would do that again. I would not care to do that exact challenge again." "Because I hurt you." "Because it was the nature of the

challenge for us to hurt each other. I will not do any further challenges based on that premise. If I find myself facing any more, I will immediately concede." "You would accept other challenges?" "I would," I said. "Perhaps not every day. But yes, I would." "Some species require these challenges," Jessica said. "For some, it is part of their biology. For others, it is a deep part of their culture, so deep it may as well be biology." "And Ardents?" "We do not require this." "Then why do you do it?" "You're going to think this is

horrible." "Just tell me." "It's fun," she said. "And we're good at it. We're good in the arena, and we're good in the challenges. We do not get enough women who offer themselves willingly, and so if we wish a mate, we must fight for one." "I see," I said. "Did you enjoy our challenge?" "I enjoyed the competition. But I began to feel very bad. If you were a warrior, I would not have felt bad." I didn't have a response to that. "Andromeda, I always thought I wanted a warrior for a mate." "I know. A male warrior."

"Yes, but... there are difficulties. I do not want a human male, warrior or otherwise." "Are there choices from among the Ardents?" "No." "Life is filled with choices, Jessica. You give up something here but you gain something there." "I might want a human female." "Do you find human females physically attractive?" "I like holding you," she replied. "I like holding a puppy dog," I said. "I don't want to marry one." "I think I like holding you differently than you like holding a puppy

dog. But do you like when I hold you?" "Am I acting like I don't want to be here?" I asked. "No. I want to do more than this." "More. I am not sure how much more I will allow on a first date." "You agreed I could hold you however I wanted." "Yes, but you assured me it wasn't a euphemism." "Oh. You thought I just asked for sex?" "I wasn't sure. You said more." "I just meant. I want to hold you... more." "That we can do," I said. I turned

around, sliding out from under her arm, but then I smiled and crawled onto her lap, laying my head against her shoulder. She wrapped her arms around me, and I sighed. "Is this what you meant?" "Yes," she whispered. We stayed like that for a while, then I whispered, "If you want to touch, you may touch." "I am touching," she said. "You are being very careful where you place your hands." "I do not want to offend you." "I crawled into your lap, Jessica. That by itself is permission for more, but you must be gentle." She didn't say anything and at

first she didn't move, but then one of her hands shifted to rest on my ass. I sighed, smiled, and clung to her more tightly. We didn't move for a long time after that.

Fall The guards returned me to my cell but were gone before the visor let me see. A moment later, words appeared. We have an agreement. You are now in your cell for the night. I sighed and undressed. There were no replacement clothes. "What do I do with these?" I asked. In response, the nook opened. I set the clothing inside, and it disappeared. "Are you watching me, Jasmine Brighteyes?" No.

"Funny. Call me, please." It only took a moment before I received an inbound call. We connected. "You are such a voyeur," I said. "A peeping Thomasina. A... um. I don't even know what to call you." "Is this why you asked me to call you, Andromeda?" "No, but I had to get that out of the way." I moved to sit on the bed. "Do you have a few minutes?" "A few." "I want blankets." "No." "I bet you could make clear blankets." She didn't repeat her denial, at

least not immediately. She paused, then asked, "Why?" "I am from a cold climate. I never sleep uncovered, not even in hot weather. It makes me uncomfortable. And now I think you're going to make me be naked in here a lot, and I don't do that, either." "The visor can make you sleep. These concerns are irrelevant." "They're relevant to me. I am being exceedingly cooperative." "And I am treating you exceedingly well for a mating candidate." "This is a simple request, Administrator. You should grant it. It costs you nothing and it gains you good

will." "I have given you privileges I have never given another mating candidate. And of the ones I have given other mating candidates, I have made all of them earn these privileges. But you want them handed to you." "Do you want a fight about how completely you violate our rights, Administrator?" I asked. "Do I need to iterate everything that is wrong with how you treat us?" "No. But I have reasons for my choices." "I'd love to hear them." "Maybe someday you will. Ms. Hayes, when you arrived here, you arrived with very few of your rights

intact. You have the right to be treated as gently as you allow-" "Except, apparently, during challenges." "You have the right to be well fed. You receive good health care if you need it. But after that, anything else you receive is a privilege at my discretion. Do you understand?" "I understand you have the power to enforce your choices," I said. "I do not agree you have the moral right to them." "Perhaps you are right about that, but I don't have a problem making decisions when moral ambiguity is involved. Is this why you wished to talk?"

"No." I paused. "Why did Jessica Maple ask me on a date?" Her tone changed entirely. "Was it a good date?" "In a way. It was a confusing date. She doesn't know what she wants." "I imagine that's why she asked. She is exploring options." "Will she be going back to New York now that her squad mate has won his challenges?" "She has not indicated otherwise to me," Jasmine replied. "If she invites me for future dates -- or challenges -- I will accept if I have an agreement with you." "For blankets?"

"I do not care for more challenges that hurt as much as today's, and I don't want the results to be a foregone conclusion." "You did well today, Andromeda," she replied gently. "Yes, but in the end, it hurt a great deal." "So if your chances mirrored yours this afternoon?" "I didn't think I had a chance, so I was surprised. But I'll point out I didn't come remotely close to winning, either." "Dark Skies offered almost a perfect handicap," Jasmine explained. "I cannot make promises on your chances to win, and I cannot promise you won't occasionally be hurt, but you won't fight

with power staffs again, or anything like them. I don't promise no combat at all, but the weapons would be padded. As you can guess, certain types of challenges are popular." "I do not believe it is fair I lose the right to wear clothing when my chance of winning is so low." "Which is why you have been given odds," Jasmine replied. "You lose a privilege for one day but you gain a privilege for three." I considered carefully. "All right," I said. "For now. Now we have the real reason I asked you to call me." "Jessica Maple was not the real reason, or your desire to call me a voyeur?"

"Are you still watching me, Jasmine? I think if you get to see mine, I should get to see yours." "We'll see about that," she replied. "Administrator Brighteyes, you have at least two personnel issues, and depending upon how you count it, three." She paused then said softly, "I know." "Dark Skies talked to me at length." "I know. Please do not be offended, but I monitored your call." I sighed. "Of course you did. Do we need to discuss it?" "Her heart is in the right place."

"It is," I agreed. "Octals are unaccustomed to dealing with conflict or determining motivational tools. She would be good at the technical aspects of an event coordinator, but not the relationship aspects." "And so?" I asked. "I believe I will tell her I need her doing what she is good at." "Clover," I said. "I know you can't release her without a replacement, but could you give her some time off? You're near the end of your two-week cycle." "This is our busiest time. We're preparing for our next cycle."

"Can you teach me?" "Not in a few days." "What about by the end of the next cycle?" "Are you offering in anticipation of a negotiation?" "Excuse me?" "Perhaps you expect additional privileges." She stressed the last word. "You're the one offering to tie disparate conversations together, Administrator, not me. Do you want my help or not? Can you teach me or not?" I sighed. "Are the files, or whatever you need to do, even in English?" "I can teach you," she replied. "I don't know if I can teach you before the

end of the next cycle. But teaching you takes time, and I need to know you aren't going to consume that time and then not help." "I will ignore the insult to my integrity, Administrator. Between the two of us, who will win a battle of wills?" "If we enter into such a battle, there are two losers, Andromeda. You would lose more than I would, but we both lose." "Do you want to teach me or not?" I asked crisply. "Yes, I want to teach you." "I won't blackmail you, Administrator. I consider my job and my status as your unwilling mating

candidate separate." "Do you intend to swim in the morning?" "I can be flexible." "Could you swim before breakfast?" "Yes." "I'll see you after breakfast. Good night, Andromeda." "Good night, Jasmine." **** A few minutes later, I lay on my back, incredibly self-conscious without any clothing or blankets. "She could have let me have the blanket," I muttered. The lights were a little bright,

and I'd found no way to control them. But I realized I could do a great deal with the visor, and so I searched for the brightness controls. I discovered not only the visor had brightness controls, but they were actually quite smart. I could program a different brightness based not only on time of day, but location and even my orientation. I told it I were in my cell and lying down, to dim the lights significantly. And it did. And that was when I noticed I had an unobtrusive green dot in the upper left corner. It had been there all day, and I'd never gotten to it. I had new mail, and it had been there all day. I opened mail. There were three

letters waiting for me, one from Cherish, the Tutor I had met swimming. The other two were from Soft Rain, the female Wookie. I read the one from Cherish first. Andromeda Hayes, I found pleasure in our swim today. Would you welcome my company for future swims? Cherish I wrote back. Hello, Cherish, My apologies for the delayed response. It has been a busy day, and I am still growing accustomed to the visor. I only now read your email. I also enjoyed your company.

Yes, I would welcome future company, either in the pool or elsewhere. I will be swimming earlier tomorrow, before breakfast, but do not know my schedule after that. I hope I'll see you, if not tomorrow, then another day. Andromeda Then I opened the two emails from Soft Rain, the Wookie. Andromeda Hayes, It was my pleasure to meet you today. Soft Rain Well, that was short and sweet. Her second was only slightly longer. Andromeda Hayes,

Thank you for your help today. Fine Mist finds his mating candidate quite enchanting, and she has already made encouraging comments to him. I am nearly as pleased as he is, and I believe she is also pleased. We watched your challenge this afternoon. You fought well and far better than Fine Mist and I expected. While you did not win, I still congratulate you for a fine performance. I wonder if you would accept a similar challenge from me. Soft Rain I read that through twice, thinking carefully. Then I crafted my reply. Hello, Soft Rain,

I apologize for the delay. I am still learning to use the visor. I wish to say something about Emma. She has had a difficult life. If your brother treats her with kindness and love, I believe she will be positively responsive. She requires safety, security, and someone who will not misplace her trust. I enjoyed our time together, and I would enjoy more of your company. But I wish clarification. Are you inviting me to a challenge for the joy of competition? Or are you inviting me to a challenge as a portion of spending time together? If only the former, then I will accept if we can find challenges more

suited to both of us. If the latter, then I am somewhat more flexible, and I would enjoy spending time with you. Either way, I do not care for more challenges exactly like today's. The power staff hurts and I am not a warrior. You are in my thoughts, Andromeda **** The visor woke me gently. I opened my eyes, still lying on my side, and immediately I saw I had new mail. I'd programmed the visor to offer it's most insistent indicator, but I would be turning that down. A flashing mailbox

in the dead center of my vision was annoying. I had email from Jessica, Cherish, Soft Rain, and Dark Skies. Jessica thanked me for last night, admitted she was confused with her desires, but asked if I would accept another challenge and subsequent evening together for the day after tomorrow. I read the other emails then replied. "I can't wait." Cherish confirmed she would see me at the pool. Dark Skies thanked me for our conversation yesterday and invited me to lunch today. I replied with, "I do not know what Administrator Brighteyes has in mind for me, but I would enjoy a

shared meal any time our schedules mesh." Soft Rain wrote: Hello, Andromeda, My desire is for the latter. I would like a challenge followed by shared time together. Would you be available today? Will you let our challenge be a hunt? Soft Rain I smiled. Good morning, Soft Rain, I do not know my schedule, but I will accept your challenge whenever Jasmine Brighteyes allows. I presume you wish me to hunt you, and I will be given some sort of net gun to use when

I catch you. For any challenge between us, I require a sufficient advantage as to have a fair chance to perform well. For terms, if you win our challenge, then I am yours for the evening. If I win, then you are mine. I look forward to seeing you, Andromeda I read that through a few times before mailing it. I knew she really meant she intended to hunt me, but I enjoyed the idea of teasing her. Finally I sat up, stretched, and then realized the nook was open. A robe waited for me. I climbed to my feet and collected the robe, hugging it for a

moment. "Thank you, Jasmine." I slipped it on and padded to the glass wall. **** My locker contained a surprise. Two surprises, actually. Hanging neatly were two swimsuits, one a bikini, the other a one piece. I stared at them then pulled them both from the locker, and like I had with the robe, I hugged them to me, caressing my face with the fabric of the one piece. I felt myself on the edge of tears, which I shoved back only because it was ridiculous. She let me have a swimsuit. It was no big deal. I don't know if I convinced myself, but I didn't cry. "Thank you, Jasmine," I

whispered again. Words appeared in my visor. When you're done, leave it with your damp towels. I dressed quickly, selecting the one piece today. I showered then headed for the pool. It was empty, the water absolutely still. No one had been swimming for hours. I stared at the smooth water. It was almost a shame to disturb it. I backed up and made a running dive, slicing into the water cleanly. I wasn't alone for long. Others began arriving almost immediately. But I swam my laps and ignored them.

But then underneath me, swimming on her back, was Cherish. I reached the end of the pool and waited for her to surface. "You have earned a privilege, even though you lost your challenge." "Good morning, Cherish." I caressed the suit. "Yes. I believe Administrator Brighteyes seeks to convince me she is not the voyeur I believe her to be." What Administrator Brighteyes granteth, Administrator Brighteyes can taketh away. I laughed at the words. "I have a confession, Andromeda."

"Oh?" "Administrator Brighteyes is not the only voyeur." I laughed again. "Have you been watching me, too?" "A little. Swim with me." She collected a hand and pushed off from the side, but we swam slowly, on our sides facing each other. "You are becoming popular. It appears if I wish some of your time, I must challenge you." "I didn't think Tutor enjoyed the challenges." "We wish a willing mate," she said. "But that does not mean we are immune to the allure of these challenges."

"And so you wish to hunt me as well?" "I might prefer a more intellectual challenge." I laughed. "If it is a fair challenge, I will accept." "Really?" "I give you the same offer I gave Soft Rain. If you win, then I am yours for the evening, but if I win, then you are mine." She grunted. It sounded quite like a piglet grunting, but I decided it was laughter. "I agree to your terms. I will schedule an opportunity for us." "Good," I said. "Would you care to swim as we

did yesterday, at least until others arrive, and I must share you?" "I would." I don't know if a signal passed between us, but together we both dived to the bottom. Then she reached over and took my hand, and we swam from end to end, holding hands and surfacing for air at each end. We did that for a while. Then we surfaced. She waited for me to take a breath, but then she sank, pulling me down with her. I let her, and she pulled me into her arms under the water. We sank to the bottom, looking at each other. Cherish caressed my face. I reached up and cupped her cheek. But then I pointed to the surface, and she

nodded. When we popped up, Dark Skies was sitting on the edge of the pool, directly above us. "What were you two doing down there?" I looked up at her. "A challenge. Cherish won." "A challenge?" "Who can hold her breath the longest? She won a tight hug." **** Back in my cell, I sat back on the bed, pulling the robe tight around me and leaning against the wall. How many aliens were competing for my attention? I didn't even begin counting before the visor began flashing an angry

red and buzzing at me. "What's wrong?" I called out. "What is it?" "Mating candidate Andromeda Hayes," said Jasmine into my ears. "You are in violation of our agreement!" "What agreement? I'm in my cell. Breakfast isn't due for another few minutes." "You lost your challenge yesterday and are not permitted clothing in your cell until 5 PM tonight." "I'm sorry! I forgot. I'm sorry!" I pulled the robe off as quickly as I could and ran to the nook, shoving it in. The nook swallowed it immediately. "I'm sorry, Administrator. It wasn't intentional." But I crossed my arms over

my chest and crossed my legs, trying to hide my nudity. "Move to the center of the cell facing forward, feet shoulder width apart and laced fingers on top of your head." "I'm sorry," I said. I scrambled into position. "I'm sorry." "Remain in this position until breakfast arrives." And so I stood there. It wasn't a long period, but I spent the entire time wondering if she was going to punish me for it. It wasn't until I was nearly done with breakfast that I realized how quickly I was submitting to her authority, scrambling when she ordered me to do

so, apologizing for infractions that shouldn't even exist. And I'd only been here a few days. **** She didn't return the robe. It took me two minutes of the visor telling me it was time to go before I could step to the wall, and then I hurried to the dressing room. I didn't see anyone, but running around in my birthday suit was intimidating. Yes, Jasmine Brighteyes was good at keeping me off balance. The visor didn't direct me to a control room. It directed me to a conference room. Jasmine was already there when I arrived.

"I'm sorry," I said. "It wasn't intentional. I swear." "You can program the visor to remind you," she said. "If it happens again, there will be a more significant punishment than displaying yourself to the cameras for five minutes." "Oh my god," I said, immediately blushing. "Are you serious?" "Quite so," she replied. "Was anyone watching?" She snuffle-laughed. "Oh, yes. You are becoming popular, Andromeda Hayes. And I added the video to your bio." I stared at her, my mouth opening and closing several times. I knew I was

beet red. Finally I asked in a small voice, "Why would you do that? Why do you insist on humiliating me? Why do you offer me a portion of dignity only to take even far more away?" I didn't wait for her to answer. I turned on my heel and walked three steps back to the wall, but the door didn't reappear even when I stood with my nose practically touching it. I stared at the wall, willing it to open. When nothing happened, and Administrator Brighteyes remained silent, I said, still in a low tone, "It was a mistake to agree to work for you, and it was a mistake to accept our basic agreement. I wish to return to my cell and will await the opportunity to kill

whatever male you decide to let rape me." "You're being hyperbolic." "You're right. You'll probably drug me out of my skull first, so you'll mind rape me first, then let the male rape my body. Will you watch him do it, Administrator? You seem to enjoy watching helpless human women in their humiliation. What a refined, mature species you represent." I heard her moving across the room, coming to a stop to my right just at the edge of my peripheral vision. I refused to turn my head to look at her. "You are the only one who feels you have been humiliated or degraded." "Every human woman here

agrees with me." "I do not feel you have been humiliate or degraded," she clarified. "And the people who see the video do not, either." I turned my head. She was turned, facing me, and her expression, if it had been human, would have qualified as one of gentle concern. "I should not have expressed my pleasure the way I did," she continued. "Yes, there is a certain pleasure that you obeyed me. And yes, I like looking at you. Do you like looking at me? I am told my eyes are quite pretty. Some women call them beautiful. I believe you did so. Some women call me beautiful." "Now you're bragging?"

"I have admitted that I enjoy looking at you, and I am trying to reach a point. Do you enjoy looking at me?" "Not right now I don't." "And at other times?" "Why did you do it?" "I am stirring up interest in you. Alien politics are involved. You are an experiment, Andromeda." "Well, nudies of me should help." "Humans are one of the few species who wear clothing for modesty. The people viewing the videos find nothing extraordinary about that, except they are allowed to see you more completely. Tell me, if you were going to

look at pictures of a Wookie, would you rather she be entirely clothed or naked?" "That's different." "Because she has fur? To us, that is a difference of appearance but not a reason you should require clothing for modesty." "Except for the furry species, every alien I've seen is clothed." "We wear clothing for fashion, for protection from the elements, and because humans grow upset if they see us without them." I turned to face her full on. "Fine. You've seen mine. Let's see yours." She folded her arms, watching me. I mirrored her then cocked out a hip

to boot. "All right," she said. Without a pause she bent down and removed both shoes, setting them aside. The skirt was next, and then the undies. I couldn't believe she was doing it, but I didn't take my eyes away, either. She had nice legs, but I wasn't going to tell her that. The blouse was last. She unbuttoned it, and then she said, "Some humans react badly to this." "Let's see it," I replied. She slipped the blouse from her shoulders and let it drop to the floor behind her. And then she uncurled four tentacles from where they had rested against her body, and they arrayed

around her, the tips waving lightly. I stared. And stared. And stared. "Are you repulsed, Andromeda?" "No," I whispered. "Those are..." I licked my lips. "Tentacles." "That is the closest word in English, yes. Most humans have a variety of reactions at this point. Some recoil. The rest almost universally stare, just like you are. After that, nearly all of them equate me to a certain terrestrial creature." "Octopus," I whispered. "Yes. Outwardly they are extremely similar to the arms of an

octopus. And you're still staring." "I can't help it." "Should I feel degraded or humiliated, Andromeda?" At that my eyes snapped upwards to hers. "Did you just call me a hypocrite?" She smiled broadly. But then I hardened. "Except there's a difference. You don't feel humiliated. And you're not on display for absolutely everyone. And even if you offered to let me post such a video of you, I wouldn't, whereas you did it, and then you told me about it to achieve exactly the reaction you got. You couldn't have been surprised."

"I'm not doing any of this to hurt you, Andromeda," she said. "I am, however, doing it to make you meek. The sooner you get over your rebellion, the sooner you'll open yourselves to the possibilities of the situation." "Being raped?" "Could you, for one conversation, give me the benefit of the doubt on that? None of the women here will be raped, not even mind raped the way you put it. You're going to leave here with a woman you like. You're going to live a life most humans can barely imagine, mated to someone who treats you exactly the way you want to be treated, experiencing things very few humans experience. I know you think the

worst of me, but I'm not doing any of this so you can be miserable for the rest of your life. The harder I push you now, the sooner you'll start to consider the possibilities of your situation." We glared at each other for a minute before I said, "I think maybe I need to mull this over." "I understand," she replied gently. "Do you insist on being returned to your cell? I really hope you'll say 'no'. I could use your skills, Andromeda. I really could." "I-" I looked back up at her eyes again. "I liked operating the cameras yesterday." "You did a good job, too." "I had an idea."

"Oh?" "Apple's bio didn't include any interviews with her. I haven't had a chance to look at others." "Interviews?" "You know what an interview is. Humans would call it the human interest perspective." "Ah. Interesting. But you must understand. While there are some semblances to your human reality television shows in what we do here, that isn't our prime purpose." "You don't believe interviewing me would increase your ratings?" "We don't have ratings." "Fine. Raise interest?"

She smiled. "I suppose it could. But we don't have time to explore that thought today. Maybe in coming weeks." I nodded, then her tentacles moved, and my eyes flashed to them. "Are you intimidated?" "No," I said. "Do you want to see one?" "I'm a hypocrite, aren't I?" "If I asked to examine your arm, would you let me?" And then one of the tentacles reached into the space between us. "The tip is sensitive. Be gentle with it." At that, I raised my hands and collected the tentacle. She let me have its weight, and it was heavy, heavier

than an arm, but then it was both longer and broader. Then she surprised me, doubling it back and wrapping around my left arm twice, the tip coming to a rest just at the crook of my elbow. I stared for a moment, then relaxed. "Did you just try to scare me?" "It was a reflexive action," she replied. "I have not done this many times." "Shown them to a human?" "Accepted such a close examination. You are only the fifth human who has touched one. Somewhat remarkably, the others have been two pairs of sisters." I nodded then used my free hand to gently stroke along the tentacle. It was

smooth and dry. "What do you use the suckers for?" "Holding things, breathing, tasting, eating." "Excuse me?" "I don't breathe through my mouth or nose. Are you suddenly repulsed?" "No." But then I released it, and she released her grip around my wrist. She glanced at her clothing, and I thought it was with distaste. But then she reached down with one tentacle and collected her clothes. She shrugged into the blouse but didn't button it right away. She pulled her undies and skirt into place and stepped into the shoes.

"It is strange to me," she said. "You long to wrap these clothes around you. And at the same time, I long to be free of them." "Why?" "Imagine breathing through a hood much of the day. I believe it is as close an experience as I can explain." "Then don't," I said. "At least, not on my account." "Are you sure, Andromeda?" "I might ask to touch them again. Would that bother you?" "No. But if I asked to examine portions of your body that are different from mine, you would not offer the same answer."

I turned away. "Forget I asked. I didn't realize I was asking to do anything your society felt was taboo." She stepped closer, and then there were far more than two hands touching me, but it was very gentle. "I won't ask that of you. You may look, or even touch, all you want. But even if you are not startled by these," and she slipped a tentacle around me to make her point, "you would be uncomfortable if I am partially undressed. If you are sure we can work with these waving around, I have blouses that offer me more freedom." I turned to her, and then we were standing very close. "Please dress to be comfortable."

She smiled, and then she caressed my face with a tentacle tip before pulling away. I watched her go. She reached a door and looked over her shoulder. "I'll only be a few minutes. Your visor has information on today's events. Beginning today, I hope you will review the scheduled events prior to arriving at work." "I will." She stepped through the door, which closed behind her. I stared at the spot for a while then moved to the table, sat down, and accessed the visor. **** Jasmine was only gone for a few minutes. When she returned, she was wearing a different blouse. I looked up

when she entered, and she turned around slowly. The blouse was backless and open at the sides, allowing her tentacles free roam. She turned back to face me. "You have a nice body, Jasmine," I said. "I like it this way better than the other way." I may have surprised her. She stared for a moment then recovered. "Thank you, Andromeda. Ready to work?" I nodded. "All right. I have an office for you. Let us move there." She turned and gestured, and we exited her conference room through the same door she'd been using. It was a short walk and we entered a large office. One wall was completely glass with the most stunning view I could envision.

"Um." "Oh. Catseye home world. I was feeling homesick last night." She cocked her head, and the image changed to match what I might see outside the facility. "You didn't have to do that." "I did. It's not good to pine for something I'll never see again." She gestured. "This is my office. Yours is there." I turned, and there was an obvious doorway, although the door was closed. "I don't get your doors. Some are obvious. Some are not." "We use the magic ones to impress the natives," she replied. "But it is somewhat expensive."

"And yet you do that to every single one of our cells." "Well, that's another technology, although similar. It is also expensive but necessary." "You could use metal bars." "Ah, but that would be far too mundane, and we must keep the natives guessing." She smiled. "We can use your office." She gestured, and I headed towards the door. It opened automatically, and I found a very pleasant office with all the comforts I could desire. It was warm and cheery, with gentle lighting. There were two chairs, both equally comfortablelooking. "In the future your visor can lead

you here," she said. "Sit." I took one chair. She grabbed the other then gestured to the computer. "I would use your visor, but until you grow accustomed to someone doing that to you, it tends to make humans ill unless I go slowly. This is better for today. I'll still drive." She didn't touch the computer, but it came alive. Then as she stared at it, the screen changed to the image of four human women. "The women arrive in batches of approximately 64 every two weeks, just under 500 a year." "The math doesn't work." "We process men as well, but not as many. We don't get 64 each time, and it's not necessarily every two weeks. I

can usually tell at the end of the first week when we would be ready for the next group." "All right." "The women come only from some countries." "Only some?" "First world," she explained. "Can you imagine the shock to someone from, say, Bangladesh? As I've told others, people living in certain parts of the world are born into greater privilege, and thus they bear greater responsibility." "I see." "We have selection criteria. A low score in xenophobia is critical."

"Good idea." "After that, we look at the overall picture." "I suppose you want healthy future mothers." "We can cure many diseases," she replied. "And of course, we can repair most trauma your bodies may have experienced. We can also cure addiction such as alcoholism, but someone who is an alcoholic probably scores low in a wide variety of areas and thus won't interest us." "All right. So what do you value?" "Curiosity. Intelligence. The two aren't the same thing."

"Right." "A sense of adventure helps. This is, after all, about as grand an adventure as humans could envision." "I suppose it is," I said. "We avoid extreme scores on claustrophobia, paranoia, and susceptibility to motion sickness. These are difficult for us to manage." "All right." "We also tend to avoid anyone who speaks her native language in an accent most of us find undecipherable." "Oh, I know what you mean." "Then, for similar reasons to why we take from first world countries only, we tend to prefer candidates who

are educated and have lived a certain standard of living." "Then how did Emma arrive here?" "Did Emma sound like she is from a poor upbringing?" "You said-" "She's had a difficult life. She lost both her parents when she was young, her mother first. Her father remarried and then was dead six months later. She was largely raised by her stepmother." "The wicked stepmother? Or the wicked step-stepfather?" "Moving on," said Jasmine. "Right."

"These four women will arrive in four or five days," she said. "They do not all come together. The women from the United States and Canada arrive aboard one flight. The women from Europe may come from two others. We get one or two from India and more from Japan. These women arrive together." "I see." She gestured to the screen. "These four are all Americans." I studied them. They couldn't have been more different, physically speaking. One was Black. Another was Asian, but I couldn't have told you more accurately than that. I would see shortly she was of Korean heritage but with an American grandparent -- her

grandmother, actually, a former American soldier stationed in Korea for a time. The other two women were Caucasian. Both had long hair, one blond, the other red. The redhead was deeply freckled, but she was cute. Ages appeared to be about twenty for the blonde, twenty-something for the Black and Asian women, and upper twenties for the redhead. "What we need to do is become acquainted with what we can learn about each woman." "Why?" "Several reasons. First, there are species that prefer willing mates." "How do Catseye feel?"

"Willing." "I suppose I should first ask whether you are even interested in human mates." "Three of those four sisters I mentioned are mated to Catseye. One pair are living on the space station and the other pair are mated to their own pair of Catseye sisters living in Boston." "One pair of sisters married to another pair? Like half an Octal household?" She snorted. "No, but at times it can be hard to tell. They are all quite comfortable with each other, but not incestuously so. Catseye share that taboo with humans." She gestured to the screen. "I selected these four women for

us to study together. I have already reviewed their information. From looking at them, can you guess which might be most receptive to accepting a willing relationship?" "I could go by cultural stereotypes, but otherwise no, I can't." "All right. We actually know a great deal about these four women. I'm going to display the base scores." And then a series of bar charts appeared over each woman's image, although not enough to obscure her image. Each chart held six bars, and there was a red line across each about a third of the way from the bottom. "These charts are calibrated to human normal standards. The red line

represents average, and we do something humans don't do. The scale is linear below the line and logarithmic above. Do you know what that means?" "Yes," I said. "What are the bars?" "The first is the inverse of xenophobia. You could call it xenotolerance. You will notice the scores for all these women are high. You will never see that bar near the red line." "Next is a combined value for intelligence, but we can drill down on that. There are different forms of intelligence, after all." "Right." "We're able to actually test intelligence rather than knowledge,

something human standardized testing typically fails to do. Beside intelligence is curiosity, which is much trickier to measure, so be careful with that bar. After that is maturity. You will see scores all over for that value, and it is standardized for a 25-year-old human. We do not filter based on maturity except in an extreme case." "I understand." "Next is sense of adventure. That is also somewhat subjective. Small differences should be ignored, but extreme differences can be telling. Also, that can be a very complicated measure for humans. Some people love the idea of adventure but are actually homebodies. Other hate the word

adventure, but if you force one upon them, they thrive." "How did I score?" "Slightly above average, but not remarkably so. We do select based on it, so while I wouldn't say you never see low values, they tend to be moderately high. However, we have a word for individuals with exceedingly high values." "Oh?" "Foolhardy." I snorted. "We exclude them." "I don't blame you," I said. "Fifth is independence. This score is also all over the board, and we don't filter on it."

"What's the last bar?" "You could call it stubbornness, but it's more than that. But like the xenophobia, it's an inverse value. High means most accepting of change, open to reason. It doesn't necessarily mean a pushover. An Implac would score in the negative range." She turned to me. "You score moderately high, higher than I would." "Then your testing methods are flawed." "No, my explanation is flawed. You are hung up on the word I used. If I said it was openness to new ideas, or flexibility, then how do you feel about it?" I considered. "All right. Maybe

that's fair. Higher than you do, hmm?" "Don't let it go to your head," she said. That was when I felt something crawling on my neck. I nearly leapt from my chair, trying to bat it away, and then it was gone. "Oh, Andromeda," said Jasmine. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize my touch would frighten you." She moved away. "I'm sorry." "Wait," I said. "Just wait." I brushed at my phantom spiders. "I thought it was a spider. That was you?" "I'm sorry. I was... comfortable." "You had a tentacle across my back, and I didn't notice?"

"I wasn't really paying attention to what it was doing. Can we just get back to this?" "Oh no. You weren't paying attention?" Her tentacles began quivering, especially the tips. "Please, I am embarrassed. I'm sorry." I crossed my arms and rotated the chair to face her fully. "Explain." "I don't think so." "Please." She closed her eyes for a moment, seemed to collect herself, then nodded. "I was sniffing." "You were smelling me?" "You smell nice."

"Are you flirting with me, Jasmine?" "No! I was just... comfortable. I'm sorry. I won't do it again." I considered her carefully. "Were you sniffing your employee, or were you sniffing a mating candidate?" She began speaking rapidly -and it wasn't English. I folded my arms tighter and shook my head. "No, no. Speak English. Which was it?" "Please, we don't have time for this." "Answer me, Jasmine." "Do not take that tone with me, Mating Candidate." I smiled. "That's what I thought.

You may sniff me if you want, but don't make it feel like a spider crawling on me or I'll probably react the same way again." Then I turned back to the screen and studied the women's scores. After a moment, Jasmine moved back beside me. "I won't do it again," she said softly. "It's up to you," I said. "Just remember what I said about spiders. Do I have enough information to answer your question yet?" "Give me your initial impressions." I compared the charts. According to the bars, none of these women was at all xenophobic. They were of above average intelligence. The other scores

ranged all over, although curiosity tended to be high. But I still didn't feel I could guess who might willingly accept what was going on, and I told her that. "That is at least in part because you're asking yourself the wrong question. Almost no women who arrive accept this willingly. But some wish to attempt to win their freedom through the challenges. And others see the challenges as a means of lashing out. Others either see the challenges as hopeless, anyway, or maybe just don't care for physical competition. And for some, accepting willingly gives some degree of choice instead of being forced into competing with a particularly

unpleasant male." I looked across the charts again. Then I tapped the Korean woman. "This one could be talked into a willing match." I tapped the Black woman. "She's going to fight." I looked at the other two. "I can't tell on either of these." "I'm going to add one more bar," Jasmine said. And underneath each set of characteristics appeared a bar with a slider on it. The blonde and Korean women were far to the right. The redhead was near the middle. And the Black woman was far to the left. "What is that?" "Here are yours and below it, mine." Two more sliders appeared, both

far to the left, with Jasmine's off the scale to the left. "Gender preference?" "Yes." "Homosexual versus heterosexual?" "No. Preference. Male to the right, female to the left. The score is meaningless for some species of course." "Such as Catseye?" "Actually, such as Octal. Octal are Octal. Seven females and one male. And there are other species, although none known are spacefaring, that literally have no gender at all. They reproduce through division."

"Too much information," I said. "Right. Does this change your answer?" I tapped the image of the Black woman. "She will find Catseye interesting." "And a few other species," Jasmine said. "I won't comment on which yet." "How many of them prefer a challenge?" "There are only two species in human space that are strictly female, Catseye being one. There are two more than are heavily female-female, the Octals being one. Of the remaining extraterrestrial species, eight experience female-female homosexuality in a

fashion similar to humans, although the ratios vary widely. Of those, two are entirely pansexual. And I may need to reluctantly add Ardents to the count, if Jessica Maple continues to investigate feelings for you." "Why reluctantly?" "She may be an aberration, or it may be that female-female homosexuality may be common amongst the other castes, but I have less experience with them." "I think she's just curious, and while I'm willing to spend time with her and help her figure out her feelings, if you made me pick her or the arena with eight females you pick, I might pick the arena."

"You don't care for her?" "I like her a great deal, but she's figuring out what she wants, and I don't want to fall in love with someone who will decide two years from now she made a mistake." "All right. That's fair. But if I were sending you into the arena today, she would be in there with you, and if she wins, I would expect you to give her your best." "Fine," I said. "This woman." I tapped the screen. "She's going to want to fight. I agree with you. But we may talk her into other choices." "Can you give her the same deal you gave me?"

"No. But I might be able to host, well, a party. She is not the only human I would invite." She tapped the redhead. "I'd invite her as well, and four others from this batch." "So this is what you do first?" I asked. "I read the dossiers on everyone arriving," she said. "Some I read more carefully than others. I divide the batch between my senior event coordinators and myself, and then I study my list more carefully. These four women are fairly stable. They come from healthy backgrounds with good educations. For humans, they are each mentally stable. They are yours." "Mine? You said I couldn't learn

this quickly." "Two are from my batch and two are from Clover's. I want you to study them. Decide how you're going to tell them what is happening to them. Decide how you're going to offer the chance to accept this willingly. You have an hour until our first event. It is one of Clover's, but I've already suggested she put you back on cameras." I nodded. "You'll need time to prepare, so arrive a half hour before the scheduled start time. It's in our coastal region, so you will need to acquaint yourself with our amphibious cameras." I nodded. "All right." "Now, I need to speak to my

mating candidate for a moment." I nodded. "Your schedule is filling. You've been sending your challengers to me to schedule your events. I don't want you to do that anymore." "I don't know when you have me scheduled for other things. I don't know when I can schedule an event." "That information is available through your visor, but I do not want a mating candidate managing this portion of her schedule. Will you mind if Dark Skies does it?" "No." "Then I will block out your schedule when you are mine, and you will send your challengers to her. She will discuss how she wishes you to do

so. If my need for you changes, then either she or I will inform your challenger of the schedule change." "All right." "If you check your schedule, it appears you have several events scheduled, including one late this afternoon." I smiled. "With a certain Wookie?" "Yes." "I like her." "I do, too." "She may have the sexiest voice I've ever heard." Jasmine snuffle-laughed. "I think so, too, although I do not care for her

native language, and her accent in Catseye is too thick to be understood." "Is she also curious, or does she actively seek a human female?" "I don't know. I believe she is curious, but I can not judge if she is serious. It is early to tell, perhaps for all of us." "I guess we'll see." Jasmine stood. "If you have questions, feel free to ask. I'll collect you when it's time to head to the control room." **** With the Catseye gone, I dug into the material regarding the four women. I started with Alisha Stanley, the black

woman. She was 26 and from Los Angeles. And then I stared. She was a doctor. She was in her first year residency when the aliens took her. Oh, she was not going to be happy. No, she was not going to be happy at all. I checked the clock. I didn't have time to dig in depth at this time. Next was the blonde woman, Laurel Sutton. Laurel was 22 and a fresh college graduate. Major: computer science. She looked pretty cute for a geek. Was that judging? Let's just say she was a lot cuter than any of the geeks from Westside Foods. She was a runner and, like me, downhill skier. "Sorry, Laurel. Not a lot of downhill skiing here."

Jackie Yoo was 25, a year younger than our doctor. She had a degree in communications and worked in HR in Silicon Valley. Last was the redhead, Peggy Ann Page. 31 years old. Peggy Ann's degree was in forestry, and she worked for the United States government. Peggy Ann was a forest ranger at Glacier National Park. I smiled, wondering what she would think of the jungle challenges. I decided she could have some natural advantages. I read a little more, and then Jasmine was back. I was disappointed to see her tentacles were hidden again, but I didn't say anything. I stood and walked to her. "You

took a doctor in her first year of residency. What kind of fucked up decision was that?" "Imagine the opportunities to work for us," Jasmine said. She smiled. "Not unlike your situation." "At least I was freshly unemployed," I said. "Do you have any idea how much work medical school is to a human?" "Do not berate me, Andromeda." I closed my mouth, but I gave her a good glare. Finally I huffed. "Let's go." **** I loved the aquatic cameras! "I am so going to make some of my challenges in the water," I told Dark

Skies on our way to lunch. "That was a good challenge," she said. "Their fourth. The human is stubborn. I think she's going to take it all the way to seven. If she does, she'll be here after we begin the next batch." "Does she think she can win?" "She's lost every challenge so far, but she doesn't stop fighting. The Loris is going to have his hands full with her." "Why is he called a Loris?" "Did you see his eyes? They resemble an Earth creature with the same name." "Oh," I said. "Of course." There was a cafeteria. When we

arrived, Dark Skies was the only alien. "Everyone is human," I said. "Yes. This is the human cafeteria. But I ordered ahead." And so five minutes found us across a small table from each other. I eyed her food. "Looks good," I said. "I'd let you try it, but I don't think you want to go to the hospital," she said. We both dived into our meals, and then she said, "Let's talk about your schedule." "All right." "On this issue, you are the mating candidate. If you fight with me, I am obligated to punish you." I sighed. "All right."

"Administrator Brighteyes was very clear with me. I'm sorry, Andromeda." "It's fine, Dark Skies." "Good. I don't want this to hurt our friendship. Your visor will display your schedule. I have authority to add items or rearrange them. I will warn you if I make changes, but you should check every morning." I smiled. This part was no different than how I used to treat Gerri. "I understand." "If you wish to accept a challenge or schedule one of your dates, you will message me, and I will decide. Furthermore, it may be some of the women will bypass you and come

straight to me. I have been directed to accept on your behalf." "Only females, right?" "Right. Only females. Once you have spent time with someone you may register your preferences, but I am not obligated to take them into consideration." I didn't say anything to that. "You have accepted offers for each of the next three evenings. They are now on your visor." I checked, and sure enough: there they were. I nodded. "I would like you to come for a meal in my home the following evening. You may say 'no'. If you accept, you

won't be leaving until the morning." "That is the most clinical date request I've ever received," I said. "Haven't you ever asked a woman out before?" "No." "Oh. Well, then I am going to teach you. Can you authorize me to remove the visor if I promise to behave?" She paused. "If you misbehave, Administrator Brighteyes will be very upset with me." "I won't misbehave. You are asking me to trust you. Perhaps you should trust me." She paused then nodded. When

she nodded again, I activated the menu then hit Deactivate. A moment later the visor was resting on the table between us. I rubbed my eyes then leaned forward, staring into Dark Skies' eyes. She was watching me carefully, but perhaps nervously. "Dark Skies," I said, my voice low. It was the sultriest voice I had. I didn't know if it was that sultry, but it had worked to good effect in the past. "Andromeda?" I leaned closer to her then reached out and captured her hand, cradling it in both of mine. "I find you fascinating." "You do?" "Deeply. I would very much

enjoy an evening meal together during my soonest opening." "Andromeda," she said. She squirmed in her chair. "Followed by..." and I lowered my voice even further, whispering, "a battle of wills." She actually gulped. Then I lifted her fingers to my lips and kissed them. I looked over her blue fingers into her eyes. "Please say yes." "Yes," she whispered. Then I released her hand and leaned back in the chair. "And that is how you ask a human woman on a date." Then I picked up the visor and settled it back in place. It wasn't until we

were back at work she pulled herself together enough to ask, "Did you say 'yes'?" "Yes, Dark Skies. I said 'yes'." **** Clover was the event coordinator for the afternoon event, and it was to be in the coliseum. Dark Skies and I had been in the control room for several minutes when Clover said, "Andromeda, I want you to see this in person. Come with me." She turned for the exit, and I scrambled to follow her. In the hallway, she turned to me. "You are not allowed to see this route." A moment later my visor dimmed, and then she took my arm. We walked quietly for a minute or two,

then she pulled me through a doorway and pressed me against the wall. Then there was snuffling noise. I stood complacently, but when the noise continued, I said, "Clover? Is something wrong?" "Andromeda," she said. "Jasmine Brighteyes told me what you're trying to do." "I don't understand." "I haven't seen Peony in weeks." Then there was more of the snuffling sound. "We didn't know this would be so hard." "Oh, Clover," I said. I reached for her. I encountered tentacle. She tried to withdraw from me, but I followed the tentacles and then pulled her into a hug.

A moment later she wrapped around me, entirely around me. And then the snuffling came from all around me, and I realized the sound came from her tentacles. Then she squeezed tighter, too tight, and I whispered, "Not so tight. Can't breathe." At that, she relaxed, but she held me tightly, snuffling the entire time. That went on for a minute or two, and then she said, "Catseye do not normally hug with clothing in the way." I released her immediately, but she didn't release me. "I'm sorry. I didn't know." "I am not offended. I am asking permission. I would need to loosen your

blouse. We prefer nothing in the way." "Oh. Oh. Um. All right." She didn't wait for more. Two of her tentacles slipped between us, and she unbuttoned my blouse. I wasn't quite expecting that, but I didn't stop her. Once it was loose, she slid three of her tentacles inside the blouse. The last wrapped around my neck and basically buried my entire head, a portion wrapping across my face. The snuffling resumed. It was quite odd. But I wrapped my own arms around her, finding at some point she'd loosened her own blouse. And so I let my hands find the bare skin of her back. And we simply held each other.

"Thank you," she whispered eventually. Slowly she unwrapped from me. "I'm going to let you see so you can fix your clothing." She withdrew from me, and slowly my vision brightened. I looked around briefly. We were in an office, although it may have been unused. There was office furniture but no sign someone used this space. I turned away from her to fix my clothing. When I turned to her, her tentacles were hidden again, and she looked almost like a human businesswoman. "I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't plan this. We really were heading for the arena."

"It's fine. Have I just made a new friend?" She smiled. "I believe you have." She looked around for a moment. "This was Peony's office." "Oh. I imagine you miss her terribly." She nodded. "Without her, we're shorthanded. It was already a heavy workload, but now... I could go to visit. I can do most of the work of the next several days from anywhere. But there's just too much right now. If you can help, then maybe you'll be able to do enough. I'd have to work, but I could see her at the same time." "She can't come here?" Clover shook her head. "She is

needed where she is. They need me, too, and so I am here doing my work and hers, and she is there doing her work and mine." She smiled. "I've never hugged a human before. You taste really good." "I taste good." "Yes." She turned partly away from me. "Jasmine Brighteyes told me you understood." "About your tentacles? She showed me hers." "Yes." "I suppose that makes sense," I said. "I had heard humans taste good." She smiled. "We should hurry." My visor dimmed, and then we

were moving again. **** The arena was set up with a variety of pieces of equipment. The candidate and challenger would be fighting from atop the equipment, set up as a series of bridges, catwalks, and the like. I looked up, and I could see my cameras flitting around. As I watched, several of them zipped down to follow me from multiple directions, and several more focused on Clover. "What's going on, Clover?" "I do not believe this configuration is good. I want us to run the event."

"I don't think so," I said. "It uses the power staffs." "We'll turn them to their lowest settings," she said. "It will tingle, but that is all, but you should react as if it hurts." "We're supposed to fight up there." I pointed. "I'm not good at something like this, and I don't want to fall." "You won't get hurt, Andromeda. It will be fun, and I want a human perspective." "Use one of the guards." "She'd kick my ass, as the humans who come here like to say." I laughed. "Fine."

"We'll play for five points. We'll do the first in the middle, which I think looks good, but then we'll move to the places I don't like." "Fine. Are we playing for real points or are we going easy on each other?" "Which would you prefer?" "If we're playing for real points, then I want to win something." "Are you offering something when you lose?" I smiled. "Sure. I'll let you hug me whenever you want." She snuffle-laughed. "If you win, you get your blanket." "Really?"

"Three days." "Oh, no. I'm offering to let you hug me whenever you want indefinitely." She paused. "All right. But it will be a transparent blanket, as you asked. You won't win though." "We'll see. I'm motivated now." "If we're playing for real points, the staffs need to be set high enough to be unpleasant. Is your blanket worth it?" I sighed and nodded. "Are hugs?" "Yes." "Well then." "You start there," she said, gesturing. "I'm over there. We'll meet in the middle. Don't forget your staff." We turned backs on each other. I

walked to my start. One of the dreaded staffs was there, and I grabbed it. Then it was up a ramp with bars for sides. As soon as I was clear, a cage door slammed shut behind me, startling me. I spun around. "Did you do that, Dark Skies?" One of my cameras flitted in front of me then bobbed up and down twice. "Cute," I said. I turned around and proceeded up the ramp. The bars ended at the top of the ramp, but by then I was a good twelve feet off the ground, and from there the walkway was only a couple of feet wide. The height made me uncomfortable, but I tried to avoid

looking down. The entire structure followed along the curved wall of the arena, then doubled back at an angle towards the middle, then met the opposite side in the dead center. But it wasn't the same sort of structure everywhere. Initially the ramp was firm. Then the walkway reminded me of the metal catwalks you see overhead in some theaters, the ones used to reach the various lights. But there were two scary parts. One section was built from wood slats, or what appeared to be wood, joined together by rope. It looked like a wood and rope suspension bridge you see in some adventure movies, but the supporting structure was all underneath.

There were no sides. And it wobbled as I walked on it. I found it disconcerting. And there was one section that was supported from above, and this was the part that reached towards the center. The thing is, it swayed forward and back. I had to time it to step onto it and then time it again to step off on the other end. Clover was waiting for me, and the center section was a round platform about twelve feet across. I came to a stop facing her but out of striking distance. "There are two ways to earn points," she said. "If I am able to drive you back into the cage at the beginning, I automatically win. We won't do that

today. Otherwise if you fall off, I win a point." "I'll break my neck if I fall, Clover." "We wouldn't let you break your neck, Andromeda. If that happened, I don't know when I'd see Peony. Don't you trust me?" I looked over the edge. "Oh, you won't enjoy falling, but you won't break your neck. I promise." I lifted my staff. "I want that blanket, Clover. You're going down." She laughed and lifted her own staff. "Begin." I rushed halfway to her, stopping in the dead center. She was already

swinging with her staff, but she hadn't expected me to stop, and the end passed in front of me. I used my own staff to help it further, and she partially turned away, over reaching and off balance. I hopped forward and poked her with my staff right in her side. She yelped and pulled back, but then she swung her staff at me again, and I quickly moved away before she could hit me. "Turn it up too high?" I asked. "It must hurt enough you want to avoid it," she said. Then she came after me. I was the next one to yelp, twice, as she caught me in one arm and then, with the other end of her staff, the other.

I fell, but not off the platform. She zapped me twice more before I could fend her off. She stepped away and let me climb to my feet. "Going easy on me?" I asked. "I didn't want to drive you off that way. I'd have had to poke you too many times." "I appreciate that," I said. And then I swung. I got a few more strikes on her before she unleashed in a flurry of strikes at me. I deflected some, dodged others, then she caught me square in the side, and I jumped away from her, right off the platform. I screamed, but I only fell five feet then hovered in midair, partway

upside down, my limbs all flailing. I lost the staff and screamed for another few seconds then slowly got myself under control. I looked back, and Clover was standing on the edge of the platform looking at me. "I told you your neck was safe," she said. "Point for me." I looked down at the ground, still quite a distance below me. "Please don't drop me." "I'm sure Dark Skies wouldn't drop you," Clover said. "But now you go back to your base and we begin again." I would be having words with Dark Skies. As I hovered in mid air, it felt like hands wrapped around my ankles, although there was no one there.

Then from my ankles I was lifted higher into the air. I squeaked as I hung upside down, and then as she lifted me even higher, I screamed again. That was how she carried me back to my home base. The top of the cage opened, and she lowered me until I was lying on the platform. A moment later, she dropped the staff in beside me. I lay there for a while, trembling as I got myself back under control. "I told you that you wouldn't like falling," Clover called out. I stood up and looked over at her. She was on the oscillating section, moving back and forth. "Did she have to do it that way?" "Yes, actually," Clover replied.

"That's one of the handicaps. Is it unsettling?" "Yes." I sighed, collected my staff, and made my way along the path, stopping clear of the end. Clover was on the moving bridge, forward, backward, forward, backward. "I want you to see if you can keep me from firm footing," she said. "If you don't earn this point, you're going to get another trip, and it will be higher." "If I'd known," I muttered. But I raised my staff, moved to the end, and held my ground. After that, each time Clover came close, I did what I could to drive her backwards. She kept moving away, so I couldn't push her off, but I was doing a good job keeping her from

moving forward, too. "We have a standoff, Clover." "That's what I was afraid of. The human wins if she's free for an hour. If you can hold me here, you eventually win." "I'm going to enjoy my blanket." "Don't get too warm yet," she said. Then we both looked up into the sky. It was hot. "We can't stay out here forever," I said. "I'm going to burn, and I'm sweating. I'm glad I don't have to do the laundry. What are you going to do?" "Try something risky." She stepped all the way to the far end of the platform, and then just as it began

moving from its furthest to its closest position, she began running straight at me. "Oh shit!" I crouched down, prepared to take her charge, my staff out in front of me. I thought she was going to run right through me. But right at the end she leapt, grabbing the overhead structure with one hand, and attempting to swing past me, over my head. I let her, sort of. I reached up with my staff and shoved, and instead of landing square on the walkway behind me, she was off balance and slid off the side. "Yes!" I yelled, pumping my fist. I moved to the edge and peered over. Clover was suspended in the air, just

like I had been. "Point to the human. Take that, Catseye!" "Well done, Andromeda," she said. "Wait there." And then I laughed as Dark Skies lifted the Catseye by her ankles, and she was carried back to her start the same way I was. She didn't scream, but she wasn't exactly quiet about it, either. "Good one, Dark Skies," I said, still laughing. But I found it disappointing Clover never dropped her staff. She made her way back to me and was soon back on the swaying bridge. "Want another easy point, Human?" she called out.

"Sure. I'll wait right here." "We're supposed to be testing the event, and we'll test what needs testing." "Sure. I'll wait right here." "We'll do one more point here then move to the next section." "Wait, wait. Don't tell me. The suspension bridge thingie." I pointed. "Exactly." I sighed. "Fine." I lifted my staff. "Come and get it, Catseye!" She timed it and ran to me. I thought she was going to do the same thing she did last time. Instead, right at the edge, she stopped herself with one hand on the supporting wires, right at the edge, and she poked at me with the staff,

catching me right in the chest. I flew backwards not from the power of the strike so much as the pain in my chest. The bridge began moving away, but Clover leapt the gap, landing off balance. If I'd been better balanced myself, I could have pushed her right off, but by the time I recovered my balance, she was swinging for me. I went on the defensive, but then I ducked down, falling to the walkway. I swung for her ankles, connecting, and she began to fall. I helped. Two for the human, and I got to laugh as she was carried back to her start. "You know where to meet me,

Andromeda! And I'm going to get you, Dark Skies. I swear I am." I thought about retreating to the rope bridge on my side, but instead I hopped onto the moving platform, then to the center, then again, and then I was on her side for the first time. We met at opposite ends of the wood and rope bridge structure. I eyed it nervously. "The rest of our points are here," she said. "This is the last point," I said. "I can already feel that blanket wrapped around me." I stepped onto the rickety platform, and then so did she. I didn't like it. It was bad with just me, but with both of us, it wobbled back and forth, and I didn't like it at all. I

crouched low and moved slowly. Clover made it to the middle long before I did, and she looked far more confident than I felt. I reached the middle, just out of thrusting range of our staffs. She offered a small bow to me. And then she began bouncing the bridge. "Stop that," I screamed, dropping to hands and knees. I barely kept my staff, and I clutched one slat, trying to hold on. "Stop that!" She didn't stop. Instead, she began bouncing unevenly. At any point, I think she could have pushed me off with her staff. But instead she simply bounced me right off.

At least I kept my staff this time. Dark Skies lifted me upside down into the air, then she turned me so I was facing Clover, our eyes at about the same height, with ten feet separating us. "Funny, Dark Skies," I called out. "Very funny." "I think we'll keep this," Clover said. "The human won't be foolish enough to fight here twice. But I don't like the other one. I'm going to make a change. You have a choice. You can hand me one more easy point here, or we can test my change." "Oh, we'll test your change," I said. "Assuming you're the one who is on the moving bridge." "Agreed. I'll meet you there."

And then Dark Skies lifted me into the air, higher and higher. "This isn't funny!" I called. "Oh god, don't drop me. Please, don't drop me." "I wouldn't drop you," she whispered into my ear. I looked down then slammed my eyes closed and whimpered. "This isn't funny." "It's part of the handicap," she said. "Higher each time. It was the human's idea." I didn't open my eyes until she lowered me into the cage at the beginning. ****

I approached the end of the platform, right before the swaying bridge. Clover was waiting for me. She looked relaxed. "You'll want to stop there," she said. "Oh, I don't think so." "Suit yourself." I stepped to the end of the platform. She stood casually at the middle of the swaying bridge, but then as it approached, my feet began to hurt, and then the pain moved up my legs. I began screaming and fell onto the platform. And like that, the pain shut off. I lay there on my side, panting. "What was that?" I asked.

"I warned you," she said. "I was going to explain, but you got cocky." I sat up. "That's cheating." "The meter nearest the bridge does that. It begins as the bridge moves closer and fades as the bridge moves away." I quickly scrambled away from the end, still sitting on my ass. "It stopped when I fell." "Dark Skies turned it off," Clover replied. "Did you notice how it started in your feet and then moved up?" "Yes. Not nice, Clover." "I tried to warn you," she said. "I suppose you did." I climbed to my feet. "Three feet?"

"A meter. Just over three feet." "That's probably not enough for you," I said. I eyed the distance, moving closer, coming to a stop when I thought I was four feet from the end, a one-foot safety margin. From here, I thought I could keep her from gaining ground. "If it's not enough, we'll make it a meter and a half," she said. "This is our last point." I nodded. I wasn't feeling very confident I'd be getting my blanket. We lifted our staffs. She walked to the end. As she approached, I thrust at her, but she turned my staff aside and stepped onto the still platform. Then she was inside my reach, but she managed to tap my side three times with her staff,

and I went flying into the air beside the platform. Then I hung there. "Didn't that hurt?" I asked. "Yes, but I didn't linger." "Congratulations, Clover. You can put me down, Dark Skies." "I am satisfied with the event now," said Clover. "I will meet you at the exit." Then without waiting, she turned around and walked away. "Andromeda," said Dark Skies. "The human in this event has a hobby." "You can tell me all about it later." "It is applicable now. She has

gone all over your country, experiencing roller coaster after roller coaster." "Oh god. Please. You wouldn't." "If you close your eyes, I get to shake you. You won't like it." Then she lifted me by my ankles, higher and higher. "Some humans like to do something called bungie jumping," said Dark Skies. "Others use something called parachutes." "Oh god. Please don't." She dropped me. I began screaming immediately, flailing all my limbs as I fell. Of course, she caught me, and at the end she tipped me right side up and set my feet on the

ground as gentle as could be. And a short while after that, I stopped screaming. "Please do not be angry," Dark Skies said into my ears. "The human's opponent does not know she is fond of this. This was an offered handicap in exchange for something the human needed to have even a chance in the arena. Her challenger was watching, and he is smiling. He will be overconfident." I muttered. "Don't be angry," she said. "Drops me from the sky, but I'm not supposed to be angry. You have a mean sense of humor, Dark Skies. I'm of a half a mind to cancel our meal." "If you do," she said, "I'll..."

"You'll what?" "Cry." "You will not!" "I will," she said. "I promise to make it up to you." "How will you do that?" "By making you tell me everything you've always wanted to tell a lover but were too repressed to tell her." "Oh god!" "And then I'll do them, or at least some of them." "Oh god," I repeated.

Fur After we ran the event for the mating candidate and her challenger -she won -- Clover ordered me to return to my cell via the showers. And so I found myself -- annoyingly naked but clean and refreshed -- sitting on the bed. I used the time on my visor, reading more about my four women. I had an hour, and I filled it. Clothing arrived, and it was another of the skintight jumpers, boots, sunblock, and another of the floppy hats. I dressed quickly, and then my guards were there to escort me. **** "Hello, Soft Rain," I said when I

could see. I was hugged in the chair with my arms restrained by the table. Over time, I would grow accustomed. It wasn't Jasmine in the room with us, however. It was Clover. "Is this necessary?" I asked, looking down. "You are a mating candidate and will be treated like one," she said. "I am helping you to select your challenge, but it will be Dark Skies who runs it. Do either of you have objections?" I shook my head. I turned to look at the Wookie. "I have a demand." "Mating candidates do not frequently find their demands met," said Clover. "And are frequently punished for making them."

"In the future, I expect to be hugged by you before being pushed into this chair, unless you are not in the room. If you walk into a room and I am already like this, then you will find a way to hug me anyway." She rumbled. "It would be my pleasure, Andromeda." She rose from her chair and walked around. Then she knelt beside my chair and wrapped her arms around me. I turned to her, and I pressed my forehead to hers. "That's better," I whispered. "We have not had our first challenge, and you already ask for more." "You have the sexist voice I've ever heard," I replied. "It makes me

swoon." She rumbled again. "So does that," I added. She caressed my cheek as she pulled away. I turned to Clover. "I do not know what our challenge is, but I will request proper hugs shortly before the start of each of them. If that is impractical due to the nature of the challenges, I understand." "We'll work it in when feasible," she said. "Otherwise we will allow your hugs prior to departure." "Thank you," I said. "Your challenger has requested permission to hunt you."

"No," I said. "She asked for a hunt. I presume she was asking me to hunt her." The Wookie rumbled. "I believe you are attempting to tease me." I smiled. "I'm not sure I would have accepted a challenge if I realized you wished to hunt me. We're on Earth, after all, and you're the one who looks like something a human would hunt." Again she rumbled. "This land belongs to the Federation of Allied Planets and carries the same legal status as an embassy. That means it is Federation land. And on Federation land, it is the Wookies that hunt the humans. Which I believe you knew." I laughed. "Fine. But it needs to

be fair. I'm not remotely a challenge for you." "Do you allow me to make this challenge?" Clover asked. "Yes. But no shock sticks. And it needs to be fair, or at least close to fair. And I want some good exercise out of it." "Is a ten kilometer run too far for you?" "That's about six miles?" I asked. I didn't run much, but I bicycled a lot. Six miles on a bike was nothing. "No, I think I could run ten kilometers. But if this is a race, she'll win." "It is a hunt," she said. "We will use the same arena you witnessed the first day."

"The one where Soft Rain's brother won Emma?" "That's the one," Clover replied. "You both have some familiarity with the land now. You will be dropped at one starting point. Your challenger at the other. Freedom is to the north. Your visor will display your location. Soft Rain's will give the distance to you and an approximate direction, but not precisely." "She's going to catch me for sure," I said. "She'll just wait for me." "No. She won't know where your exit is, and she won't be able to see it." "Wookies do not lie in wait, Andromeda," said Soft Rain. "I'll be actively hunting for you."

I laughed. "All right. But she's still going to win. I saw how fast she can move." "There will be obstacles," Clover said. "If you encounter one, you will be punished through some unpleasant fashion, but not one that slows you significantly. But we will delay Soft Rain. Furthermore, we'll let you see them, but we won't let her. You can lure her into them, and they will be common." "Oh," I said. "Now I like it." "To even this out and add a little more excitement, once she is on your trail, she'll be able to follow it much like you follow the trail back to your cell." "Which means she'll walk right

through anything I walk through." "Or try to stay to the side," Clover said. "Or she may ignore the trail marker entirely. Who can guess the mind of a Wookie? Questions?" "I have a request," I said. "I love her voice. Could we talk to each other? This is supposed to be together time, after all." "I'd like that," said Soft Rain. We both turned to Clover. "Of course. I will treat that as a permanent request for your challenges." "Thank you," I said with a smile. "How soon can the arena be ready?" "Dark Skies is ready," Clover replied. "I'm going to let Soft Rain

escort you to the jumper, unless you have other questions." "Hug first?" "Definitely a hug first." A moment later she blinded my visor. The chair released me, and I stood. Then I felt arms and tentacles enveloping me. Clover held me longer than a human would normally hug, but I didn't mind. Then Soft Rain collected me and led me to the jumper. **** We landed and she pulled me from the jumper and then into her arms. "Thank you, Andromeda," she said. "I can't tell you how much I was looking

forward to this." "I am, too," I replied. "Do you think you'll get caught by the traps?" "Undoubtedly a few," she replied. "If it's too many, you'll win, but otherwise I believe I will." Then, slowly, she released me. A moment later, she pressed my hands into one of the stone pillars. "Good luck, Andromeda," she said. "Try to make it a good hunt." "I play to win, Soft Rain, but I'm looking forward to our evening either way." "As am I. I've never owned a human before." I laughed.

I didn't hear her fly away. "So," I said after a moment. "Are you here, Dark Rain?" "I am," came her voice. "This should be a good event and better than the one yesterday." "I had a good time yesterday, and I like Jessica." "I think you like Soft Rain more." "And I like you more too, but I enjoyed my time with Jessica." "You seem to have thawed Clover." "So I have," I agreed. "Soft Rain is at her start. There's a backpack at your feet. It has water, energy bars, and a small first aid kit."

"Then I'm ready." "Patching the two of you together." There was a pause. "Both of you say 'hello'." "Hello, Soft Rain." "Hello, my little human prey." I laughed. "Ready, go!" The stone released me, and the visor brightened. I looked down and grabbed the backpack, shrugging into it. Then I oriented myself and took the path leading due north. It didn't take long until I was panting, and I had to slow down. I could also hear the Wookie breathing as she ran. "Talk to me, sexy voice."

She rumbled. "Sexy voice, is it?" "Positively dreamy," I said. "Who would have realized a walking rug could have such a yummy voice?" "I am not a walking rug." "Oh, I think you are." "I am a running rug, and I'm getting closer. And I do not believe you read a map very well." We talked, teasing each other, although I grew sufficiently winded that talking was difficult. The Wookie did better. "Will you tell me how you chose your name?" "A human gave it to me," she said. "She said my voice was like a soft rain."

"Your laugh sounds like distant thunder," I said. "I like that, too." And she rumbled at me. "That path is a dead end, human prey," she said. "I thought you would give me a good hunt. Maybe I should catch you and let you go a few times." "You may try," I said. I reached the cliff. I didn't even slow down. Nor did I scream. Dark Skies caught me easily, bringing me to a gentle stop well above the jungle below. "I have to punish you for that," she said. "But then you have to let me go," I replied. "Not leave me hanging." "Oh, I won't leave you hanging,"

she said. And then she flipped me over and lifted me by my ankles. "No!" I screamed. "No!" "Little human?" said Soft Rain. "Are you in trouble?" "The Octal has a nasty sense of humor!" I complained. "Dark Skies, don't do this!" She lifted me high into the air, and then she dropped me. That time, I screamed. And I screamed again and again, as she dropped me a total of three times. But at the end of the third, she lowered me gently to the ground. "Punishment, Andromeda," she said.

I knelt on the ground, my heart pounding, and I said nothing for a while. Finally, my heart slowed, and I stood. "If she choses to go around, you gained twenty minutes. If she jumps like you did, I'll slow her for five minutes longer than I slowed you." I took off, jogging now instead of running. Soft Rain and I were both quiet, but then she asked, "Are you all right, Andromeda?" "Yes. Just a good fright. Are you on my back trail yet?" "I am not sure I wish to tell you. You jumped from the cliff, didn't you?" "Yes." "You should have taken one of

the perimeter paths instead." "I don't think so. You're going to lose time following me." "Ah, but I was still three kilometers away when you jumped." "Oh shit!" I said. I put on a burst of speed. The map showed an east-west path directly ahead, and as soon as I reached it, I turned east and ran as hard as I could. Maybe I was about to run into her, or maybe I was putting distance between us. Soft Rain rumbled at me. "Good choice," she said. "How can you tell what choice I made?" "You stopped running directly

towards me," she replied. "I'll be on your trail soon." But then on the trail ahead of me I saw what was clearly a pit, and I ran straight into it. Again I fell. Dark Skies didn't catch me, but I fell slowly, landing at the bottom. The pit was at least ten feet deep, possibly deeper, with solid sides. I thought perhaps the sides could be climbed, but it was going to take time. "You have a choice," Dark Skies said. "I can help you out, or you can climb out. If I help, then you'll take a punishment." "Going to drop me again?"

"Not this time." "She'll be on me if you don't help. I'll take the help and the punishment." Immediately the pit began to fill. It wasn't water. It was thicker than that and dark. "You'll float," Dark Skies said. "Lie back as it rises and don't struggle. You'll want to make sure you don't get any on your face, Andromeda." I let it rise and rise, and then I lay back as she said, spreading my arms widely. The pit rose, and rose quickly for such a large pit, but I was held at the surface. "Just like that, Andromeda. Don't move. And don't brush at your face or let

it drop from your hair into your face." "Is it poisonous?" "No. Trust me." The pit filled, and then she actually lifted me into the air, but only a short distance, setting me down on the path at the far side of the pit. When I looked, the pit was already draining again. "Listen carefully. Don't brush your face. Whatever happens, don't touch your face. I'm pretty sure you'll freak out if you do. They won't bite you. They don't care for the taste of human. They just want the food." "Food?" From either side, down at the

ground, there was motion, and when I looked, swarms of ants emerged onto the path from either side. And then I heard buzzing besides. "Oh shit!" I said. I began to run, but the ants were everywhere, and soon they were climbing up my legs. And in the air, some sort of flying insects appeared, descending on me. I began screaming, trying to shake them off, and still running, running in blind panic. I tripped and fell, and then they were all over me, everywhere, all over. I swatted and swatted, but there were more and more. Not once did they bite me, but I went insane in my panic.

**** I don't know how long I lay on the path once the bugs left. They had cleaned me. They cleaned me dry, even my hair. But I lay on the path, quivering. "They're gone," Dark Skies said gently. "I didn't pick that one. If you accidentally get caught by a trap, we have easy punishments. But you ran right into that one, Andromeda, and then you had a choice." I curled tighter then rose to my hands and knees. "Where are you, Soft Rain?" "I'm at the bottom of this pit," she said. "Are you all right, my little prey?" "Yeah," I said. "I think I'm going to have nightmares. Did she tell you why

I was screaming?" "Only after I fell into the pit," said the Wookie. "You could surrender, you know." "How far away am I from you?" "Two hundred meters." "How long are you keeping her in there, Dark Rain?" "Until you're a kilometer away." I climbed to my feet and checked the map, then reversed my trail. I reached the edge of the pit and looked down. Soft Rain was looking up at me. "Are you sure I can't jump that high?" she asked. "If you could, you would have done so by now," I replied.

"I wouldn't suppose you care to lend a hand." I sat down, pulled out my water, and held one towards her. "Thirsty?" "Sure." So I tossed the bottle of water to her and grabbed another. We both drank, and then she tossed the bottle back to me. It was a perfect toss, and I caught it easily. "Having fun?" I asked her. "I was," she said. "I admit, this is a little frustrating, and it was very hard to hear you screaming." "I'm sorry about that." "I don't think it's your fault," replied Soft Rain. "I think we should

catch the Octal and give her to the insects." "Please don't," said Dark Skies. "They don't like the taste of human, but I'm not sure how they feel about blue." "Were they real insects?" "Tiny robots," explained Dark Skies. "The liquid is what they burn for fuel. You refueled them." "Happy to help," I said sarcastically. I stood up and slowly worked my way around the edge of the pit. "I'll see you at the finish line, Soft Rain. I'm going to enjoy having a pet Wookie." She rumbled. "Pet human sounds so much better to me."

For the next five minutes, I walked quickly, but I didn't run. I turned north at the branch, and then I began to jog. I could tell when Dark Skies let the Wookie go. She began running, and I could hear her breathing. I ran faster. "How fast are you, Wookie?" "Three quarters of a kilometer behind you," she said. "And closing." I eyed the map. I wasn't going to make it. "I need a trap, Dark Skies!" "If I guide you to one, the punishment is going to be bad, Andromeda. Is winning worth it?" I sighed. "No." "You're coming to a branch. One

path is unpleasantly trapped. I can guide you to it or you can choose randomly. I can hide it, and if you catch it accidentally, it's unpleasant, but I won't add extra punishment." "Hide it." "Choose wisely." The branch was only another minute. "Half kilometer, my prey," said the Wookie. She didn't even sound wounded. "Tell me, do human pets purr when you pet them?" I snorted and without slowing down, took the right path. "I've almost caught you, Andromeda," said Soft Rain.

"Promise to be gentle." "Very gentle," she said. "When I catch you, I hope you'll struggle. It's more fun if you struggle." I looked over my shoulder. She wasn't there yet. But that was when I tripped, and when I landed, I was in thick mud. And sinking. Fast. "It's quicksand," Dark Skies said. "You sink faster if you struggle. I hope you can hold your breath." "Get me out!" She didn't get me out, and I sank. And sank. I managed to tip so my face remained out last. "Soft Rain! Help!"

"She can't help you, Andromeda," Dark Skies said. "Hold your breath now." I sucked in a breath, and then I was pulled down, faster than I had been. The world disappeared around me, and I felt myself being dragged by my feet. I thought my lungs were going to burst when suddenly I was thrust back into open air. I immediately rolled onto my side, into a ball, gasping. Then I heard a splash, and when I turned, Soft Rain was in the quicksand. She struggled with it, but she was quickly swallowed to her chest. "I'll take care of her," Dark Skies said. "But you're only getting a half kilometer this time, and only if you run."

I stood up and ran. It was only a minute or two later before Soft Rain said, "Oh, that was a nasty trick. Did you know that was there?" "No," I said. "I asked her to hide it so my punishment would be smaller. But I think I want to see the rest of them, Dark Skies." "I only hid that one," she replied. I checked the map. I was almost there. Another kilometer and a half. The trail had been twisty, but then I hit a long, straight section, and fifteen seconds later, Soft Rain said, "I see you, my little pet." I looked over my shoulder and

caught a glimpse of Wookie. "How much do you want to win, Andromeda?" Dark Skies asked. "Trap coming up. You'll clearly see it. It's easy to go over it if you can see it. Go through it, and the punishment is the worst we have." I looked over my shoulder. The Wookie was only forty yards behind me and coming fast. Then I saw the trap. Twenty yards. Ten. I could hear the Wookie. I considered the trap. I jumped, ran another ten yards, then spun around. Soft Rain jumped, clearing the trap, and a second later, she wrapped me in a hug.

"You're supposed to struggle," she said. "Too tired to struggle," I said. "I get to tie you, you know." "I don't care." I let her tie me. She spoke gently the entire time. I thought it was kind of sexy. Then she picked me up and carried me away. **** We landed back at the center. I was blinded, of course, and still tied. Soft Rain picked me up and carried me inside. I leaned against her chest, exhausted and a little raw, but it felt good to let her carry me. "Am I heavy?"

"No." But once we were inside, she said, "We're both dirty." "I know." "You belong to me now." "Yes, for the evening. I don't mind. What will you do with me?" "I have never touched someone who didn't want me to touch them, Andromeda. I wouldn't make you do anything you didn't want to do." "Just tell me." "I'd like you to bathe me." "In private and no cameras?" "In private and no cameras," she confirmed. "You are mine tonight, no one else's."

"I am yours, Soft Rain. I wouldn't have agreed to this if I wasn't interested." "I don't know if I want a female human mate." "And I don't know if I want a Wookie mate. But I think I am happy to belong to you for the evening, and maybe we'll see how we feel." **** She carried me to her apartment, and then the visor lightened, but still she carried me, and still I remained tied. "Your brother has another apartment?" "We share this one," she said. "But he agreed to stay away."

She carried me into the bathing chamber. There was already a tub filled with soapy water. But she set me down, very gently, in a large shower stall. "If I untie you, are you going to attempt to escape?" "No, Soft Rain. I am yours." I stood still as she released me. Then she turned on the water, and the temperature was perfect. We let the water fall around both of us, although I was still in my clothing from earlier. "Will you let me undress you?" "Yes," I whispered. "Start with the boots." And so she knelt down. I cooperated as she removed the boots. They went into the corner of the shower

stall. I wondered if they were ruined by the water. And then I closed my eyes and held still as she peeled the jumper from me. "Do I frighten you?" "No." I opened my eyes, and she was looking at me intently. As I watched, she reached out a hand and brushed my arm. "So smooth." Then she gestured to my chest. "Human women are selfconscious here." "You don't have breasts." "We nurse our young, but the glands to do so swell only when we are pregnant. I have six, not two. They are difficult to find under the fur, but they protrude when I have nursing young."

"Give me your hands," I said. She did, and I looked at them. Then I looked up at her. I turned her hands around and pressed them to my chest, holding them there. "If you are gentle, you may touch me however you wish, Soft Rain. She made a sound. I couldn't tell what it was. And then instead of taking full advantage, she wrapped around me and pulled me to her. Oh, being hugged by a wet Wookie. Now that's an experience. But it was worth it. We hugged, and then she collected shampoo and began on my hair. I let her bathe me, and then I washed her. Washing her took a lot, lot longer

than washing me. She shut off the water, took my hand, and pulled me to the tub. It was deep, and warm, and frothy. She pulled me to one end, sinking down to her neck and pulling me into her lap, my back to her, my head leaning back against her shoulder. She wrapped arms around me. "This is nice," I said, holding her arms tightly to me. "I've never done this," she said. "Neither have I. I'm in a tub with a big Wookie." "I've never been in a tub." "Oh." "Or held anyone like I'm holding you."

"Oh." "I really like it." "I do, too." "The water feels good." "Your fur is going to clog the drain," I said. "I'm glad I'm not part of the cleaning staff." She rumbled her laugh. We soaked for a while then finally she asked, "Were the punishments that horrible?" "They were enough I went around that last trap," I said. "You could have won." "And miss out on belonging to a Wookie? Why would I do that?" She tightened her hold around me

for a moment. Then she lifted a hand and began stroking my skin. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the touch. Her hand followed my arm, finding my hand. She pulled it from the water and held it up to look at it. I looked over my shoulder at her. "So delicate," she said. She didn't stop me when I reached up and caressed her face. Then I closed my eyes and relaxed again. She put my hand back where it had been. A few minutes later, her hand wandered, but it was tentative. She brushed along the edge of my breast, but it was almost like a guy afraid to get caught. "I already gave you permission,

you know." "I read," she said. I thought that was a non sequitur. "What have you read?" I asked. "About human women." "And?" "These are very sensitive." "They can be." "I am afraid I'll hurt you." "You won't. Are you curious?" "Yes." "It's up to you," I said. She grew a little bolder, but only marginally. And then she wrapped her arm back around me and held me tightly. I was a little disappointed, but I clutched her arm for a moment then relaxed again.

It was a while later that she said, "I'm hungry." "I imagine. I could eat. I imagine it's going to take hours to dry you." "Not as long as that. Will you help?" "Of course." And so we stood and she led me back to the shower. We first rinsed the soap from our bodies, one of us requiring her usual amount of rinsing, and one of us requiring a great, great deal more. Then the water turned off, and a moment later there was a warm breeze from one of the walls. Then Soft Rain produced a sort of brush and handed it to me. "It fits over your hand," she said.

I pulled it on, and then I brushed the Wookie. And brushed the Wookie. And brushed the Wookie. She spent the entire time with her eyes closed, rumbling, and the sound alone made it worth it. When she was fully dry, she smelled really good, and her coat had a shine. She opened her eyes and turned to me. "That was wonderful, Andromeda." She took the brush from me and told me to turn around. And then she began using it on my hair. I thought she was about to fill me with Wookie fur, but if she did, I didn't notice later. She brushed for a while until my hair was straight and tamed, and then the brush

disappeared, and she pulled me from the shower. Waiting for me was a camisole and undies. "Oh, you have got to be kidding," I said. "What? This is what human mating candidates wear." "Funny." "It's more than I'm wearing," she pointed out. And then she looked me up and down. "Besides, we just spent the last 90 minutes without you wearing a single thing." "So we have," I said. I pulled them on. She sat me at a table and

disappeared for a few minutes. She then made multiple trips to collect plates, silverware, and platters of food. Finally she sat then lifted the covers from the food. "Everything is human," she said. "We can both eat this, although I don't know if it is to your taste." It was entirely vegetarian. "I wouldn't have expected you to be vegetarian," I said. "I'm not, but we can't eat the same meats. I wanted a meal we could fully share." And then she served first my plate, then her own. Then, before I could pick up a fork, she took my hand and closed her eyes. I set my other hand on top of hers

and watched her. She was still for several moments then opened her eyes and turned to me. "Thank you for sharing this meal with me, Andromeda." "Thank you for inviting me, Soft Rain." We ate quietly for a minute, then I asked, "What is your world like, Soft Rain?" "It is beautiful," she said. "It is a blue and white planet, rich in water and green with life." "So like Earth?" "It has a single moon, which pulls on the tides and has had significant effects on the entire nature of the planet

and the resulting evolution." I cocked my head. "And it is peopled by this species of creatures, much smaller than me. They are soft and delicate and beautiful." "Soft Rain." "Earth is my world now, Andromeda." "That's sweet," I said. "And I'm happy you're here. But that's not what I meant." "I know. I wanted to make a point. In actuality, our home worlds are not so different. Mine is slightly cooler on average, but it has less tilt, so the northern and southern polar regions are

much larger. There is only small variation from summer to winter, and when you travel much further north than about your home, it is permanent tundra." "Is that why you have so much fur?" "Probably. We have never been archaeologists, so we have never explored our history the way humans have. We've now settled much of the planet, at least the regions with ample water that can support life. My brother and I are actually from a region that could be considered the equivalent of your south pacific islands." "With all this fur?" "Well, all this fur also holds a great deal of water, so when it is hot, a

quick dip in the pool can keep us cool for hours. Our homes are designed to be tolerant of wet Wookie." "Oh, I suppose they would have to be." "I can show you video sometime. You may find it difficult to tell our worlds apart." "I'd like that." "But this world is my home now, when I am not in space." "Oh, I hadn't thought about that." "It is my turn to ask a question. I am confused by something. A number of things, actually, but something in specific." "I can try to help."

"I was given to expect..." she trailed off. "Expect what?" "Well, something different." I looked down. "I'm sorry. I didn't want you disappointed." She leaned forward and set a hand on my arm. "I am not disappointed. I thought you would hate being with me." "Oh." I looked up. "Why could I hate being with you? You are very sweet and gentle, and have I mentioned how much I love your voice?" She rumbled. "Once or twice, perhaps." "I would not have volunteered to come here," I said. "I had a life." I

shrugged. "Had. I lost my job, and then the aliens took me." "I know." "So I don't know what life I lost. If I were being treated like the other women, I'd be very, very angry, especially if they tried to give me to a male. But I get to meet different people, and I really like some of you. I will have a choice, or so I am led to believe. I'm happy to be here with you, Soft Rain." "You aren't at all afraid of us?" "I am intimidated at how little control I have, and Jasmine Brighteyes goes out of her way to remind me from time to time. But I'm not afraid of any of you." "You're so..." Again she trailed

off. "Friendly?" I asked. "Forward?" "What does it mean to be forward?" "Well, putting your hands on my breasts was a little forward," I said. She rumbled. "Yes, that is what I meant then." "I didn't mean to embarrass you," I told her. "I wasn't embarrassed, but I'm confused." "To be quite blunt, I wanted to find out early what your intentions were. I won't do it again, Soft Rain." "So you don't want me to touch you in that way?"

"I don't want you to feel you need to touch me any way you don't want to touch me." "Weren't you inviting me to take you as my mate?" "Not exactly. I was offering to let us explore our bodies together. Humans don't equate that type of touch with being married. Yes, if you're married, and it's a good marriage, you touch that way. But you can touch that way without being married." I shook my head. "I can't believe I just said any of that." I grabbed my water glass and hid behind it as I drank. Soft Rain rumbled. "Open honesty between disparate species is important," she said. "We will

not understand each other otherwise. So you weren't offering to become my mate." "You don't know what you want yet," I said. "I was perhaps offering to help you decide." I smiled. "The first taste is free." "Excuse me?" "It's a joke. Imagine I were selling illegal drugs. I might offer to let you try it for a while to get you hooked before I made you pay me for more." "Are you upset I didn't take your taste?" "No, Soft Rain. But I made the first move this time, and you turned me down. I won't offer again. If you decide you want a taste after all, you're going to

have to woo me for one." "I have offended you." "No, Soft Rain. But I'm not going to throw myself at you more than I have." "Oh. I understand." She looked down at the rest of her meal and ate quietly. So I set a hand on her arm. "At least for a while, I won't say no if you ask. But you'll have to ask, and because we are different species, you will need to be clear." She didn't look up, but she nodded. **** We talked for another hour or so. And then she told me the guards were

coming for me. I thought the evening ended far too early, but I collected a hug and told her I'd had a nice time. I don't know if I was offended. But I was definitely disappointed.

Wills I waited in my cell. I was due for my challenge with Cherish, the Tutor. She hadn't met with me when I swam that morning, and I hadn't heard from her. And I didn't have any clothes, and the guards weren't there for me, either. But when I checked, she was still on my schedule. I'd spent a portion of the morning with Jasmine, reviewing what I had learned about the women. We'd talked, and then I'd talked to Clover about the two that were hers. I got hugs from her, with tentacle, so that was nice. I helped with only one event in

the afternoon, a final challenge. Of course, the alien had won, but the woman didn't seem too upset. Nor did she seem too accepting. At the end of the event, he asked for physical affection, but she turned away from him. At least he didn't push it. I didn't talk to her, but I thought she was going to be a tough nut for him to crack. They weren't mated, after all. She only had to give him a chance. Jasmine assured me no one produced pheromones as well as the Octals did, so the outcome wasn't a given, if the woman kept a cold heart. I then spent an hour in my office then had returned here. But I'd been waiting an hour, and we were already

twenty minutes past our start time. I tried contacting Dark Skies, but the call was instantly declined. I couldn't tell if she was that fast or if she was in do not disturb mode. My visor didn't have such a setting, but I bet whatever she had could do that. And so I sat and wondered if I were being stood up. I worked myself up into a lather, and we were an hour late when the nook opened. I stared at it, not moving right away, but then got up to investigate. I found simple clothing: undies, camisole, and a robe. At least there was a robe. I pulled them all on, and the guards appeared only moments later. They surprised me. Although I

was shackled for the walk, they removed the shackles and set me into a chair. And then they left. The chair didn't attempt to swallow me. The visor brightened, and I saw Cherish watching me. I looked around. We were in a living room, and we were alone. I looked at her for a moment or so, trying to calm my mood. I was able to find a smile. "Hello, Cherish. I thought we were having a challenge." "We are. We will negotiate the nature ourselves. I hoped you would let me choose." "Will I have a fair chance?" "I believe you will lose, but it is not decided." "Tell me what you want."

"We have a game. It is a game of concentration. The game itself is exceedingly simple. It requires only minutes to learn, and there is little strategy." "Okay," I said slowly. "But it is a difficult game, because you can only perform well if you can concentrate and ignore distractions. You play the game nearly entirely with your mind." "This sounds intriguing," I said. "We actually have many games like this," she said. "They are our form of computer game." "I'm going to get my ass handed to me."

"I do not know this expression, but I think I understand you anyway. I will play with a handicap. Perhaps you will let me show you, and if you do not care for this game, we can attempt something else." "It does sound intriguing," I repeated. "Wait here," she said. She rose to her feet and disappeared into another room. She returned very quickly carrying a metal case. She set it on the table and opened it. Inside rested four, well, they looked a little like crowns made of metal. Cherish selected one and then moved to me. "That goes on my head."

"Yes," she said. "Do not be frightened." "I'm not. Do I remove the visor first?" "No. Your visor is required." Then she reached over and set the crown on my head. It, well, it moved, wrapping itself in place and making itself at home. It felt a little weird, but when it was done, it felt more like a very strange hat than a crown. Cherish collected another of the crowns and set it atop her own head. It settled in just like mine did. She collected her own visor and put it on. Then she sat down in the chair facing me. "The game is in your head, but the playing field is projected through the

visor. There should be an entry in your gaming menu." I didn't realize I had control of the visor, and I didn't -- not full control. But I had some, and I found an entry called simply, "Concentration". I selected it. My vision went blank, and then I was in a computer-generated world. Cherish entered a moment behind me. We were both seated in our own chairs, although somewhat further apart than we had been. "I will show you," she said. "The game is simple. Between us you see dark globes." I did. They were lined up midway between us.

"The goal is to pull the dark globes to you. Like this." Then I watched as one of the globes began moving towards her. It came to a rest touching her feet. Then another, and another, and they each clung to her, climbing up her body until she looked like she was surrounded by a bunch of balloons. And then they all disappeared. A moment later, they reappeared in the center again. "The winner is the one who collects them all," she said. "Or we play until a time limit." "That seems simple," I said. "How do you make them move?" "Look at one," she said. I did, and the visor highlighted it as if it were

a button I could press. "Select it." I did, and it began to pulse. "Now, you must form a pure thought. I can be any thought, or no thought at all. Think about one thing as hard as you can, or think about nothing at all, but that is much harder." And so I did the simplest thing. I thought about the orb itself. It twitched. I thought harder, and it began moving towards me, not smoothly, but towards me. I concentrated until it touched my feet. I did it again with three more orbs, and it grew easier the more I did. "Very good," she said. "You said there would be a distraction." "Ah, yes. It can come in two

forms. First, even if I capture an orb, you can steal it. And I can steal from you. Or we can fight for the same orb." "Okay." "But we can also offer distractions." Then my screen changed, and along the side were a list of options. "You can select a distraction from the list, and then when you concentrate, you are offering the distraction to me. If you break my concentration, I can lose control of my orb, and if you keep me distracted long enough, those I have captured will reset. Once you use a particular distraction, it is used. You only get to use them each once."

"Got it." "I am going to demonstrate a distraction to you," she said. "Try to pull an orb to you." I did, concentrating, and when it was halfway to me, my hands began to tingle. Still, I pulled on the orb, and the tingling moved up my hands to include my wrists, and then up to my elbows. A moment later, I lost my focus and began scrubbing at my arms. My orb snapped back to the middle, but still the tingling continued. And it got worse. "Oh god," I said. "Make it stop." She didn't make it stop, not right away, but I began scratching at my arms and lost any remaining focus. The orbs I had collected snapped away, and a

moment later, the tingling stopped. "Okay, that's just mean," I said. She didn't answer right away. "You don't want to play." "I didn't say that," I said. "But you're going to be disappointed in how poorly I play." "I am happy if you play with me, Andromeda," she said. "That's what matters to me. Please." I thought about it then said, "Of course." "I have only a little more to show you. There are several defenses to the distractions I offer you. The first is to ignore it. They grow in intensity, but they don't last forever, and if you can ignore

it, you can acquire several orbs while I am attempting to distract you." "We'll see if that works." "You can also attempt to distract me. If you break my concentration, your distraction will end, but you can continue mine. I would need to use a new one, and if you have distracted me enough to break my concentration, it is difficult to gain it back." "Got it." "The third way is to think of nothing at all. While thinking of nothing at all, your orbs will not reset, and I can't pull them from you. And it will break the distraction." "I don't think I'll be able to do that."

"Probably not the first time, but with practice, you could." "You said there would be a handicap." "Yes. There are a few. The distractions I have for you are considered easier to ignore than the ones you have for me, but they require the same level of concentration to apply." "Okay." "You start with more distractions available to use against me." "I like having more." "And I have calibrated the game for a new player against an experienced player. It will require less purity of thought for you than it will for me. I do

not know if this will be enough for a good game." "Will you be disappointed if I play poorly?" "Only if you do not enjoy yourself." "I'll do my best, but perhaps we should have a few practice games." "My thought as well. But there is one more aspect to the game you must understand. The orbs themselves are a distraction. One orb is easily ignored and you may not even notice it, but the effect grows." "Oh no," I said. "This game has variations. There is the opposite game where I try to stick

the orbs to you. I am switching to that variation and setting the game to be between two beginners. Then I will show you." The game blanked and then reappeared. Everything was as it had been before. "Try to push orbs towards me," she said. "We will not use the distractions." So I selected an orb and concentrated on it. It began to move towards Cherish. But in the time it took me to move one orb to her, she moved three to me. And then while I was selecting my next orb, it became five. "My legs are tingling," I said. "Yes," she replied. She added more orbs to me, and

more, and the tingling climbed higher and higher. I tried blocking it out, and I managed to push five to her, but by the time I was covered almost to my chest, I just couldn't take it any longer. I began squirming badly, trying to escape the orbs. It took Cherish no time at all to finish covering me, and I thought I was going to go insane. Then the game reset, and slowly I calmed down. "I have turned down the level of distraction they offer you," Cherish said. "The goal is for it to be difficult to play, but not impossible." I was sure I was going to lose badly, but really, it seemed like fun. "So, a practice game?" she

asked. "We'll play with half as many orbs and no distractions. Then we'll play another, and I'll add the mild distractions." "Okay," I agreed. Half the orbs disappeared plus the list of distractions. Then a timer counted down, and when it reached zero, I selected an orb and began pulling on it. It took little time before we had collected all the free orbs, most of them clustered around Cherish, but I had a few. We began fighting over the ones I had. She won those fights, but I made her work for each one. Then when she stole my last orb, I selected one of hers and pulled it away. "Good," she said. Then she

corralled both orbs at the same time and drew them to her. "What do you think?" "I think I'm bad at this, but this is fun." "I'm glad you think so. Again, with distractions this time?" "Like you need to distract me." "It is the game we play." The game reset. We both grabbed orbs. I collected two. She collected three. She grabbed her fourth orb just as I grabbed my third. But then a ringing began in my ears. I continued to work on my orb. The ringing grew louder and then began to pulse in pitch. Then it grew discordant, and I lost my orb. I tried to

clear my thoughts to make it end, but all my orbs reset before the ringing ended. In the meantime, she'd collected three more orbs. Two could play at that game. I scanned the list and then selected a distraction called Spiders. I could only imagine what that was, but I thought perhaps I'd had a taste during yesterday's challenge. I began concentrating on it. Cherish collected two orbs, and there were only two more left, but she wasn't collecting them as quickly, and I saw her computer image was squirming. Oh, two could definitely play this game!

But that thought broke my concentration, and I lost control of the Spiders. Cherish squirmed a little more, but then she settled down and pulled the orb to her. I grabbed one and she grabbed one. But then she hit me with a new distraction. At first it was a hint of a scent, but before I could get my orb halfway home, the scent had grown into the worst swamp gas I'd ever smelled. Cherish stole my orb from me, and I didn't even struggle as she pulled it to herself. The game reset, and the stench immediately disappeared. "Okay, that last distraction was just mean."

She snorted. "And sending a horde of spiders at me is nice?" "Hey, you picked the available distractions. How did you work on orbs while distracting me?" "You can't think about two things at once?" she countered. "I thought we had to think about one at a time." "If you stop thinking about them, they don't end immediately. So I think about the distraction, then the orb, then the distraction, then the orb." "Oh. I can do that." "We'll see," she said. "Get us started." In all, we played six practice

games. Yes, I could run a distraction and pull an orb at the same time. I was shaky, but I could do it. Finally I said, "This is fun. I could play this all night." "Really?" "But I'm hungry, so we should have our challenge." She snorted. "Resetting." There were a lot of orbs out there, it seemed. "If I were playing alone for practice with these settings," she said. "A game is about ten minutes. Are you ready?" "I want to know what these distractions do." The list was longer

than we'd been playing with. "All right. I can let you experience them." "I'm not sure about that." "You can self-inflict them, or I can do it for you. If you self-inflict, you won't be able to hold them for more than a few seconds." "Oh, I'm that weak-minded." "It is exceedingly difficult to torture yourself unless you are a selfdestructive person. You are not." "Torture?" "English is not my native language. Perhaps there is another word." "Torment?"

She paused. "Yes, this is a better word." "You're dying to demonstrate them, aren't you?" "A little, but it is your choice. Perhaps you should try one yourself, and if you cannot give yourself a proper taste, I can do it for you." "All right." The game reset, and all that appeared was the list of distractions. The first was Spiders. I already had a good idea what that was. The next was baby. What could be so bad about a baby? I clicked it and concentrated. A baby began crying. And crying. It grew increasingly shrill, and then it sounded like it was in true torment, and I

ended it. "That wasn't very bad, Cherish." "Maybe later I'll explain why that one is difficult for me. But you also didn't hold it very long. Do you want me to do it for you?" "Maybe the next one, but they better not really be torture." And so she did them to me, one after another. Some of them weren't bad. Others were quite nasty. One felt like I was being sliced open. It didn't hurt, but it really freaked me out. Another had things leaping out at me, dead things. It was gross and startling, but I think it was the violent motion that was the greatest distraction. The worst though was the one that sounded exactly like a dentist's

drill. Finally she worked through the list. I sat quietly for a minute. Cherish didn't say anything. "I'm so getting you with the leaping dead clowns thing," I finally said. "Good," she said. "Dead clowns?" "That's what they looked like," I said. "Last minute questions?" "Nope." "Here we go." She reset the game, and then it counted down. A full game took a lot longer than

our practice games. I was outclassed, and I knew I would be, but I focused on pulling orbs to me. Cherish in turn split her attention. She worked on orbs, but she also hit me with a distraction: the hand tingling again. I focused on my orb, and focused, and focused, and while it slowed down, I captured it and turned to the next. Then the tingling ended. I managed to ignore about half the distractions. For the other half, I lost control of the orb, but I didn't get a full reset. I was happy about that. Cherish corralled about half the orbs, and I had significantly fewer when I went after her. I started with the crying baby, and I managed to do that and pull

an orb to me at the same time. She lost control of her orb, and she tried to hit me with a distraction, but she lost that, too. Then the distraction ended, but I had caught two orbs. And she had to be running low on distractions for me. I waited until she got her next orb halfway back before I did the dentist drill. She managed to collect her orb, but I caught two that time. We ran out of orbs to collect. She tried to hit me with another distraction, really bearing down, but I gritted my teeth and plucked an orb from her. Once I got it halfway back, I gave her the spiders. I managed to catch her orb, and then before the spiders ended, she also

had four more reset. We fought over them, and I decided she'd run out of distractions. I still had a long list, so I did them one after another, and I managed to catch my share of the free orbs. But then she hit me with one more distraction, and it was the last one she would use. This one was also a tingling, but it started. At. My. Center. It took only a few seconds before I was squirming. "That is so not fair!" I said. It grew. And grew, and it felt amazingly good. I lost control of my orbs, and she caught half of them before the distraction ended and I could catch my breath.

After that, I didn't have enough concentration left to be effective, and soon the game was over. The screen blanked, and then I could see. Cherish was watching me. "You cheat," I said. She snorted. "I think you like the way I cheat." "What was that one called?" "Arousal. It appears you are susceptible." I blushed, but I had to admit she was right. While I was recovering, she removed her visor then collected both crowns, replacing everything in the case. Then she knelt down in front of me, our

eyes on a level. "Do you agree you are mine until I return you to the care of this fine facility?" "I am yours," I agreed. "What will you do with me?" "If you are mine, that means I may touch you." "Yes." With that, she reached out and caressed my cheek. I closed my eyes and leaned into it. Her fingers brushed my lips, and then she withdrew. "Our food is here." She pulled me to my feet and led me into her kitchen. There were waiting platters. "As I have won, and you are

mine, you will serve us," she said. "Mine are the gold covers. Yours are the silver covers. Do not sample mine. I don't know if it is safe for you or not." Then she left me there, heading for her dining room. I smiled after her and then saw to the meal. It took a few trips back and forth, and then she asked me to wait on her. I filled her water and dished her plate before asking if there was anything else. She paused before answering. "How far will you indulge me?" "How far do you wish to be indulged?" "Will you kneel here for a moment and set your head in my lap?"

I consider for a moment then knelt down, doing what she asked. She caressed my head for a moment, saying little. Then she leaned down and whispered, "Thank you. You may sit and serve yourself." Once my plate was full, we turned to face each other. "I will explain that sometime. Thank you." I nodded. And we ate. **** We made small talk over the meal, and then she asked me to clear the table. I moved it all back to the kitchen but then had to admit I didn't know what to do with everything. So she helped me, and then we washed, and she took my

hand to pull me back to the living room. She sat, but I prowled for a minute, Cherish watching me. There was a coffee table, and on it of all things, a picture frame. I picked it up and discovered the image changed periodically. They were all of what I thought was a very young Tutor. "Who is this?" "My daughter." "You have a daughter? Where is she?" "On my home world. That is all I have of her." I looked down at the image. "You left your daughter?" "There is a long story involved."

"Will you tell me, Cherish?" "I don't know." I could hear the pain in her voice. So I sat down beside her, leaning lightly while holding the picture frame. She turned to me then took the frame. She gazed at it for a while then set it back on the coffee table. "You left your daughter?" "She is not really mine," Cherish said softly. "I was her surrogate mother. But it hurts just as much to leave her." She turned away again. I looked at the side of her face for a while. "You don't have to tell me, but I think there is more to this story." "There is," she whispered. I reached over and pulled her to

face me. "Did I so disappoint you that we will have no further challenges?" "No," she said. "I want more challenges." "Do you want more than challenges?" "That is part of the story, Andromeda." "Then I believe you should call me Andie and tell me this story." She paused, then nodded. But she looked away, and I let her. "You may not understand." "I understand being a surrogate mother. I bet it's hard. I have friends who raise puppies for Assistance Dogs. They keep the dogs for a year or so, then they

have to give them away. They cry. It's heart wrenching. With a child it would be that much worse." "I have looked into your laws here," she said. "When someone is a surrogate mother, she usually gives the child away at birth. I was her mother for nearly a year." "Oh, Cherish," I said. "I carried her. I taught her while she was still in my womb. I gave birth to her. I nursed her. They let me believe I would remain in her life. But then they took her from me." "Oh, Cherish," I said. She looked back to me. "In a way I volunteered. In a way, I didn't."

"I don't understand." "I do not know human psychology very well," she said. "But I know a few things. Tutor mature intellectually much earlier than a human. Our children emerge from our womb able to speak. Oh, not well, but it does not take the year or two it takes a human child." "Wow," I said. "But for a Tutor, emotional maturity requires adversity, and Tutor mothers are very, very protective of their young. We shelter them. We shelter them from the very forces that drive their emotional maturity. We cannot help it, and so intellectually we become adults, but emotionally, we are still children.

But we are evolved for this. Our children are extremely obedient. We obey our mothers." "Mothers." She nodded. "We are like Catseye. We are always only female." "Oh," I said, making a wide "oh" face. "Oh," I repeated. "I knew you liked me." "I do like you," she agreed. "So, some of us remain children for a long time. It can be decades before we are emotionally mature enough to be given true responsibility." "I hear a but coming." "But, if we encounter sufficient adversity in our life, it drives our

maturity. I believe humans experience this as well, but perhaps not as extremely. However, as our mothers seek to protect us, we are unlikely to encounter this adversity. Many of us, far more than half, accept this." "You did not." "I wanted to attend this mission. I wanted to come to Earth. I wanted it a great deal. When a young Tutor has such aspirations, she is able to leave her mothers, but she is not truly safe on her own. Imagine letting a human 12-yearold live on her own." "I understand." "So it is common for her to offer herself to an older Tutor, sometimes a single woman, sometimes a couple or a

family. We join the household. And we are introduced to adversity." "They mistreat you?" "Not necessarily. I will tell you what I did. I wanted to come to Earth. I had the skills required, but it would be two decades before I could be trusted, and that was much too long a delay. So I began to look for opportunity." "I think I can guess what happened." "You would guess half. There was a couple. You would call them married. Two women. They were both very busy women with busy careers. They wanted a child, but neither wished to carry her. When we carry a child, it is nearly impossible for us to think about

anything but the needs of the child, and so she would have to take a hiatus from her job to do so." "And so you offered yourself." "They advertised their need. I may not have responded, but... can you guess?" I thought about it. "I wouldn't suppose they had influence in who was allowed to come to Earth." "Not influence. They were the ones to decide." "Oh, my." "Sometimes when a young Tutor offers herself to another family, she does not specify the nature of the adversity. I offered myself, and I offered to carry a

child. I did not know how much it would hurt." "Cherish I'm sorry." "You understand that physically I was an adult. And this is a part of our culture down to our biology. But when a young Tutor offers herself, she becomes very obedient to the older Tutors." "That's why you wanted me to kneel." "Until I was too large with child to do so, I knelt that way each night before our meal and again before we climbed into bed together." "Did you offer your body?" "That is almost always a given part of the relationship. We become a

sort of servant, but we simply use the word Third. I became their Third. If it were a single woman, I would still be her Third." "I see." "They promised they would do their best to make me ready. That's all they said. And so I served their needs, and they put a child into me. I carried the child, and I taught the child. I nursed the child. And then, when she was one year old, they came to me while I was nursing her. They pulled her from me and ordered me from their home." "That's terrible!" "To a human, it was terrible. It was painful. But in that night, I grew up. I was not yet mature enough, but I was

sufficiently mature to join the training program. They gave me to another woman, older, and I became her Third. I attended training during the day, and I was her Third at night. And she offered more adversity." Cherish looked away. "I will only say I became quite mature." Then she turned back. "I wasn't going to make it though. We can test maturity, much like Jasmine Brighteyes can with her human mating candidates. But we are far better at it, at least when testing Tutors. I wasn't going to make it." "Yet you did." "You could not say the name of the woman to whom I was third. Let me call her Paula, a name you can say." "All right."

"My maturity was tested, and I was behind. And so Paula had me serve her dinner and see to her other needs, and then she told me I wasn't going to make it unless she did something drastic to me." I pursed my lips together. "Is this going to make me cry?" "I don't know," she said. "There is something we do to criminals." "Cherish." "We do not produce pheromones in the same fashion as the Octal do. But we each have a scent, unique to ourselves." "All right. I like your scent." She caressed my cheek briefly.

"We do not have prisons like you have here, and we do not execute people. But we do something else. One thing we can do is change a woman's scent. We can change her so that her scent is unattractive to other Tutor. The change is permanent, and it is illegal to try to reverse it." "Did she tell you that's what she was going to do?" "No. I asked her to help. That night, we shared bodies, we shared passionately. You understand, I enjoyed this. I enjoyed it with her, and I enjoyed it with the mothers of my daughter." "I understand." "Then, when we were done, she gave me a drink. It made me sleep. And

while I slept, she had me taken. And they did this change to me. I can work with other Tutor, but no Tutor will ever wish to be close to me." "Oh, Cherish. I think that's horrible." "It gave me what I wanted," she said. "I am here, and this is what I wanted. This is a beautiful world, and I find humanity fascinating. I love your water. We have little water on my home, and you have seen how I love to swim." "I have." I leaned closer, and she didn't stop me as I buried my nose in her neck. I inhaled deeply. "I think you smell good. Like cinnamon and vanilla, but it is subtle." I leaned back. "You smell a little like my grandmother's cookies."

She snorted. "I did not hope to remind you of your grandmother." "Maybe you smell bad to another Tutor, but you smell very good to me." She caressed my face again. "Now you know my story. To other Tutors, I smell like a criminal." "Couldn't you have it reversed? You're here on Earth, not on your home world." "It is illegal." "Not here, it isn't." "To me, it is illegal. It would make me a criminal. A healthy mature Tutor can never do something she feels is illegal. I literally am unable to do this. But even if I could, the other Tutor in

human space already know me. No, Andie. For me, this is permanent." "I'm sorry," I said. "Don't be. If Paula hadn't done this to me, I wouldn't be here, and everything I gave up in the first place would have been for nothing." "It is still hard to consider," I said. "It is part of being Tutor," she said. "To mature, we must face adversity. To mature quickly, the adversity must be powerful. In a way, I am grateful." I nodded then cuddled against her for a moment. We sat quietly, but then she turned my chin towards her. "If you want, we can play the game some

more. Or we can sit and talk." "Or..." I prompted. "You may say no." "Ask, Cherish." "For tonight, will you be my Third, Andie?" "Will you answer a question first?" "I will try." "Is this our only night, or do you want more." "I want more." "I will be your Third, Cherish." "You will obey me?" "Yes. But you must not offer me adversity. I have had enough lately." She snorted. "Only sharing."

She stood, collected my hand, and said, "Third. Come." And she led me to her bedroom. There, she taught me how a Tutor accepts pleasure. And then she ordered me to tell her how a human accepts pleasure. And if we were each clumsy, we were learning. And that was okay.

Patterns A pattern established. I swam every morning. Most of those mornings, I found myself with company. Cherish swam with me most mornings, and I enjoyed her company. But she was not the only woman to swim with me, and over the coming weeks, my retinue would grow. But I get ahead of myself mentioning that. After my swim was breakfast. If I lost the previous day's challenge, I would have no clothing, but I'd be given a robe after returning the breakfast tray, and then I could walk to the changing room and put on whatever Jasmine offered me. The selection would change

shortly, but that is also getting ahead. Then I worked. I helped to run events, and I studied the women who were to arrive. I talked to both Jasmine and Clover, and they both told me I would be the one directly overseeing all four women, but with both of them watching me and providing guidance. And so we went over everything I would do, and I began to learn about the various types of challenges I could offer. But I wouldn't begin to pick the selection grid until we knew whom they were each paired against. I had a second challenge with Jessica Maple, the Ardent. I lost this one almost immediately, and so I became hers for the night.

She didn't know what to do with me, and so we shared a meal and conversation. It was later that she admitted, "I don't know what I am doing." "What do you want to do?" I asked her. "I don't know." "We can be friends, Jessica. We can determine another reward for winning and losing." "I like holding you." "I like when you hold me." "I think about doing more." I thought carefully. "And?" Yes, it was a non-committal response, but it was the best I had.

"I am afraid I'll hurt you." "You have always been gentle." "If my passions become involved, I do not know if I would remain gentle. And I do not know if I would be satisfied if I had to be." Again I thought carefully. "I will not accept being treated roughly." "I know. And when my passions are calm, the thought of anyone hurting you, well, it inflames my protective passions." I laughed. Then we grew quiet until she asked, "Humans kiss." "We do. Do Ardents?" "No, but I've thought about

kissing you anyway." "And?" We were cuddling, but neither of us was looking at the other. At that, she used a finger to turn my head. "Would you show me how to kiss?" "Yes, Jessica." I smiled and then rotated, throwing my leg over hers. It was far too wide a stretch, so I squirmed around until I found a comfortable position. She wrapped her arms around me, holding me in place, and that helped. In the end, I was really kneeling on her lap, and then I moved closer. I caressed her face. She watched me intently. "Close your eyes," I whispered. "And let me take off my visor."

We did both, setting the visor aside. She sat quietly, although as I stroked her face, I could feel her trembling. "Am I too heavy?" "No." "Keep your eyes closed," I said. "Let me do this." And then I leaned forward and kissed the corner of her eye. "That is not how humans kiss." "We're warming up," I said. "If you begin to enjoy this and want to offer encouragement, you can move your hands onto my ass. I'll take that as meaning you want more than kissing." She didn't move, but I didn't want

her to yet. I kissed the corner of the other eye. I nuzzled underneath her neck. I nibbled her ear while caressing the rim with my fingers. Then I moved to her mouth. "Earth animals lick," I said. "And I think this derived from that." I kissed the corner of her mouth, then the other corner. Then I nuzzled some more, caressing her, pressing against her. And she trembled but let me control everything. Then I kissed it all again, but this time I kissed her mouth, the corners first, small kisses, then I moved in. I kissed, and I even licked a little. And none of it did a thing for me,

not one little bit. Finally I sat back, and she opened her eyes. She looked at me sadly. "I'm sorry," I whispered. "But we can be friends." "Friends," she agreed. **** My evening with Dark Skies, of course, went quite differently. It began with a tight hug at her door, and if she used pheromones, I couldn't tell. We shared a meal as well as touches. Innocent touches, but they felt nice. And we talked for a while, first over dinner, and then after, sitting in her living room. She didn't warn me when she

began using her pheromones, and she did it slowly. I felt myself growing flushed, and I began panting. At the time, she was across the room, and we continued to carry on a conversation. But it grew increasingly difficult for me. I slipped from my chair, intending to move to her, but she said, "No. Sit in your chair, Andie." Obediently, I moved back. I couldn't even consider disobeying her. She ordered me to watch her, and then she partially undressed, She ordered me to watch her hands, and she began to caress her own body. And I went a little insane, but she had ordered me to stay, and so I had to

obey. "Tonight I am your queen," she said. "I have captured you, Andie, and while you knew it was to happen, you didn't realize until it was too late." I didn't say anything -- I couldn't say anything, not really. "Crawl to me, slowly." I lowered myself and crawled until I reached her. She gave me a foot and told me to lick it. She promised it would taste better than anything I had ever licked before. And it did. She ordered me to remove her clothing, and then my own. And then she ordered me to crawl as she led me to her bed.

I crawled. And then she ordered me to do more things, and more, and I did them all and begged besides. From the sounds, I gave her such pleasures, and every whimper of pleasure cut to my soul, filling me with my own pleasure. And then she told me I would enjoy what she was going to do to me. She did things to me no one had ever done before. Oh, they may have been things I wanted done, if only I had known how good they would feel. And then she did more. And she did more. And then we were both worn to the core, but we lay together in her bed. I was insanely happy and entirely satiated.

We held each other, and she murmured quietly to me. "I'm letting your head clear," she said. And I was together enough to know what that meant. "No, Dark Skies." "Enough for you to think," she said. "Not enough you can disobey." "Yours," I whispered, snuggling more tightly. She continued to talk gently to me, asking me questions from time to time. And while I remained entirely committed to her, I gained some ability to think. "You are my friend, Andie," she said. "You will forever be my friend."

She told me that several times, and it settled in and became true. "As your queen, I must take care of you," she said. "Andie, we cannot do this too often. If we do, you will grow desperate for me, even when your head is clear. And I won't be able to let you go." "I don't want you to let me go." "I know you don't. But eventually two must become four, and we would lose. We would become mates of a new queen." "We would be together." "We would be together, but not together. Our new queen would not let us share affection, Andie."

I grew still at that. "You would belong to her, and I would belong to her. But we would not belong to each other anymore." I buried my face in her shoulder. "You want me to be queen, don't you?" I nodded frantically. I unburied my face. "I can be everything you need." "You cannot. Octals are driven to become eight. It is unhealthy for us if we do not become eight. A queen of four will be very careful to remain queen, but in time she will take risks to become eight, even if she will no longer be queen." I buried my face again. She

stroked my hair. "I want you to know, if I could keep you, I would. But it would not end well. And so we cannot do this too often. When I do not invite this very often, it is not because I do not want to. It is only because doing so would end poorly. Do you understand?" I unburied and looked at her. "You want me, don't you, Dark Skies?" "I do. But I cannot take you only to hand you to a different queen." "I understand." But I was filled with sorrow, and I would have buried my face again. But she set a finger on my chin, and I froze. "Are you tired?" "Yes."

"I bet you aren't too tired," she said. And then she didn't just slip her pheromones into me. She pulled my head against her, ordered me to lick, and they slammed into my bloodstream. I went insane with need. **** My head was clear by morning, but we lay entwined, and it was the first morning I wouldn't swim. "Dark Skies. Thank you." "Thank you, Andie. Believe me, the pleasure was all mine." "Not all yours," I replied. "You're probably still feeling a little obedient." "Please don't order me from the

bed." She caressed my cheek. "I am going to finish releasing you now. You will stay where you are and obey me, won't you?" "Yes," I whispered. She rolled over me, and then she pulled my nose against her. I was helpless but to let her do what she wished. "Lick me," she said. "Don't stop licking." But then, slowly, my independence returned to me. And I stopped licking. She actually tasted a little, um. Not bad, but I didn't want to lick her anymore. At that, she slumped down to

cuddle against me again. "You have your own antidote?" "Yes." "How efficient. Dark Skies, I heard what you said last night, but please, tell me this isn't our last night like this." "It's not," she said. "Unless you find someone else first." Then she smiled. "Although if you do, I might just take you both." "That would be three." "Oh, I'm sure I can find a fourth." I laughed and kissed her forehead. "I suppose we can't stay here all day." "Probably not. There would be

women in the arena and no one handling their event." "They might not mind." "Some would, and I imagine Jasmine Brighteyes would mind a great deal." I sighed. "Always the practical one," I complained. **** That was not our last night together, and it wasn't the last time we woke in each other's arms. But we were only to have a few more nights like this. But Dark Skies will always be a dear friend, regardless of the physical distance that might grow between us.

Fresh Batch Forty-seven women arrived from North America. Europe and Asia provided seventeen more, and we had our full sixty-four. Of them, I was concerned with only four, although I would help with the others. As I had been, the women from North America had no idea what was happening to them. They went to sleep in a chair, and they would wake here, but not for some time. Their chairs were wheeled, just like they were, aboard small jumpers and from there, they were all collected together for the trip to Africa, arriving aboard a single large transport.

A few hours before they were due to arrive, Jasmine summoned me to her office. She had locked me in my cell earlier, but I'd actually won my challenge the day before, and so not only did I have undies and a camisole in my cell, but a robe as well. In such a short time, I had become completely meek regarding my situation, but I appreciated the robe. The visor led me first to the changing room and then to Jasmine's office. When I arrived, she and Clover were both waiting. We took chairs, and then they gazed at me carefully. I waited for them to speak. And waited. And then grew impatient. "Did I

do something wrong?" "No. You do not know the path from your cell to the landing field door. I have not let you walk it." "And?" "Nor have I let you roam outside unless it was during an event." "And?" "And we have a flight arriving in two hours and fifteen minutes." "And you are wondering what role I will play in the arrival." "Yes." "Whatever I'm told to do, I suppose. But that's not the concern. You're worried either that I'll try to escape or learn something that would

help me escape later." "You could not escape, Andromeda." "No, but you're worried I'll try." "And if you do, everything I'm trying to do with you is ruined." "Tell me something. Could I escape if I had enough information?" "No." "Are you absolutely, completely sure?" "Of course I am." "Then if I try to escape, you'll catch me, and an hour later you'll throw me in the arena with eight Implacs." "Do you think that's what I want to see happen?"

"Do you think I'm so stupid to risk it?" I smiled. "You already know I'd let Dark Skies have me, if that could end well. And she's not the only one I'd consider. I've been here a week, and I can say that. I'm not going anywhere unless you send me away, Jasmine." I smiled again. "Besides, I think I could be really good at this job." "Don't get too used to it," she said. "You're a temp." I laughed. "Maybe whoever becomes my mate will want to move here. Who can tell?" "Who can tell," she agreed. She glanced at Clover and then back to me. "We all help with this next step. If we left it to the guards, it would take well

into the evening." Jasmine then laid out the process, spending several minutes to do so. When she was done, I said simply, "I understand." She turned to Clover. "What do you think?" "I think she'll be fine, Jasmine. You can partner her with one of us if you're worried, but I don't think you need to." "Do you use any of the other aliens that are here?" I asked. "No. Did you have a request?" "I'm not sure I want to be partnered with someone who comes to my cell and shackles my ankles."

They snorted. "But you know, that just makes me a problem child. Just tell me what you want and I'll do it." "She's after more privileges," Clover said. "I swear she is." I turned to her. "I want a rematch with you. I still want that blanket." They both laughed. "But what will you offer me?" Clover asked. I sighed. "No rematch?" "We'll see," she said. "Normally I coordinate at the transport," Jasmine said. "Clover, would you like that instead? I can partner with Andromeda." "All right."

"Now, about those human interest interviews," Jasmine said. "Yes?" "How would you like to perform them with your four women? We can see how it goes. I think it would be too much to do with all the women, but maybe for special cases." "All right. If you like it and there are others you want me to do, I can." "We'll keep that in mind. Do you remember that party I offered?" "For women of a certain, um. Attitude?" "Yes," she said with a snort. "You may offer it." "Thank you."

"It will be tomorrow evening." "Before the arena events on Wednesday." "Right." I paused. "They're supposed to decide that fast?" "I will give them one cycle -two weeks or so. They may date in a fashion similar to you, but without your extra freedoms. If they do not make a decision, then we'll make it for them, and it will be in the arena with the next batch." "So a male." "Probably." I shook my head. "I know," she said. "I'd rather not

do it that way. I don't even like doing it how I'm doing it with you." "Let's hope this works," I said. "Anything else?" "There's a price for the party." "With you, there is always a price," I said. "What is it?" "First, you will attend the party dressed as a mating candidate." "You're not going to let them wear dresses, are you?" "You know what they're going to be wearing, Andromeda." "They'll show better in dresses." "They'll feel vulnerable and more readily compliant if they dress to impress."

"I will have you know I can impress quite well in this fetching little black dress back in my closet at home." "And second, some of the aliens want to see a human female." I considered carefully. "I think you are leaving something unsaid." "They haven't seen one of you naked in person." "There is online porn for that, Jasmine. It's there for a reason." "Solve this problem for me, Andromeda," she said. "Is the list limited to females, or are we talking males, too? Because I am not going to strut my stuff for a bunch of males. And I don't think you're stupid

enough to ask me to." "Females only." "And I suppose it has to happen by tomorrow night." "Solve this problem or I will," she said. "My solution will be to make all of you undress as you step into the party." "You wouldn't." "Oh please," she said. "You know I would." "I think you're bluffing," I declared. She folded her arms, leaned onto the table, and looked at me intently. "Do you intend to call my bluff?" I stared at her for several

seconds before lowering my gaze. "You swear. Females only." "Females only." "You'll turn off the cameras." She paused. "And you won't lie about it," I added. "I'll solve this, but you will promise me. No cameras, no males." She nodded. "No cameras and no males." "Fine. After breakfast tomorrow I'll go swimming without the suit. You'll clear the pool of all humans and all males. I won't display myself, but I won't go out of my way to hide. They can see whatever they get a chance to see." She paused. "And again

tomorrow afternoon. I want you in the pool area for at least an hour each time." "And if anyone doesn't feel she got a good enough look, I'll even do it again Wednesday morning, but only if you want to clear the pool again." "We can decide that tomorrow evening," she said. "I accept your offer." "Are you going to be there?" She smiled. "And miss the chance to exhibit my voyeuristic tendencies? Of course I'm going to be there." "If you look smug, Jasmine, I will probably lose it. You can ogle, but please do not look smug. And if I ever find out you broke your promise about males or cameras, I will never trust you

again." "I'm not sure I know how to look smug," she said. "Yeah, you're looking pretty damned smug right now." I smiled. "If I'm showing mine, I want you to show yours. No Catseye in the room unless her tentacles are out." "You change the arrangement already?" "Do you have a problem with it?" Clover snuffled. "Do you wish to further modify our agreement?" Jasmine asked. "Yeah. If anyone touches me inappropriately, I'm going to slug her.

And I'm also going to invite a certain Wookie to attend, so it'll be an enraged human and a protective Wookie to face." They both snuffled at that. "Was there a third price?" I asked. "No, just the two." I turned to Clover. "Is she always like this?" "Only with her favorites," Clover said. "She loves to spar with her favorites." "Does she?" I asked. "I'll keep that in mind." "You could be replaced as my favorite," Jasmine said. "It could happen in a heartbeat."

"I'm not worried," I said. "If you toss me over, I'll offer myself to Clover and Peony as their Third." They both stared for a moment then began their Catseye laughter. "Catseye don't do that," Clover said. "But for you, and to annoy Jasmine, we'd probably consider it." "Catseye do take, well, you might call it a vassal," Jasmine said. "But it doesn't have the same implication as what a Tutor does, and it wouldn't protect you from the arena." "Well, we have work to do," I said. "Or was there more?" "Right. Work. To do. And all that." ****

Well, they had work. I didn't, not really. But I used the time to put together some challenge grids. I started with some Jasmine had done but made my own adjustments. I knew there would be more once I saw how things unfolded. But it helped me to grow more familiar with the available choices. If Jasmine let me get away with it, I was going to make the challenges be tough on the challengers. But she had repeatedly warned me how important it was to keep the mating candidates off balance. I wasn't quite sure how that would end up working out. And with that thought, I wondered if the whole strut my stuff bullshit was part of her plan for me. I

thought it was, but I also thought if I had called her on her bluff, she'd have carried through on it. I thought it was unlikely I'd win a single thing against her. But then she signaled me. "The transport is fifteen minutes out." I stepped into her office, and we made the walk together. "Jasmine, with all your technology, why isn't more of this automated? Can't you just beam the women into their cells?" "That doesn't work." "You beam my meals into that little nook." "No we don't. We have robots

that bring it to you from the kitchen." "Seriously?" "Yes." "All right. Then why don't you have robots that deliver the women into their cells?" "Because they deserve personal attention." "Wait. You could automate it, but you don't, because you're being kind?" "Is that so hard to believe?" "You yank them from their lives, force them to go through all this, marry them off to someone, who might be truly a horrible individual, but you don't let robots handle them, even when they're unconscious?"

"Andromeda, if it were my decision, we would only take volunteers. We wouldn't yank anyone unwilling from her life. Out of your billions, do you think over a decade or two we couldn't get a half million." "A half million? You need a half million?" "Yes, roughly." I thought about it. "You could get a half million from one city with the right incentives." "Exactly, and do you think I can provide the right incentives? Such as, oh, I don't know, a several-hundred-year expected lifespan?" "Seriously?"

"Seriously." "Yes, I think you can find the right incentives." "I'm working on this, Andromeda. You're a step in that process. You're not the first step. Those humans I told you that have hugged me? They came before you. And there will be more steps after you." I had nothing to say to that, and a moment later we stepped into the daylight. The visor acted like sunglasses, and I didn't even need to shade my eyes. "I could get used to these," I said, tapping them. "You haven't had them off in three days," she said. "I think you're

already used to them." "You said these were an entry level model. When do I get the upgrade?" "When your new mate gives them to you." "Oh, come on. You're dying to give me a new gift that doesn't cover any more of my skin than it has to." She snuffled. "Did you talk to your old boss like this?" "No way," I said. "Gerri swears like a sailor. I had to fight to keep up. Fuck that." She laughed outright. We weren't the only ones waiting. I recognized some of the guards.

Sal, Gene, and Danny were there. Dark Skies was there, of course, and Clover arrived a few seconds after we did. "You haven't met my other two senior event coordinators," Jasmine said. She took my arm and drew me to a pair of aliens. As we approached, they turned to us, and I saw they were both the same species -- Loris like the one from the arena a few days ago. The Loris were petite, smaller than I was, and covered with fur. But their fur was far finer than the Wookies'. They had flat faces, a little like an owl's, with upright ears and a jutting, delicate muzzle. Unlike the Wookies, I would discover these Loris enjoyed wearing clothing, although they did so strictly for

ornamental purposes. "Andromeda," said Jasmine. "These are Bay and Cedar." "I am Bay," said one. "Cedar is my mate." "Cedar can speak fine for herself," said Cedar. "Bay is my overbearing husband, but I love him regardless." "You are Loris." "We are," said Cedar. "You are human." "I am," I said. "How do Loris prefer to greet?" "My wife prefers to bite," said Bay. "But I find a human handshake appropriate." He held out his hand, and I

took it carefully. Then I shook with Cedar as well. "Did we interrupt a fight?" Jasmine asked. "Yes," said Cedar. "My stupid husband again suggests we should pit the mating candidates against each other." "Last woman standing," said Bay. "We could give them extra privileges." "Tell me he's kidding," I said. "He's not," said Cedar. "She's sore because I won't offer her group odds. She's trying to swindle me." I turned to Jasmine. "He's kidding, right?"

"He makes this suggestion every few weeks," Jasmine replied. "I can talk them into it," I said. "What?" they all said together. "I can," I said. "If you let me pick the reward." "I don't think so," said Jasmine. "You'll send them home." "Not at all. The reward is a group challenge. Them against the Loris who suggested we treat these poor women like gladiators." Jasmine snuffle-laughed. Cedar did some sort of high squeaking thing, and I thought she sounded not unlike a dog toy. Bay gave me what I was sure was a dirty-Loris look.

"I should have thought of that," Cedar said. She turned to her husband. "Why didn't I think of that?" "Because you would never envision such a poor idea," Bay said quickly. "Unlike a certain human who shall go unnamed." I turned to Jasmine again. "I think I ended their fight." "Don't worry," she replied. "They'll start a new one soon." "My wife and I enjoy challenging our wits against each other," said Bay. "What he means to say is he's an ass, but I put up with him for the sex." "That's probably true," Bay agreed.

"Seriously, Administrator, I think it would be very good for morale if we hosted a few challenges featuring the senior event coordinators." "And by that you exclude the event coordinators in training?" "Of course. To the best of my knowledge, you only have one, and she's also a mating candidate. As such, she is already heavily weighed down with her split duties as event coordinator in training and source of amusement for the aliens." "I like her," said Cedar. "But she's not very smart, is she?" "Oh?" I asked. "Are you sure teasing the senior event coordinators while you are subject

to our events is a clever idea?" "Of course it is," I said. "I cleverly determined that the two of you tease each other to bond your relationship tighter, and I offer to also tease in a show of solidarity and desired friendship." I turned to Jasmine and spoke sotto voce, "Tell me you aren't going to let the Loris run any of my events." "We heard you were picked clean by the robot-bugs," Bay said. He thumped his chest. "My idea." "To apply it to me?" "No, just in general. It's too bad Dark Skies warned you not to smear any of the food on your face. Most of the humans go insane when the little robots

eat from their faces. I always make sure to splash some there." "Well, the transport is nearly here," Jasmine said. "We'll leave you to it." Then she dragged me away, nearly literally. "Don't strangle him," she said. "I really can't afford to replace him just yet, and I'd have to replace her, too." "Does he really?" "What?" "Splash their faces?" "Yes." "Why?" I asked. "These women have had their lives torn apart, and he thinks it's funny to make it worse?" "I want to ask a favor."

"I'm suddenly not in a favorgranting mood." "Watch him with his events before you come to any conclusions." "I think I have all the information I need." "Yes, I know you think you do. But you aren't going to believe me, so I'm asking you to hold off your judgment." "Don't let him run any events with me." "I can't promise that." "You are not helping my mood," I said. "I in effect forfeit my challenge with Soft Rain to avoid a fourth punishment, and he felt the second

should have been worse than it was?" She snuffled, this time not a laugh. "Listen. Some of the challenges require punishments of some sort. We couldn't help you in your challenge with Soft Rain without a price. Would that have been fair?" "No, but-" "But he's as gentle as a lamb. Oh, he's fiendish when it comes to psychological punishments, but he never hurts one of the women. Never." "Maybe you should dip him into that pit and let the insects at him for a while." "He has been. Well, not the pit, but we have other ways of covering you in the food. When he comes up with

something new and clever, he sets it up and then tells Cedar to surprise him with it. Sometimes he comes back very subdued and tones it down. As often, he turns it up. But most of the time he gets it just right the first time around. He never comes up with actual physical punishments, and he's appalled by the power staffs. But when we need a psychological punishment, he's your Loris." "So he's almost as good at head games as you are?" "Well, he's not in my league, but then, who is?" Then she gestured. I looked up, and the transport was coming into view. We all watched as it circled the facility, coming lower, and then it

settled in for landing, hovering over the ground well in front of us before inching closer. Then it turned slowly around, offering a view of its tail end, and lowered the last few feet to the ground. It grew quiet, not that it had been loud. And then the ramp began to lower. "Right," called out Clover. "Let's make sure we get the right woman in the right cell this time. I can't prove it, but I'm pretty sure that little mix up two batches ago was someone's idea of a practical joke. Not on my watch!" I leaned to Jasmine. "I've got a bathrobe that says the Loris was involved." Jasmine snickered. I noticed she didn't take my wager.

They were actually quite efficient. The transport had a crew. They would roll one of the chairs out of the transport. Each of the chairs had the occupant's ID displayed on the side. It could be scanned; I simply used my visor. The visor did a lookup and told me anything I wanted to know about the occupant, including which cell was hers. And then the visor would guide me into the facility and to the right cell. Clover coordinated, opening each chair for a moment to view the sleeping occupant and performing a visual verification she was who the bed said she was. And I didn't know it at the time, but she also kept track of who arrived and could immediately tell us

how many were left. The cells were all underground, but there were two banks of elevators, so depending upon which cell we needed, the visor directed me to one bank or another. And because the visor already knew which women were being moved in, it could hold an elevator if someone else was about to get on for the same stop. It was quite impressive. Still, it took time. It was a long trip from the lander bay to the cells. And then inside each cell, we verified again. After that, we unpackaged the woman, but the chair could be controlled to gently slide her onto her bed. Each of the women was naked; I

remember waking up naked and not liking that. I mentioned that to Jasmine. "It's not easy to dress an unconscious body," she said. "And would you want strangers fondling your body?" "It wouldn't be fondling," I suggested. "Would you?" "No, probably not. You could give them blankets." "That's not happening, either," she said. "But I can take your clothes from you while we do the rest of this." "Bully." "That's right. Now, arrange her more comfortably. She's going to get a

stiff neck like that." When the women were taken from their homes, they were wearing different clothes. Their clothes came with them, but if it was street clothes, we took them, noting who had something reasonable -- that was Jasmine's word, not mine -- and who didn't. "We delivery a change in the morning if they need one," she explained. "We didn't use to do it this way. So some women came wearing almost nothing and some came dressed for their day. Now we're a little more egalatarian." "Right. That's the word I was thinking of." "Was that sarcasm, Mating Candidate?"

"Of course not, Bully Administrator Brighteyes," I said cheerfully. "I'm only making conversation." In the end, we made fourteen or fifteen trips, getting each woman settled in for the night. When we were done, Jasmine and I walked up and down each cellblock, checking the women through the glass. A few times we stepped in and adjusted their position. "She's sleeping on her arm," or "her pajamas are bunched around her neck." I was actually surprised by the care. I wondered if it was a show for me, but I didn't ask. Finally she turned me to her. "We're done. You don't have a date

tonight." "Dark Skies kept it clear." "Would you like to share a meal with me?" "That depends." "Oh?" "Do I get a proper hug?" She smiled. "Is that a requirement?" "Maybe a strong request." "Very good. Return to your cell and change clothes. I'll send the guards for you." "Seriously?" "Mating candidate," she added. "You let me wander around all day, but you're going to put the guards

through that? They're tired and want to go home." "And they'll be able to do so." "Do I have time for a shower?" "Yes, if you're quick." "I'll taste better." She smiled. "See you soon." **** When I got back from the showers, there were undies and a camisole waiting, but a message appeared telling me I could wear the robe, too. The guards appeared about thirty seconds after I pulled the clothes on, so I was sure they'd been waiting. "You," said one.

"You know," I said. "We have never exchanged names." I stepped forward and held out a hand. "Andromeda Hayes." "We're not supposed to give our names to mating candidates," said the woman. "You'll have to catch us when you're an event technician." I laughed. "Right. Got it. I'll call you Dilly and her Dolly." "I want to be Dilly," said Dolly. "Fine. You can be Dilly." "There's no way I'm answering to Dolly." "How about Bar? Dilly and Bar? No?" I said. "You don't want to be named after Dolly Madison?"

"Call her Eeyore," said Dilly. "You know I'm going to be stuck with these names in my head instead of your real ones." "Call me Natalie," said Dolly. "After one of the guards from Orange is the New Black." "I'm not going to remember that," I complained. "Then call her Piper," said Dilly. "We're practically inmates ourselves." "Piper it is," I said. "Who gets to cuff me today?" "Dilly does," said Piper. "She loves cuffing the girls." So I held my wrists out to Dilly and she did, indeed, cuff them.

**** I rubbed my wrists, still unable to see. But then Dilly -- or maybe it was Piper -- insisted on pulling my robe from my shoulders. "Get your own," I muttered. "Let her take the robe, Andromeda," said Jasmine. "Fine," I said. "But seriously, don't you pay them enough to buy their own bathrobes?" Neither Dilly nor Piper commented, but then they were gone, and a moment later, the visor brightened. Jasmine stood before me, but I frowned immediately. "Whip 'em out," I said. "That

was the agreement." A moment later her tentacles emerged. "Gayle freaks out when she sees them." "Gail?" "The guard who took your robe." "Oh. Right. That was probably Piper." "Piper." "Or maybe Dilly. I lost track of who was on which side." "Do I care what you're babbling about?" "Probably not." I stepped towards her. "I'm food deprived and incoherent from weakness. It might be heatstroke. I think you should send me

back to Minnesota to recover." "Or just keep you out of the sun." "That works. Aren't the challenges all outside?" She snuffled, but I stepped closer, and she wrapped around me, her tentacles sliding inside the camisole to envelop me rather thoroughly. We hugged for a minute or two before releasing. The Catseye liked long hugs. Then she led me to her living room. We sat on opposite sides of the sofa, turned to face each other. "Food will arrive shortly. Are you really fooddeprived?" "No. I'm just a little wired. I

didn't get my exercise today." "Pushing other mating candidates around didn't take the edge off?" "Naw, I barely touched the chairs. I let my partner do all the work." She laughed. "You're in a playful mood." "Please don't do anything to ruin it if you can at all avoid it." "Now, why would I ruin your mood?" "Psychological games," I said. "You seem to enjoy them. Why the dinner invitation, Jasmine?" "Do you suspect a game?" "I wouldn't put it past you," I said. "But no. I'm just curious."

"I wanted to since you arrived," she said. "But I wasn't ready to let you see the tentacles. And then we've been busy. This was our first opportunity." "It feels weird. We've been scrambling for days, and tomorrow we'll be scrambling again. But tonight we have this moment of calm. Or do you have more work to do?" "No. Tonight is exactly as you say, a moment of calm." "I have another question, and I hope you'll answer honestly. Was what you said about the aliens wanting to see me naked just a line?" She didn't answer right away. "It wasn't you specifically, although there are probably a few that are pleased it's

to be you. No, it wasn't a line. Next question?" "Is this just dinner, or am I invited to stay a while after?" "You're invited to stay." "Do you have an activity planned?" "We can talk, or we can invite two more to join us for a game. Don't worry. The game I have in mind is harmless. I'm not setting you up." "Either sounds fine," I said. I leaned back and closed my eyes. "If I don't have to, I don't want to pick tonight." "Tired?" "Wired and fried, and I want to

let my brain slow down." "Maybe teaching you a new game is a poor idea." "It's fine. Whatever you want, Jasmine." "Whatever I want?" "Oh, did I say more than I intended?" I opened my eyes and smiled. "Whatever you want." "Then give me your feet," she said. Puzzled, I lifted them towards her. She set them in her lap, which involved pulling me a little closer, so I lay down on the sofa. And she began to massage. "Really?" I said. "This is what

you want to do? Not that I'm complaining. Oh, that feels nice." "Humans have interesting feet," she replied. "They all have the same basic structure, but they can be so different at the same time." I let her massage for a while. It really did feel nice. I wondered what she was doing though. I wondered if she'd answer if I asked. I didn't ask. I didn't want her to lie to me. But then she announced, "Dinner is here." I opened my eyes. "That felt divine. Thank you." "You're welcome. If you go sit,

I'll bring the food in." Five minutes later found us both seated at adjacent portions of the table. The platters of food were covered, but it smelled good. I had a standard place setting. She had a couple of bowls each with two handles plus a fork. "It is traditional in a Catseye household to do this in a particular way," she said. "We lift the covers at the same time, and then we stow them below the table." "There are three platters." "I am capable of handling more than one." I laughed. "I suppose you are." I put my hand on the handle of the nearest lid. "Is there a signal?"

"Yes. As head of household, I make a subtle gesture. Each family has its own. This is what I do. Watch my tentacle." Then the tip tapped the top of the lid. I lifted my cover, and she lifted hers. "Easy enough," I said. I ducked under the table and found a place for the lid. I thought that was clever. "The other difference from how humans serve is that we pass our bowls, not the platters. The bowls are smaller and have less food, plus they have convenient handles." She picked up her small bowl and handed it to me. "I would like a medium scoop of the potatoes, please." I dished her bowl, looking at her

to ensure we had the same idea of what a medium scoop meant. "Now hand me your plate," she directed. So I did, and then she lifted a fork. "A modest piece of the chicken, please," I said. "And beets. I love beets, but start modestly please." "Of course." She dished me and handed the plate back. "And then we finish serving ourselves." A moment later we were ready. "If the way I eat disturbs you, I can be subtle." "Do you intend to smear it all over my body and lick it off?" She laughed. "No." She picked

up her fork, stabbed a piece of potato, and then transferred it to a waiting tentacle. The tentacle wrapped around it. When she opened, it was gone. "Huh," I said. "I wouldn't have guessed that." Then she dipped the end into her water glass. For that, she made a distinctive slurping sound, like someone sucking too hard on a straw. "I wouldn't have guessed that, either," I said. And then I took a bite of my own potatoes. I chewed and swallowed, then gestured with my fork. "That looks convenient. You can talk while you eat. It's rude if I do the same. Tell me something about yourself, Jasmine."

"Like what?" "Oh, anything. You know everything about me, and I know almost nothing about you." A moment later, my visor pinged at me that I had a new file from Jasmine. I opened it, and it was her bio. "Not like that," I said. "Don't you know how to talk about yourself?" "Not really, no." "Fine," I said. "Let's start with something simple. How old are you?" "You first." I laughed. "Fine. My name is Andromeda Hayes. Most people call me Andie, but when I'm in trouble, my mom calls me Andromeda. People also call

me Andromeda when I'm feeling passive/aggressive and vulnerable and want to make them work." She laughed. "That's very interesting, Andromeda." She accented my name. "What else can you tell me?" "Well, I'm 34, the single daughter of a really good mom and dad. They were college sweethearts and never lost that love. Your turn." She looked at me carefully. "All right. Care to play a guessing game?" "Sure. What are we playing for?" "You can have your bathrobe back." "Hmm. So you are Administrator Brighteyes, and I am Mating Candidate

Hayes? Or are you Jasmine, and I'm Andie?" "Did you just give me permission?" "Not yet." "All right," she replied. "If I win, then I may call you Andie." "Only when we're being friends, not when I'm the employee or mating candidate. What am I offered?" "You liked the foot massage. How about a back massage?" "Now you're talking," I said. "What's the game?" "I will ask you a question about myself and you will try to guess." "So, you'll say age, and I'll say

17, but you're 18, so I'm wrong." "How about within ten percent?" "Twenty." "Fifteen." "Agreed. How many points are we playing to?" "Five." "Perfect." I speared some chicken and chewed. "Age?" "Age." "We're not counting time dilation from interstellar travel or something? If you spent five hundred years in cryosleep or something like that, it doesn't count." "Right." "If you were human, from your

appearance, I'd place you younger than I am. But you have access to super duper magic healthcare, and you carry yourself a lot closer to how Gerri does than my friends do." She looked at me enigmatically, all the while slurping at her food. I studied her. "There's no way you're as young as your appearance suggests." "Because of my bearing?" "And the amount of responsibility you have, and any guesses I'd make based on appearance assume human medical care and beauty cream. I bet you have some amazing beauty cream." "So, you still have to guess."

"Gerri's age. 64." "Your logic is good," she said. "Catseye mature early but then we hold our appearance for decades. It can be difficult to tell mothers and daughters apart, and sometimes grandmothers and granddaughters." "So how did I do?" "You're high, but I will accept the compliment you offered in comparing me to someone I believe you admire." "How old?" "47, as my body feels it." "Did you do cryosleep or something for your trip here?" "No. But there are time dilation effects from traveling at near relativistic

speeds." "Slower than light, but very fast." "Right." "How much if we skip that?" "Just a few years. Point to me." "All right. Next." "When I was younger and in the age where Catseye might be rebellious, was I more or less rebellious than average?" I ate for a minute, considering the question. I decided I could go around in circles, so I had a fifty-fifty chance of guessing accurately. "More." "The score is tied," she said. "To be fair, Catseye adolescents are quite restrained in their rebellion compared to

a human of a similar age. I have a sister. Am I oldest or youngest?" "Oldest. You're way too bossy to have had an older sister." She laughed. "I'm compensating," she said. "I was youngest. Who is a better swimmer, you or me?" I eyed the tentacles. "I bet you swim like a fish." "Is that your answer?" "Yeah." "You would be wrong. Catseye can't swim. We sink. Most of us are intimidated by water deeper than our waist." "Three to one," I said. "Two more and you get to use my name."

"I have never been mated and have no children. But if I were to become mated, and my mate and I were to have children, which of us do you believe would carry the first child?" "She would." "Reason?" "No way would you want to be fat and waddling around. It would slow you down." "Well, you won the point, but your reason is wrong. I would want to be the one taking care of her, not having to be taken care of. I'm uncomfortable being taken care of." "All right," I said. "I can see that."

"Have I performed any of the challenges?" "In one of the arenas?" I asked. "And not counting practice runs to test them and things like that?" "With a mating candidate." "I thought Catseye didn't do that." "So you're guessing never?" "How close do I have to get?" "If the answer is 2 or less, you must be right on. After that, accurate to within a third." I sipped from my water. "Any hints?" "Nope." "Never." "Reasoning?"

"Because you play to win. If you were in challenges with a mating candidate, you would be mated now." "Maybe I won the challenges, and she gave me my three months and decided she hated me." "Yeah, I don't think so. Zero." "Once. It was soon after I got here, and there was a woman who felt how you and I do about males." I smiled at that. "I told her if she beat me, I'd let her go. If I beat her, she had to select from a willing mate. She kicked my ass. And then I got yelled at besides. I haven't done it since." "Wait. Was the Loris working here yet?" She laughed. "No."

"Pick something good for the next one," I said. "I like this game." "All right. What do you think is my greatest personal fear?" "Failure." "Oh, point to you. Were my mothers supportive when I declared I wished to join this mission?" "It's a one-way mission, isn't it?" "Most probably, but who knows what will happen a few decades from now?" "And they aren't here with you." "No, they are not." "Then no. They didn't want you to go. What mother would want to never see her daughter again?"

"They didn't like that part, but they were very supportive. The mission needed people like me, and I was raised to do my duty." She smiled. "How's your dinner, Andie?" "Quite good, thank you," I said. I returned her smile. "You know, you're easy to please." "Oh?" "Yes. You look like the cat who ate the canary, and I was going to ask you to call me Andie, anyway. Instead of giving it away, I learned a few things about you. I consider it a good trade." And then I focused on the food. **** Twenty minutes later found the

meal over, the remnants handled, hands, mouths, and tentacles clean, and the two of us looking at each other. I crossed my legs and smiled inwardly when her eyes dropped for a moment. "Gotcha," I thought. "Well, Jasmine," I said, "What do you have planned for the remainder of our evening?" "I don't plan every move in advance, Andie." "Were you too preoccupied while I was getting ready to think about it?" I asked. I smiled. "Maybe you were busy watching some of the mating candidates." "Are you suggesting I was watching you in the shower?"

I considered for a moment. "I was wondering something. Do you think we could call a truce for the rest of the night?" "I wasn't aware we were fighting." "So we haven't been sparring?" The tips of her tentacles waved at me. "You don't enjoy our conversations?" "I want to drop my defenses and not worry you'll take advantage of it. Is it possible I could relax?" "Of course," she said. "As I suggested earlier, I thought about inviting one or two more and teaching you a game, but if you're fatigued, we can talk until it's time to send you to your bed."

"Are you offering to share the entire evening with me?" "I am." "Will it disappoint you if I ask you to choose?" "No, but then you can't complain if you preferred the other choice." I nodded acceptance. "I'd like to teach you this game," she said. "Nearly all the ETs play it. Do you care whom I invite?" "If you invite a pair of Loris, will they be bickering and sparring?" "Probably, but you don't have to let yourself respond to it, Andie." "Then you should invite whomever you would like to invite." "Let's move to the living room

and see who wishes to come." She rose to her feet then offered tentacles to me. I thought she did so deliberately, but I accepted, letting her pull me to my feet. Then I kept control of one of them and did a little pirouette, wrapping the tentacle around my waist. I slipped my arm around her shoulders and then smiled at her. "Very adroit," she said. But she didn't pull away as she led me into the living room. She released me to the sofa, taking the other end. "We can play with three, although I prefer the dynamics when there are a few more than that. But I'll start with Clover and we'll go from there." She cocked her head. Then I

heard one side of the conversation. Fat lot of good it did me. She didn't speak English. But then she switched to English. "She was surprised but sounds pleased to come. I'd like to invite Bay and Cedar. I'll ask them to behave." "All right." This conversation was in English, which surprised me. "Good evening Cedar. No, there's nothing wrong. This is a social call. Mating candidate Andromeda is with me, and I wish to teach her Boardwalk. Clover is on her way. Would you and your husband care to help teach her?" Pause, pause. "Excellent. That would be lovely." Pause. "And Cedar? She's had a big day." Pause. "Perfect. Thank you. See

you soon." "She's had a big day is code for be kind to the human?" "Cedar is very nurturing," Jasmine replied. "Before anyone arrives, I need to tell you something. This game is intellectual in a fashion similar to chess, although quite different. But there is one aspect that tends to be slightly physical. It is only light touch, but it can be rather possessive. If that will make you uncomfortable, I can block it." "Do you really think I'm going to mind if anyone touches me? They aren't going for my ass or boobs are they?" "No, nothing like that." But then she looked me up and down pointedly. "Oh, don't give me that," I said.

"You like seeing me self-conscious. Were you really offering to back off?" "Yes." "This isn't a case of setting up the naïve human, is it? If you want to play mind games with me, can you give me one evening off?" "No mind games." "Thank you. We should play the game the way it is intended." "Good. I hope you'll be comfortable. I'm going to set up. You can relax for a minute or two." Then she rose to her feet and stepped away. She returned nearly immediately carrying a couple of cushions. She made multiple trips, setting the cushions on the floor. Then she moved the coffee table well to

the side and arranged the cushions in a circle. She made one more trip and returned with a wood box about the size of a typical picnic basket. This she set down in the space left by the cushions. "All this alien technology, and you play on the floor leaning against those cushions?" "It is very low tech," she said. She cocked her head, and then I heard the door open. I turned my head, and Clover stepped in. I rose to my feet. Jasmine collected me on the way to the door, wrapping two tentacles around me to guide me along, but then she released me and clasped hands and tentacles with Clover.

But then I stepped straight to Clover and accepted a tight hug, tentacles practically everywhere. Her tentacles snuffled, and she whispered. "You really smell good, Andromeda." "Tonight I am Andie," I said. She snuffled a little more before releasing me. I slid a hand down to one of her tentacles and then stepped backwards, sliding my hand until I was cupping just the tip. I raised it to my lips and kissed it briefly, then just held it like I might a hand. I turned to Jasmine. She was staring, open-mouthed. "She says I smell good," I said. "Why do you look so shocked?" "You kissed her tentacle."

I immediately dropped it. "Oh god. Did I do something wrong?" I turned to Clover. "I'm sorry. I wasn't really thinking. I didn't know that meant something. Please don't tell Peony! I'm really sorry!" "Relax, Andie," she said, her tentacles quivering a little. "You didn't do anything wrong. Kissing a tentacle tip is an offer, but it is a simple offer and not at all what you're thinking. It is something good friends do." "You're sure?" "Quite sure," she said. I glanced at Jasmine. Her entire posture had now changed, and her tentacles were arrayed about her, the tips quivering like Clover's had.

"All right," I said slowly. I gestured. "What's with the wriggling appendages?" "A sign of mirth," Clover said. "You have heard us vocalize a laugh, although it sounds different from a human laugh. But when our tentacles are free to express themselves, you can learn more about our mood from them than anything else." "Catseye body language." "Just so," agreed Jasmine. I turned back to Clover. "All right. And kissing one?" "Humans find it startling," Jasmine said quickly. "I think you should show her, Clover."

"How startling?" "It varies dramatically," Jasmine said. "My personal sample size has been very small, however, and all positive. But I have been extremely careful, especially after hearing of reactions other Catseye have experienced." "Will you let me show you?" Clover asked. I eyed her carefully and nodded. So she stepped closer. "It usually starts with a hug." I nodded again, so she wrapped around me, including one tentacle against my left cheek, another wrapping around and just slightly over my nose. "This feels like the Vulcan mind meld," I said. "What is that?"

"Television show reference," I said. "I have placed my tentacles here very carefully," she said, and the very tips both tapped my face in emphasis. They were quite clever. "But if I place one across your lips, it is a request." "For me to kiss." "Yes. It is a kiss between friends, not lovers. But if you kiss, it is an offer." "To kiss back?" "Not exactly. Do you want me to tell you or surprise you?" "Oh, why not? Surprise me." The tentacle across my nose shifted until it was placed across my lips. So I gave it a little kiss. And in

response, it began worming it's way into my mouth! I opened to complain, and the tip slipped right inside. "Don't bite," Clover said into my ear. "Please don't bite." "Mmmm mmm," I said, my mouth full of Catseye tentacle. In response, she teased my tongue for a moment and then withdrew. But she held me tightly a little longer before releasing me and stepping back. I stared at her, my hand over my mouth. Neither of them said a word; they both watched me. Finally I said, "You Frenched me."

She cocked her head. "Was that slang?" "Yes, I suppose it was. When human lovers kiss, they may use tongue. In English, that is referred to as French kissing. I don't know why." The tentacles quivered. "This is not between lovers," she said. "It is a little dominant, however. Mothers do this to daughters. I do this -- did this -with my younger sister. Lovers do it, too, but unless there is an imbalance of power in their relationship, it is typically mutual, and a little more... Hmm. Teasing is involved." "If a Catseye lays her tentacle there, you are under no obligation to kiss," Jasmine added. "If you do, it is an

offer, and that was an especially brief acceptance. Some Catseye, the ones who do not know humans well, have seen some humans accept this, and they are more forward about it than they should be." "Explain." "They may not wait for you to kiss. I find it presumptuous to the point of being rude, and from the few reactions I've seen, the humans involved have felt the same way." "I withdrew quickly because your, well, your mouth language was not encouraging," Clover said. "If you wish to encourage, you can close your lips." "But don't bite." "Don't bite," they said together.

"All right. How submissive is this?" "Only a little," Jasmine said. "All right. And when I kissed it the first time?" "A similar offer," Cover said. "But not one you should make casually." "It can also be considered presumptuous," Jasmine clarified. "To the point of being rude?" "No. And it depends upon your relationship with the Catseye involved. If you did it to someone you barely knew, then it looks, hmm. Let us use a human expression. It looks like a backwoods hick trying to act sophisticated."

"I am a backwoods hick," I said. "I thought it was sweet," Clover said. "I do not see you as backwoods, to use the term our illustrious administrator selected." "I think I understand. Don't take this the wrong way, but you taste funny, Clover." "Every human feels that way," Jasmine said. "Some grow to enjoy the taste." "Got it," I said. "So, is it just us, or are more coming?" Clover asked. "We're going to have a Loris invasion," I said. "But they seem to be slow." I chuckled at my joke. Neither

Catseye got it. "You know. A Slow Loris. Get it? No?" I sighed. "Is this mic on?" "What is she talking about?" Clover asked. "I'm not sure. Why don't you start showing her the game?" **** Clover and I sat leaning against adjacent cushions as she began to teach me the game. But then, mid explanation, she asked, "Do you mind if I touch?" "No. Is this part of the game?" "No. It is only touch." "Feel free," I said. She slipped a single tentacle over then continued her explanation. The

tentacle had a mind of its own, stretching across my back underneath the camisole with the tip coming over my shoulder to wrap partway around my neck. It was distracting, and I reached up and caressed it, but after that I was able to pay better attention. Bay and Cedar arrived while Clover was still explaining the game, Bay carrying a small wooden box. I started to get up to offer greetings, but Cedar waved me back. Instead she stepped around to offer a brief handclasp, followed by her husband. Then they began bickering over who got to sit next to me. But they were doing it in English, so I was nearly positive it was really for my benefit.

"If the two of you weren't dangerous seated beside each other," Jasmine said, "I'd settle this by occupying the contested position myself." "Well, I'm going to resolve it," I said. "Is it the intention of whoever sits beside me to touch me?" "Of course," said Bay. "That was the wrong answer, Husband," Cedar said. "You'll see." I smiled. "Bay, I'm sorry, but you're male. Cedar, would you care to sit here?" "I would love to, Andromeda," she said and immediately plopped down. "I hope, when we are engaged in

activities as friends, you will call me Andie." "Of course, Andie," Cedar said. She turned to Bay. "I told you it was the wrong answer." Then she shifted slightly closer, set a hand on my arm, and stroked the skin. In turn, Bay grumbled but took the seat on the other side of Clover. But perhaps that wasn't entirely bad for him, as he was barely seated before he had a Catseye tentacle draped over him. I commented on that. "Don't let this fool you," he said with a gesture. "She's much, much happier touching you than me." "Because I smell good." "Because you haven't fur. They

don't actually like fur. If you notice, the tentacle is turned sideways, protecting the suckers." "He's right," Clover said. "But the contact is still nice." Jasmine saw to beverages, and then she took the remaining open seat. A moment later I saw a tentacle slide over to twine around Cedar's arm, beginning at her shoulder and covering her bicep. It was contact without infringing Cedar's movements. Bay opened the wooden box. I saw he had little statues in the same color as the ones Clover had been showing me. But while Jasmine's statues were all of Catseye, I could immediately see that Bay's were Loris. He tut-tutted

then reached across the table, removed my statue, and replaced it with a Loris. "Humans look far more like us than they do a Catseye." Clover then reversed his decision, setting the little Loris statue back in front of Bay. "Humans do not look at all like a Loris. Other than our eyes, all humans say we're the closest in appearance to their own." Bay then swapped statues again. "Not once they see you more closely resemble one of their aquatic creatures." I sighed. "Give me both of those." "Don't you dare break the tentacles off," Jasmine said. "I wouldn't dream of it. But I

might shave the Loris," I said. Bay harumphed, but Clover handed them to me. I examined both. "These are cute," I said, waving the Loris. "And when we play in your home, I would be honored to be portrayed as a Loris." Then I set the Catseye statue back into play and handed the Loris to Clover, who handed it to Bay. He harumphed again, but Cedar squeaked her amusement. Together the four of them taught me the game, and even in the teaching, I could see there would be different play styles. Bay explained, "This game was diplomacy." "I see that." "No, the way the game was invented was diplomacy. Nearly every

race that plays games at all has an ancient, traditional game based on similar principles. It was at a, well, a diplomatic convention that two groups of attendees sat down in the evening to engage in a little beverage diplomacy." "They were getting drunk together?" He squeaked. "Yes. And one recommended a game, their species version of a precursor to this game. Of course, the others wished to play a game from their homes. But the beverages had not yet completed their desired goal, so tempers remained in check. It was actually a species that has no such game that suggested there were similarities in all the proposed games and issued a

challenge. Devise a new game with principles common to all the species." Jasmine and Clover both snuffled. "They derailed the entire convention. Everyone in attendance, absolutely everyone got involved, and no other business happened. They negotiated for weeks. They played sample games, testing this variation and that one. Finally they came to this game, although there is a lengthy list of variations that can be added. We are teaching you the basic game tonight." I smiled. "It would have been interesting to be there." "I imagine," she said. "So now this is the one game that transcends nearly every species in the Federation of

Allied Planets, and it has even become highly popular on many of our home planets." "Wow, okay," I said. "But because of this, because this game has a history in ancient traditions," explained Bay, "the different species talk about the game using different words. For instance, the Catseye are businesswomen, and they see almost everything in terms of business. And so they use business terms." "Vassal is not a business term," I said. "It is the closet English word to a Catseye concept," Jasmine explained. "To us, it applies in a variety of situations, including business -- or

Boardwalk." "Got it." "Other species use phrases most often used in warfare," Bay continued. "And in a way, business and war have many things in common." "And to the Loris?" "We think of food sources. The markers are fields, and the stones are workers." "The Loris are not known for winning Boardwalk tournaments," Jasmine said. "But they are known for an aesthetic play style and are popular players for casual play." "Although we're still better than a mere human," Bay said with a squeak

or two. "I have no doubt." And so they taught me the play, and then we set up for our game. But before the first move, Jasmine said, "I wish us to come to a mutual agreement." "It is not your turn to make a proposal," Bay replied immediately. "And yet I propose one anyway. If the human is swept from play five minutes from now, she will learn nothing. I propose we leave her alone unless she attacks one of us." "Alliances-" "Let her propose them if she wants them." They all turned to study me.

"You don't need to coddle me." "The game has no natural handicap," Jasmine said. "This is the best we can do. The other choice that I have seen work very well is to offer yourself as a willing vassal." "That isn't legal!" exclaimed Bay. "It certainly is," Jasmine said. Bay looked to his wife, I thought for support. She only said, "We are in a Catseye home, and if this is a variation allowed in this home, we should not argue." "It is not a variation," Jasmine said. "But you could, in your own home, declare not allowing it to be a variation."

I snorted but said nothing. **** I enjoyed the game. More importantly, I enjoyed the competitive camaraderie between the four of them, as long as it wasn't directed towards me. A few times after I played, one of them reached forward, removed my pieces from play, and handed them to me. "We won't let you make that poor a move, but now you have to tell us why it is poor." And so I learned. And I formed a solid, solid base. But it was Clover that lured me into a trap. She looked like she was extending a fight towards Cedar, and she left what I thought was a huge weakness right next to my base. It was

only two moves away, and I watched it carefully. I built a little more strength and sent a small feeler in her direction, but I tried to disguise it. It appeared to work, as she played away from me. And on the next move I attacked, capturing a portion of the arm she had extended. I was very pleased with myself. The rest of them grew very still. "I believe," said Clover, "that the human's foolish move negates our earlier agreement." "That's fine," I said. I held up the pieces I'd taken from her, waving them up and down for a moment. No one else said a word. But it was her turn, and she made a play in my direction. Everyone else ignored me,

although Jasmine began to play towards Clover. On my next turn, I captured another portion of Clover's arm. This game was easy! And then Clover played. "Andie, you have a new title in this game." "Champion of Catseye?" "Close," she said. "Vassal of Catseye." "What?" It took her and Bay together to show how I had walked right into a trap, and Clover had caught me with two moves. "Did all of you see her setting me up?" "Twelve moves ago," Cedar

said. "She'd have lured you in sooner, but she had to defend against my husband first. She couldn't have done it if it had been another Catseye sitting in his place, but my husband is not known for is ability to capture other players." "I'm your vassal," I said to Clover. "You are, and so you must move here, to my other side, and share my cushion with me." "And play as you direct." "Yes. And I get to touch you all I want." Then she looked at Bay. "And no one else can lay so much as a single whisker on you." I spent the remainder of the game wrapped quite thoroughly in Catseye

tentacles. It felt nice. **** "Well, did you enjoy it?" Jasmine asked after we escorted her visitors to the door. "I did. I'm never going to be any good, am I?" "I haven't met a human who has become a good player, but my sample size is very small. There are human games that are not dissimilar, and so players of those games could be very good at this game." "You play a lot of games," I said. "Joy of life," she replied. "And diplomacy of a fashion. But mostly joy of life." She shifted. "You and Clover

were comfortable." "Have you noticed something about me?" "What is that?" "I'm comfortable with anyone who treats me as a friend." Her tentacles stiffened, and I realized she was taking my statement the wrong way, or I thought so anyway. "Are you returning me to my cell, or are guards coming?" "You are ready to go." "I have one more thing to say to you, and I want it to be the last thing I say tonight." "I will take you." She could have let me walk

alone, but of course, she didn't. Nor did she furnish the bathrobe. Instead, she dimmed my visor and took my arm. Five minutes later we came to a stop outside my cell, and a moment later, I could see. I looked at her, and her tentacles were hidden, a shawl draped over her shoulders for additional obscurity. "Please come in," I said. "I wish to say something to you." "All right." She led me inside, but the door didn't close. I stepped away from her. "Is it possible to turn that dark?" I gestured to the ceiling. "And that. And I don't mean using my visor. I wish privacy." She studied me for a moment, and I thought my request was making her

nervous. But she nodded, and a few seconds later the ceiling dimmed, the door behind her closed, and that wall also turned opaque. I couldn't have told you where the light was coming from, but I could still see. "Please take off that shawl, Jasmine." "Just say what you want to say, Andromeda." I shook my head. "It's still Andie. Please remove the shawl and unwrap your tentacles. Trust me for literally ninety seconds." "All right," she said slowly. The shawl came off, and without taking her eyes from me, she used a tentacle to drop it to the bed. At that, I closed half

the distance between us. "You don't usually, but tonight you did something." "What is that?" I stepped closer and caught one of the tentacles. She didn't pull away, but she looked at me nervously. I used two hands, one holding the fleshier portion, the other very near the tip. It waved at me. "Tonight, you treated me like a friend." Then I kissed just the tip, the very tip of the tentacle. Everything froze. When she didn't move, I gave the tentacle tip a very gentle stroke with one finger and then released it. Then I turned away. "That's all I wanted to say, Jasmine.

Good night." Still she didn't move, not immediately, and I waited to see what she would do. It took her time to decide, but then she moved forward, two hands and four tentacles settling on my shoulders and arms. I stayed where I was, relaxed. Then she turned me around, right into her arms, and wrapped around me thoroughly. When the tentacle slipped across my lips, I kissed it, and she immediately slid into my mouth far further than Clover had. I closed my lips -- and my eyes, but I wrapped my arms around her. She held me that way for a very long time, the tentacle tip settled against my tongue, the rest of her tentacles

holding, then moving, holding, then moving. Then she withdrew, first from my mouth, then everywhere else. I opened my eyes and watched as she stepped backwards. "Do we need to talk about what we both just said?" "I don't think so," she replied. But she stared at me. Then she muttered in, I presume, Catseye. "Oh, that is your reaction," I asked. "I have to spoil the mood. I need to be Administrator Brighteyes for a moment. I'm very sorry, Andie." "Then I am again Andromeda," I

said. "Say what you need to say, but then you will allow me to put the mood back where I want it before you leave." "All right. Good. You haven't adjusted your schedule for tomorrow. Andromeda, I need you to arrive on time for both swims. Please access your visor while I wait." "Oh. Of course. Thank you for the reminder." It only took a minute, and I even told the visor to warn me to skip the suit. "Done," I said after a moment. "Was there more?" "No. Thank you. I'm sorry, Andromeda." "It's fine," I said. "I am going to do something, and I am going to say something. You are not going to respond

except to say, 'Good night, Andie'. All right?" She nodded. So I stepped back up to her, captured a tentacle -- a different one this time -- and looked into her eyes. "I had a lovely evening with friends tonight, Jasmine. Thank you." Then I lifted the tentacle and kissed it again, but I pulled it away before she could invade. "Good night." She nodded. "Good night, Andie."

Orientation I woke early, took care of my needs, and asked the visor if I could get dressed. Access granted. The door opened, and the visor led me to the changing room. I was somewhat surprised by what I found. Again there was a lightweight skirt and sandals, but the blouse was backless. I stared at it for a while. Can you wear this? Please. "Aww, damn it," I said. "You said please." I looked at it. "Bare skin." Yes. Please, Andie. "Aww hell, you said please

again and called me Andie. Fine, fine." I slipped into it. It actually was really quite comfortable, and it wasn't like I needed clothing for warmth. "How do I look?" Very nice. Thank you. "Do I need to pirouette so you can see everything?" I can see everything just fine, Andromeda. Step outside. I'm waiting. And so, a moment later we were face to face. "Good morning, Jasmine." "Good morning, Andie. Last night, you did not allow me to respond to what you said. Will you do so now?" "Yes." She stepped forward and pulled

me into a hug, and when the tentacle slipped across my lips, I kissed and then accepted it, closing gently around it. We held each other for a long time, and then she withdrew. Her tentacles slipped inside her own blouse, and then I saw it zip up. "Handy," I said. "Ready?" "Ready," she said. She led us to the elevators, and we went up a short distance. We moved to one row of the cellblocks, and then she turned me to her. "Remember what I said. If they wake, get out." Then she gestured. There was a cart and it was stacked with clear containers. Each container had a woman's name, identification number,

and cell number. Only some women would receive clothing in this way, as we'd left their personal clothing with the rest. I pushed the cart forward, stopping in the space opposite the first pair of cells. I then turned to the left cell, Jasmine to the right. I identified the cell number. My visor told me I didn't need clothing for this one, but it gave me information on the occupant. And then I stepped forward, and a doorway formed. Yes, I was aware of the irony. The woman was deep asleep. I knelt beside her bed and looked into her face. She looked so young and innocent. I glanced over to make sure she had clothing waiting, then smiled. She

had Hello, Kitty pajamas. Cute. I used the visor against the woman's wristband. It was the right woman. I turned off the wristband and removed it, then I was able to deactivate her visor and gently removed it from her face. Then I whispered, "Karen, you're going to be fine. I know this is scary, but you're going to be fine." Then I stood, looked around once more, then exited the cell. The opening closed behind me. I dropped the wristband into the waiting bin then looked up. Jasmine was watching me. "I know. I was slow." "It's fine," she said. "We have time."

"I just." I looked back into the cell. "I know," Jasmine said gently. "You don't have to do this, Andromeda." "It's still going to happen, and maybe in time I'll have enough influence to make this easier for them." "That's the very reason I'm here," Jasmine said. "And you already have that influence." I nodded and then pushed the cart to the next. It was my third cell that needed clothing. I collected the proper case and carried it in with me. I verified everything, saw to the woman, and left the clothing for her. Back outside the cell, Jasmine said, "Do the clothing first,

in case she wakes." "Right. Sorry." "It's fine. It's very rare they wake up. But I don't like accidents." "Right." We worked the cells. In our area, there were eight cells on a side, sixteen in one section, then we turned right, and walked to the next corridor to do the next sixteen. "And we're done," Jasmine said. "What about the others?" "Clover and two of the guards handled it." "We still have a few women who aren't done here." "We rotate through the cell

blocks," she said. "We can house 256." "That's how I get an entire block to myself." "Something like that," she said. I wondered about that, but then she said, "Early breakfast in your cell." "And swimming after," I said. "Jasmine, I will do this, but if I may have privacy in the locker room, I would appreciate it." She nodded. "I'll see what I can arrange, but please don't be mad if there isn't as much privacy as you might prefer." And so I returned to my cell, changing out of the clothes I'd only worn for an hour. Breakfast arrived, and then it was time to leave again.

I still had clothing privileges, for what they were worth, and so I was only a little self-conscious walking the corridors. I didn't directly encounter anyone, but there were aliens on the catwalks above me, looking down into the cellblock. I wondered what they were looking at. I hadn't seen anyone else in here with me, and they didn't seem to be paying any particular attention to me until I stepped out of my cell. I imagine it wasn't common for an unescorted mating candidate to step right out of her own cell. I reached the locker room, but at the door, I heard voices. I came to a stop, paused, then stiffened my back and

strode in, just in time to see a few feet retreating in the direction of the pool. Timing, or perhaps Jasmine. Either way, I appreciated it. I grabbed a robe. Yes, I knew I had promised not to wear one, but I needed a moment. I stepped to my locker. Both suits were there. I thought Jasmine would steal them from me, but she hadn't. I couldn't tell if she was watching, but she didn't try to caution me about the robe, either. I slipped out of the camisole and undies then pulled the robe on. I closed my locker but then turned around to gaze into the mirror along the wall. I stepped over, leaned against the window, and searched my face.

It was still unusual for me. I was growing accustomed to wearing the visor, and I barely noticed it most of the time, if I wasn't directly using it. But seeing its reflection reminded me it was there, and reminded me of the alien nature. And so I couldn't stare into my eyes, but I could search my face. I didn't need a pep talk, not really. I just... Maybe it shouldn't have been a big deal to me. I'd had to swim naked the first few days. I should be over it, right? But it was a big deal for several reasons, and I couldn't treat it casually. Finally I took a breath, held it for a moment, then let it out slowly. I pushed from the mirror, nodded, and said, "Let's

do this." I walked to the clothing rack, replaced the robe, and then, my head held high, I walked into the pool area. Once there, I stopped, looking around. I wouldn't say the pool was full, but it wasn't empty, either, and when I appeared, it took seconds before every pair of eyes turned to face me. Well, every pair except Cherish's -- she was at the bottom of the pool and wouldn't realize I had appeared until I dived into the water. But I didn't know she was there any more than she knew I was. I scanned the room. No humans. No males. And so I nodded, casually walked to the edge of the pool, paused,

and dived in. They watched me. They all watched me, although I tried to ignore them. I swam along the surface for two laps, but then I swam over Cherish, and she gestured to me. So on my next turn, I dived, and we swam together for a while, holding hands like we frequently did. Then there was a large Wookie body above me, and to the side of Soft Rain, a blue Octal. They swam along the top, and when I surfaced at the end for air, we greeted briefly. They swam a few minutes with me, but then they moved away, and they were replaced by others. And there were other aliens who watched from the edge

of the pool, or from other places in the water, some above, some below. I swam. And then at the shallow end I encountered a tentacle or two. I surfaced, and I let Jasmine pull me into a hug. "Thank you," she whispered to me. "If that tentacle goes any lower, I'm going to bite." She laughed, and the tentacle across my lower back ceased its descent. "Swim with me." "Catseye are terrified of water deeper than this, Andromeda. I'm going to stay at this end." "All right," I said. "I'm doing

something that terrifies me, but if you're not that brave, I understand." She snuffled. "I see our truce is over." "Maybe I shouldn't have said that until later. Please don't make this harder for me, Jasmine." "I won't. You should go now. But some of them hope to talk to you, and some hope for a much closer look than you're giving them." "Chest or somewhere even more intimate?" "Probably both." "Then tell them to get a medical degree and become gynecologists. I might allow a closer look at my chest,

but anyone who pokes her eyes near my nether regions will get them poked out of her skull." "Even if it's Dark Skies?" "She's seen everything already and wasn't at all rude about it." Jasmine released me, and I went back to swimming. I'm sure I frustrated them. I refused to hold still. I swam, back and forth, and it was clear only about half of them could swim at all. Finally I sighed and pulled Cherish to the surface. "Wish me courage," I whispered into her ear. "No one wishes to hurt you -- or even embarrass you, Andromeda. They

are only curious." "I know." I took a breath and held it, and then I turned away from her, standing in the shallow water that reached only to my belly button. I looked around. I hadn't noticed, but Cedar was there. Clover was not. But there was a Greenbear, another Wookie, two Ardents, three Catseye I didn't know, and a few other species whose names I hadn't yet learned. Some of them had stopped watching me, but when I turned around and held still, everyone turned to me. "Soft Rain, is the other Wookie a friend?" "Not directly," Soft Rain said.

"Would you like an introduction?" "Sure." It turned out the Wookie didn't speak English and didn't have an English name. Soft Rain had to translate back and forth. The Wookie spent the entire time staring at my chest. "That's just like a man," I said. "They can't take their eyes off them, either." I looked down at my chest. "Really, I don't know what the big deal is." Soft Rain rumbled her laughter. Then the other Wookie asked a question, and Soft Rain said, "She wishes to know if you will be in the arena today." "Does she hope to win me?" I asked.

"She isn't sure," Soft Rain translated. "Um. I'm sorry." "Sorry for what?" "I'm just the translator here." "Tell her no, she doesn't get to touch. I'm not a toy to play with." At least some of the aliens understood English. They were clustered around us, and some responded to what I said. I thought I was getting a lesson in alien laughter. Dark Skies stepped to my side, actually shoving aside one of the Ardents to reach me. The woman let her. "I could make you like it," she said. "And yet, you aren't going to," I replied.

That exchange got translated into at least two languages, and then I heard what I was sure was encouragement to the Octal. But Dark Skies simply caressed my arm for a moment and pulled my ear down. "If you want my help, I am here. A little bit will give you courage." "Thank you, but I'm fine. Thank you for being here, though." She caressed my arm again and then stepped away. The Wookie spoke, and Soft Rain said, "She says you have not answered her question." "I'll handle that question," Jasmine said. We turned to her, and her back was to the edge of the pool. She

was clutching the edge, and I thought she was even more terrified of the water than she'd let on. "You weren't exaggerating earlier, were you?" "No," she said. Then she switched languages and spoke for a minute. Then she switched again. In all, she spoke in at least four alien languages. "But no one has a claim?" asked one of the Catseye, seated at the edge of the pool with only her feet in the water. Jasmine answered that as well, and then I saw quivering tentacles. Interesting. I asked for -- and was given --

introductions to everyone else. The visor remembered names for me, and then it did something new. It began displaying names underneath people's images when I turned to face them. I turned to Jasmine. "Did you do that?" "Yes." "Thank you." We talked for a few minutes, but I'd set a timer: fifteen minutes warning before I had to end my swim. "I'm sorry," I said. "I need more exercise. It's going to be a busy day for me. I'll be here again this afternoon." I turned to Jasmine. "And tonight?" "They know." "And tonight there is a reception.

It is female only, a chance for those women here who wish only a female mate to meet those of you who wish a female mate." I looked back to Jasmine. "Only the willing females?" "No. Any females who wish a female mate." "Good. Thank you. I'll see some of you later." I turned to Cherish. "Care for a race?" "I would love a race, but you know you will lose." And I did, but it was exercise, and I felt good at the end. **** All of us met in one of the conference rooms. Dark Skies had set up

a bank of computer monitors, and we watched the women. They woke at different rates, but they all woke within a half hour to hour of our visit. We'd gone in early, well before our normal wake up time, and so the earliest to wake had to wait for breakfast to arrive. I think the screen was for my benefit. I was sure everyone else would normally use her visor, or eyes, or whatever they had. I decided to access the feeds from my visor, and I kept an eye on "my" four women. Their reactions to the situation were all similar -- and quite similar to my own. I didn't turn on the audio. I didn't want to hear them yelling or crying. On the main screen, I saw that

reactions to breakfast varied. Some were calm and accepting. At the other extreme, several threw their trays across the room. Three tried to turn their trays into weapons, and I watched as the trays crumpled into dust. Each time it happened, someone said something, and one of the screens turned to highlight that woman. I was a little sick by all of it, and I made another vow to do what I could to help these people. I didn't know how much that would be. We didn't actually have a prearranged schedule for when we would talk to the women. It depended on the woman. Those who were calmest, who appeared most complacent would

be collected first. The most violent were allowed to stew. Jasmine and her three senior event coordinators discussed things. I listened but contributed little. Finally Jasmine said, "All right. Let's get started." At that, we broke into separate conference rooms. Dark Skies and I stayed where we were, but we used the monitors to watch what happened. There weren't that many guards, and they were kept busy. We watched as four of them approached a cell. Dark Skies turned on the audio. When the door opened, the mating candidate scrambled from her bed and to the furthest wall, pressing her back against it. She began

crying and begging for them not to hurt her. The four guards exchanged looks, and then the two women stepped forward, closing a portion of the distance. "We're not here to hurt you." I realized that was Dilly. "We're here to take you to someone who can answer the questions you certainly have." "I was in Testing. Where am I now?" "We can't answer questions like that," said Piper. "We can tell you what is going to happen for the next few minutes, but that is all. Someone else will explain." "You're giving me to them, aren't

you. To the aliens?" "We are taking you to someone who will answer your questions," repeated Dilly. "Then we will bring you back here." "Are they going to do medical experiments on me? Is that what they want?" The two women glanced at each other. "We're not supposed to answer questions. If you agree to cooperate, we'll answer that one." "And one more," she said. "Are they going to hurt me?" "You're not here for medical experiments," said Piper. "And no, they will take very good care of you. They need you for something. That's all we

can say, and we're not supposed to say that much. Now, will you cooperate? We can use force, but it's better for you if you cooperate." "Do I have to?" "You're going with us. We can drag you, but I bet you would rather walk." She sighed. "I'll walk." "Then turn around. We have handcuffs for you." She turned meekly. They cuffed her the same as they had me countless times, then they slowly lowered a hood. "That one went easier than some," said Dark Skies. We used one monitor to watch

the two women escort the mating candidate to Bay. In the meantime, the two men joined two other female guards to see to the next woman, and then the next, and the next. And soon Jasmine and her three event coordinators were in consultations with their women. We tuned into Jasmine's, talking to a beautiful 27-year-old ebony black woman from New Orleans. The woman spoke in calm, cultured tones, but I could see her practically trembling with rage. I didn't blame her. Jasmine remained calm. The woman -- without raising her voice -- issued dire predictions for any filthy alien asshole who dared touch her.

"I thought these weren't xenophobes," I said to Dark Skies. "They're scared and angry. We get called a lot of names. Some calm down long before they leave here. Some leave while casting down dire wishes on us and our offspring for generations to come. You can't blame them. I believe you used a few names." "Yes, and someone would be dead by now if Jasmine had tried to give me to a male." "We get that threat a lot, too. No one has died yet, but there have been trips to the medical bay." Jasmine's woman listened to Jasmine then went on a five minute rant - delivered as calmly as I could ever

have imagined -- before she demanded to be taken to her jail cell. She needed to think about how she was going to slice off the manhood of a toothless alien ... I can't even bring myself to repeat her words. Guards were waiting, and Jasmine's woman was returned to her cell. We watched her, and darned if she wasn't doing exactly what she said. She was going through the motions of grabbing a man's sensitive bits, yanking them forward, and chopping them off with her hand. "She looks... determined," I said. "And just think. Tomorrow we'll give her a knife or two, and she can try to do just that. We get a few in every

batch who give it a solid go, but so far we haven't had more than a nick or two, at least that way." "Pity, that," I said. I watched and listened as Jasmine took one more woman, and then I said, "Okay, one of mine is coming." "Right." Dark Skies scrambled to her feet, and it took her under a minute to clear out of my conference room, taking her monitor with her. I switched to using my visor and watched the woman brought to my room. I was standing when they brought her in. It wasn't Dilly and Piper, and I didn't want to think about them quite yet. I gestured, and they moved the woman to the chair. I used my visor to command

the chair, and then when they pressed her arms into the table, I commanded the table. Then I nodded, and they gently removed the hood from her, setting it aside. It was Jackie Yoo, the woman with Korean heritage. She looked around the room frantically, noticed me watching her, then looked down at her hands and struggled with them for a while. "That won't work," I said. "Or at least it doesn't for me. Maybe you'll have more luck." At that, she looked up. "Who the fuck are you?" I moved to the table and sat down across from her.

"My name is Andromeda." "You're one of them," she said. "Fuck you." "I was born in Minneapolis," I said. "Two weeks ago I worked for a company called Westwood Foods. Then I had a really, really bad day. I got fired, and then the aliens decided to send me back to be Tested. I wasn't real happy about that, as I was Tested six years ago, and I was having a bad day besides. But they mentioned there might be a job offer in the mix, so I foolishly went. I fell asleep in that damned chair and I woke up in that thrice-damned jail cell. That was about ten days ago." "You're lying." I was expecting that. I had a

tablet. I grabbed it, turned it on, and then rotated it. "This is a press clipping. That's my boss. And behind her, that's me. I know it's a bad picture." She stared at it but said nothing. Then I had a video I'd put together. Jasmine had allowed me to access the video they had of me and taught me how to edit what I needed. They had me showing up at the Testing Center. "What are you wearing?" "I'd been painting. They just sort of showed up." "I had two weeks notice." "They were willing to give me three days, but I thought, why put it off?"

I sighed. "What's done is done." The video skipped ahead to me getting into the chair. And then it skipped again to me asleep in the cell, waking up, screaming for a while. It fast forwarded until I was seated like she was. "Now that," I said, "is one of them." "So you got one of them," she said. "And I get you." "Yep, but if you want to hear the bad news from her, I can call her in." "Oh god. They are going to do medical experiments." "It's far worse than that, Jackie," I said. And then I calmly told her what was going on. She stared numbly through most of it.

"But I have a boyfriend." "I like girls," I said. "Were you in love?" She glared at me then lowered her eyes. "Actually, he's kind of a dork. It was my mom that pushed me at him." "Ah, so this isn't all bad." "No, now it's someone else pushing me at someone." "Yeah, but there's a good chance you'll get to go to the space station." She paused at that. "Okay, that might be cool," she said. "And access to all the really awesome toys they don't normally let us have. You'll notice one of them across my eyes."

"All right, the visors are cool." So I told her the rest. And I did what I could to give her an idea of the different species should could encounter. "What about that one," she said, gesturing with her nose to the tablet. "Ah. She's Catseye. She's not your type." "That's a woman." "Yeah. Catseye are all female. No guys." She cocked her head. "How do they make babies?" "You know, that's a really good question, and you are asking the wrong woman. I'm just a glorified grocery clerk."

"I bet you were more than a clerk." "Still. Jackie, would you want to be married to a female?" She made a face. "That's what I thought." "She looks kind of small, though. Maybe I can take her." "Maybe you can, although she has more than a few tricks up her sleeves. But Catseye don't do that. They like their mates willing." "Can't you talk them into sending me home?" "I haven't managed to talk them into sending me home," I said. "And believe me, I've tried. They went through

a lot of work and they seem pretty steadfast. You have two ways you're going home. You can win the arena or challenges, or you can let them have their three months and then demand to go home." "So, it's that easy? They cart me off somewhere. I tell 'em to fuck off, and in three months I get to go home." "It might not be quite that easy," I said. "But that's what they've told me. I believe them. But I don't think you should underestimate how convincing they can be." "Convincing?" "Ever had a guy who treated you like you were his entire world? Who took care of you, who was kind and

sensitive and just entirely focused on you and making you happy?" "No. They all expect me to act that way." "Well, the shoe is now on the other foot. But I think that kind of attention might be really hard to resist, and you don't get to tell 'em to fuck off and lock you in a closet for your three months." "Will he... rape me?" "They tell me no. And I'll add this. They're guys, okay. And guys are guys. Some are nice. Some are jerks. Some of them are really, really nice, and even before they leave, some of the women are accepting affection. I saw one woman lose her final challenge and

then demand a kiss. I've seen other women congratulate their challengers. I've seen hugs and arms around each other. And everyone arrives the way we did, and from what I can tell, we all react pretty much the same." "Totally pissed off with a lot of crying in the mix?" "Pretty much, yep." "So now what?" "Well, you have some decisions. First, if you want a female-" and she made a face. "All right then. Moving on. If you will offer yourself without the challenges, then there is a sort of interview process, and one of the races who prefers a willing mate will make an offer. You might be allowed to decline

an offer or two, but if that goes on too long, see option two." "That gladiator thing you described." "Yeah. I've watched video of two of those." I covered my eyes for a moment. "Oh god," she said. "They'll beat the shit out of us." "No. Okay, they win, at least most of the time. But they're so, so, so much better than we are that they can capture us without hurting us. And they do. But that's when it turns ugly. They fight over us. Remember? And they do not seem to hold back against each other." "Good. Let them kill each other."

"I didn't see any of that, but I saw a lot of people who needed medical attention." "I don't want to do this, Andromeda." "I know. I don't blame you." "I don't want to fight." "Will you accept willingly? You understand, you'll have to let him treat you like a girlfriend. You have to give him a chance. Jackie, they came hundreds of light years to help us, but now they can never go home again. So we represent their only chance. Will you let one of them have a chance with you?" She looked me in the eye, then dropped her gaze. Then, slowly, she nodded, but tears began to crawl down

her cheek. That was expected, and I had tissues ready. "I need you to say it out loud. Tell me you'll do this willingly." "It's not really willingly." "It's grudgingly, under great protest," I said. "But it's willing at the same time." And so she nodded. "Willingly," she said. "But he better treat me well, because I'm no one's doormat." "Good. You shouldn't be." At that, the door behind me opened, and Jasmine walked in. Jackie's eyes snapped up, and then she froze. Jasmine said nothing at first but took the

seat beside me. She set a small wooden box on the table. "My name is Jasmine Brighteyes," she said. "I am the administrator here. You should call me Administrator Brighteyes, Ms. Yoo." "You're a... you're a..." "Catseye," I said. "Female." "Alien," Jackie finished. "I am. I've been listening. I was going to let Andromeda do this alone, but I can't." Then her voice changed. "Thank you, Jackie. I know you're scared, and I don't blame you. But you don't understand how lonely some of us are. Please, promise me you'll give him a chance, a real chance. You'll open your heart and give him the chance to fill it.

You both deserve that chance. He can give you such a life, a life you couldn't otherwise imagine." "What... what race will he be?" "We use the word species," she said. "Andromeda said there would be an interview process. They are interviewing you, but if you ask, they'll answer questions. It's outside in the coliseum, but when we take you there, don't be afraid. It's just the biggest area we have. We have a nice podium with an awning over it to protect you from the sun." "I don't mind the sun," she said. "Well, I'm going to give you something," Jasmine said. She opened the box and pulled out a visor. "You

know what this is." Jackie nodded. "This is a privilege. Are you going to abuse it?" "No." "I won't make you wear it, but if you do, it works like a computer. You can use it to do lots of things." "Including research," I said. "Yes. Including research." "About the aliens." "Yes. About the aliens. Do you want it?" "I don't know how to use it." "It's easy," I said. "There's a demo and a tutorial. I bet you're good with computers." "Are you saying that because I'm

Asian?" "No, because you're 25, smart, and work in Silicon Valley." "Oh. Yes, I'll take the visor." Jasmine slid it to me, so I opened it and then stood, leaning forward. Jackie held still as I slipped it in place. It activated, and after a moment, she looked around. "We'll let you do the tutorial back in your cell," Jasmine said. "Interviews are tomorrow." "I'll check in on you later," I said. "The visor won't let you send email," Jasmine added. "Except to the two of us. You'll see the feature when

you get that far." Jackie nodded. "All right." I used my visor and summoned the guards. Then I said, "If you have any more questions, we have a minute or so. Or you can email us later, once you've had a chance to think." She turned to Jasmine. "Do you promise he won't rape me?" "He'll touch you," Jasmine said. "Like a gentle boyfriend. And you need to let him. But he won't touch you in any fashion you don't like, and he will never hurt you. No, he won't rape you." She paused. "I've had two women raped. Do you know what I did?" "No."

"One was here, during one of the challenges. He is now dead. The other was after they left, and he is now an it. Do you understand me?" "You cut it off?" "Yep. And half his brain with it." "Don't mess with Jasmine," I said. "She kicks ass." "Both were from species that demand the challenges," Jasmine added. "You won't be dealing with either species." Then the guards stepped in. Jackie heard them and turned around. "I'm going to dim your visor, Jackie," I said. "Then the guards will take you back to your cell." I didn't wait.

I dimmed her visor, and then the guards stepped forward. I released her from the table, and they helped her to stand and turned her away. "Wait," she said. "Andromeda, do you think I could have a hug?" "Of course you can." **** Peggy Ann Page, the redhead, was my next, about an hour later. The first portion of the interview went about the same, with a little more anger and name-calling before she calmed down. But then I said, "Does it bother you that I'm gay?" "Why would it bother me?" "You know how people can be,"

I said. I explained everything then said, "You have choices." "It doesn't sound like it." "Well, you can decide you're going to fight." "Damned right, I'm going to fight." "If you fight, there is a chance -a fairly small chance -- that it will be a female who wins you. And then you will have the challenges. It is very likely she will win the final one. And then you will go home with her, and she will attempt to woo you. It is my guess she will be successful." "You said a small chance." "It is far more likely a male will

win." She paused. "You said we could affect the outcome. Something about a ribbon." "Yes. You have a ribbon, and if you give it to one of the challengers, then you go right into a cage, and he automatically wins. You stay in the cage until the rest is over." "So I can do that. But then we still have the other challenges, and I could win then." "Yes. But consider this. I have some influence over whether there are any females in the group of males that will be competing for all of you. But I have absolutely no influence over several things. I can't promise there

won't be four other women with the same plan and only two females to offer to. And I can't promise she won't want someone else instead. She is not obligated to accept your ribbon." "Maybe I'm okay with a guy." "Maybe you are," I said. "What would you do?" "Well, if you want a guy, and you want to fight, that's easy. Go to the arena the day after tomorrow and do your best." "And if I want more control than that?" "Offer yourself willingly. Forego the challenges." "What if I want that chance, but

with a female?" "You can hope. I can offer influence. I can't promise." And then Jasmine walked in. I turned to her. "Are you going to let me do any of these alone?" "You know me. Control freak." She sat down. "Introduce us." Peggy Ann was staring at Jasmine. "Peggy Ann Page, this is Jasmine Brighteyes. She runs this place. She wants you to call her Administrator Brighteyes. You can call her other names, and she might not do the shit to you she's done to me, but I wouldn't count on it."

"Hey!" Jasmine said. "Be polite." Peggy Ann smiled briefly at me, then turned her gaze back to Jasmine. "You're the reason I'm here." "I'm the reason you have any choice at all. Before I took this job, all the women ended up in the arena and were told there what was about to happen. Most of them were still figuring it out when the event started." "That's terrible!" "Yes, I agree with you. You're conflicted, aren't you?" "I want to fight. I'm going to kick alien ass and then go home." But then she looked at me. "You're gay."

"Yes." "What about you?" she asked Jasmine. "My species doesn't have a word for that. We also don't have a word for gender. We're all female, and it wasn't until we met other races that we learned there were other forms of procreation." "All female?" "Didn't I get to that?" I asked. "I would have if given sufficient opportunity." "You're kind of pretty," Peggy Ann said. "I like your eyes." "Thank you." "I'd fight you," she said. "If I win, I get to go home, right?"

"Unfortunately," I said, "Catseye don't fight that way. If you want a Catseye, you have to be willing. No challenges. You go home with her." Again she looked back and forth, her gaze settling on Jasmine. "I bet all the guys in the arena are big hulking beasts." "Not all," she said. "But that is the trend, yes. But we have a few species who are very, very fast, and that can make up for size and strength. Sometimes they win. Sometimes they get very, very hurt." "I don't like big guys," she said. "They're all assholes." "That's not necessarily true of the aliens," Jasmine said cautiously.

"Although we get a few like that." "I don't care. You said I have some choices. Fine. I'll give a female a chance. A chance. That's what she gets, right?" "Right. But it has to be an honest chance." She repeated everything she told Jackie. "I want to meet her," Peggy Ann said. "I want someone who will treat me well, and not some blubbering bimbo, either." "There is a reception this evening," I said. "All female." "Perfect," she said. "Get me some clothes, and I'll be there." "I want to ask you something.

Would a few hours of being slightly uncomfortable, socially speaking, be worth it to meet a room full of space aliens, all of whom are going to be glued to your every word?" Peggy Ann laughed. "Yeah, I really lure them in." "You should trust her on this one," Jasmine said. "Ms. Page, we will introduce you to a number of interested females, but you will not be the one picking." "I get to veto though, right?" "Yes, but if you veto too many, you'll be in the arena." "So I meet them once, and then..."

I turned to Jasmine. "Administrator Brighteyes." "No. Just no. I know what you're going to ask." "Give her some time, Administrator. Please." She made a disgusted sound. "Why should I?" "It's the rest of her life! Let her, I don't know. Let her go on a few dates." "Dates? Now you want me to let her go on dates?" "Yes. And I think you should bring in the females who prefer challenges." I turned back. "They have Wookies." "What? Like Chewbacca?"

"They're white." "Not all of them," Jasmine said. "One of them is my friend. She's very sweet. They want to fight though. So maybe you want to meet some of them, too, and if you hit it off, you skip the arena and go to the remaining challenges. Otherwise, maybe a Catseye will strike your fancy, or one of the other females who wants a good woman with amazing red hair." "Ms. Hayes, we talked about this!" We certainly had, and I wasn't offering a thing we hadn't agreed to. "I'll do it willingly," Peggy Ann said. "I promise. I'll give her a chance. But you need to at least let me meet her

first. I'll be able to tell if we won't hit it off. I swear. You wouldn't want to give me to someone who I hate, anyway. After all, I might have to give her a chance, but if I hate her, I hate her." "Well, Administrator?" Jasmine made another disgusted sound. "Fine. Two weeks. You get one cycle. You either accept someone, or in two weeks, you're in the arena. Am I clear, Ms. Page?" "You're clear, Administrator. Thank you." "Wait here." "I'm not going anywhere," said Peggy Ann. She rattled her hands. Jasmine stood up, exited the

room, and came back with another visor. She set it down. A minute later, it was on Peggy Ann's face. She asked for a hug, too. I told her I'd see her that evening, but I'd be dressed a lot differently than I was now. As soon as she was gone, Jasmine yanked me into her arms, hugging me fiercely. The tentacle came across my lips, and I was surprised, but I kissed, and she invaded. "You are my new secret weapon," she said. "I should have taken you six years ago." "Mmmmm mmm," She laughed and released me. "I want you to do a few more interviews."

"I have two left." "I have three more for you. One is mine. The other two are Cedar's." **** Laurel spent the entire interview crying quietly. I explained everything and then leaned across the table and lifted her chin. "Laurel, you don't want to fight, do you?" She shook her head slowly. "Your other choice is to accept willingly. I promise he'll treat you well, but if you don't like him, he'll let you go home. In the meantime, you'll have a heck of an adventure. That won't be so bad, will it?" "No," she said.

"I need you to say the words. You'll accept willingly?" "I'll accept willingly," she said. And Jasmine walked in. **** Alisha, the stunning black doctor, was a different story. She was spitting mad, and it was all four guards that brought her in. They shoved her into the chair, and I missed with swallowing her twice before I caught her. I only missed once on her hands. Then they stepped back but didn't leave until I nodded to them. She struggled with the restraints. I walked over to her and said, "Doctor Stanley, my name is Andromeda Hayes. I

am a human and arrived here ten days ago the way you did last night. If you can calm down just a little, I can take this hood from your head." She stilled, but I could see her muscles quivering. But she nodded, and I gently removed the hood. As soon as I did, she looked around the room until she saw me. She was sweating and her hair was matted, but she looked stunning. And amazingly angry. I moved to my seat and sat down. "I know you're angry, Doctor. I don't blame you. I was, too, although you're better at expressing it than I was." "What is that supposed to mean?" "It means it didn't take four guards to bring me to this room ten days

ago. Let me tell you just a little about myself then explain what is going on." I paused. "You can hate me if you want, but our situation isn't that different." She listened without comment. "This is fucking bullshit," she said. "I'm a doctor. I'm in my first year of residency. Do you have any idea how hard I've worked?" "That was what I said when I saw your profile, Doctor. And do you know what the aliens asked me." "Oh, enlighten me." "They asked me whether you'd like access to alien technology." "Fuck," she said. "Just fuck you." But she leaned back in her chair. "You're

serious." "I'm just the messenger," I said. "But that's what they asked me." She turned away. "I want to hear it from one of them." Jasmine didn't walk in. I signaled her. "I need you." "Coming." "All right," I said. "The administrator is coming." I explained about Catseye and was just finishing when Jasmine walked in. I introduced them, and she sat down. "I was just telling Dr. Stanley what I know about alien technology. It isn't much." Alisha turned to Jasmine. "Are

you messing with me?" "No, Dr. Stanley," she replied. "But it wouldn't be up to me. It would be up to your husband." "Fuck that," she said. "That one said some of you are as gay as I am. No husbands." "I might be able to arrange that," Jasmine said. "So you're saying it's her choice, my new wife's. I don't have a say in the matter?" "I can't imagine you remaining silent," I said. "But she's going to want, what? Me to pop out fucking babies or something? I hate babies."

"Are you telling me you wouldn't carry a baby if the woman you deeply loved begged you to?" Jasmine asked. That shut Alisha down, and she leaned away from the table, her arms stretched out. She rattled her arms. "Do I have to sit like this?" "It took four guards to bring you here," Jasmine said. "So yes, I'm afraid so." "Fine, whatever." She leaned forward again. "Right away? I want to get my career going. You can't tell me I went through went years of school and then wham! Baby factory." "It would be a negotiation with your future mate," Jasmine said. "Perhaps you could come to an

agreement." "Like what?" "Well, it wouldn't be for me to say." "Like hell," I said. I turned to Dr. Stanley. "Tell her you want an updated education and to get your career going. Shit, you'll have alien tech. You can have babies for decades, and you could afford a year to pop one or two of the rugrats out. Tell her what the word Governess means, if you don't want to take care of them yourself. Pop out a baby ten years from now in exchange for an education no doctor on Earth has ever had." She looked back and forth, her gaze settling on me. "You're a, um. Mating candidate. What are you doing

here then?" "Well, I made my own arrangement," I said. "I agreed to give her what she wanted if I got what I wanted." "What's that?" "A job." Alisha stared at me for a moment and then began laughing. But then she sobered and turned to Jasmine. "What do you think about what she said?" She gestured with her nose to me. "I think you would have to talk to your future mate." "That's like Mom saying 'maybe' she really means 'no'." "Come on, Administrator," I

said. "You can't take someone fresh out of medical school and say 'fuck you, you're now a baby machine'. Even you aren't that heartless." Jasmine made what I realized now was a well-rehearsed disgusted sound. "I could talk to the potential mates on your behalf and negotiate something fitting." But she looked at me. "But this concept of waiting decades is ridiculous." "One decade," said Alisha. "Let me learn. Get established. And I need to keep my skills sharp, even if I'm down and out for a few months." Jasmine studied her. "And you'll go willingly?" "Are you kidding? You didn't

have to do all this. You just had to ask." But she paused. "But." "Oh, there are no but's, doctor." "I like femme's," she said. "Do you know what that means?" "Yes." "And she better be damned good with her tongue," Alisha added. "If you get what I mean." Jasmine studied her. Then she surprised me. I heard an unzipping sound, and then her tentacles emerged. I watched for a moment then turned to Alisha. She was staring. "What in the fuck are those?" "Um. Tentacles," I said. "She's a fucking octopus?"

Jasmine moved one of the tentacles to rest on the table, the end pointed in the air with the tip just at eye level in front of Alisha. Then she wriggled it. I thought it was damned sexy, actually, and I found myself staring at it. "Imagine what I can do with one of these," Jasmine said slowly. And then she added the rest. "And I don't have one. I have four." Alisha licked her lips. "What species are you again?" "Catseye." "You were hiding them earlier." "A lot of humans freak out," Jasmine said.

"She's not freaking out," Alisha said with a nod to me. In response, I grabbed one of the tentacles. I thought about kissing it, but that implied too much. Instead I set it on my arm, and Jasmine wrapped it around, the tip coming to a rest just behind my ear. "I want to feel one." "I'm not letting your hands go," Jasmine said. "I might start trusting you, but not yet." "Fine. My arm. My face. Whatever. I want to feel one." Jasmine had four. She kept one on me. Another she wrapped around Alisha's arm, and a third she used to caress her cheek and tease her ear.

"It's not slimy." "I can produce an oil," Jasmine said. "I come with my own lubrication." "She gives amazing foot massages." Alisha looked back and forth between us. "Are you two..." "No," I said. "But she gave me a foot massage. It was amazing. Best I've ever had. The hugs are pretty impressive, too." "Are you married, Administrator?" "I can't give you what you want," Jasmine said. She lowered the tentacle across Alisha's face but kept the one on her arm. "I live and work here. We have

a medical facility, but it is small. You want someone to take you to the space station. You can become a doctor there, if you want, or go into research." "Fine. Are there any Catseye from the station?" "A few." She looked down at her arm, at the tentacle on her arm. "We like to touch," Jasmine said. "If you don't liked being touched, we're a poor choice for you. Andromeda, stand up and turn around." I climbed to my feet and showed my back. "We like bare skin," Jasmine said. "Andromeda has begun accepting

hugs from her Catseye friends, and I have asked her to dress like this for us. This is touch between friends, not necessarily lovers. But if you accept mating with a Catseye, she will want you to dress like this for her, and she will touch you a great deal." I turned around and sat back down. Alisha looked a little stunned. Then she nodded. "I'd like to meet these Catseye." "I cannot promise they will be interested, and you may not care for the individuals." "We won't know until we meet." "Administrator, they'll be far more interested if she knows how to accept a Catseye hug." I turned to

Alisha. "This is weird, and you might think it's a little gross. But it's been growing on me." "Is this going to fall into the category of too much information?" "You're a doctor," I said. "Is there such a thing? Jasmine, shall we?" "Yes, you're right." She unwrapped from Alisha, and then we both stood up, facing sideways. I stepped into the hug, and soon I was wrapped in tentacles. Then I turned my face towards Alisha, and that was when the tentacle came across my mouth. I kissed, and in it went. "Oh my god, you're sucking on it. I thought you two weren't a thing." "We're not," Jasmine explained.

"This is between friends." She withdrew the tentacle and slowly unwrapped. I smiled and sat back down. "It tastes weird, but they tease my tongue. It's a little sexy." Then I switched to Pig Latin. "Okay-way, itway is-way a-way ot-lay exy-say." "What was that?" Jasmine asked. I thought she probably knew. "Hey, you speak all your languages. We humans have a few you don't know yet. Species secrets and all that." "I want to taste," Alisha said. "I want a promise," Jasmine said. "Several, actually." "Fine. What?"

"Do you promise to accept this willingly?" "If she will give me what I want, and we like each other, yes." "You will open your heart and give her a proper chance." "Yes, but she better treat me the way I like being treated, and if she's an idiot, it's not my fault if I vote her off the island." "If you what?" "Reality television show reference," I said. "Keep going." "You will give me no more trouble," Jasmine continued. "No more fighting the guards." "Fine."

"You want a taste." "Yes." "If you bite me, I will give you to the most horrible male I can find for you, and he'll drug you into oblivion and force child after child out of you. You will be nothing but a mindless baby factory. Am I clear?" "I won't bite." She looked at me. "It looked like you sucked though." "Just a little. No teeth. And it really tastes funny, especially the first time. But it's growing on me, and I only accepted it the first time last night." "From her?" "From my other Catseye friend," I said. "But she's mated."

"Right." She looked back at Jasmine. Jasmine considered her then moved to the other side, walking around to sit next to Alisha. Then she moved slowly. She began by caressing her. Alisha watched all this and barely reacted. She didn't have any more xenophobic bones than I did. "She's going to wrap it over your lips eventually," I said. "When she does, if you kiss, then she enters." Alisha nodded. Jasmine reached further, wrapping her more completely, and then a tentacle moved up Alisha's face, caressing, then finally draping across her lips. Alisha's eyes widened for a moment, then settled, and she made a

clear little kiss. Jasmine slid inside, and Alisha wrapped her lips around the tentacle. Her eyes widened again, and I imagine she was deciding how she felt about the taste. But she didn't spit Jasmine out, and I saw little motions of the tentacle, suggesting Jasmine was teasing her a little inside. Finally, quite some time later, it seemed, Jasmine withdrew, pulling all of her tentacles to herself. Alisha licked her lips briefly then looked back and forth between us. "You're right," she said to me. "It tastes weird. Not bad. Just... weird. You said you're getting used to it?" "The few humans who accept this become a little greedy for it,"

Jasmine said. "If they meet a new Catseye, they can be quite demanding for what they tend to call a proper hug. They shouldn't do that with people they just met, but humans taste so good, if the Catseye has ever tasted one, they never refuse." "Taste? You were tasting me?" "Well, no. I have to suck harder to do that. It leaves marks." I turned around to look at my back. "Jasmine Brighteyes!" I yelled. "Have you been marking my skin?" "I'm sure those are from Clover Speckles," Jasmine said immediately. I jumped to my feet and spun around. "Doctor, is my back marked?"

"A little," she said. "Little round marks. Come closer. Let me look." I moved backwards around the table. She leaned over. "Yep. Little marks. They don't look too bad." "Alisha, if you take a Catseye lover, your back will be covered in those most of the time." "Do they hurt, Andromeda?" "I didn't even notice." I reached back. "I can't feel anything." "Reach just a little higher," said Alisha. "Under your fingers now." "It's smooth," I said. "Nothing hurts." I spun around and glared at Jasmine. "You've got me parading

around half naked and you've been leaving marks on my back." "Not just half naked," Jasmine said. "We can't help it. You taste good." "First they said I smell good," I whined. "Now she says I taste good." I moved back to my chair and plopped down. Alisha watched all this. She turned back to Jasmine. "I would like to meet these other Catseye, the ones from the station. And if they are not interested, then I will review the other possibilities." Jasmine and I did our dating routine, which seemed to amuse Alisha to no end, and then she added that to her list of demands. Jasmine feigned anger

and finally said, "All right, but unlike that one, if your back becomes marked, I don't want to hear any complaints." "Irrelevant," she said. "I agree." Five minutes later she had a visor and was out the door. Jasmine sat down across the table from me and stared at me. "Are you really upset?" "About the marks? No. I am, however, starving. Will you take me to lunch?" "It's being catered here in a few more minutes, as soon as Clover and Bay finish their current interviews." **** They all had a lot more than four people to do, and so there would be

more interviews into the afternoon. But Jasmine said, "I'm giving a few more to Andromeda. I'll oversee them. Two of yours, Cedar." She cocked her head, and a moment later, so did Cedar. "That's fine," said the Loris. "What did you think of the ones this morning?" Clover asked. "Do you have a feel for the challenges we should offer?" "We won't have to, Clover. Your two decided to accept willingly. That should help the work load a little, at least." "What?" she said. "I said-" "I heard what you said."

"Let's discuss it this afternoon," Jasmine said. "I'm due in the pool. You guys won't be done by then." "We'll find time," Jasmine said. "Right before you head for your swim." "All right." I held three more interviews that afternoon. Two were gay; one was decidedly straight. They were all angry and arrived with a full guard detail. The first didn't even want to listen to me. Finally I yelled. "Look!" I screamed. "If you don't shut the fuck up and listen to me, the fucking aliens are going to fucking give you to a fucking man! And there's not a damned thing you can do about it. So you

can shut the fuck up and help me get you out of this mess, or you can fucking take what fucking comes." That shut her up for about five seconds. "I'll kill him." "Let me show you something." I picked up the tablet, selected an image, and turned it around. "This is me." "Yes, whatever." "This is me with a female Ardent." "Holy fuck!" "A female Ardent, Deb." I used my visor to drive, selecting the next image. "This species is called a Wookie. You can guess why. That's also a female.

Her brother is bigger." "Oh fuck," she said again. "But here's the kicker," I said. "I actually liked the Ardent, and both Wookies were really nice. But this guy. He's not as broad as the Ardents, but he's still a monster. He's called an Implac, and he's a right son of a bitch. This asshole comes from a species that doesn't recognize homosexuality. He's one of those assholes who thinks we just haven't met the right male, and they are so full of themselves they believe they are just the male to convince us." "Fuck," she said again. "Fuck. You can't let them give me to someone like that. You can't." "I know. Now, will you please

listen to me?" "I'm listening." I started over. I gave her the full dope. And fifteen minutes later, Cedar stepped in, already carrying a visor case. After Deb was lead away, Cedar turned to me. "How did you do that?" "Do what?" "Get her to listen." "I speak her language." "My English is quite good." "Yeah, but you're not a lesbian human." **** The second of Cedar's was a large woman named Julie. I wasn't sure

why Jasmine gave her to me to talk to, and I wasn't sure why she came in so late. She let herself be led in, although there were four guards. And then they took the hood and left. She blinked at me a few times. "You're not an alien," she said. "No." I told her everything. She listened quietly. "No one is going to want me," she said. "Julie, what do you do for a living?" It was in her bio, but I wanted to get her talking. "I'm a statistician." "For an insurance company?" "Yes."

"That means you're an amazing mathematician, right?" "Yeah. Numbers don't judge. Data doesn't judge." "I bet you're smart." She shrugged at that. But she looked me up and down. "Don't try any condescending BS with me. You got all the good genes. And I can't find a pair of jeans that fit." "You're right," I said. "I got lucky in that department. But we both got lucky in the brains department." "I guess." "How much school do you have? I bet it takes some schooling to become a statistician." I already knew the answer to that.

"I have a doctorate," she said. "So, really, really smart." "Numbers make sense." "Yes. I know about numbers, but for me, it's business. Dollars and cents, and the math is a lot easier." "You don't look like you worry how people judge you." "Everyone worries," I said. "You worry because you don't fit a size four. I worry because I'm gay. It's better than it was, and I'm glad I'm not twenty years older, dealing with the shit back then. But when it comes to bigotry, I've dealt with my share. You've dealt with more, but it's not a competition, is it? And if we want to compare, well, people shame you, and it's a lot more obvious,

but no one threatens to kill you because you're fat." "Just put it right out there, why don't you?" "Why dance around it?" I asked. "Have you ever had someone screaming you're going to hell because you kiss women?" "No, I suppose not." "So, let's not compare. I don't know your pain, but I know my own. Okay?" She nodded. "Okay." "I want to show you something." I used the tablet again. "This is a female Ardent. I'm not sure, but I think she has a hundred pounds on you. She's one of

their warriors." She stared at the screen. "Beauty takes many forms," I said. "And we don't know what the aliens are going to want. But they went through a lot of work to haul you here, and I don't think they'd do that if they didn't think they wanted you." She looked down, and tears began crawling from her eyes. "Did you like your job?" "It was a job," she said. "I like the numbers. I like the puzzles." "You have a doctorate, Julie. Do you like learning mathematics? Statistics? Which is it?" "Both," she said. "But pure

mathematics doesn't have quite the same career possibilities. My doctorate is in mathematics." "And you were a good student. Would I understand your doctoral thesis?" "Probably not." "I bet the aliens would," I said. She lifted her chin. "Maybe not all of them," I added. "What do you think matters more to them? A size four, or that brain of yours?" The tears began flowing faster. "I've never had a date. I've certainly never been kissed. I've never had someone who wanted to hold my hand."

I sent a message to Jasmine. "I need help with this one." "Look, Julie, is a career about loving the job? Or about a living?" "I couldn't be a stay-at-home mom. I need stimulation." "Yeah, I know what you mean. But what about research?" "In mathematics? I bet the aliens don't need me for that." "Maybe not. I really don't know. But maybe they'd set you up. Or maybe your mate would. Maybe you can do math for humans, not the aliens. I don't know. But don't you think there are chances?" The door behind me opened, and

Julie looked up. I felt a tentacle on my back, and I didn't even have to turn. "Jasmine Brighteyes, this is Doctor Julie Crane. She is a doctor in mathematics, not a medical doctor." "I'm pleased to meet you, Doctor," Jasmine said, sitting down beside me. "You're a Catseye," Julie said. "I've seen some of you on television." "Yes." "Jasmine, Julie here seems to think it was ridiculous for you to bring her here, that it is impossible anyone would want her." "Did you tell her about the Ardents?"

"I did," I said. "But I don't know how to advise her. She wants a career, but I don't even know where to begin." "Mathematicians are deeply valued," Jasmine said. "If you were headed for the space station, you'd have a dozen interviews lined up before you arrived, although your mate won't let you accept until you've decided you're staying." She turned to me. "You explained about all that, right?" "Yes," Julie said. "He's going to woo me. No one is going to woo me." She looked back and forth. "Maybe that's not true. I don't think I'd like the sort of man who would fight over me. Those aren't usually nice men." "You would be treated like a

princess," Jasmine said. Julie looked down. "I'd have a heart attack during these challenges." "Doctor, if I introduced you to a man who thought the world of you, would you give him a chance to prove he would treat you well?" "No man is going to want me." "And yet, I am offering to prove you wrong. Will you give him a chance, a real chance?" Julie looked down at her bound hands for a while then looked up. The tears were drying on her cheeks. "Yes," she whispered. "Please don't tease me. It's cruel." "I want you to go into the arena,"

Jasmine said. "Did Andromeda tell you about the ribbons?" Julie nodded. "I want you to go into the arena, and then when it's time, I want you to pick up your ribbon and walk to the man I tell you to walk to. I want you to offer him your ribbon. I promise he'll take it." "He's going to throw it to the ground and laugh at me." Jasmine paused. "There will be three men. They will be next to each other. You will walk to a spot where they can all hear you. You will hold up your ribbon. You will ask who wants it. And then you will pick from your choices. If none choose you, I'll let you go home. If you don't want to return to your old job, I can get you interviews at

others." "With the aliens." "Yes. With the aliens. Good jobs. Very good jobs." "If I go into the arena, even if I give my ribbon, she said there are still challenges." "We'll pick challenges you can do. You might even enjoy them." "That's not possible, unless it's a doughnut-eating contest." "Your challenger is going to want to win, but he wants good challenges. He needs to feel he won you. I promise, they will be good challenges, the best I can make. Julie, we didn't choose you as some sort of sick joke. You have to ask

yourself. If I find a man who wants you, and I can give you an amazing job and an adventure besides, do you think you're interested?" She nodded slowly. "And if not, I go home." "If not you go home." She nodded once more. "All right." Jasmine didn't have a visor with her, so I said, "It would be cruel to send her back to her cell with nothing to occupy her mind." "Of course it would," Jasmine said gently. "I'll only be a moment." She stepped away and came back with a visor, and we sent Julie on her way.

I leaned back in my chair. "Can you really give her that?" Jasmine laughed. "We wouldn't have picked her if her size was an issue, Andromeda. We are not as short sighted as humans can be on things like this." "Right, and the fact that you can help her on that doesn't factor in?" "If her weight were healthy, it wouldn't matter. But she'll be a new woman a year from now. Healthy. Happy. With a good man and a good job." "I didn't get that one to go willingly," I said. Jasmine laughed again. "You would have, but I have several individuals in mind for her, and all of

them want challenges." "Why did you have me talk to her?" "Because you needed to see we do some good in this. And frankly, I thought you would be better than I am. I am clinical. She needed empathy." **** My last woman was another of Cedar's. She was a small, scared woman and a closet lesbian. She cried for a while, and I let her. Then I leaned forward. "I want to tell you a story, Tracey." "All right." "My parents are really cool. But I was fifteen and scared to death."

"Why?" "Because I was going to tell them I was gay, and I was so afraid they would hate me." She didn't say a word. "I asked them if I could talk to them after dinner. I did the dishes first and then we all sat back down at the table. Mom took my hands and asked me if everything was okay. I started crying. I hate crying, but I started crying. She pulled me into her arms and told me she was sure whatever had me so upset seemed horrible to me, but she promised whatever it was, we'd all get through it together." I let that sink in. "My Dad then asked if I was

pregnant. Mom reached over and hit the top of his head and said, Don't be an idiot." "She knew already." "They both did. But it was still really hard. Dad assured me that no matter what, I was his daughter, and he loved me. But he said if I didn't tell him what had me so upset, he couldn't help me to fix it." "You told them." "For me, there were no words like those. It was so hard. Two words. Just two words, and they were the hardest two words of my life. I'm gay. I pushed away from mom, sat at the table quietly, and then said it to my hands." "What happened?"

"Mom said, What? We didn't hear you. Speak up. So I looked up at her and said, only a little louder, I'm gay. And then Dad cupped a hand behind his ear like an old man and said, What? Speak up. So I said it louder. And they kept teasing me until I was practically yelling it. And then Mom said, I'm glad you finally got that out. You've kept that bottled inside you for years. Who wants ice cream? And honey, if you have a girlfriend, we expect you to bring her home to meet your parents." "Wow," said Tracey. "Yeah. For me, it was those two words. I'm gay." Then I raised my voice, lifting my nose to the ceiling. "I'm gay!" I looked down at her. "It's liberating."

She lowered her eyes. "You can't give me to a man." "Why not?" "You know why, don't you?" "I don't know what you're talking about. He'll treat you very well." "You know." "Why can't I give you to a man, Tracey? I don't have enough influence to get you out of this mess. Unless you win your challenges, you're leaving here with a suitor, and I think they cheat." "What do you mean they cheat?" "Let me tell you about the Octal." By the time I was done with the story, her eyes were practically bugged out of her head. I shrugged. "The men cheat

too, somehow. I'm sure you'll love him." "Please, Andromeda," she said. "Don't give me to one of the men." "I need a reason, Tracey." She looked down. "You know why," she whispered. "I can't hear you," I said. "Speak up." She lipped the words. I'm gay. I checked the tapes later. Not a sound came out. "What? I can't read lips." "I'm gay." "I still can't hear you." She looked up and stared into my eyes. "I'm gay! All right? I'm gay! Are you satisfied?"

"Maybe I am, but I'm not sure that made it to the tape, and without it, the aliens aren't going to believe me. I'm just a dumb human. Shout it, Tracey." "I'm gay!" she yelled. "I like women. I love women. Okay, I don't know, I've never had a woman, but I want to have a woman. Or have a woman want me. I like women. I like their curves and their voices, and it's all I can do not to stare in the locker rooms. I like women. I'm gay!" "I know," I said. "Ever said it before?" And then she was sobbing and shook her head. So I moved around the table and held her while she cried. "Feels good, doesn't it?"

"Uh huh." It took a while, and she thanked me how many times, I don't know. But then I moved back to my side of the table. "So, you like women. What kind of woman?" "What? What do you mean, what kind?" "Tall, short, butch, femme..." "I don't even know what those are." "Tough and rugged or opera gloves and dresses." "Curves," she said. "I like curves. And breasts. I love breasts." "I love breasts, too," I said. "Unfortunately, so far I haven't seen a

single breast on any of 'em. Could you live without breasts?" She side. "I really like looking at breasts, Andromeda." "You know what? The aliens are fascinated by human breasts. God, you wouldn't believe what they made me do today." I told her about it. "And they're making me go again this afternoon for the ones who didn't make it this morning, and once more tomorrow morning. I wouldn't suppose you'd go with me." She stared. "Okay." "Really?" "If you let me look at your breasts." I laughed, and Jasmine and

Cedar both walked in. I wasn't expecting them both. Tracey's eyes snapped up, and she froze. I looked over my shoulder. "Oh, now it takes both of you to babysit me? Tracey and I were just having an amazing conversation. Tracey, the Catseye is Jasmine Brighteyes. She likes being called Administrator. The Loris is Cedar, and she's very sweet." "Loris?" "Like a slow loris," I said. "You know, with the big eyes." "Oh," said Tracey. "She does look like a loris!" "She sure does," I said. "She's married to a rather obnoxious male Loris," I said. "Although I bet he's going

to grow on me." "Bay?" Cedar asked. "I doubt it. He's a jerk, but I love him anyway." She grabbed a chair and sat on one side of me, Jasmine on the other. "You two are aliens," Tracey said. "Yes, we are," Jasmine said. "Space aliens." "From outer space," I said. It seemed like the thing to say at the time. "Yeah, I got that," said Tracey. "Administrator Brighteyes," I said, "I was just telling Tracey about my swimming promises. She wants to join me." "Oh, she does, does she? And

does she know how much clothing you'll be wearing." "I think that was the clincher," I said. "Wait for it though." I turned to Tracey. "Tell them." "Tell them what." "You know," I said. "You told me. Now tell them. Come on. Tell them." She smiled. It was a shaky smile. "I'm gay." "Oh come on," I said. "The Loris is hard of hearing. It comes from listening to her male whine at her 24-7. Say it like you mean it." "I'm gay!" she said not quite yelling. "G-A-Y gay! A lesbian. A-" "Don't say it," I said. "I hate

those terms." "Right," she said. "Sorry. Carpet muncher." "Oh, you didn't just say that!" I said. She grinned at me. "That really is a disgusting phrase." "So, as I was saying, Administrator, she wants to go swimming with me, and yes, she knows what I won't be wearing. I am fairly certain that was the clincher. Why is that, Tracey?" "Because I like looking at boobies!" "You see? She's gay. She wants to look at my boobies. Although they're

kind of small." I gave Tracey a considering look. "Shit. Her's are a lot better than mine!" She looked down. "They're not bad," she said. "So, as I was saying, Tracey wants to go swimming with me. So she can look at my breasts." "Right," Tracey said. "What she said." "And does she know she won't be wearing anything more than you are, if I let her swim with you?" "She didn't actually mention that part," Tracey said. "It's all girls though, right?" "It better be, or I'll get my

Wookie friend to kick some Catseye ass." "Wookie?" "Oh let me show you a Wookie!" I grabbed the tablet, brought up Soft Rain's image, and turned it around. "This is a Wookie. She's huge. And loves kicking Catseye ass." "There won't be any males," Jasmine quickly promised. "I'll do it," Tracey said. "And I'll even let the other aliens look." She grinned. "As long as they're all naked, too." I laughed. "They were this morning, but not a boob among them. It was quite depressing. Some of 'em have great asses, though, and others have,

well, other things." "Other things?" "You'll have to see for yourself," I said. "Administrator Brighteyes, are you coming swimming again this afternoon?" "I'm not sure that's a good idea." "Chicken," I said. I leaned across the table. "She can't swim, which is far more ironic than you realize." "What? Why?" It wasn't my secret to tell, but I was ready, and I flashed a message to Jasmine. "May I tell her?" The answer came back almost instantly. "I'll trust your judgment." "Well, Tracey," I said, lowering

my voice. "She has entacles-tay." "You're not actually fooling me with that, Andromeda," Jasmine said. "I don't see any," Tracey said. "They're kind of like boobs. We hide our boobs. She hides her entaclestay." I smiled. "She looks just like an octopus-way." "Seriously?" said Jasmine. "Octopus-way, and I'm not supposed to know what that means?" "Uid-squay?" I said sheepishly. Tracey laughed. "What is an uid-squay?" Jasmine asked. "Ha. I knew you didn't understand." I turned back to Tracey.

"How about it? Want to flash some boobs at the aliens and let them lust after us?" "Sure," she said. "Excellent. Administrator Brighteyes, we have a small issue. Tracey doesn't actually know what kind of alien she wants. She isn't sure if she likes them big and strong, or more petite and, well, closer to a human's view of feminine. Do you think we can arrange to give her a chance to decide?" Jasmine scoffed. "With you, it's always about decisions, decisions. You should be quiet and do what you're told." "Yeah, that's going to work. Let her go swimming with me. Oh, and there's a party tonight. Par-tay! Girls

only." "I don't have to be naked there, too, do I?" "No, but they're going to make you dress skimpy. You know, cause aliens don't have a sense of imagination and need to see our awesome legs or they're not sure we have any." "Right," she said. "How skimpy?" "Um." I looked her up and down. "About that skimpy. Think of it as a sort of slumber party, and we're all wearing pajamas." "Are the aliens going to be wearing pajamas?" "No," I said. "They're afraid

we'll ogle them too much." "I don't think we should go if we don't get to see theirs, if they get to see ours," Tracey said. "What she said," I said. "Take the party or skip the party," Jasmine said. "We can just toss you both into the arena with the slobbering males." I leaned across the table again. "I'm going to go to the party. She's pretty implacable on this." I glanced at Jasmine, and she was glaring at me. Yeah, I'd picked that word deliberately and had been hanging onto it, waiting for an opportunity to use it.

Tracey looked at me. "I want to look pretty." "Administrator, do you think we can do something about that?" "What are you asking for?" "Cosmetics. A brush. Blow dryer. Time. And pretty slippers to go with the pajama look." "So you want more privileges and you think she should have a say in what happens." "Yep." She looked across the table to Tracey. "If you decide you prefer the species that like a challenge, then I will arrange it. Otherwise, you will accept an offer from one of the species that prefer

a willing mate. Are we agreed?" "Agreed." **** Twenty minutes later, Jasmine, the three senior event coordinators, Dark Skies, and I gathered in the conference room. Jasmine had her tentacles out and couldn't hold still. Cedar and Dark Skies had a good idea what was going on, but Clover and Bay were left confused. "So, how did it go today?" "I have three more to do," Bay said. They all had a few more. "I'd like to get back to it." "I need to send Andromeda to the swimming pool," Jasmine said. "Andromeda, how did you feel it went?"

"Okay," I said. "A few cried, but I calmed them down. A few were really angry, but I got them to listen. I think they're going to be okay." "How many are you sending into the arena?" "I think just the one." "Wait," said Clover. "How many did you interview?" "Seven. Half as many as the rest of you, and I had Jasmine's help with all of them." "Only after she closed the deal," Jasmine added. "Wait," said Clover. "What?" "Six offered to be willing mates," Jasmine said. "One more would

have, but she won't be happy with the choices, so we're sending her to the arena. I'll have to rearrange things a little, but she'll offer her ribbon to one. She didn't want the challenges, but she'll do her best." "What!" said Bay. "She went seven for seven. As humans say: bullshit. Bull followed by shit. Bullshit." "You cherry picked for her," Clover said. "You picked easy ones." "How many volunteered for you, Bay?" "One." "I got two," Clover said. "One," said Cedar. "None for me," Jasmine said.

"Five or six is average for a batch, isn't it, and then a few more change their minds once we get them into the arena. She got seven on top of our four." "Seven," said Clover. "Clover, schedule a flight to see Peony. You need to get your more difficult cases through their three challenges, but you can feed the easier ones to me, and I'll give some to Andromeda. Feel free to prioritize a little. I'm sorry, I can't give you more than three nights, but I'm working on it." Clover began snuffling loudly, and then rocking in her chair besides. "Andromeda took two off my hands," Cedar said. "I could take one or two if it helps."

"I can run events," Dark Skies said. "If someone else handles the negotiations." "Make it four nights, Clover," Jasmine said. "We can't be assured of this success every batch, but we'll send you as often as we can, and I'm still trying to find fresh help." Clover nodded, still snuffling. Then she looked up at me. "Thank you." "I didn't do anything," I said. "But you're welcome. Was there more? I'm due, and how is Tracey getting to the pool?" "Tracey who?" Bay asked. "One of the women," I said. "She's going swimming with me."

"You bribed one of them with swimming?" Bay asked. "Is that how she convinced all of them? Gave them bribes?" "I'll handle that," Jasmine said. "You'll need to collect her from her cell. I'll have two guards for you." "Robes for both of us," I said. "During the walk." "Of course. I'll be down after my last interviews." **** I changed out of my work clothes and into my mating candidate clothes. I walked to my cell, and a minute later four guards showed up. They had shackles, and I stared at them. "Are those for me?"

"No," said Piper. "Oh, right. Let's go." I stepped through them, but Piper and Dilly grabbed my arms. I laughed but didn't fight. Five minutes later we were outside Tracey's cell. The guys went in first, Tracey and Piper holding me back, and then they let me into Tracey's cell. "Hey," I said. "Remember me?" "You look different," said Tracey. "When do I get to see your boobs?" I laughed. "In the pool. I wouldn't suppose you have a hug for me?" "The voice said I had to stay here until I was told otherwise."

"Right. Guys, can she get up and hug me?" "Ms. Peterson, will you cooperate with us?" Piper asked. "Yes," she said. "Promise." "You may stand," Piper said. I stepped forward and pulled Tracey to her feet, and then we hugged. She whispered into my ear, "Thank you." "You're welcome," I said. "It wasn't so hard, was it? I think you should tell the guards." "Screw them," she said. "They're not offering to let me see their boobs." I laughed. "I like your sense of humor," I replied. Then I stepped away. She wasn't

wearing the visor. I saw it sitting on the end table. "Didn't it work?" "I didn't want to get it wet." "Waterproof," I said. "And it's better than swim goggles. But it's up to you. If you don't wear it, they'll make you wear a hood instead, at least until we get to the pool." "I can wear it swimming?" "Yep, but you'll lose control of it in the hallways." She grabbed the visor and slipped it on. "You're sure?" "Yep. I swim with mine every day. They have to shackle you. Sorry." "You're not shackled." "I'm some sort of trustee," I said.

"That's what happens when you let the Catseye hug you. Let 'em shackle you up, and we can go." I stood back. They did the shackles and handcuffs, and then both our visors dimmed. "Hey!" I complained. Someone took my arm. "Come along, Trustee," said Piper. **** They kept us both blind until we were led into the changing room. I grumbled about it, though. "I wanted to see you in the handcuffs, Tracey." "Kinky that way, huh?" she asked. "I like the way they make your

visor pop," I replied. She and I engaged in banter the entire way to the pool, but finally the guards left. "Finally," I said. "They are such pouty faces." "Are you always this perky?" "No. I'm whistling in the dark." "Oh, why?" she asked. "Because we're about to skinny dip with a bunch of space aliens, and they're going to be staring at us. Although they'll probably stare at you. You're far more stare-worthy. Young and perky. I'm old." She smiled. "Well."

"Right. Show me yours and I'll show you mine?" We laughed and stripped. And yes, she stared at me. "I've never touched someone else's," Tracey said. "Nice try. I'm saving myself for marriage." "Yeah, I bet." "All right. We can do this. Right?" "Right." "They're just space aliens." "Right." "Naked space aliens." "I hear that when you give a speech, you can relax if you think about

the audience as naked." "I tried that once. Oh, it didn't work for me." "Why not?" "Because my boss was there, and I didn't really want to think about my boss naked. And I really, really didn't want to think about her boss naked. He was like a hundred and four." She laughed. I grabbed her hand and turned her to the pool. We walked side-by-side, and her grip grew tighter. "What if they don't like me?" "Then you can spend the entire time staring at my ass." "No way. I'm not into ass."

"Then you better be a good swimmer, cause otherwise it's my ass that you're going to see." "Oh, I might be able to keep up with you," she said. "You're an old lady." "We'll see." And then we stepped out into the pool room. As I had this morning, I scanned. No males. No other humans. "Whew!" I said. "What?" "No males." "Oh. Yeah." Then she scanned the room. "Oh shit, there are a lot of aliens though, and they're all staring at

us." "Screw that," I said. "They've seen mine. They're staring at yours." "No, I don't think so." She nudged. "That one is definitely staring at yours." "That one has had mine," I said. "Her name is Cherish. You're really going to like her." "She doesn't have any boobs." "No, but she's smart as all get out, really sweet, and I really like her." "So, that's the one you want to pick you?" "Maybe." Then I nudged. "That one. In the blue skin." "Yeah."

"Octal. If she invites you to a battle of wills, just say yes, okay? Trust me." "Okay," she said slowly. "She's not after serious. Long story. But let's just say. Oh. Em. Gee." "How many aliens have you slept with?" "Just her. I had sex with the Tutor though. And took a bath with the Wookie, but she's not sure if she wants more." "Which Wookie? I think there's two." "Oh, so there are. I'll introduce you in a bit. So, shall we go make a splash?" She laughed. "Sure."

Party I'd hoped that Jasmine would relent on the clothing. I should have known better. But she did offer a sort of compromise. Back in my cell, there was a silky, pure white kimono waiting. It was sleek and felt really good, and just the little bit extra helped with my confidence. The visor wouldn't let me walk to the party myself. Instead, I had to wait for guards, and then they shackled me besides. My visor dimmed, and I was led through the facility. We arrived... somewhere... and I was pressed against the wall. Do not panic.

The wall swallowed me, or enough of me I couldn't have escaped. The shackles were removed, and then I was stuck there. And my visor wouldn't respond, either. But then some music began, and so I waited. I was even at least a little patient about it. I don't know how long they kept me there, but it might have been a half hour. I had no control over the visor until much later, and so I couldn't tell the time, and I was left to guess. But then the music faded, and the sound of the room came in. I heard people talking quietly, some of it English, some of it not. Then the visor brightened. But still the wall held me.

I was in a ballroom, and when I looked around, so were the rest of the women. And in front of us, walking back and forth to check us out, were the aliens. More aliens than I expected. Oh, it wasn't hundreds, but it might have been two dozen or a little more. I looked, and there were nine of us women, including the ones I had invited. They were looking around, too, and I saw some expressions smooth when they turned to see me, bound the same as they were. "Is everyone okay?" I asked. I got some nods, a couple said, "Yes," and there were a couple who

said, "I guess so." The alien women seemed to be enjoying this. I wasn't sure how I felt about it. I had three watching me, and I didn't recognize any of them, but then Cherish stepped up beside them. The four talked quietly. "Seriously?" I asked. "Are you even going to say hello?" She didn't, but she waved her fingers at me. "Brat," I muttered. "Fine." I looked back and forth. I was at the end, with the rest of the human women towards my right. Immediately beside me was Alisha. She was looking a little miffed. "Hey. Doctor Stanley."

She turned her head. "They play games," I said. She nodded. "Call me Alisha." "I'm Andie," I said. "What are they doing?" "I can guess this is Administrator Brighteye's latest plan to put us off balance," I replied. "But there's a certain Loris who might have been consulted. I'd introduce him to... whatever it is that eats lorises. Lorai. Whatever the plural of loris is." "Snakes," she said. "Snakes prey on lorises." "Perfect. Where can I get a snake?" "Bangladesh."

"Hmm. That's over by India, isn't it. I'm not sure Administrator Brighteyes will let me go that far. I wonder if I can order one on Amazon and have it shipped." "I don't think Amazon ships dangerous snakes across international borders," she replied. "You could try." "We're in Africa," I said. "I bet the reason there aren't any lorises in Africa is because the lions ate them all. I bet I can get a lion." "Or a pack of hyenas," Alisha suggested. "Dirty animals." "There you go." "Why are we talking about lorises?"

"There's an alien race that looks quite a bit like a slow loris, only somewhat larger. They're called Lorises. And there's one here with a particularly nasty sense of humor." "Oh, now I understand." She looked down. "They aren't going to leave us in here all night, are they?" "I think that would defeat the purpose," I said. "This is supposed to give all of us a chance to meet people. But they're aliens, and Administrator Brighteyes is a voyeur besides. Who knows how they think?" Alisha smiled. "All right." She pointed with her nose. "What's that one?" "Which one?" I said. "There's

twenty of them." "Twenty seven," she said. "The one with six limbs." "That's a Greenbear," I said. "I haven't met one before." "Does she speak English?" "I don't know. Let's find out." I raised my voice. "Hey! Greenbear! Hey!" The Grenbear didn't respond, but she was talking to one of the Catseye while looking at Deb. The Catseye nodded though then gestured to me and said something. The Greenbear turned. "Yeah, you," I said. "Doctor Stanley here wants to know if you speak English."

The Greenbear turned to the Catseye, and the Catseye spoke quietly. "I don't think she speaks English." So Alisha raised her voice, speaking German. The Greenbear snapped her head over, and then she lumbered towards us, coming to a stop in front of Alisha. Then the two of them began speaking in slow, careful German. "Well, what do you know?" I muttered. The two talked for a few minutes, and then the Greenbear stepped closer. She caressed Alisha's face, and then a moment later, the wall retracted, leaving Alisha -- but not the rest of us -free.

"Hey!" I complained. "What did you tell her?" Alisha turned. "She invited a conversation. Don't worry. I'm holding out for a Catseye, but she seems nice." And then she offered an arm, and the two of them walked off, me staring after them. "Well," I said. "Hey. Catseye. How about letting me out?" She ignored me. One by one, I saw the other women released from the wall. And while a lot of the aliens checked me out, not a single one accepted an offer to come talk to me. Finally I was the only one still stuck in the wall, and I didn't think it was funny.

I fumed but finally shut up. No one wanted to talk to me? Fine. But I wasn't going swimming in the morning, either. So I stood there, hugged by the wall. Fuming. I couldn't access the visor. I couldn't get loose, and no one wanted to talk to me. Look at me, yes. Talk to me? No. I was sure Jasmine put all of them up to it. I wasn't happy with my friends. But then slowly a group of aliens collected in front of me, none looking my way. Cherish was there, and Soft Rain with the other Wookie. Dark Skies showed up and pointedly ignored me. Clover arrived, and the Wookie

wandered off. The four of them talked quietly, perhaps ten feet in front of me. I gave them dirty looks and didn't say a word. Then Jasmine joined them, and she ignored me, too. They ignored me for five, maybe ten minutes. I eventually just closed my eyes and tried to tune everything out. But my blood was pounding in my ears. And then I heard Jasmine's voice. "Hello, Mating Candidate Hayes." "You're a funny woman, Administrator," I said. I opened my eyes and looked at her. "Why?" "A joke that carried too far," she

said. "But you look like you're ready to do something stupid, so I'm hoping you'll calm down." "Explain." "I thought someone would rescue you. I told your friends to leave you for someone who hasn't met you. But everyone else thought I was punishing you, so they avoided you." "So you're going to let me out." "No." "Why not?" "Because no one gets out unless she accepts an offer of a conversation." "Fine. Offer a conversation." "With someone she hasn't met." "And no one seems to be willing

to talk to me enough to let me loose. So you're going to leave me here all night?" "No, but once you calm down, I'll spread the word you're available to be released. Someone will eventually free you." "I'm not sure I believe anything you tell me," I said. "I think this is exactly what you said: a joke. I'm a joke." She didn't say anything for a minute. "I like teasing you," she finally admitted. "And looking at me?" "Yes, I like looking at you." "Like this?" "Actually, a little, yes."

I huffed. "Fine. You can have your game. But if no one is going to rescue me, could you let me have my visor controls back?" "Still mad?" "This was a joke on me." "Yes. This part was a joke on you. But I think putting all of you here was a good choice. It let everyone see you, and it set a mood I feel needed to be set." "All right," I said. "Let me have my visor and keep everyone away for a short while. I'll be cheerful again in a few minutes. I just need to finish calming down." "Thank you."

"But you owe me." "You are stipulating a price?" "Yes. I want a dance. Do Catseye dance?" "We can try," she said. "Later." "Later," I said. "All right." She stepped away, and a moment later I tried my visor. The controls returned, although I only had limited choices. I couldn't send email or otherwise initiate contact with anyone. I put on some music and closed my eyes. She left me there for a while, but then I heard a voice. "You are Andromeda Hayes." I opened my eyes, and there was a Catseye watching me.

"I am," I said. "I am Periwinkle Moon." "I am pleased to meet you, Periwinkle Moon. Are we to be friends?" "Perhaps we are," she said. "Then maybe you'll call me Andie." I accessed the visor and told it to pause the music. "You may call me Periwinkle, or if you like something shorter, some call me Wink." "What is your Catseye name?" She made a sound. It was several syllables, and I couldn't have reproduced any of them. "I don't think I can say that," I

admitted. "Which is why we have names humans recognize," she said, her tentacles quivering lightly. "I wanted to ask you something." "Of course." "I heard you were swimming earlier." "Yes." "Without clothing." "Yes. You should have had an invitation." "It was swimming," she said. "I don't swim." "Ah. The other Catseye sat at the edge and watched." "I heard there were two human

women." "Yes. Tracey was with me." I scanned the room. "She's currently talking to the Octal." I gestured with my nose. The Catseye followed me gaze. "She's pretty." "Yes," I said. "I think I'll introduce myself," she said. And then without another word, she walked away. I was still stuck in the wall. I looked around, and Jasmine was openly laughing at me. I stuck my tongue out at her then accessed the visor. I told it to shut down all exterior lights and sound and to put the music back on. It obeyed, and I let myself get lost in my

own little world. **** The lights came on and sound returned. Jasmine was staring at me from a foot or two away. "Four women have tried to talk to you," she said. "Including three I very much wanted you to meet. They thought you were ignoring them, and they are now letting people know you are an unpleasant woman. It took me a half hour to figure out what you had done." "Anyone who wanted to let me go had the last hour and a half to do it." I tried accessing the visor to turn everything off again, but I was locked out. "Give it back and go away." "I am going to tell them you were

working. I need you to meet these women, Andromeda, and I need you to be exceedingly pleasant and cheerful." "Why do you ask things like that after intentionally pissing me off?" "I did not intentionally piss you off." "Oh please. You sent Periwinkle over here just to taunt me." "I had nothing to do with that. She's an airhead. It didn't even occur to her to let you loose." "And you know this, how?" "Because I asked her why she didn't let you go, and she said, 'I was supposed to?'" "Then why didn't you come over

and do it?" "Because I sent four different women to do it. Are you going to do what I'm asking or not?" I sighed. "Fine. But give me the visor back." "If you do that again-" "Yeah, yeah. You'll give me to an Implac." "I'll give you a challenge involving shock staffs at full power." "You would not." "Fine. I don't know what I'd do, but I might loan you to Bay to test his latest bag of mean tricks." "Now that's something you'd do. I'll behave, Administrator."

"Call me Jasmine." But she walked away before I could say another word. I turned the music back, but I set a proximity alarm before closing my eyes and zoning to the music. It was a few minutes later that the visor beeped at me. I opened my eyes, and an alien was walking towards me. She was small, about the size of the Loris, with a pale, furless face. Her eyes were big and glowed, somewhat like a Catseye, but with a sort of shifting, light purple light. She had no nose, which was a little off-putting, but a full mouth. She was either wearing lipstick or had bright purple lips. I couldn't be sure. She had tufted ears and hair similar to that of a fox, but it was in

irregular stripes of purple and green mixed with a little grey and a little white. It began just above her eyes, very fine, then grew longer as it reached the top of her head and resembled a horse's mane by the time it reached the back of her neck. She wore a vest of some sort of material, I wasn't sure what, and I would learn later it was backless. Her fur extended all the way down her back and the backs of her arms and hands, growing finer, but the undersides of her arms, her front, and the fronts of her legs were bare and smooth. The vest covered quite a bit of the furless region of her torso, ending just below her hips. I decided she was beautiful. She stepped up to me and spoke

careful English. "You ignored me before." "I am sorry. I didn't think anyone wanted to talk to me, so I turned off the light and sound and tried to work. I'm very sorry." "You are a mating candidate. What work do you have except to become a mate?" "I am helping Jasmine Brighteyes." "Why?" "I made certain agreements with her. In exchange, I asked for a job and demanded to be paid what I used to make in my old job." "Demanded, did you?"

"Yes." She cocked her head then moved around me, looking at me from different angles. "You are older than the other human women here." "Yes. I am 34. The rest are in their 20s, as best I can tell." "Older. More mature." "In theory." She cocked her head the other way. "You are imprisoned until someone releases you." "Yes, it appears I am. Are you to free me, or will you walk away like Periwinkle Moon did?" Her head cocked further. "Now I

understand why you darkened your visor. You were angry." "I was frustrated and thought Jasmine Brighteyes was teasing me. I decided not to let it make me any more frustrated by distracting myself. I thought she intended to let me be teased all night long. I'm still not sure that isn't the case." "You are easily frustrated." "I have been locked like this for quite some time. Judging by how much my feet hurt and how stiff I'm becoming from being unable to move, I guess it's been at least an hour, maybe even two. I didn't care for the joke after what I've been doing to try to help everyone. I especially didn't appreciate having Periwinkle come over and ask me to

introduce her to another woman, then walk away, leaving me here." The head cocked back the other way. "Jasmine Brighteyes suggested you would be charming. You are not being charming." I closed my eyes tightly, took several breaths, and then opened them again. She was still there. "You're right. I'm being honest. I need the opportunity to calm down before I can achieve charming." "You were charming in the swimming area. You were pleasant and made jokes, although not everyone understood them." "I didn't see you there. I can't imagine missing you. You are quite

distinctive in appearance." "I was not." She gestured. "We talk." "Ah, of course. My name is Andromeda Hayes, but you probably know that. I am human, but you clearly know that. Will you introduce yourself?" Her head cocked the other way. "I do not like you. We would not fit." And without another word, she turned and stepped away. I stared after her. She left me here. She knew someone had to let me go, and she knew I was suffering, but she left me here. What a bitch! I closed my eyes and turned the music back on.

It was three songs later before the visor pinged again. I was seriously tempted to ignore whoever it was, but I sighed and opened my eyes. Jasmine was standing there. She looked angry. "I tried," I said. "Administrator Brighteyes, I would like to be returned to my cell. My body hurts and I find it exceedingly unlikely I'm going to be charming to anyone. So bitch at me if you want to. I don't care. But this is your fault and not mine." Then I closed my eyes. Nothing happened. Jasmine said nothing, and the wall didn't release me. I stood there saying not another word, but then I felt furry hands on both arms, and then the wall released me. I would have

collapsed, but the people on either side supported me. I opened my eyes and saw Soft Rain on one side, the other Wookie on the other. Jasmine was in front of me, and I swear, steam was exiting her ears. And her tentacles weren't still, either. She turned and began walking away. And then the Wookies began pulling me after her. Great. Just great. But my visor didn't dim, and absolutely everyone got out of our way. One pissed off Catseye and two Wookies would probably scare me off, too. We left the ballroom and traveled down the hallway for a while before Jasmine stepped into another room. The Wookies brought me to

follow her, and then Jasmine pointed to a chair. "Put her there and return to the party." They set me into the chair without a word then exited quietly. Soft Rain never said a word to me. Jasmine paced around, her tentacles wild. "I tried," I said. "But I hurt, Administrator, and so I turned professional and honest. But she arrived ready to hate me and it got worse from there. Apparently she felt cute and charming were important and didn't care for honesty." She turned to me. "I'm angry, but not about that. Please be quiet." And then she changed languages and began

yelling. Not at me, though. She turned away and began yelling, loudly. She paced back and forth, yelling, her tentacles wild. "Tell me what I did," I inserted during a lull. She spun and held up a hand, then spun back around, pacing some more and yelling. Then she shifted languages and did it some more, then another shift, and some more. Finally she slumped, but I could see her panting. "Andromeda, I'm sorry." "For your joke." "No. Something else. I made a promise to you and someone else broke it." She spun around. "Someone betrayed me! You gave them a gift, and they

betrayed you. I am so angry, I don't know what to say." I stood up, wincing a little, crossed the space to her, and pulled her into my arms. She stiffened but then wrapped around me. She didn't offer a tentacle to kiss, and she failed at finding open skin, so I pulled away, stripped off the kimono, and stepped back into her. She grabbed me, her tentacles moving nearly wildly, and then she sucked, and this time I knew she was marking me. She sucked and squeezed, sucked and squeezed. "You're going to have to stop me," she whispered. "I can't." "You'll calm down eventually," I said. Then I pulled her more tightly to

me, leaning my head against the side of hers. I kissed the ear and stroked her back. What she did hurt, at least some of the time, but I let her hold me. Then she finally pushed away but she spun me around. And then she began muttering in, I presume, Catseye. "You're bleeding," she said. "I hurt you, Andromeda." "How bad is it?" "Just a little oozing." I turned around, which she tried to stop, but I turned to face her, collecting a couple of her tentacles and draping them across my arms, setting my hands on her hips.

"Tell me what happened." "There's video." "From?" "You in the pool." "This afternoon?" "This morning." "You didn't do it." "No. I didn't do it. I told everyone 'no video'. I was clear. I did it in every language necessary. I turned all the cameras off. No one I've talked to admits to recording, not even local storage. I wasn't recording." "So? It's out there." "Dark Skies is analyzing the video, but whoever did it covered her tracks. There's video of you and a few

others, but not enough to eliminate more than three people I wouldn't have suspected anyway." "All right, I'm not happy, but it's done. It's not any worse than the video you took of me." "I lied." "What?" "Okay, I took video but I didn't post it. I lied." I took a couple of breaths. "All right. Fine. So there's video. Why would someone do this?" "To flaunt to everyone she could disobey me." "So, she posted it to traitorous.wild.bitches.dot.e.t.?"

"Something like that. If we had other video, any at all, we could cross check against hers and figure out who it is." "Does it matter?" "Damned right it matters. I'm not giving one of my girls to some bitch!" I smiled at that. "So, remember how we took care of the women this morning. We went from cell to cell." "Right." And then I had breakfast." "Right." "And then I went swimming." "Right." "And do you remember the part where you told me to record all my

interactions with the women?" "Andromeda?" Her tentacles began to quiver. "Close your eyes or you're about to get really sick." I slammed them shut, but I could see light flashing across my eyes. Then she was screaming. "Dark Skies! Access Andromeda's visor. She has video. She has video! We're on our way." She grabbed my arm. "Keep your eyes closed. Try to keep up." Then she was pulling me, and we half ran. I didn't know where, I just went where she tugged me, first by the arm, then by a lot of tentacles across my back. And there was light flashing in front of my eyes for a while, then I heard Dark Skies say, "I got it, Andromeda."

I opened my eyes just as we came to a door, opening as we approached. It was Control Room A. Dark Skies and Clover were both there, each staring into space, mumbling to themselves. "There," Dark Skies said in English. "Her." "What was a female Implac doing there?" Clover asked. "Show me," I said. "That screen," Dark Skies said, pointing. I moved to the screen, and then she put up two videos, side-by-side. "Watch." They were in slow speed. One was of me. One was from my eyes. I was talking to Cherish, but then I turned my head. The screen froze.

"There," said Dark Skies. "Right there." "What?" "Look," said Dark Skies. "Cherish just put her hand on your arm. You can see the motion from your video. And look at the other video." Cherish's hand was just about to settle onto my arm. "And you're looking almost straight into the video." "Not quite," I said. "Which is why it's the Implac. The angle is off to be the Catseye, and Hobbles can't record like this. It's the Implac." Jasmine moved to the screen. "Look for more."

"I've got one," said Clover. "Dark Skies, check it, 97 seconds later." The video on my screen fast forwarded, almost making me sick, and then I was staring straight into the camera again, and this time, the woman from earlier was the only one in frame. "Are we sure on the timing?" "I went 97 seconds forward on both videos. We can get a sync from Cherish's hand. Andie is looking right at her." "I remember. She never said a word, and she stood off a little bit, like she was afraid of me, but later she tried to get real close, and I actually had to swat her away. She was getting really personal."

"Scanning," said Dark Skies. "Oh, just fuck me," I said, staring at the screen. "Just fuck me and let me die." Jasmine stepped up beside me. She slipped tentacles and an arm around me. The video was a good shot right between my legs, and then my video showed me turning around and chastising the Implac. "I'm very sorry, Andromeda. I'm very, very sorry. This is my fault. She wouldn't have dared if she didn't know the cameras were all off." "Turn it off," I said quietly. "Administrator Brighteyes, that's an Implac?" "The females are small, about the

size of a human. But still bigger than you, Andromeda." "Dark Skies, I need you." She stepped over immediately. I shrugged Jasmine off then pulled Dark Skies into a hug. "Just a little," I whispered. "Enough to put me into a good mood. Enough to make me kiss everyone in the room, but let it wear off." "Are you sure?" "Yes." Then I buried my nose against her. God, she smelled good. It took a minute or two as we hugged each other. Then she said gently, "Kiss me, Andie."

I pulled my face away, cupped her cheek, and gave her a slow, lingering kiss. It was sweet. And then I pulled away and smiled. "Are you sure?" she asked again. I nodded. "Andie, walk over and kiss one of Clover's tentacles." Clover's tentacles hadn't been out before, but she was able to offer one by the time I got to her. I took it carefully, caressed it with one finger, then began kissing from the thick part up to the tip. She let me, and then she caressed my lips and slid it into my mouth. I held onto it, caressing it, sucking on it, and she teased my tongue. I stared into her eyes the entire time. Then, slowly, she withdrew.

"That was lovely, Andromeda," she said. "Andie," said Dark Skies. "Come here." I obeyed without a thought, coming to a stop in front of the Octal. "Andie, are you angry at Jasmine Brighteyes?" "No," I whispered. "Do you want her to be your friend?" "Yes." "Go to her," she said. "Ask for a long, long hug." I smiled, turned away, and walked to Jasmine. Her tentacles were out, waving nervously, and so I came to

a stop. "Jasmine, it's okay." "She's making you do it." "She helped, only enough," I said. "Do I sound like I'm drugged?" "A little," she said. "Only a little. It feels good. Thank you, Dark Skies." "You're welcome, Andie. Now, ask her to hug you." I looked over at the Octal. "It's wearing off." "I know," she said. "And so it is your choice to obey." At that I smiled and looked back at Jasmine. "Will you be my friend, Jasmine Brighteyes?" "Yes, Andie."

"I would like a good, long, proper hug. You may taste, but please do not make me bleed further." At that, she enveloped me, and when she offered the tentacle, I accepted it. We hugged for several minutes before she released me. "Jasmine," I said. "I challenge that Implac to an event tomorrow morning. I would like the event that Clover and I did, and I want the shock sticks on full. Will you do this for me?" "I don't think you can beat her." "I want it videoed. I want every ET to see it. I want them to know why. Let whatever happens happen. And no cheating. I mean it."

"How many points?" "Ten or until I can't stand again." "Don't do this, Andromeda." "Please." "Let her do it," Dark Skies said. "No cheating, Dark Skies," I said. "I mean it." Dark Skies stepped closer. "And no more pheromones." She set a hand on my arm, but when she spoke, it was to Jasmine. "Administrator Brighteyes, I think I know something about female Implacs you don't." "What is that?" "They're afraid of heights." I began to smile, and Jasmine nodded.

"I'll run it," said Clover. "Dark Skies, I'm going to want your help." "Of course." "No cheating," I said. "No cheating. If you fall, you're getting treated the same way as if she falls." "Good. Give me a tiny dose, and Jasmine, too. Jasmine, we're going back. You're going to have arms and tentacles around me, and you're going to introduce me to people. There will be music and dancing. I want to meet everyone." "The Implac was in there. I didn't put two and two together." "Good," I said. "Let her video. Let her post it. And at the end of the

evening, I am going to challenge her, and you're going to throw her into a cell overnight." Then I turned to Dark Skies and pulled the two of them into a hug. And in another minute, I felt really, really good. **** "You feel really nice, Jasmine," I said. "We're both high," she said. "Good. Bring me in and put some music on. Dance with me. It will be worn off by the end of a song or two. I want to dance, Jasmine. Will you dance with me?" "I'll dance with you, Andie." We made a stir when we entered,

many of those present turning to us. Jasmine's tentacles were clearly draped over me, and we were both smiling. I stepped forward, and Jasmine walked with me. "There's going to be music," I said projecting to be heard. "I hope some of you will dance. I got a chance to sit for a few minutes, and while these are poor dance shoes, I hope some of you will ask me to dance." I raised my voice. "That includes you, Wookie!" She rumbled her laughter and immediately agreed. "Dance with me, Administrator." We moved into a clear area, and Jasmine asked quietly, "What kind of music?"

"Do you know how to tango?" "No." "Will you let me lead?" "I can try." "If I find music, can you play it?" "Yes." I dived into my visor, switched to the music, did a search for what I wanted, and took about a half minute building a mini playlist. "Got it?" "I've got it." A moment later, the music started. "A little louder." Then while she was adjusting it, I pulled her into my arms. "Lean into me. Trust me. Close your eyes. Just try to stay in front of me."

I shifted. I shifted back. And then I stepped towards her, and she automatically stepped away. We danced. It took a very heavy lead, and I wasn't that good, but I was good enough. "Caress me with your tentacles," I told her. "This is sensuous. Run one up my leg. Tease me." And she did. And as I looked around, every single person in the room was watching me. We danced three songs, finally coming to a stop. "Wrap around me," I told her. "Make it obvious you're tasting, then lead me to someone else." She wrapped around me tightly including one tentacle wrapped around

my left leg. And then she snuffled, somewhat loudly, and I hugged her tightly. Then she released me and led me to one of the aliens. "Andromeda, this is Bella. She is a Hobble." "Hello, Bella. Will you dance with me?" "Yes," she said, her voice high and reedy, but understandable. And so I took her hand and led her back onto the floor. She moved to me but said, "Will you let me lead?" "If you can." I let her direct the hold, and it was quite different than a human's, but then the next song began. She listened for a moment, and then we moved.

It wasn't at all like a Tango, of course, in spite of the music involved, but it was clearly a dance, and if I didn't give her the responses she wanted, it was still a good dance. We danced two songs before she said, "You saw the video." "How can you tell?" "Jasmine Brighteyes received bad news and practically ran to you. She was quivering with rage. You return like this, and I can smell the Octal on you. Logic. Was the Octal her idea?" "Mine," I said. "Give me to someone else." "Anyone I should avoid?" "The humans. I am here to meet the ETs."

"So be it." **** And so I danced, and I danced again, and I danced again. And then the woman who had told me she didn't like me was there, intercepting me as I stepped from the dance floor. "I was wrong," she said. "Dance with me?" "I do not dance." "Then it will be a new experience for you, just as much of this is a new experience for me. But you will let me lead." And so she nodded and offered her hand. I led her back onto the floor and drew her to me. "Does this touch

upset you?" I asked. "I have never been held by a human before," she replied. "I believe I am too short for this." "Nonsense. I dance with men as tall as a Wookie. You can dance with me. You must only strive to remain in front of me." I shifted and shifted, and then we walked. It was just walks, but I added a little musicality. She clung to me, and I could tell she was fighting to follow, but she was so small and reasonably responsive, and so we had a good dance. "My name is Sugilite. It is a gemstone of purple bands. Humans call my species Kitsune." "Japanese fox."

"Yes. I am sorry I was ungracious. I had hoped to meet you." "You didn't learn about me from talking, did you." "You know." "Yes." We danced, but we talked. "How are you so calm? I was given humans would be outraged." "Can you smell lingering scent of Octal?" She squeaked. "No, but that is an effective solution." The song ended, and I led her from the dance floor then turned her towards me. "I'm in a really, really good mood right now."

"I imagine you are, if you let an Octal have you for a while." "Only a few minutes. Long enough. I like your looks. I liked them when you approached me earlier. I didn't care for your attitude. I was upset, but I had cause." "And I had cause, because you ignored me earlier." "Unintentional, but your response is understandable. I believe you are able to check my bio page, or whatever it is, and see my status." "Yes." "I would accept dates. If you enjoy challenges, we can have fun challenges. For me, they are exercise. If you do not wish this, that is fine, too."

"Maybe I will." She looked around. "I liked that one, too." I followed her gaze. "Peggy Ann," I said. "She is sweet. If you want her, you have less time to decide. I am here for several months. She has two weeks or she goes to the arena." "I believe if I want you, I must choose soon. Word will get out." "Yes, but I made a promise to Jasmine Brighteyes, so I will be here." I smiled. "I enjoyed our dances, Sugilite. Is anyone watching me as if she wishes a dance?" "Jasmine Brighteyes and two of the humans." "Jasmine can wait. Give me to

one of the humans." And so she walked me over to Alisha. "I hoped I'd get a dance. May I lead?" "Of course." Alisha really knew how to dance, and I had an amazing time with her. We took two songs, and then she led me from the floor. "Thank you," she said. "I've been watching for you for two hours." "You're a better lead than I am." "I had a better partner than you've had all night." "Dance with Jasmine," I said. "I need a break."

**** It was an hour later when Jasmine stepped up to my side. "I'm about to send all the humans back to their cells." "Will I get hauled to some court if I hit her?" "No." "Is her jaw made from concrete?" She laughed. "No." "Are we absolutely sure it was her?" "Yes. She's livestreaming." "Oh good. This will go out live! Excellent. If I break my hand, can you fix it by morning?"

"Yes." "Excellent. Get the Wookies over here, but tell them to intervene only if she's beating me to a pulp." Then I pulled away, scanned the room, and saw the Implac talking to the Hobble. I began walking straight towards her, my steps in time to the music. I was halfway there before she saw my destination, and a few others got out of my way. I came to a stop five feet away. I knew the song and timed it perfectly, stopping on the last note. Jasmine must have cut the music, because the next song didn't start. "You!" I said, pointing. "Do you speak English?" She looked to the Hobble, who

appeared to translate my question. "Fine," I said. "I need one more person who speaks Implac, or any other language that one speaks." It was Sugilite who stepped to my side. "I speak Implac." "Perfect. Would you translate anything that woman says?" "Of course." "And will you translate my words to her?" "I will," said the Hobble. "Excellent." I pointed at the Implac. "You have a recording device, don't you?" The Hobble translated. The Implac spoke, and Sugilite translated.

"Of course. Everyone has a recording device." "You are livestreaming this event tonight." "It was not disallowed," was the translation. "Perhaps not," I replied. "But this time was for this group of women to meet, to get to know each other, to learn to trust. But you do not understand the word, do you? Is there even such a word in your language? Trust." "You are a human. Who are you to speak to me in this fashion?" "My name is Andromeda Hayes. I am the woman who befriended the women here, to offer a gift. A gift! I gave something that was precious to me, that

was very difficult for me to do. It was a gift. And you soiled it. You are a craven coward. But I challenge you. Tomorrow in the arena." And then I gave two forward bounces before spinning, my leg lifting, and I gave her a textbook roundhouse kick right across the side of the face. She never saw it coming, and she went flying sideways. I recovered and danced back, my weight on one leg, my hands ready, my feet ready. Then she got back up, and I could read the anger in her alien eyes. But both Wookies were there, stepping between us. And then Jasmine was there, her voice amplified as she spoke in an alien language.

But Sugilite was there, whispering to me rapidly as she translated Jasmine's words. "You violated my rules. You violated my trust. You violated a promise I made to this human. In this place, my word is law. In this place, all obey me. You will face this human in the arena, and then you are banished from this place. You will never return. And because of your cowardice, all other Implac are banished until further notice." And then the two Wookies stepped forward and grabbed her. And while two Wookies might have a little trouble with a male Implac, they had no trouble with a female. I stood, still panting, and then people crowded around me. But I

scanned and I saw Jasmine. I held my hand towards her then pulled her through the crowd to me then into a hug. "I think I broke my foot," I said. "We'll fix it," she replied. "Can you walk?" "I doubt it. I'm going to step away. I'm probably going to fall. Livestream it. And then let Alisha come with us." "All right." She released me, and somehow she got people to move away. I looked around, still standing on one foot. "Well," I said. "I think I need to use the bathroom." I turned carefully, took two steps, and crumpled. I had half a dozen people around

me immediately, but I saw a black face, and I reached for her. I pulled her to me and whispered into her ear, "It's broken. Make a show of checking it, and I don't care if you can tell or not. Declare it broken." "Right." Then she leaned away. "Relax, Andie. Someone give her a pillow." And a moment later my pillow was a Kitsune lap. I looked up at her. "Are you as fragile as you look?" "Yes." "Where's the Wookie when I need one?" I asked. "I need a hand to hold." I didn't get a hand. I got the thick part of a Catseye tentacle, and it wasn't Jasmine's. "You can't hurt me, so if you

must, squeeze hard," said the woman. I nodded. "All right, Andie," said Alisha. "Let me take a look." She moved down to my foot. "Um. It's the other one," I said. "Sorry." She switched to the right foot. She was delicate, but I winced a few times. Then I grunted, and I knew I was squeezing very, very hard. "Andie. I think it's broken." I closed my eyes and nodded. "We'll have to cast it." "We will not," Jasmine said. "Get out of my way." And then she bent down and, as if I weighed nothing, she picked me up. "Doctor Stanley, you're

with us. Clover. Clover!" "I'm here." "Take care of things here." She strode from the room.

Arena I thought I was kidding. It really was broken. But Jasmine shoved me into a chair in their medical bay." "Just tape it or something," I said. "I have to kick bitch ass." "You kicked bitch face," she said. "And now you're going to heal the bones. Don't do that again." "But-" "Sleep tight, my fierce little human." And a moment later, I was asleep. **** "Good morning, Andromeda." I opened my eyes. "I'm mad at

you." "Why?" "I wanted a tentacle before you left." "You can have one now." She unsealed me from the bed and helped me to sit up. Then, while I was still sitting there, she pulled me into her arms. I accepted the tentacle, and we held each other for a while. "Your foot is healed," she whispered while holding me. "You'll need to walk on it a little. It might be stiff and sore, but you can work that out." I had to wait until she withdrew the tentacle. "Does it amuse you I can't talk when you do that?"

"That's part of why it's a position of dominance," she said. "The Implac?" "She had a bad night. They're from a hot world." "Turned the temperature down, did you?" "I sure did. She didn't get much sleep." "Poor thing." "I'm half a mind to poison her." "You can do whatever you want but I get her first." "She's going to beat you very, very badly, Andromeda. That was a lucky kick." "She'll try. Do I have time for my

swim? I promised you one more swim." "You don't have to." "I promised, and now honor is on the line." "Fine, but you should wear the suit." "No, I don't think so. Will you join me?" "I don't have the time. I'm sorry." "It's fine. Help me up." I stood then walked a little. She was right; it was stiff. But it would be fine. "Nice technology." "I let Alisha stay as long as there was anything to watch. I think she drooled on the bed." I laughed. "Good."

"You don't have to do this, Andromeda. You made your point." "I need to speak with Clover and Dark Skies before I go out there. And I need you to livestream me from the moment I get out of here, but find a way not to livestream my conversation with them." "They're in the next room." "All right. That first." I was barefoot, but Jasmine at least had a robe for me, so I pulled it on, my undies and camisole underneath, and I let her guide me from the room. The next room looked like a doctor's office waiting room. I took a chair, and the rest pulled more chairs over.

"Make sure this isn't being videoed," I said. "I have blockers running," Dark Skies said. "Are you okay?" "Yep. All right. I want a fair event. No cheating." "Maybe a little cheating." "No. No cheating. Dark Skies, expect me to lose the first point, and then make me scream in fright. Can you do that?" "Yes." "Don't make me sick though." "I understand." "That's the punishment for falling," I said. "Yep. Got it."

"Unless she's going to kill me, don't interfere." "I will not allow you to be abused!" said Jasmine. "Yes, you will. I want her humiliated. That can happen two ways. The tiny human kicks the shit out of the Implac, which is unlikely. Or she is a complete, utter brute, which is far more likely. Let everyone see." "This is foolish," said Jasmine. "Tell me it won't help you politically." She stared at me. "We'll take care of you afterwards." I nodded. "Good. And I want reparations from her personally. Is that

unreasonable?" "No." "You handle it," I said. "Do you know what you want?" "No. I'll trust you." "All right." I turned to Clover. "Turn up the pain getting off the sliding bridge thing," I said. "And make it two meters. But it only applies when someone is getting off the bridge." She smiled. "Make sure she knows it's there. I wouldn't want to have unfair advantage." I turned back to Dark Skies. "Power staffs on high."

"No. High tends to make humans black out." "Oh shit," I said. "Well, use your judgment, but this is a grudge match." "Got it," she said. "Good. Can I have a tiny, tiny bit? I need to go for a swim, and I want to be charming." "Just a little," she said. We hugged for a minute or so, and then I thanked them all. I was growing a little addicted to the Octal, but at that point, I don't think I cared. **** The pool was full by the time I arrived. I was cheerful and charming. I swam easily, chatted a little, and then

returned to my cell. **** The guards led me onto the arena grounds. There were four of them, and I went shackled, but they were exceedingly polite. My wrists were bound in one of the pillars, and then they removed the restraints. "Kick her ass," said Piper. "I don't think that's going to happen," I said. "But I'm going to do my best." She squeezed my arm and walked away. A moment later, my visor brightened. I was dressed in the combat clothing, as I had begun to think of it. It

was a skintight jumper and a pair of boots, although these were much lighter boots than I'd worn for the jungle challenge. There was no hat this time, but I'd slathered on the sunblock, even though it was still early morning. I looked around. I wouldn't say the stands were full, but there were a lot of people. An awful lot. I looked for familiar faces, finding a few. Of course, I wasn't the only event. There were the mating candidate interviews to follow. The structure from earlier was assembled and in place, but I was sure it was a good six or eight feet higher than it had been when Clover and I had used it. I smiled at that. What was interesting was there

was a shimmering to my left. What really amused me was the Implac was there, dressed identically to me, with her hands also bound in a pillar. And between us, walling us off from each other, was a force field. I guessed Jasmine wasn't taking chances on an early start to our event. Then Jasmine stepped forth. Her amplified voice filled the arena. She spoke for a minute in an alien language then shifted to English. "This human," she said, "Mating candidate Andromeda Hayes, has been severely violated by this... creature. Andromeda has demanded a challenge, and the vile scum bug has accepted." The vile scum bug screamed

something, but I didn't know what it was and didn't particularly care. "This challenge will be fought on this structure you see behind me." Then Jasmine explained the challenge, sharing most of the details, although she glossed one. "A fall from the structure is a point and a rather creative punishment besides. Both the human and the Implac risk identical punishments. Both power staffs are set to the same rating in spite of the more delicate nature of a human nervous system." She paused, letting that sink in. "The challenge is to ten points or until either opponent is unable to fight." Then she looked at the Implac. "We do not damage in challenges with

humans, especially female humans. We do not seek serious damage. We certainly do not kill. Your opponent is not physically capable of significantly hurting you with a hand or foot strike, but you are. I will allow single strikes of this nature, but I will not allow combinations. I will not allow strikes on a downed opponent. I will not allow strikes on an opponent unable to defend, deflect, or move away. And you will control the power of any strikes. If you do not, you will suffer my wrath. If you seriously hurt her, you will face a court. If you kill her, you will face high justice. We do not kill during these challenges." The woman glared, but she said one word.

Jasmine turned to me. "This is foolish, little human. She is going to win this competition ten-zero, and you will prove nothing." "Then I go down fighting," I said, and my voice was amplified. "Will you accept an apology?" "Has she offered one?" I asked. "Has she explained her vile actions? Has she explained why she felt it was just and proper to violate me? Has she explained why she felt it was just and proper to violate the rules you established?" Jasmine glanced at the Implac. "No she has not." "Then she shows no remorse, and there is no apology to accept."

She visibly sighed. "So be it. You will each ascend from your respective sides and begin in the middle. After a fall, the force field will redefine the furthest an opponent may travel for the next engagement." I nodded understanding. "Collect your weapons and meet in the middle. And may the best woman win." I nodded again, and a moment later my hands were freed. I turned my back on the Implac and walked to the start. I collected my power staff and strode through the entire structure, finally stepping onto the center platform. The Implac already waited for me, standing on her side of the force field.

I looked around, but Jasmine had disappeared. Then there was movement in the stands, and I saw her in the front row to my right. "Begin!" I was already swinging before the force field came down. The Implac blocked the swing and did a counter swing. I danced back then came in low, swinging again. Block. Parry. Counterstrike. She was fast, but not superhuman fast. She was strong, stronger than I was, but not superhuman strong. And then I blocked a swing square on and launched a kick for her arm, striking solidly, then hopped back and recovered.

She came after me, and I circled around, block, block, swing, block, duck, and a thrust right into her stomach. She screamed and moved backward quickly, swinging wildly to force me away. Block, block, block, and then she tried throwing a kick at me. I ducked and let her leg graze the power staff. She screamed and tumbled. I thrust twice at her, but she rolled away from me, screaming once more, then swung at me. And it was my turn to scream. The pain was nearly overwhelming, and I fell to my knees, screaming, but I was able to push her staff away and blocked -- barely -- her next swing. She backed away and made a

gesture. I didn't know what it meant, but I got up slowly. Her next gesture was clear. She cupped her fingers and wiggled them in a, "come here" gesture. I came, swinging. She blocked, and I threw another roundhouse kick for her. She was watching for it. I thought she would be. She used her staff to catch my leg, helping it higher, pushing me off balance. I screamed as I fell, and she thrust further. Then she was after me, thrusting the staff into my side, over and over. I lost my staff, and I rolled, rolled, rolled, right off the platform, screaming with each strike from the staff. Dark Skies caught me as I fell. "Andromeda," she whispered to

me. "Let me catch my breath, just a moment, then do it." And so she paused. I could hear the crowd, which I had tuned out. And I heard the Implac, bellowing. "What's she saying?" "You don't really want to know," said Dark Skies. "Have someone translate my words to her. Can you do that?" "I can," said Clover. "Go ahead." "Hey, you!" I yelled, pointing. And then the arena was filled with alien words. "Is that the best you have?" I added. The alien screamed at me.

"Do it," I whispered. Dark Skies lifted me by the legs. And as she lifted me, she shook me, not hard, but enough that I flopped around. She lifted me high, very high. And then she dropped me. I screamed. She caught me about three feet from the ground, and then she held me, still upside down, until my scream stopped. Then she lifted me again. In all, she dropped me three times, and I screamed for each of them. Then she carried me to my start and lowered me in. The staff followed. "Andromeda, that punishment doesn't help if you're the only one taking

it." "I know. Have faith in me." "She's from a warrior species, and you are not a warrior, Andromeda." "I know. I'm a lover." I smiled, picked up the staff, and started off. I didn't know how far they would let the battle advance. It turned out I could walk onto my shifting bridge, but not onto the center, and the Implac waited for me. I thought perhaps she had forgotten it would hurt if she stood too close. "When does she get hurt?" "If you are on the other half of the bridge while it is in the half of its swing closest to her."

"Think she's going to wait for me or catch me as I exit?" "I guess we find out. We'll drop the force field on the backswing." "Ready." "Begin!" called out Jasmine. The bridge finished its swing back, and then it began moving forward. I began running, and then the Implac was scrambling backwards, screaming. I got to the end and leapt, swinging the staff. She tried to fend me off, but I came down, screamed, rolled once, and swung at the back of her legs. I knocked her down, right into the trap, but it had shut off. Still I went after her, catching her four times before she swept my feet from me. But I rolled away, and we both

climbed to our feet. I charged her, swinging, and she dropped her staff with one hand, reached past my staff, letting it rake across her arm. She screamed, but she grabbed me by the back of the head, spun, and threw me from the platform. Zero to two, and I took the punishment besides. Our third point had the Implac on the bridge and me waiting for her. I moved closer, and she looked down at my feet. I couldn't read her expression, but I thought she might be smiling, thinking I had forgotten. I hadn't forgotten. "Begin!" The force field dropped. The bridge began moving towards me, and

the Implac was at the nearest end. I scrambled backward, and I thought I barely made it clear. Then she leapt, and I ducked down, grounded one end of the staff, and caught her in the middle. Her momentum lifted her up and over as she began screaming. I tried to deflect her off the platform, but she fell square on it behind me, dropping her staff. I turned, shoved the staff away with mine, and then went after her. Strike and a scream, strike and a scream. She tried to kick me from her downed position, but I blocked with the staff and she screamed, and then I spun around and hit her in the side. She jerked away, and I did it twice more. She fell off the side.

I stood there, leaning on the staff and panting heavily, but looking down at her. She was staring at the ground, hovering over it. And then Dark Skies lifted her by the ankles. She began whimpering even before she was above my head, and she was screaming long before she got dropped. At the end of the second drop, she emptied her stomach onto the arena grounds. Dark Skies actually let her kneel in mid air, heaving. Then she wiped her mouth. And then Dark Skies lifted her and dropped her once more. I moved onto the sliding bridge and waited. "If I lose the rest," I said, "I don't

care." "Try to do better than that," Dark Skies said. "I wouldn't mind doing that a few more times." The Implac was slow to get moving, and she looked pretty bad when she stepped onto the center platform. I waited at the center of the bridge, just barely closer to her, hoping the Implac would forget. But she held back and waited. "Begin." The force field dropped, and the woman didn't move. She waited, right in the center of the platform. "Seriously?" I asked. "You're going to wait there? Where's that Implac killer instinct?"

And then I waited. The bridge went back and forth a few times. The woman didn't move. "Fine," I said. "If you're too afraid to come to me, then move back so I have room to come to you." She listened to the translation and then stepped back six steps. So be it. I timed it and ran, jumping over the danger area. As soon as I was committed, the Implac was moving forward, but I slumped to my knees, and her strike went wide. I grazed her legs then was past her. She screamed, but she kicked backwards, catching me in the chest, and I flew all the way off the platform. I screamed during the first drop,

but then I said, "Is it against the rules to pause at the top?" "No." "Is this as high as you can take me?" "I can take you to the clouds, Andromeda." "And catch me, even if I don't fall straight?" "Yes, and catch you." "Higher. A thousand meters." And so she lifted me, dangling from my feet, and I wondered if I was insane. But I spread my arms. "Wait. Do you have cameras on me?" "Several." "Let me see the view from one,

just until you drop me back in the cage." A moment later, my image was superimposed over the view looking down. I blew a kiss to the camera, spread my arms wide, and said, "Do it." I'd never been parachuting before. I don't know how high they take you. It's probably higher than three thousand feet. But I dropped for what seemed like a long time. And I didn't scream. "One more," Dark Skies said. "Higher." Two thousand meters. And then she lowered me into the cage, and it took a while for me to catch my breath. "Sky divers," I said. "Eat your

hearts out." I collected my staff, stood up, and jogged out to meet my opponent. She got the next four points, but then I got one more. Dark Skies shouldn't have lifted her as high as she'd been lifting me, because my second time hadn't been that high. But I didn't say a word when she did it. The rest of the points happened right in front of my cage. We weren't using the cage to end the challenge, and so it closed after I stepped out, and I had little room to maneuver. The Implac took a long time to come to me, however. I grounded the staff and waited. She took a very long time. But the murder in her eyes was clear when she finally arrived.

"She's going to try to really hurt me this time," I said. "If she's beating me badly enough, and I can't escape, pull me off sideways." "We'll protect you," Clover whispered. The barrier went down, and the Implac charged me. She powered through two strikes of the staff and slammed me backwards into the cage behind me. Then she began to pummel me with her hands. I crumpled under the onslaught but she pulled me to my feet and hit my face hard enough to throw me from the platform. I hung in space, dazed, staring at the ground.

"My face," I said. "Cameras on it." "I'm on it," Dark Skies said. "You're done, Andromeda. Concede." "You have to drop me. Do it." "No." "You have to. Do it." She lifted me and dropped me three times. I thought I was going to be sick this time, and I couldn't control the falls, but I held it together until she lowered me into the cage. I collected my staff, stood up, and turned to the Implac. "Please stop, Andromeda." I wiped at my face. It was bleeding badly. I stepped forward and

then waited. They weren't opening the cage door. "Open it." "No." "Open it!" "No." I looked for Jasmine. She was standing in her place, her eyes on me. "Jasmine Brighteyes," I called out. "Honor is not satisfied. Open this door." Jasmine spread her arms, and then I knew Dark Skies was lifting her. She rose into the air and floated over to me, setting down in front of the cage door. She turned to me and stepped closer. "Andromeda," she said. "We do

not allow this to happen to our humans. We do not. This event is over." "It is over!" I screamed, "When it is over! That woman," and I pointed past Jasmine, "Violated me." "I know," said Jasmine. "I know. But we do not do this to our humans. We do not. I cannot allow it." She turned around and walked to the edge of the force field. Then she spoke in an alien language, but Clover translated to me. "This event was to push your opponent from the platform. I allowed strikes as a tool to do so. I specifically disallowed pummeling. I told you to control your power. You could have easily thrown her. Instead, you did that

to her. This is not how we treat our humans. You are forfeit." Then Jasmine turned around and walked to me. The cell door opened as she approached, and then she pulled me into her arms, picked me up and carried me from the arena. I don't know what happened to the Implac after that. I asked Jasmine to not tell me. She assured me I'd never see her again, and that was enough for me. I never have.

Brawl "Stop it," I whispered. "Put me down." "You're going into the chair." "No! I have a job to do." "No you do not." "Jasmine, this needs to be my choice. I have a job to do." "You are going into the chair." I stopped fighting her. "Will you let me out for tomorrow?" "Yes." I started to cry. "Will it heal?" "Yes." "How bad is it?" "Don't touch it."

She carried me the entire way, and there were technicians waiting. They pointed to a chair, and I thought it was the same one as last night. The technicians pulled the boots from me. I held Jasmine's hands in mine, and she looked down at me. Then the technicians worked on the jumper, pulling it from me. I stared at Jasmine and let them do to me whatever they wanted, but I winced a few times. "I think she got my ribs." "Everyone heard it," she said. "The chair will fix it." "By morning?" She didn't say anything. "Jasmine, please."

"We'll see," she said. "Oh, Andie." "I'm sorry," said one of the techs. "We need to take the visor." It dimmed immediately and then someone removed it. I blinked up at Jasmine, but the chair was already swallowing me. I clutched at her hands. "It hurts." "I know. You won. She forfeit." "She won. She kicked my ass." "She intentionally broke your ribs. She intentionally broke your cheek. We do not do this to our humans! Do you hear me? We do not. I have to let go now, Andie. Let go of my hands." I nodded. It was hard to let go

but I did. She pressed my hands down, and then the chair finished swallowing me. And I slept. **** It was some time later that I woke, still cradled in the chair, but my face exposed. Jasmine was there as was someone looking very doctor-ish. "Well, young lady," he said. "Fighting with Implacs is not good for your bones." I flicked my gaze to Jasmine. "What day is it?" "Thursday morning." I looked back to the doctor. "How bad am I?"

"Now? You have some swelling around your face, but we repaired the bone. We repaired the ribs. That's probably going to be tender for a while. I am not authorizing you for any further combat events for at least a week, and you'll be back here for a full exam." "Am I going to hurt?" "Probably. If it is too much, we can put you back in for another day or two." I looked back to Jasmine. "How much time do I have?" "Two hours." "I'm hungry, and I want a bubble bath. Do you think I could have a bubble bath?" I turned to the doctor again. "Do I need to ice it?"

"No. Heat is good now. Icing is to stop the swelling before it happens." "Yes, Andromeda, we can arrange a bubble bath," said Jasmine. At that, the bed receded the rest of the way. Jasmine had a robe for me, and she covered me until I was completely free. Then she helped me sit and I pulled the robe on. She and the doctor steadied me as I climbed from the bed, and then she knelt down before me and put slippers on my feet. Then she stood, wrapped an arm around me, and together we slowly walked away. "Where are you taking me?" "My apartment," she said. "I'll feed you in the tub."

"You don't have to do that." "And yet you aren't going to fight me." "No. I won't fight you." We didn't talk the rest of the way. She led me straight to her bathroom, and the tub was waiting. I checked the water then dropped the robe and climbed in, Jasmine supporting me until I sunk down into the water. I closed my eyes. "Thank you," I whispered. "Now take that foolish blouse off and put on a proper one." She snuffled, and a moment later she was caressing me with tentacles. "Food is coming." "Thank you," I whispered again.

"That was a big audience. Did you sell tickets?" "Of course not." I soaked quietly for a minute. "Jasmine. The Kitsune apologized to me." "I know." "Is she one you wanted me to impress?" "Yes." I opened my eyes. "Why?" "Because she is very, very important, Andromeda." I closed my eyes again. "I don't care about that. I want someone who will treat me with kindness." "Well, she's married. She wasn't

here to decide if she wanted you as a mate. She was here to meet you." "Oh. Why?" "Because you're an experiment, and she wanted to know why." "Oh. I'm sorry I ruined that for you." "You changed it, somewhat dramatically, I think by the time you finished dancing with her." I heard a noise, so I opened my eyes to look. Clover was in the doorway, and she had, of all things, a picnic basket. "May I stay?" she asked. "If you have time and Jasmine doesn't mind," I said. "Jasmine, are you

really feeding me in here?" "You soak," she said. The two did something with the food. I didn't even have to open my eyes. Jasmine simply said, "Open," and then she slid something into my mouth. It was all delicious. "Clover?" "Yes?" "If I ever suggest something like that again, will you please ask Dark Skies to grab me, drug me into oblivion, and order me to forget it?" She snorted. "Yes. Sugilite is asking about her, Jasmine. For that matter, so are Cherish, Soft Rain, and just about everyone else."

I sighed. "I missed all the interviews yesterday. I wanted to watch them." "They're recorded." "It's not the same." I opened my eyes and turned my head. "How did Julie do?" "I have four males expressing an interest," Jasmine replied. "They all know what she wants, and they know she has health limitations." "If you can fix my face, can't you help her with that?" "Of course we can," Jasmine said. "But not until she is either mated or signs an employment contract." "I thought so. I didn't tell her. I

want her to think whoever wants her is happy with her the way she is." "They are," Jasmine said. "Two physicists, a mathematician, and I'm not sure what Dr. Neeks does. They started asking her questions about her thesis paper and seemed quite pleased with her answers." "Good," I said. "I need to see that video, and I need to see her before she goes into the arena." "Of course. Video is available as soon as I get you a new visor." "I brought one," said Clover. "But..." I reached up, and the side of my face was tender.

"I should get up," I said. "Things to do, people to see, Catseye to hug." "We'll give you a little privacy," Jasmine said. "The room across the hall has your clothes." "Thank you." **** They were both waiting when I stepped into the living room. I took my hugs, long, slow, and very gentle. "Thank you for taking care of me," I told them. "I need to speak with Julie before she goes to the arena." "She's in the second batch, right before lunch," Jasmine said. "First is at 9:30. Second at 11:00. It's 8:50 right now."

There was a visor case on the coffee table. "Is that mine?" "Yes. It's not going to be comfortable." I sat down on the sofa and pulled the box to me. I opened, and a visor waited for me. "May I?" "Yes." I pulled it out. Jasmine was right. It was a little uncomfortable, but I put it on anyway. It activated, and I saw immediately I had mail." "It's the same one?" "No. That one was cracked. This is new." "It has my old settings." "Oh. Yes. Those upload to the

server." "Ah. Nice. I'll check my mail later. I should go visit Julie." "You'll have to do it between batches," Jasmine said. "You have visitors. They'll be here in a minute or two. But Clover and I need to talk to you. Normally, once the women are in the arena, I talk to them. I try to convince them to be a willing mate. And I explain about the ribbons. We want you to do it." I thought about it. "Are you sure?" "Yes." "Then I'll need you there if there are questions or agreements to make." I thought more. "And I think if we're going to do that, I should go out there as a

mating candidate, not your employee." The two exchanged a look, then Jasmine said, "We'll trust your judgment." "Do the women have shoes?" "Some were wearing slippers when we took them." "I bet the sand is hell on them." "They usually come away ruined," Jasmine said. "I think you should give them sandals, Jasmine." "We'll discuss that in the future." "I should be shackled," I said. "And led out like they are. But may I have one of the kimonos?" "Yes," she said. "Are you asking

for sandals?" "Some of them have robes, so if I have a kimono, that's in keeping. But if most of them are in barefoot or slippers, then I will go barefoot. Will the sand be hot?" "Later, it can be, but we cool it before the event. It's warm, but not hot enough to burn." "You should give them sandals." "And I said we'll discuss it in the future. Your guests are here." They both stood and then I received a tentacle from each to pull me to my feet. By the time I turned, several aliens were moving in. "Greet the Kitsune first," Jasmine said into my ear. "Give her a moment, then you may greet the others."

Sugilite stepped through the others and around the sofa, coming to a stop a few feet in front of me and looking me up and down. I stepped forward and offered a hand. "Good morning, Sugilite," I said. "A big day today." "A big day today, she says," said Sugilite. "You are a foolish human." "I took my honor back, and she lost hers," I said. "I could have looked past it if she had been only a little less invasive. But she went much too far." "Although I would not have ignored it," Jasmine added from behind me. "You and I started poorly," Sugilite said.

"We did." I smiled. "You engaged in subterfuge. That was very naughty of you." She stiffened for a moment, her ears swiveling forward. "I will repeat: you are a foolish human." "Far too foolish for my own good," I agreed. "I didn't like you when we first met, but I think I was wrong." Her ears twitched again. "Perhaps not. I can be difficult to like. I would like to share a meal and a portion of your time." "I would like that as well. I am not in control of my schedule for such things, and I do not know if I can be charming for another day or two." "You are still hurt."

"A little, yes, and today will be a long day." "Is tomorrow too soon?" I looked at Jasmine. "Am I available?" "Yes." I turned back to the Sugilite. "I may need a nap before we meet, and I do not think too much excitement would be good." "We will share a quiet evening," she said. She stepped forward, closing the rest of the distance. She took a hand in one of hers and then reached up to very gently touch the side of my face. "Very foolish human." "Perhaps, but a proud human.

Would you have done it differently?" "Yes. I would have assassinated her." I couldn't help it. I laughed, then apologized. "I'm sorry, but I bet you're just the Kitsune to do it, too. But would you really?" "Yes. If she had done that to me, she would be dead. I think poison. Slow poison, but I would want to look her in the eyes when I applied it. Perhaps I would have asked her to dance, and given it to her then." "I wasn't aware that option was available to me," I said. "I will remember it next time." She wrinkled her face, squeezed my hand, and then stepped away. The

next time I looked for her, she was gone. The two Wookies were next, and I took gentle hugs from both of them. "Thank you for your help," I said. "The Kitsune is right," said Soft Rain. "You are a foolish human. In the future, if you must battle an Implac, you will ask me to do it for you." "I believe Jasmine Brighteyes has ensured I will not have a similar need, but if I do, I will remember your words." I touched my face in emphasis. "Am I still pretty?" The Wookie took my question seriously, studying my face. "You will be prettier in a few days, I believe." "Administrator Brighteyes, I believe this Wookie just implied I'm not

pretty anymore." "I'm not sure she agreed you were in the first place." "Oh, please. She finds me fascinating." I looked up into kind Wookie face. "I am not going to be fit for challenges with you for at least a few days." She gestured to the other Wookie. "She has taken a name. She wishes to be called Thick Fog." I held my hand to her. We'd already greeted, but she took my hand. "That is a good name, Thick Fog." Soft Rain translated, and the Wookie rumbled. "Oh, tell her I like her voice, too." "Thick Fog and I wondered if

you would accept a challenge from both of us together." "There is no way in the world I'm going to beat one Wookie, much less two. But if you want such an uneven challenge, I accept. In a few days." "It would be a three way challenge," said Soft Rain. "We would compete over you." I looked back and forth between them. "I do not want to see two friends fight." "We won't fight. We'll compete." "Will it look like fighting to human eyes?" "No. We do not know the details. But it won't look like fighting, and we

will be very gentle with you." "I know you will. And so only one of you will win? I do not believe Thick Fog and I can communicate very well if she wins me for an evening." "We will be three friends for the evening," Soft Rain said. "We are competing for which of us you will bathe." I laughed. "Agreed. I look forward to it." After that, I spoke very briefly with Dark Skies. She whispered into my ear, "We'll see each other more later." Cherish gave me a long, long hug. "I wish another challenge." "I'd like that. I need a day or two

more. If they are to be similar challenges as our last, you may have all you want, subject to Dark Skies and her management of my schedule." "Good. I would like that." I spoke briefly with the others, taking a few more hugs, and then Jasmine said we had events to run, and Clover chased everyone out. "You will sit with me during the events," Jasmine said. "I will provide shade." "I thought I was running cameras." "You can do that with your visor." "I need more screens than that," I

said. "And I don't think it has the resolution to let me watch multiple views at the same time." They both began laughing. "Hey!" I said. "It's not funny, whatever I said." "Andromeda," said Clover. "If the visor lacks resolution, then how is it you can watch all those screens while wearing a visor?" "Oh, hell," I said. "Okay, yeah, that's worth laughing at me about. But I don't know how to get the visor to do everything I need." "Dark Skies can help you set up," Clover said. "And we can keep you in the conversation from the control room."

"They do that with me now," Jasmine said. "All right." "Questions?" "No, I don't think so." "Then go to your cell. You have clothes waiting. I will bring your kimono when I retrieve you." **** The visor led me straight to the cell, not the changing room. Once I stepped through the door, it locked me in, which wasn't surprising. I changed into the camisole and undies. I checked the time. I only had a few minutes, but I used the time to dig through records.

If my charges were getting dates, I couldn't tell. A problem for tomorrow, I decided. I watched Julie's interview. She was led out into the arena and onto a podium near the middle of the arena. Jasmine introduced her to the assembled group, talking up her virtues and explaining her needs. Julie stood there, looking down at the arena sands, saying nothing. But then an alien stood, and his voice was amplified. He introduced himself as Dr. Waterfall. "I am a physicist. I read your thesis paper." Julie looked up. "That was several years ago." "I have questions," he said. And

then for the next minute or two, I didn't understand a word of the conversation. But Julie came alive. She came fully alive, and it was beautiful to watch. Another alien stood, and then one more, and the four of them discussed the paper. They had all read it. And these aliens, with their interstellar travel and their ability to throw me a kilometer into the air, drop me, then catch me, these aliens treated her as an equal. They took turns asking her other questions, too. They asked how she filled her spare time. One asked if she played human games and mentioned chess. One asked if she liked to cook. "I like to cook far too much," she said. And then she looked down.

"I have grown fond of food from the American city of New Orleans. Do you know it?" She looked up. "You like Cajun food?" "Yes." "I love Cajun food. You can eat our food?" "Yes. I require dietary supplements, because your food does not have every nutrient my body requires, but I love human food. If you were my mate, would you cook this Cajun food? I cannot find anyone on the space station who can cook it properly." "Can we get the ingredients?" "We can," he replied.

"I'd love to cook for you." They asked her a few more questions, some of them deeply personal, some which embarrassed her, but she answered. And then, all at once, the three of them sat down. One other stood. He asked a question about her paper, and then he sat. A moment, later, she was led from the arena, and the video ended. "Well, well," I said. "That's good then. I hope." And then I lay down and closed my eyes. I asked the visor to play soothing sounds and was rewarded with a gentle summer shower. ****

"Andromeda." I sat up quickly. Jasmine was kneeling beside the bed. "Oh, I'm sorry. It was only a few minutes. Please tell me I didn't sleep the entire day." "I have come to get you. You slept only a few minutes. Are you all right?" "Yes. I will be. No guards?" "Are you going to fight me?" "Of course not." "Stand up, please." I did. She slipped the kimono in place for me, belting it. She also had a long chain attached to a pair of wrist shackles. She clamped one shackle over

each wrist, and I saw the chain was a Y, one branch to each shackle. But there was a hoop, and she slid the hoop towards my wrists, pulling them together. Somehow the hoop stayed where she put it. I would worry at it later, but I was unable to move it. Yet when Jasmine wanted to move it, it moved easily. Aliens cheat. "You're leading me out at the end of a chain?" "Yes. I rather like the symbolism. Don't you?" "No." "Tough." And then she tugged on my wrists

as my visor dimmed. She led me by the chain, although she slid her hand up to cup the chain right at my wrists, so I was able to walk beside her, not following along behind. We talked as we walked. "I watched Julie's interview. Three seemed more interested than the fourth." "The fourth listened and was happy with the questions and answers. He is just as interested as the first three." "They want her as a mathematician." "They want her as a woman with a brain they can appreciate," Jasmine replied. "All four know what she wants, and all four have agreed."

"Will they be kind?" "Yes. I do not know any of them, but I have friends who do. Dear friends. I do not have many dear friends, Andromeda. But I asked about them. These are all good men." She tugged my wrists for a moment, probably just because she could. "One of the people I talked to is the first human who let me hug her. She knows three of them, two of them well, but she said they all treat her very kindly when she sees them." "All right," I said. "Good." We came to an eventual stop. "You have a choice," she said. "I can take you out there now and leave you to wait, or we can wait here until the women are there, and I can take you out

after." "Lead me out once they can see you do so." "And make it obvious I am leading you?" "Yes." "And now you know part of the reason for this long chain." "If you are not going to hold my arm, then will you let me see?" My visor brightened immediately. We were standing just inside the arena structure, deep in shadow, but ahead it was bright sunlight. I could see the circle of pillars and some of the cages. And in a circle, the alien males, waiting.

"I should be on the cameras." "It is being handled." "We should be getting close ups of each challenger." "This is not the first time we have done this, Andromeda." "Oh. Am I a control freak?" She laughed. "Maybe a little." "I should have done interviews before today." "You were a little occupied." I paused then asked, "Would Sugilite really have poisoned her?" "I have no doubt," Jasmine replied. "I would have been vexed, because while you were violated more than I was, if you had poisoned her, I

wouldn't have had my own revenge." I smiled and leaned against her for a moment. "Jasmine? If you were going to guess, do you know what will happen to me?" "I know you're not leaving unmated. I won't allow it." "Will I be happy?" "I think you will fight with your mate, but if you fight fairly, and do not hold grudges, then yes, I believe you will be very happy." "If Dark Skies took me, there wouldn't be any fighting." "Is that what you want?" "No," I said. "I like thinking for myself."

"It feels good though, doesn't it?" "Yes. Really good. I know I'd be happy, but I think a part of me would die." "I think what makes you special would be lost," she replied. It may have been the nicest thing she said to me by that point. "I wouldn't want to be an Octal queen, either." "You need someone who challenges you." "Yeah, I think so. And someone who tells me when I'm being an idiot." I laughed. "Or a foolish human. Why didn't you tell me I was being a foolish human?"

"I believe I did. But I also believe you did what you needed to do, and I think you proved a point or two that needed to be proven." "Did she try to kill me?" "No, but she wanted you hurt." I took a breath. "New rule. We're not talking about that anymore. We have the future before us, and these woman deserve our attention." "Do you know what you're going to say?" "No. Do I have leeway on what I can offer?" "We cannot negotiate the way we did in private. But if they agree, we can offer a little negotiation in private, but

they will not be in a position of strength. If they back out after agreeing, they'll sit in their cells until the next cycle." "With nothing to do?" "Correct. Do not tell them that." "Right." We waited another moment, then from across the sands there was motion. Two of the guards led a woman forward. They brought her to a pillar, secured her hands, and removed the restraints. She was wearing a hood, and she kept the hood. Then more women were led out, one at a time. It took a while. "We need more guards." "The guards do not like working here. The women they guard resent them,

and they take significant abuse. I do not want anyone here who is so cold as to ignore the abuse, and so the guards suffer for it. I do not want to do that to more people." "Does it take two per woman?" "They stumble. Two can catch her. One cannot. This works, Andromeda." And so I nodded. Soon there were sixteen women attached to the pillars. About a third wore visors. The rest were hooded. But then the four guards moved around the circle, removing hoods. Even from here, I could see them blinking in the light. And I could tell when the visors brightened, as the women wearing them

began looking around. Some of the women looked determined. Most looked frightened. Two began to cry. "This is cruel." "I know." "Damn it, Jasmine." "I know, Andromeda. Think about helping them. Help some to make another choice, and help the others to have hope." "Hope when it is hopeless?" "It is not hopeless. They will have different lives than they envisioned, but they can be very, very good lives, Andromeda. Tell me, if I pulled you to one of those pillars, and the arena was

filled with Dark Skies, Soft Rain, Thick Fog, Cherish, and a few others, do you think you would have a good life?" I looked over at her. "What? No Catseye would fight for me?" "We don't fight." "You wouldn't fight for me, Jasmine Brighteyes?" I asked teasingly. "Answer my question." "Fine. You're right. I could be happy with many of those." "This appears barbaric, but it is a portion of the culture -- and for some, biological needs -- of the men surrounding these women. But they will treat them well, and these women will have good lives."

I didn't respond to that. Instead I said, "They need to see us approach, but I don't want anything flashy." "Leave it to me. It is time. Come." And then she stepped forward, but she relaxed her hold on my chains, and soon I was following five feet behind her, my arms outstretched. We stepped into the sunlight, and then she came to a stop. I moved slightly sideways so that all the women could see me, if they looked, and just a little closer to Jasmine, lowering my arms but the chain still tight. Then we stood there, waiting. From the stands, the assembled audience saw us, of course, and they set

up a fresh racket. Apparently this was a popular event. I looked around. Some of the males were watching me. Some were watching the women. Some were watching each other. And I saw three females as well. I didn't know their species. But I was glad I'd fought the Implac and not any of them. I wondered how this would work out for them. If they wanted a mate, they should come to me. I'd help them out. But then I turned to look at the women. Some of them had noticed us and were looking this way. A few looked over their shoulders. Some stared at the pillar that was holding them, and a few were looking around,

barely glancing at Jasmine and me. Then Jasmine tugged on my arms, and we were walking again. She didn't lead me straight into position. Instead, we approached the women but then walked all the way around them, Jasmine clearly leading me by the chain. That got the attention of nearly all the women. And that was when she led me into the center of the circle. There was a pillar there, but she didn't press my hands to it. She hooked the furthest end of the chain, a chain so long it could reach to any of the other women. She reeled me in and released the ring that bound my wrists closely, offering me a little more movement.

And then she stepped away. She remained in the circle, but she stepped from the center. "You're live, Andromeda," said Clover into my ears. "There are two women from Japan, but they have visors and will receive a translation. Don't worry about pausing." I nodded once. Then I stepped partly away from the pillar, dragging the chain with me. I turned a slow circle, looking at each of the women in turn. Most were watching either me or Jasmine, but two were crying and staring down. I stepped to the first of them. She looked young, but they all looked young, I suppose. I reached with my hands and

lifted her chin, then wiped away the tears. Then I leaned forward and kissed her cheek. I walked to the other and did the same. And in the stands, the crowd grew quiet. I looked around, and then I spoke. "All of you have been told what is happening here." I looked around, this time past the women. "Staring at the reality is frightening." "Why are they doing this to us?" one of the women asked. I turned to her. "Humanity owes a debt. Right or wrong, we are here to pay that debt. We are needed. Right or wrong, this is how the debt is to be paid."

"They're going to kill us!" "No," I said. "They are not." "Who are you?" asked another. "Didn't you watch?" said a third. "She's the one from yesterday, the one who kicked that alien bitch's ass!" I turned to that woman and approached her. She was looking at me with fierce eyes. I smiled at her. "You watched?" "They played it on the wall, like a movie," she said. "I don't know if anyone else saw." "I did," said someone, then a bunch of others were nodding. "My name is Andromeda Hayes," I said. "Like all of you, I am a mating

candidate. I arrived here the same way all of you did. But I've been here for almost two weeks." I rattled the chain. "The aliens have something special in mind for me, but in the end, I will most likely leave the same way most of you will, mated to one of the aliens." I turned a circle. "This seems hopeless. Looking at these males here today, they are frightening." "I don't want to marry any of them!" said one woman to much agreement. "We're going to kick their asses!" said the one with the fierce gaze. I turned to her. "Perhaps as well as I did yesterday. But none of you will have to be carried from the arena. These

aliens are fierce to their foes, but they are very gentle to their mates. They will not hurt you. Look at them. They could break us like a twig, but they will be gentle." "I don't believe that," said another. "I don't blame you," I said. "I don't blame you at all. I'm not sure I'd believe me." I turned around again. "All of you are here on these sands because first the aliens took you, but second, you chose to fight rather than accept a species that wishes a willing mate." "Damned right we're going to fight." That was echoed by several of the women, but a few were very quiet. I walked to one. "What's your name?"

"Sylvie," she said. "Sylvie, you should call me Andie. Sylvie, you don't look like you want to fight." She looked down and shook her head. "But they can't make us marry them!" "They seem to feel differently, and they have all the power." Then I muttered, "Clover, bio." Sylvie appeared in my image immediately, and I skimmed quickly, then smiled. "Sylvie," I said. "Have you ever dreamed of seeing other planets?" She didn't say anything. "Maybe walking on the moon?"

She looked up at that, then she lifted her eyes into the air, searching for it. And then we all looked, and it hung over us, a crescent, but it was there. "The moon?" "NASA doesn't have plans to go any time soon," I said. "But I wouldn't be too surprised to learn the aliens have a nice little hotel there." Jasmine stepped forward. "Nice is a relative term. Yes, we have a base on the moon." Sylvie's eyes snapped to Jasmine. "Really?" "Really." "Do... do humans ever go?" "I wouldn't say often, but yes,

they do." "But the space station is out near Saturn," I said. "Oh, imagine the rings." "You can't see Saturn from the station," said Sylvie. "It's in the L4 position." "I have no idea what that means." "It's as far from Saturn as it is from the sun," she explained. "It's a stable orbit. It's dark and cold and dead." "I bet the stars are brilliant." "When bringing a mating candidate to the station," said Jasmine, "it is common to swing past Saturn on the way. It's not necessary for orbital dynamics, but who would want to skip a

chance to see the rings up close? And we have a small base on Titan." "What!" said Sylvie. "Are you serious?" "Of course." "I-" She looked at me, then back at Jasmine. "I could stand on Titan?" "It would be up to your mate," she said. "You would not be the first mating candidate to do so." "I could stand on Titan and stare at the rings of Saturn." "Yes, if your mate agrees to take you." Then Jasmine smiled. "The space station is a double toroid five kilometers in diameter. And it is not dead. It is filled with life."

"It rotates." "Yes," said Jasmine. Sylvie stared hard at Jasmine, then looked at me. Then she looked around the arena. She turned back to me. "I don't want to fight here today." "I didn't think so. There are options." Sylvie looked down, and then her gaze snapped up, and just as quickly she turned to Jasmine. "You're space aliens." "Yes," Jasmine said. "To you, we are space aliens." "With space alien technology." "Yes," she agreed. "Amazing technology." Then she smiled and leaned

closer. "And once you accept your mate, you have access to all of it." "These challenges, not the one today, but the rest. I'm supposed to fight one of those men?" She gestured with her nose. "That other one, the one who talked to me, said the humans win some of the challenges, but there's no way I can beat someone like that." "And yet, I wonder how it is human women win against an Ardent, for instance," Jasmine said. She gestured. "That's the really big one there." "He'd chew me up and spit me out." "They're pussy cats," I said. "I like them." She turned her gaze back to

Jasmine. "I bet you use advanced technology in these challenges." "In some." "Light sabers?" "Those don't exist," she said. "I saw one with lasers though," I said. "And force fields. It was pretty cool. It looked like fun, actually." "But today is low tech," said Sylvie. "Sticks and nets and stuff. Gladiator shit." "Yeah," I said. "Gladiator shit. You won't get hurt, Sylvie." '"Yeah, not interested," she said. "But I'd do the laser battle." She turned to Jasmine. "I want one that will take me to Titan."

"That is between you and your challenger," Jasmine said. "Fine. Which one will agree? I can give him my ribbon, right?" She gestured with her nose. "Which one?" "Administrator Brighteyes, will all of these males treat their mates with gentleness and love?" "They will," she said. "Sylvie, I have to talk to these other women. But then we're going to let you all go, and you get time to go talk to them. Everyone heard this conversation, and they hear me now. So you will walk in a slow circle, and some will tell you, Sylvie, I will take you to Titan. And you should talk to them, but don't stop at the first one. Talk to them, decide which you

like, and give him your ribbon." She smiled and nodded. "All right. But he better not think I'm going to be a cake walk in the other challenges." "Oh, I have no doubt," I said. I stepped away. I turned to the woman who looked the most vulnerable. Her head was down, but I was sure she'd heard every word. I walked straight to her. Jasmine stayed behind, and I think she talked longer to Sylvie, but I focused on the next girl. "I don't want to go into space," she said quietly. "I want to go home." "I know," I said. "What's your name?" And before she could answer,

her bio appeared in my vision. I sighed. They'd taken her out of college. "I'm Becky," she said. "I'm Andie," I said. I skimmed the rest of her bio. And then I smiled. "Were you in college?" "A junior. I'm a biology major." "Biology. That's a tough major." "I like it. I was going to get my doctorate and go into research." "It's a shame you can't go to an alien school," I said. "The things they could teach you." She looked up at that but didn't say anything. "The aliens are all so different," I said. "I think they're fascinating,

especially all the differences." "You're trying to manipulate me." "Yes, I am," I said. "But am I wrong?" She didn't say anything. Instead, she lowered her eyes. "I just want to go back to school." "Did you have a boyfriend?" "No. I did, in high school. He was kind of a jerk. You know what boyfriends are like." "I'm afraid I don't," I said. "But I could talk about girlfriends if you like." She looked up at that. "You're gay." "Yep." I leaned closer. "I'm breathing gay germs at you."

She laughed. "You do know there are no such things." "Yeah, but I wasn't sure if you did." I paused. "Becky, did you want to go to school for, well, the parties and the boys and living in a dorm?" "Dorms suck." "You wanted to go so you could learn." "Yeah. I love lab work." Jasmine moved closer, and I turned to her. "Did you hear all that?" "I did. Becky, there are no males standing around you that are biologists." She looked around and lowered her eyes. "There are several biologists in

the stands from amongst those species who take willing mates." "I don't need to marry a biologist," she said. "But I'd want someone smart who would support me and let me have a career. I bet these guys just want a baby machine. How can I even have a baby for them? We don't share any DNA. I'm closer to a fungus than I am to any of these guys." "And yet, here we are," Jasmine said. "But don't ask me. I'm not a biologist. So you don't need a biologist, but maybe you wouldn't mind a scientist." "As long as he leaves work at work. When we're home, he pays attention to me, and not the damned

football game. Or computer games. That's what my boyfriend did in high school. I'd come over, and all he wanted to do was play his games." "Becky," I said, "You don't want to fight, do you?" "No." "Your other choice, if you won't fight, is to accept your role as a willing mating candidate. You would go home with a male, but he still has to woo you. But you agree to let him." She looked at me, then at Jasmine. "I want one who is smart." "I think we can arrange that." "I don't care what he does, but he has to let me have a career."

"And will you give him children?" Jasmine asked. "How many?" "That is between you and him," she said. "I want kids," she said. "Will they be human?" "They will have some human DNA, but they will be more of him than of you." "I don't even know how that works," she said. "Well," Jasmine replied. "I know how you could learn. You must say the words. Tell me you will be a willing mating candidate." She nodded. "You promise. He'll

be nice." "He'll be nice. And smart. And let you have a career." "I will be a willing mating candidate." I didn't see them approaching, but Piper and Dilly stepped up to her. The pillar released her arms, and Piper and Dilly began to pull her away. But she turned to face me. "Thank you." "You're welcome," I said. "If they allow it, I want to meet your future mate." "I'll arrange it," Jasmine said. And then they led her from the arena. I turned to the next woman. I went in a circle after that. As I

arrived at a woman, Clover fed me her bio. The very next one I stepped to said, "Don't even try it. I'm fighting." "Ribbon?" "Hell no." "You know you're going to lose." "And you knew you were going to lose yesterday." "I'm not the one who tossed her cookies." She smiled at that. "She pissed her pants, too." "Who would have thought of it?" I said. "Implac females have this thing about heights." "Are you suggesting you didn't know that ahead of time?"

"It may have been mentioned to me," I said. "I'm not sure I recall." We grinned at each other. "You look fierce." But I looked around and turned back to her. "Yeah, I know. But I'll go down fighting." "Ah, my words. Got a weapon picked?" "I wanted a sword, but I don't see any." Jasmine stepped up. "There are a few. Not enough for everyone. The challengers like to face a variety of weapons." "Are they sharp?" "Try not to slice your hand off,"

Jasmine said. "We can't grow one back for you." "Good luck," I told her. The next two weren't interested in talking to me, but then I met one of the Japanese women. "Are they translating for you?" "Yeah, but they can stop," she said. "I went to school at Stanford. The extra voice is annoying." I smiled. "You can skip your talk. I'm fighting." "You're small," I said. "You aren't any bigger than I am." "Smaller," she said. "I am a stereotype."

"Hot Asian chick?" "That, too," she said. "I am a small Japanese woman who studies taekwondo and jujutsu." "Well, well," I said. I skimmed her bio. Martial arts weren't listed. "Are you good?" "Second dan black belt in taekwondo. My jujutsu school does not award belts, but I win tournaments. Small tournaments, and my weight class is not difficult." I reached over and turned her head. "You're not in that weight class, Haruki." She didn't say anything. "Did you see my fight with the Implac?" "Yeah."

"I didn't know they were showing it to all of you. Did you see me the night before, at the party?" "Party?" "There was a little get together for the lesbians," I said. "No one thought you were interested." "Yeah, probably not," she said. "At the end of the party, I confronted the Implac. I challenged her. And then I delivered a roundhouse kick. I caught her in the ear hard and sent her flying." "Good for you!" "And broke my foot in the process." She looked down. "You heal

fast." "Alien technology," I said. "Yesterday it was a broken cheek and two broken ribs. That won't happen today to anyone. Well, it might when the aliens fight themselves, but they'll be gentle with you." "I'm not going to hold back." But she looked around. "They're huge." "You have choices," I said. "I'm fighting." "You could offer yourself willingly." "I'm fighting. "Most who take a willing mate are smaller than these. Some are smaller than we are."

She paused. "I'm fighting." "Well then. When your hands are free, you have a choice. You can take your chances. Or you can turn around and walk to one of the two aliens directly behind you. They're not quite so big. You can hand one of them your ribbon, and then you can kick his ass in the subsequent challenges." She craned her head, found the two I was talking about, then turned back to me and nodded. "We'll see." "Good luck, Haruki." I worked the rest of the circle. One more woman let me talk her into accepting willingly. The rest wanted to fight. I turned to Jasmine and nodded.

She stepped to my pillar, released the chain, then reeled me in, moving the hoop up to my wrists again. Then she held me there while she spoke for a few minutes. She led me from the arena. Behind us, some of the aliens, including a Loris, stepped onto the sands and walked to the women. Then I couldn't see anymore until we reached the stands. I looked out, and one more woman was being led away, the Loris holding her arm. "Good for him," I said. "Her," Jasmine said. "That's a female." "She wasn't there two nights ago."

"She just arrived. The girl was in the middle. We weren't sure of her orientation. Evidently she likes the looks of the Loris." "They are pretty cute," I said. "The Kitsune is gorgeous." "Sugilite is a particularly vivid Kitsune. They come in vast colors, though." "All right. I need my cameras, Clover." "Dark Skies is on it," Clover replied. "Access is from your visor," Dark Skies said. "Help me out," I said. A moment later, the visor

overlaid. I was presented with what appeared to be several computer screens, in a way, but all together at the same time. Everything I needed was there. But it was an overlay with what I was otherwise seeing. "Can you move my normal vision to just one of the screens, like it's a camera over my shoulder?" "Just a moment." Then everything changed. "There." "Thanks." I reviewed what I had. "Give me a minute before you release them, Jasmine." "We're all set," Dark Skies said. "Only twelve cameras?" I said. "Give me more. Warm 'em up for me, Dark Skies."

"Twelve is plenty," said Clover. "How many do you want?" Dark Skies asked. "How many are there?" "128." "Okay, I don't need all of them. Give me another twenty-six. Help me put two on each candidate. I'll use the rest for wider action." I actually let Dark Skies do that part while I arranged the rest. But I moved a couple near the two small aliens I'd tried to pick for Haruki. If she took my advice, I wanted to catch it. "Who is controlling the livestream?" "I am."

"Who is that?" "Danny." "Okay, Danny," I said. "If anyone gives away a ribbon, that's what goes out live. I'll try to tell you which camera, if I can." "Good. We watch for that, but you just gave me a lot more work." "Pshaw. You can handle it. Clover, shut me off from anyone who doesn't need to hear me, or if I don't need to hear them." "Me, Danny, and Dark Skies," she said. "Turn down my ears," I said, "but add Jasmine to that mix." "On it," Dark Skies said.

I arranged cameras, and then said, "Ready." Jasmine stood up. "Mating candidates, you have fifteen minutes to explore the arena. You may select weapons. You may talk to the challengers. However, do not approach a challenger with a weapon, or he is free to move, and you will be captured. At the end of fifteen minutes, return to the center, but you may bring weapons with you, if you like. Begin." "Danny, A-14-D." I had it zoomed in on Sylvie's hands. As soon as they were free, she picked up her ribbon, holding it for just a moment. Then I zoomed out and let her cameras go back to auto.

Haruki had her ribbon and was walking towards the two small aliens. I kept an eye on her. A few other women had ribbons, but I didn't think they were going to use them. I checked on Sylvie. "You're being too obvious with the cameras," Jasmine said. "Only some of them are wearing visors." "Dark Skies, next time I want some smaller drones." "Next time," she agreed. But I pulled some of my cameras further away, lamenting the need. Haruki walked to the two smaller aliens. She looked between them. They were both watching her.

She was lovely. Hot Asian chick. I'd want her. And I had liked her besides. I checked on Sylvie. She'd reached her first alien, but he'd looked past her, and she moved on. I enabled an audio feed from some of my cameras, including the ones nearest Haruki and Sylvie. "Catch Haruki, Danny," I said. She spoke Japanese. "She asked if they speak Japanese," Jasmine said. And one of them replied in Japanese. And then the other offered a bow and did the same. "That isn't coincidence, is it?"

"I do not believe in coincidence," Jasmine said. "You're good." "Frankly, so are you, but you have a lot to learn." "What's my count of willing candidates?" I heard chuckles from several corners. Sylvie walked past another alien. But the next was watching her approach. "Shit. Can we do a split feed? I don't want to lose Haruki, but Sylvie is about to get some attention." "I've got it," said Danny. "Run your cameras." Haruki talked to both of the

males. I didn't understand a word, so I just made sure I was catching good video and watched Sylvie. The alien watched her approach. She looked at him, but he said nothing. She fingered her ribbon and walked on. "False alarm," I said. "I don't think so," said Jasmine. "Watch." Sylvie got five steps, and then the alien spoke. "Titan is ugly." Sylvie froze. "But the sky from Titan is unbelievable." Sylvie turned. "I would be gentle," he said. She stepped closer.

"Are you getting this, Danny?" "Do your job and let me do mine." "Do you need the fight that happens here?" Sylvie ask with a gesture. "I need the challenges with you." He waved. "This is an unfortunate impediment." Sylvie stepped closer still. I checked on Haruki. She was still talking. "I would be gentle," the alien repeated. "Will I get in trouble if I come any closer?" He knelt down. "No, Sylvie," he said. "Come as close as you desire."

She walked up to him. Kneeling, they were nearly the same height. "You're huge." "Yes, compared to a human female. But I am gentle. May I touch you?" Slowly, she nodded. He reached out and caressed her face. Then he fingered her hair. "This is beautiful," he said. "Would you allow me to brush it?" "You want to brush my hair?" "It is important to my species," he said. "I'd let you brush," she said. "I'd like that." She stepped marginally closer. "Do you have a name I can say?" "Deep Dark," he said.

"Would I become Sylvie Dark?" "That is the human custom. It is not my custom. And so it is your choice." She nodded and looked at her ribbon. "What do you do?" "I am an astrophysicist." "Really?" "Really." "I don't understand astrophysics," Sylvie said. "Would you teach me, at least what I could learn?" "I would. I would teach you anything you want to know. I would take you anywhere in this system you wish to visit." "Our moon?" "Yes."

"Could we walk on Mars?" "Yes." "Will you love me?" "Yes." She started to cry and held out her ribbon. A lump formed in my throat, and I reached a hand for Jasmine, finding her arm, then down to her hand. I squeezed tightly. Deep Dark took the ribbon. "I have to put you in a cage." "Do aliens hug?" "Not all, but Niecor do." "Will you hug me first?" He was very gentle, pulling her to him. She threw her arms around his

neck. And then he stood up. It was like a father with a daughter. He held her and slowly walked to the nearest cage. I followed them with the cameras. Sylvie had her face buried against him, and she was trembling. But then I looked at the alien's face, and there was no mistaking the joy, even in the alien features. "You feel very good, Sylvie. You have made me very happy today." She clung tighter, and it was a long time before she let him put her in the cage. "What is happening with Haruki?" I asked. "They both want her. She can't decide." "They should have more time

than this, Jasmine." "I know, Andromeda. I know." "Can you help her? Somehow?" "Dark Skies, patch me through to the three of them." "Go," said Dark Skies. Jasmine began speaking Japanese. "Full of surprises," I muttered. "Clover, do you guys have some magic way to teach me a half dozen languages?" "No. Jasmine is offering a special challenge to them." I watched, and then I heard one of the males look at the other and say clearly, "Hai!" The other one paused then said, "Hai!" They both turned to

Haruki. She looked back and forth and said, "Hai." Then she looked down at her ribbon. A moment later she turned and ran off. I didn't understand. But she ran to a weapon stand, grabbed a knife, and then I watched her trim her ribbon into two, cutting it the long way. She returned the knife and ran back. Jasmine spoke. The two males stepped forward and accepted a half ribbon each from Haruki. They grabbed her by an arm each, picked her up, and carried her to a waiting cage. They set her down very gently, closed the door, and turned to stand guard in front of it. "Wow," I said. ****

Fifteen minutes later, Jasmine ordered the women to return to the middle. I looked around. Sylvie and Haruki were in cages, guarded by their new challengers, as was one other woman, one who hadn't wanted to talk to me. "Three," Jasmine said. "It would have been more if you'd given me more time with them," I said. "Sixty four women. An hour each. That's a long week. Four at a time. I could do four at a time. That's only two days. Administrator, with future batches, I want two days to perform interviews, not one. Can you make that happen?" "Can we run this event first?" "I'll get you more volunteers."

"Andromeda, please." "Fine, fine. I'm ready." "Begin!" Jasmine called out. The first half went as expected. It took less than five minutes before all the women were in cages. But none were as upset as from the few events I'd watched by video. The second portion was brutal, and I didn't care for it. But I had cameras on all the women. Some were fascinated. Some cheered on the males who had caught them. Some cheered on the males who were challenging the first males. And some hid their eyes. I didn't blame them.

But then it was over. "We ran late," Clover complained. "Someone ate our time." "This affects the rest of their lives," I said. "So you can guess who I think is in the wrong if you aren't going to give them a chance to make the best choices they can." "We need to hurry for the next one," she replied. "That's all I'm saying." "I need to speak with Julie," I said. "But someone has me shackled." "Whose idea was that?" Jasmine asked. "I'm only saying, I need to speak with Julie, and it should be in private without cameras. I'd like you there,

Jasmine." "All right," she said. "Clover, do you have this?" "Julie is in waiting room 4. I'll move the rest into position. Andromeda, is there any chance you can take less than a half hour?" I sighed. "That's not fair. I didn't take that long." "Let's go," Jasmine said. "You two can bicker later." "I'm not bickering," I said. "I'm trying to help these poor women that you yanked from their homes and are forcing to marry against their will. Excuse me if I care what happens to them." "We all care, Andromeda. Or

you'd be down there with them." I shut up. "She's a pain in the ass," said Clover. "Yeah," said Jasmine. "But she's the pain in the ass that's going to get you to Switzerland, so stop harping at her." "I'm not harping at her. I'm trying to keep to a schedule." **** Five minutes later had three of us in a room. Julie was there, swallowed by the chair and table, and clearly blind, but I was able to activate her visor. She saw me and smiled. "I saw you fight," she said. "Yeah. Lots of fun. Dark Skies

likes dropping me." "Who is Dark Skies?" "She's an Octal," I said. "And a dear friend." "I heard that," Dark Skies said. "I like you, too." "You guys go away! This is a private moment." "Who are you talking to?" "Dark Skies is eavesdropping," I said. "Administrator!" "It's private now," Jasmine said after a moment. We both took chairs. "Julie, I talked to all four of the males who asked you questions yesterday. Any of them would covet your ribbon." "Really?"

"Really," Jasmine replied. "The challengers will be arrayed in a circle along the perimeter of the arena, evenly spaced. Your four, if we can put it that way, will be together. I will point them out to you later, in case you don't remember them. They are dressed differently today, and I hear all the aliens look like." Both of us stared at her. "You just made a joke." "I may have," she said. "There may be others interested in you, Julie. But if so, none have indicated it to me." "Four. Four want me." "Four want you," Jasmine confirmed. "But hold your emotions in check. We don't have time for you to

cry." "I'll try," she said. "So I give one of them my ribbon? Which one?" "You'll have to decide." "I have to decide. Like, walk up and decide? How can I do that?" "This is what I mean, Administrator," I said. "They need time." Jasmine turned to me. "I heard you. I heard you the first time. I heard you the fifth time. I heard you the seventeenth time. I am working on it. Have you heard me at all?" I stared into her eyes and then lowered my head. "I'm sorry." "Let's focus on Julie," she said. "We'll do what we can today."

I nodded and turned to Julie. "I'm sorry I wasn't there." "You were in the hospital. Are you all right? We saw the fight." "Yeah. A little bruised. They fixed the broken bones." "Oh god," she said. "She broke your bones?" "You don't need to worry about that," I said. "That was a grudge match with someone who had no desire to find a mate here but every desire to get her ass handed to her by a tiny human." Julie smiled. "Even if she kicked my ass." "Yeah, but you didn't soil your pants."

I grinned. "I know. I saw your interview. I didn't understand half of it, but I saw something I really liked." "What?" "I saw you come alive. When you talk about your work, you come alive. You were beaming, Julie. And those aliens liked what they saw, too." "That makes it a job interview." "They want a mate who challenges their minds," I said. "So, a friend." I looked at her. My heart went out for her. I looked at Jasmine, completely at a loss. She took over. "Julie," she said gently. "They want you. You."

"Jasmine," I asked, "do they hug?" She cocked her head. "Yes, although not as ravenously as some species." "Good word," I said. "Julie, maybe you start with this. Walk up to them and ask if any of them want to hug you. Give hugs to whomever wants a hug. I know, in a way, it's just a hug. But it's a chance to see who feels good, who holds you the way you want to be held." I grinned. "Who tries to cop a feel." She snorted at that. "I'd rather send you on dates with each of them, but..." I glanced at Jasmine. "Start with a hug, then talk to them."

"Julie," said Jasmine, "the professional opportunities available to you are independent of your choice today, at least if you give your ribbon to any of these males. You can focus on the personal portions of what you want." "Do you want children?" I asked. "Yes. I suppose they won't be human." "No, but they make that work somehow, anyway. So ask them about kids. How many they want, how soon, gender, things like that." She nodded. "And they aren't all the same species. I bet different species raise their kids differently. Ask them about that." I paused. "In the past, there's been a problem I've had with a few girlfriends."

"What's that?" "We have had different ideas about what constitutes good, healthy adventure. For some, that means putting on a backpack and getting lost deep in the Yukon." I made a face. "Yes, I actually did that. Getting lost wasn't part of the plan. She assured me she had ample batteries for the GPS. She assured me she remembered a compass. She assured me the maps would stay dry when it started raining." "Oh, no." "I had another girlfriend who liked inappropriate sex." "Like, bondage and stuff?" "Like, loud sex at my parents'."

"Oh, no." "And she liked public bathrooms." "Eww." "Yeah, I know. On the other hand, I haven't been able to get any of my girlfriends to go on a cross country bicycle trip with me." "You wouldn't get me to do that, either. But I can drive the RV." I smiled. "So you could ask about things like that, then listen to what they say." "That one wanted me to cook for him. I like to cook." "Well, there you go. That's not enough of a connection for an entire

relationship, but it's a distinguishing mark. If sharing food is important to you, then picking one who can eat what we eat might be important." "I would counsel you to avoid a litmus test like that," said Jasmine. "It is one factor. Do not make it the only factor. You can have perfectly nice mealtimes while eating from different platters." "But if I can't taste it, I can't cook it," said Julie. "Then make him cook it," I said. "This might be important to you, Julie," Jasmine said. "But the other things Andromeda is saying are important, too." "All right."

"Ask what a typical night at home would be," I said. "Ask if he snores." "I snore." "Then tell him that," I said. She smiled. "Thank you, Andie." "You're welcome." "Will you be there?" "I'll be in the stands," I said. "You've got this. Julie, four space aliens want you. They want to take you back to their lair and do ... things with you." "They do not." "They certainly do," I said. I looked at Jasmine. "Or they shouldn't ask for your ribbon." "She's right," Jasmine said.

"What... what kind of things?" "Oh, tickle fights," I said. "Do aliens like tickle fights, Jasmine?" "I know some Catseye who are addicted to tickle fights," she said. "And they win." "I'm sure they cheat." "Not being ticklish isn't cheating," she said. "Feeling okay, Julie? Strong? Confident?" "No, but maybe this will be okay. Space aliens." "Yeah. And at least some of them seem like pretty decent space aliens. Not the Catseye, of course, because they seem to think tickling helpless humans is

funny. But the others. They seem okay." **** On the way back to the stands, Jasmine said, "You enjoy teasing me." "I enjoyed making her smile. She needed a reason to smile. Jasmine, if whoever gets her doesn't treat her right, I am going to..." "You're going to do what, Mating Candidate Hayes?" "I'm going to challenge you on the arena floor." "I heard that," said Clover. "Do not make me send Dark Skies down there, Andromeda, or I'll have her drug you to the gills and take you right on the sand with everyone watching."

"She's not an exhibitionist," I said. "I'm safe." "Fine. I'll have her drug you to the gills then beg the males to take you, one after the other. I bet some of them would be happy to oblige." "She wouldn't do such a vile act," I said. "I'm still safe." Clover snorted. "Fine. I'll have her drug both of you to the gills and then give you to Jasmine." I grew quiet then looked over at Jasmine. "She'd probably do that," I admitted. "But I think I'd survive." "I'm not sure I would," Jasmine said. "Sex with a human? Ug." "Said the Catseye who

practically flayed me alive because I taste so good," I said. **** The conversation with the women went in a similar fashion to the first one. Five either agreed to accept a willing arrangement or agreed to an offer from one of the aliens who came down to talk to her. That left seven. Six wanted to fight. Julie walked to her four aliens and then looked at them. I was glued to my cameras. "Dark Skies," said Clover, "Run the other cameras for this. You know Andie doesn't have any spare attention." "Got it," said Dark Skies. "Thank you," I whispered.

Julie came to a stop. She looked at all of them. I could read the indecision. "Jasmine Brighteyes told me any of the four of you would accept my ribbon." The men conferred with a look, and then one of them said, "We would." "All of you?" Julie asked. So they each confirmed. "Humans don't decide this fast," she said. "I don't really know what to do." She paused. "Andromeda suggested I ask for a hug. Do any of you want to hug me?" "I do," said one immediately, the one who liked Cajun food. Two of the others agreed right away as well. The fourth one hesitated, and Julie said, "I see."

"No, I don't think you do. My species does not engage in such outward displays of affection in public. We are more private. In private, I would want hugs." He gestured. "This is far from private." "Well, I'm going to take the three that have offered, then I have more questions." She stepped to the first, and then she took her hugs, one after the other. They looked warm and tight. And bachelor number two clasped her ass. Julie sort of squeaked, but she didn't stop him. When I caught her expression, she looked flushed. But that could have been from the heat. She asked the questions I'd recommended. She asked about food and

adventure, and a night at home. And I could tell the answers weren't helping. I could also tell at least two, maybe three had at least a chance of being a fit. I turned to Jasmine. "She needs help." "She's fine," Jasmine replied. "She is making a choice between four good choices. As long as she gives her ribbon to one of them, it is a good choice." Finally Jasmine ordered the women to the center. Julie hadn't yet decided. I opened my mouth to complain and found fingers over my mouth. So I kissed them. Jasmine caressed my cheek and then turned her attention back to the

arena. I watched Julie. She surveyed all four of them. Then she walked to bachelor number four. "I like you, but I want public affection. I have never gotten it, not even from my parents." "I am sorry," he said. "I understand." She walked to bachelor number two. "I like to cook, and we cannot eat the same foods. There is very little feminine about me, but I am proud of my cooking, and I want someone who will let me feed him the things I can make." "Food is an important ritual for humans," he said. He gestured. "These two are both friends, so if you pick one of them, then you and I will still be

friends. Would you like that?" "I would like that very much," she said. "And I want to talk more to you about..." and then she started spouting mathematics stuff I couldn't begin to explain. "I would like that," he said. Julie moved to bachelors two and three. "Do you both really want me?" she asked. "We do." She moved to bachelor number three, the one who liked Cajun food. "You mentioned one of my favorite foods, and I liked what you said about children." She looked at bachelor number two. "I liked the things you said, too." But she turned back to bachelor

three and held out the ribbon. He took it, and then he pulled her into his arms.

Changes That first day was a really, really long day. But finally it ended, the four waves of women all finished. Not a one got away, but I wasn't surprised. A few fought well, though, and there had been appreciation from the audience. Jasmine and I sat in the stands as the people dispersed. I had cameras to stow away, and I think she was working even while we sat there. Clover thanked everyone and terminated the conference we'd held most of the day. I got the cameras stowed and looked at Jasmine. She was watching me. "Do we have to work tonight?" I

asked. She nodded. "We have two days and then we begin the first challenges. We need to finalize initial challenge grids, and we need to run the challenge for the Japanese woman and her two Greygreen." "Is that what they're called?" "Yes. That is tomorrow. It will be a three-way challenge." "What if Haruki wins? Does she go free?" "Do I look like the sort of alien to let a mating candidate go free?" Jasmine asked. "Why yes, yes you do." "Appearances are deceiving

then," she said. "Besides, I am not so sure Haruki wishes to be free, and I am convinced several of the others do not." I didn't have a response to that. "If she wins, she will acquire points for future challenges, nothing more. One of the males will lose, and that is the competition that matters." She smiled. "But I might not tell them that." I laughed. "Keep them guessing." "So, the plan?" "I bet you want a swim." "I wouldn't mind a swim. Do I owe you one more without a suit?" "No. Everyone has seen enough. But if I ask in the future, will you do it again?"

"We'll see." "I'll take you to your cell. You can get your swim then change and join us for dinner." "Attire?" "Whatever you find waiting for you when you return to your cell." I nodded, too emotionally drained to spar with her. "Tomorrow we address those who willingly accepted a match who are not already matched. That is often handled in a single day, but we have more than average this time. And we have the match for Haruki. It will be a long day, and then you have dinner with Sugilite." "Yes."

And so she collected my chain, fastened my wrists together, and led me to my cell. I could tell she loved pulling me that way, and once she pulled me into the cell, I called her on it. "Guilty," she said. "Then why don't you do it more?" She snuffled. "Are you inviting me to? I think you like it as much as I do." "I'm only curious." "Tell me the truth. Do you like it? The truth, Andromeda." "We don't have the sort of relationship your question implies, Jasmine," I said.

"So you think it's sexy to be my prisoner." I considered carefully. "Unless you are adding your hat into the ring, we are not discussing what I find sexy." "And if I were?" "Then get yourself on my dance card and we can talk about sexy things all you want, assuming you answer as well as you ask." She didn't say anything, but she stepped forward and released my wrists. She stepped away. "Your suits are waiting for you. I have not cleared the pool, so you can expected a varied audience." "That's no different than swimming anywhere," I said. "I should

message a few people I'll be there." "It landed on your schedule the moment you said you were going, and the people who care are automatically notified when something interesting happens to your schedule." I laughed. "How many is that?" "About two dozen, although you don't know most of them. You have groupies." "Swell. I always wanted groupies. As long as there aren't any stalkers." "There might be one or two, but you let me worry about those." I nodded. "You make me feel safe."

"In spite of letting you do that yesterday. For the record, that is not happening again. Am I clear?" "Thank you for caring, Jasmine." "You're welcome, Andie. I'll see you in a while." "You could join me." "You've had me all day. I have my own groupies to attend to." I laughed. **** The pool wasn't full, but it wasn't empty, either. None of my friends were there, but they would appear over the next fifteen minutes. I accepted a few well wishes then evaluated the pool. Folks were

using it willy-nilly, so I called out, "Could I get the end lane for laps?" That require a few people translating, but they were all very solicitous and cleared the lane, a few with a flourish. "Thank you," I said. "I'm sorry to be a pain." I didn't wait for a response but dived in and began swimming. I acquired company as I swam, a few other people swimming laps near me. I switched to swimming the surface from the deep to the shallow end but the bottom from shallow to deep. Deep Skies arrived, waiting for me at the shallow end. When I saw her, I stopped and exchanged hugs. "Swim with me?" "I can't keep up, but I'd love to."

Cherish was next, so that was another hug and more company. Then Soft Rain was there with Thick Fog. We swam for a while, then I gathered all of them at the shallow end, exchanging a few hugs. "I'd stay longer, but work never ends." **** In my cell, I found the blouse, skirt, and sandals from earlier. I'd worn them all of an hour, and they were still fresh. I was a little surprised Jasmine wasn't making me wear skimpies, although the blouse was backless. Ten minutes later, I was outside her door, and seconds later she stood in the doorway.

She had changed and freshened up. She was dressed in a black skirt and red blouse and looked quite nice. Her tentacles were free, arrayed about her, and when I entered, I stepped into the hug. "Thank you," I whispered when she let me speak again. "I needed that." "I did, too," she said. "Come in. The others will be along soon." She kept tentacles across my back and led me into the living room. We sat on the sofa, but she had me sit in the center, adjusting her tentacles so she could continue to touch me. "Jasmine, what's up with this?" "Do you mind?" "No, I just want to understand."

"I have few friends, Andie. I've told you this. That's all, but Clover is going to do it to. If it's a problem, just tell me honestly." "It's not a problem. Really, it isn't. I like it, actually. I just don't want to misunderstand." "Just touch." "Okay." "You have about two minutes to tell me what you want us to change moving forward. Small changes, Andie. And don't expect to get them all." "I want to meet with all the women before the arena event. I told you that. I need two days. I can do them four at a time, but I probably need an hour, and I need someone -- and I prefer you --

to be readily handy if I get to the point of negotiating with someone. I'll get you more volunteers, and the rest won't be as frightened." "I think we can do that." "I want you to let them have sandals on the arena." She paused. "Andie, you're going to get angry about this, but you need to listen." I sighed. "I'll try." "I use privileges to ensure good behavior," she said. "You know this. I would much rather reward good behavior than have to punish bad behavior. The women who wore visors today got them because they gave good interviews yesterday. That was the

price." "The sand is hot, Jasmine." "I know. Just let me finish. I also let the challengers offer gifts. I've taken visors away and had challengers give them back. After a few days of being half naked, the gift of a bathrobe makes some of them cry. It nearly made you cry." I kept my mouth shut, not saying a word. "We make a big deal of it. The challengers give out a pair of boots for the first challenge, if it's somewhere she'll really appreciate it. Some of the women are ungracious about it, but most are so grateful. This is horrible for them, Andie, but a gift of boots can bring them to tears as they ask for a hug or some other form of affection."

"This is why some of the women seemed to like their challengers." "Yes. It's things like this. The lower they feel, the higher it seems when given something simple. I can't send a woman into a jungle challenge barefoot. But when her challenger gives her those boots, she is so grateful, Andie." "You're a manipulative bitch." "Yes, I am," she agreed. "But what would you have me do? I manipulate them into liking their challengers. Most of the challengers are good people, Andie. Most of them are kind and gentle. Most of them are brilliant, absolutely brilliant. But most of them don't understand human psychology, and without a helping head

start, this entire program would fail miserably. Do you blame me for taking steps to make people happy in the end?" I turned away from her, pointing my back at her, pulling my feet up onto the couch with me. But when she started to withdraw her tentacles, I grabbed them for a moment, letting her know she didn't need to. So instead, she massaged my back gently, which felt nice. I let her soothe me. "All right," I said after a while. "You made them wait outside, didn't you?" "Yes." "Is there anything we can do so the women who would give a ribbon have more time to decide?"

"Do you have suggestions?" "Do you have a large meeting room? Or several rooms the size of the ballroom?" "We can make some sort of arrangement." "Can we do a meet and greet? It would be by invitation, the women who we decide need it. They don't have to come, but they could." "I'm going to let everyone in. I want to talk about it in front of them. Turn around and sit like you don't hate me." I rotated back, and she adjusted. Then a moment later, I heard voices. Dark Skies, Clover, Bay, and Cedar stepped into the room. Clover saw

where Jasmine and I were and actually leapt over the sofa to get to the third spot before Dark Skies, taking the long route, could make it. She had tentacles on me a moment later. "Seriously?" I asked. "I don't mind, but seriously?" "You taste good," she said. "And I miss Peony, Andie. Please." "I don't mind, I just am not used to this kind of attention. It's nice, just very confusing." The others settled. "I have a question. Why is Dark Skies here but none of the other technicians." "I'm special," said the Octal. "I know you are."

"The other technicians are just technicians," said Jasmine. "They are good at their jobs, but they are human." "I'm human." "Yeah, well, you have skills they don't. They won't become event coordinators. Dark Skies may never become a senior event coordinator, but she can substitute. And she's of a primary species of the Federation of Allied Planets." "And we're just humans." "Yes. You're just humans." "Very tasty humans," Clover asked. "That's why you're here." I laughed. "That's what I thought."

Jasmine brought everyone up to date on the conversation. Then she asked, "What do people think about her request for a meet and greet?" "And none of this sticking them in the wall and leaving them there thing," I said. "That's just mean." "I'm not taking that off the table," Jasmine said. "It serves a purpose." "It sucked and left me pissed off." "That's because I made a mistake. Would you please forgive me?" I turned to look at her. "You made a mistake?" "I made a mistake. It happens every few months."

The rest of the room snickered at that. "All right," I said. "We've wanted to find ways to give the women more choice," Clover said. "That's been your agenda since the day you arrived, Jasmine. Of the species that need challenges, only four need the arena." "But we need enough competition for them that they fill their psychological needs," Cedar added. "And there are some that don't need the competition against others, but they need a fierce physical competition to get their attachment process started, and the human females aren't able to provide it." "So you don't want everyone

handing out ribbons," I said. "But how much competition do you need? They don't need to face 63 other challengers, do they?" "No, but they also need some choice of their own," Cedar said. "It is not just about the humans having choice. Both sides need to have choices." "You have 64 at a time, or so," I said. "Of that, you get 5 to 10 that willingly accept, and then 2 or 3 more in each batch once they see the odds." "1 to 3," said Dark Skies. "6 on average across the 64. And never 10 originally. 10 point 5 total on average, and sometimes a lot fewer." "How many give ribbons?" "2 or 3."

"Per event?" "For the day." Every pair of eyes turned to me. I did the math. "Shit," I said. "Did I do that?" "You did that," Jasmine said. "20 willing and 8 ribbons." I thought about it. "Do you need more than 16 that fight?" Bay began laughing. "If you have that much success, there will be a major shift in which species get mates. Right now, it's heavily weight towards the few species that need today's competition." "I won't get it down to 16," I said. "I might be able to get it below 32."

"What would your timeline be, Andie?" "Let me think," I said. "They come in, always arriving the day before we wake them up?" "Sometimes a few days early," said Dark Skies. "And sometimes we get them mid cycle like you. Those we sometimes make sleep but more likely wake up and terrify." "Don't listen to her. We don't terrify them. We wear down their resolve," Jasmine said. "Yeah, let's not talk about that or I'm going to get pissed off. Why do we make them sleep another night? I bet they've already slept a lot." "We get their biorhythms attuned

to local daylight," Clover said. "Okay. That's probably important." "And we want to give them a few hours, but not a few days, to stew," said Jasmine. "And don't get angry about it." "Fine," I said. "Okay, so the time I could have available starts after breakfast the first day. We can call that Day 1. Any time before that breakfast is Day 0." I thought some more. "I want two days to do interviews. If you guys want to talk to them, too, you could have them after I have. If I do a long day the first day, then I could be done by lunchtime on the second day." "If you really need an hour per four, that's a very long day," Jasmine

said. "Don't worry about that. Will you let me do a party like we did for the gay women?" "Yes." "And another meet and greet for the ones who might give ribbons?" "Yes." "What about straight women who accept willingly? What are we going to do about them?" "Another party at the same time. Do you feel the need to attend both?" "No, but I think there should be someone like me there, but maybe not gay." "Is that critical?"

"You need someone to set the tone, Jasmine. And I need an alien with real presence to help, too. I'm sorry, Bay and Cedar, but that doesn't describe either of you. You're both really cute, but you are not physically commanding." "No offense taken," Cedar said. "Dark Skies, you're great, but you're young, and until you're a queen, I'm not sure you have the gravitas, either. So right now that leaves me the two Catseye plus possibly a few of our guests. And not just any species, either. Catseye seem perfect. The Wookies are good, too. Not the Ardents. They're too... military." I turned back to Jasmine. "Unless you have staff in waiting, or bring more

in, we can't run the parties at the same time." "I think you're right," she said. "So, timeline." "I finish interviews around lunch on Day 2. One reception evening of Day 2. Public interviews like you already do on Day 3. A second reception the evening of Day 3." I looked around. "I know that's more work up front, but we'll get more accepting willingly, and we'll get more to offer ribbons." "You forgot the meet and greet." "Damn it. Right. Okay, second reception the afternoon of day 2 and the meet and greet in the evening of day 3. Arena on Day 4 instead of Day 3. I only asked for one day. Only one, Jasmine.

Please. We'll more than make up for it." "I think you're cramming too much into three days and should ask for one more, Andie." "Would you give it to me?" "I don't know. If this fails miserably because we didn't fully invest, then it will be harder to double down. I think you either need to back off on your request and show us what you can do with an incremental change, or try to convince us to give you two days." "It's the receptions that are the problem, isn't it?" "Only because we don't have the staff to run them all at once, and if we're going to do it, we need to give people time. You were planning on the lesbians

getting the first reception and the straight women the second, weren't you?" "What's wrong with that?" "Ratio and time. The evening reception can run longer. We aren't squished by time." "Andie," said Clover gently, "Everyone in the room is with you in spirit. But we're about the only ones who are. Almost no one not in this room cares what the women feel about the process." "It's not just the process, it's giving them a better chance." "85 percent success ratio, Andie," Jasmine said. "That kicks ass on the human divorce rate, and that doesn't count the couples who break up after a

few months." "Am I solving a problem that doesn't exist?" "No. You're solving a problem that only six people in the world thinks needs fixing." "It's more than that," said Clover, "but do you see what we mean?" "I see." "More women who take a willing relationship lowers our workload dramatically," Clover said. "Giving you an extra day could be easy to absorb. But women who give ribbons don't change our workload at all. It matters to them, and to the people who receive ribbons, but outside this room, no one else cares."

"There's another factor," Jasmine asked. "I give visors to the women who accept willingly. I give them to the women who please me during their interviews. You're asking most of the women to have an extra day of boredom. I suspect that matters to you. And no, I won't hand them out just because you ask me to. They have to be earned." "Andie," said Dark Skies. "Do you really need an hour per four? Could you do it faster?" "I don't know." "Could you do it in a half hour?" "How can I do in a half hour for four something that takes you each an hour for one?" "What if we send them to you

second? We do what we do, then you work on giving them their choices." "I want them before they turn implacable," I said. I smiled at Jasmine. I could grow to like that word. I thought about it. "I get them starting in the morning on Day 1. You guys can get them from me after I've talked, if you want, but I bet you could do other things. It'll take me until lunch, or just past lunch, on Day 2. But I'll have already processed a whole bunch. You could start the public interviews on Day 2." "When are your receptions?" "Meet and greet in the evening of Day 2. Receptions for the willing in the evenings on days 3 and 4. If they change their minds, they get held over until the

next cycle. How often do people reverse?" "It happens. If they do it, tough." Then Jasmine said. "Or... There might be very few. One or two, if that. We can do a mini arena event the day after they back out and then get them on the same schedule with everyone else." "Let me try it. Please." "Poke holes, people," Jasmine said. "Her first day is long," Clover said. "She's going to be worn out." "There's only one of her," said Bay. "What happens when we lose her?" "That's months away," I said. "And maybe Dark Skies will change her

mind and decide to keep me." I smiled at that. "Or Peony will hate her job, and then Dark Skies will drug me into oblivion until I agree to be their Third." There were chuckles at that. "We don't know what the future brings," I said. "And we have a few months. Even if you have to revert once I'm gone, that's hundreds of women who had an easier process." "We got twenty willing instead of ten," Cedar said. "That's at least 30 challenges we don't have to do. If she can get them up front, it's an entire arena event we can skip, too. I wouldn't mind arena day being one event fewer." "You could have women waiting in the wings," I said. "And fill in."

"Maybe," Jasmine said. "I also tweak who attends what arena event based on which women are available." "I bet you could put six women you aren't tweaking for into the wings. Plan on three events. If I miss by one or two, and event three is 18 instead of 16, is that going to hurt?" "We'd have to put two more cages in," Dark Skies said. "But we'd have a break to do it, and that wouldn't take long." "And move in eight more challengers," Cedar added. "If I only get five willing during the interviews, you know we'll have to do all 4 arena events. But if I get ten or more, then you can plan."

"Bay," said Jasmine. "You're being quiet." "I think you should let her do it, but if you do, you have to give her a chance to fail a little, and then go back and fix it. When I make new nasty tricks, I have to tweak them. You can't expect perfection from her from the start. If you aren't going to let her fail, don't let her try." I looked at him and thought about it. "He's probably right." "Does anyone think this is a bad idea?" "Just the two concerns. She's going to burn out, and what do we do when we lose her," said Cedar. "One more," I said. "If Clover

moves to Switzerland, and we're training in a new senior event coordinator, plus dealing with my unusual status, and then I leave, too, what sort of chaos does that cause?" Everyone was quiet, but then Clover says, "Please let her try, Jasmine. It's better for the women, but selfishly, if it works, then I might be able to hold on longer." "I'm trying to replace you," Jasmine said. "I have my eye on someone, but I haven't figured out how to convince her wife to let her come." "You can't break up another couple!" I said. "I won't," she said. "I gave her wife a very, very big reason to hate me.

On the other hand, the wife's mother is the senior cook here." "Skye," Clover said, a whisper. "God you were an idiot, Jasmine." "It was necessary," Jasmine said. "We wouldn't have Andromeda here now if I hadn't done it. No, Andie, I won't tell you about it." "I like Skye," Bay said. "And her wife would be good. She's young, but she'd be good." "That's a close family," Jasmine said. "A problem for another day. Clover, it might take me years to get her to come, and I don't have anyone else." "I won't wait years, Jasmine," Clover said quietly. "But if you can send me to Peony a few days twice a month, I

think I can give you a year. I won't be happy about it, but I think I can last." "Let's see what help Andie can give us," she said. "Andie, you got it." "I do?" "Yes. For a price." "With you, there is always a price." "Back off on everything else, and if I ask you to do something as a mating candidate, let me bribe you without a big fight." "No more practical jokes if I have to be charming afterwards." "That's fair. What if you don't have to be charming?" I thought carefully. "Those are

fair," I said. "But only if you can take teasing and probably a little bitching, and if you really piss me off, you find a way to calm me down, and I don't mean by drugging me out." "Then we're agreed. Now, let's talk about the current batch."

Grid The rest of that evening and most of the next day were hectic. Building challenge grids was largely automated. I expected Julie's to be difficult, but Jasmine said simply, "It's not the first time we had someone who wasn't athletic. We've had paraplegics, Andie." But then we had to host the meetings to determine the challenges, and those took time. "The first day it's rough because the mating candidates don't know what to expect. It gets easier later, and we can run them far more efficiently." Jasmine had me shadow her for the day. The meetings began the same,

with Jasmine asking the mating candidate and her challenger if they minded if I was there. No one asked me to leave. Then Jasmine described the process. After that, we went through it. This was also when the challengers offered gifts to their candidates. Boots, visors, and sunblock were common. Candidates who had been cooperative were offered the opportunity to shower. Requests for more clothing to wear when not in a challenge were strictly denied. Belligerent candidates lost their visors. I only had one mating candidate who would be going through challenges -- Julie. But I was offered more, and I asked for Hiruki and Sylvie and was

also given a woman named Riley Evans. Jasmine only had four others for a total of 8. The other three senior event coordinators would divide the remaining 36, with Bay and Cedar taking 13 each and leaving Clover with 10. We did Jasmine's interviews first. Then, by early afternoon, after I had seen four done, we switched. We talked to Haruki and her two challengers first, and we would run their challenge first in the morning. After they left, I turned to Jasmine. "I'd let you and Clover fight over me that way." She laughed. Sylvie was next. She had no idea how to drive the grid of choices, and she would end up being hunted in one of the

smaller of the jungle arenas. Jasmine told me after they left that, "Many of the ETs would have every challenge be one of capturing and vanquishing their mating candidates, and the variety of the challenges is only in how this happens. Some want a hunt and some want open combat. This tends to be predictable by species, and we fill the grid accordingly." Riley's event was nearly identical, but it would be in a large savannah, and she was given a simulated laser rifle. Hits to her opponent would slowly disable him. But it had a slow rate of fire, and Jasmine told me, "It's harder to hit something than you think." "I think I should see for myself."

"Yes. We've all been on one side or another of many of these events, for practice if nothing else." Julie was last. Her challenger arrived first and took a seat. We talked quietly for a few minutes, and then the guards arrived with Julie. She was wearing a visor and was shackled -- just like most of the women. The guards put her in a chair, and I told the chair and table to lock her in. Then the guards left to perform their next delivery, and I woke Julie's visor. She saw her challenger first, seated across from her, and as soon as she saw him, she began to smile. Her challenger was a Luxan named Ben Eagle Nebula. The Luxan

species was named after a fictional race from some television show I'd never heard of. Mr. Eagle Nebula looked a little like a Lord of the Rings dwarf on steroids. He was nearly seven feet tall, broad, powerful, and while not furry, not exactly, he had a great amount of hair. He had a huge mane of hair on his head that he tamed into rows and a great, massive beard he handled in the same way. In some ways, he looked quite human, although with what we might find a misshapen skull. And, of course, I had never seen a human with that much hair. Luxan were a race that smiled when happy, and Ben showed his teeth when he saw Julie. "Hello, Ben."

"Hello, Julie," he replied. His voice was deep and craggy, but it felt warm to me at the same time. He spoke slowly and with an accent, but his diction was perfect, and he was easily understood. "Do you regret accepting my ribbon?" "Julie, you are a smart woman. Why would you ask such a dumb question?" And she smiled even more broadly. I was sure then they were going to be all right. I let them make goo goo eyes at each other for a minute, then I drew their attention. "Julie, do you remember me?" She turned to me and smiled.

"Yes, Andromeda. And Administrator Brighteyes." "Good. You both know I am a mating candidate here, but I'm on a somewhat different program than everyone else, and I'm helping out while we're shorthanded. If I have permission from both of you, I will conduct this meeting. But if you are concerned, then Jasmine Brighteyes can take care of you." "Why would we be concerned?" Julie asked. "Well, Dr. Eagle Nebula may be concerned that a human may offer the other human an unfair advantage." "Dr. Eagle Nebula has no such concerns," said the gentleman in

question. "Dr. Eagle Nebula knows you are a woman of impeccable integrity." I turned and looked at him for a minute. "You are aware that I'm not really any happier to be here than most of the mating candidates. I believe the process used here is, frankly, barbaric." He glanced at Jasmine then returned his focus to me. "And yet you consistently work very hard to help the women find good matches. You helped my Julie to choose me. You make choices that are difficult for you in order to help people you don't even know. And you took great self risk to remind all of us that not everyone who comes here comes with good intentions. You did that with a great deal of bravery, especially

for one who is not a warrior." I stared at him until Jasmine said gently, "Perhaps we could move on, Andromeda. They both appear pleased." "Right," I said. I turned to Julie. "I explained to you that we would meet to determine the nature of your first challenge." "Yes. Ben and I went through the process last night. We made our own sample grids and traversed them just like we'll do today." She looked across the table to Ben. "I don't care what we do. I just don't want to disappoint you." "You couldn't, Julie," he said. "We're going to trust Andromeda to give us a good first challenge. You'll see." "Right," I said. "This is the first

challenge, and so neither of you have points to spend. And so what we will do is eliminate branches until we achieve a challenge. We will then discuss handicaps. I'll explain the first portion, mostly so you understand. We will first determine the nature of the allowed technology. There are three levels. Primitive covers anything prior to the invention of the automobile. Modern refers to Earth modern. And high tech is anything the aliens are willing to let us use in these challenges. Visors and safety clothing are not part of this discussion. You could wear very high technology safety equipment in a primitive challenge." "I understand."

"After that we will determine the size of arena. If you pick small, that means a room inside this structure. Julie, there is a gym like you might expect at home, with a pool." "A pool?" She smiled. "I like to swim." "If you pick a medium structure, then it is the arena from yesterday. We then have two flavors of large from approximately two kilometers on a side to ten kilometers in diameter. We also have one very large area that is only used for modern and high technology events, and the available branches from there are limited. We do not have this option today." "All right."

"The third choice may not actually be a choice. If you pick one of the larger sizes, then you pick the nature of the terrain: jungle, desert, savannah, or coastal." "That makes sense," Julie said. "After those choices are made, we begin to get into the meat of the grid, determining not where the event is performed, but the actual nature of the event. Just because we use the coastal arena doesn't mean you have to swim." She nodded. "Dr. Eagle Nebula, it would be inappropriate for me to access your inner systems. Would you like to use a visor or a tablet for making your selections?"

"Whatever is convenient," he said. "Do you even have a visor that fits my head?" "We do," said Jasmine. "Then I will take that." Jasmine had it ready, and she slid the case down the table to him. The Luxan opened the case and looked at it. "I haven't worn one of these in thirty earth years. This will be an experience." I waited until it was live then made sure I could access both visors. "The first choice is to choose the level of technology. I will provide you both with the list of choices, and you may deselect one choice each. If you do not have a preference, you are under no obligation to eliminate a choice. I will

choose from the remaining choices." "Ready," Julie said. They both made their choices. They both deselected primitive. I smiled. "You both made the same choice. You deselected primitive. I feel like playing with the fancy toys and selected high technology." "That sounds like fun," Julie said. "But will I be able to use it?" "We will teach you first," Jasmine said. "And if skillful use of the technology is required to have a fighting chance, you will be allowed to practice." "Next, size of venue. Small, medium, or large. While we have two

sizes of large, if we need to select between them, that choice is made later. Click off the one you wish to veto." Ben deselected small. Julie deselected large. "We'll be in the arena here," I said. "This means we do not need to select topography. Now we pick the basic nature of the challenge. We have several basic choices. We have races. This can be a simple foot race, although not with high technology involved. It can be an obstacle race or a race to complete a task. That is, it might not be who can run the fastest so much as who can assemble a structure the fastest." "I see. I don't think I like that one."

"Well, the next is combat. Combat with humans is very carefully controlled. You will not get hurt worse than a bruise or two. The biggest risk is a twisted ankle. Combat does not necessarily mean hand to hand. It could be a game of laser tag or throwing water balloons at each other." "High tech water balloons." "Well, there aren't any high tech water balloon fights on the grid today," I said with a smile. "But do you understand?" "Yes," she said. "The next choice is a hunt. This can mean hunting something else. It can mean a scavenger hunt. It can mean hunting each other. Or it can mean he is

hunting you, Julie." "Oh." She looked at Ben. "I bet you like that idea." He smiled again. "Yes, actually." "Understand that the categories aren't necessarily exclusive of each other. This is the base category, but it could be that he is to hunt you, but you are given a laser rifle to try to defend yourself. If your goal is to escape and his is to find and catch you, it's a hunt." "I understand." "We have other basic categories, but these are the ones we have available today." I paused. "Julie, each major category has things you can do. You may not be an expert at them, but you can do them, and some of them you can do

well." I put up the choices. They both eliminated races. I looked at Jasmine. "Guidance?" "You're doing fine, Andromeda." I thought about the choices coming up. And I wanted to surprise Julie. "You both eliminated races," I said. "And the arena is a little small for the more interesting hunts, but as we've seen, it makes a good space for combat. That is what we will be doing." Julie's lips tightened, but she nodded. We went through just a few more choices, finally settling on one I'd already seen -- laser tag. Jasmine had told me this was a very popular choice,

and it showed up on most of the grids. Julie looked at me dubiously, but I said, "I don't know how well you'll do, but if you want to practice, I wonder if Administrator Brighteyes would let us practice together." "We could?" Jasmine had already told me she'd let me get away with this sort of offer if I didn't do it too often, and so she nodded her permission. "I'll have to schedule it somehow. I can get you practice time with the laser guns, but if you want the entire experience, that requires more coordination. We'd have to get someone to leave the arena set up after they have run another event, and then yours might

not be the exact same configuration later." She seemed pleased at the idea. "Next," I said. "We have to determine the handicaps you will each have." I sent the available choices to their visors. "Julie, in subsequent rounds, the points you win from this round can be used to guide the choices later. But for this event, what we do is easy. You may spend up to ten points to give Dr. Eagle Nebula a handicap. But he can then spend as many points as you spent. You must spend one point, but you don't have to spend more if you don't want to. And you do not have the same list of handicaps, and when you do have the same item, it may not be the same

number of points." I thought this was actually a little cruel. She had to decide if she was willing to suffer reverse handicaps. Finally she said, "I have to spend one?" "Yes." "Then you can make the targets he has to hit smaller. That's one point." "Very good. Doctor?" "You know," said Julie. "I'm a doctor, too." "Oh no," I said. "I'm so sorry. You're right." She smiled. "Don't worry about it. I hate being called doctor, unless I'm trying to be pretentious." "And I prefer being called Ben,"

said the Luxan. "Well then, Ben, Julie spent a point to give you smaller targets to hit." "Then I shall spend a point to give me larger targets to hide behind." "Very good," I said. "We're settled. Except, Julie, Ben has a present for you." "Really?" "Yes," he said. "A few, actually." Jasmine had them ready, sitting on the floor under the table. She reached underneath the table and then set them in front of Ben. They were all wrapped. "I won't be able to open them." I looked at Jasmine. She nodded. "Julie, you're not going to do anything

foolish if I let you out of the chair, are you?" "Of course not." "Excellent," I said. It took a moment to release her. "We don't do that with just anyone," I added. "But I know I can trust you." "Of course," she said. "Julie," Ben said. "As your future mate, it is my responsibility to protect you. This is just a small symbol of a promise for the future." And he slid one of the boxes across the table to her. I already knew it was the boots. But she was a kid at Christmas, and when she saw the boots, her eyes grew wide. She looked across the table at Ben. "Thank you, Ben. They're

perfect." "Try them on," he said. "I think they'll surprise you." She had to move the ankle shackles, but she pulled up on, then the other, and they automatically sealed to her feet. "They're alien technology!" "They are," I said. "I've worn a similar pair a few times now, and they're amazing. Now, here's the downside. You're still stuck in pajamas when you're not in a challenge. You don't get to wear those except for challenges. But they'll protect your feet from the hot sand, and if you do one of the other big arenas, you'll be especially happy to have them." "Thank you, Ben," she said

again. "I love them." The hat was next. It was a simple hat, although quite clever at the same time. Ben explained the sun was hot, and she would need its protection. I thought she was going to cry. Then he gave her a tube of sunblock. She laughed and thanked him. The last gift was a necklace. "This is from my home world," he said. "It has traveled very, very far, and I want you to have it." At that, she did cry then stood, Ben with her. The Luxan moved around the table, and the two hugged tightly. Jasmine caught my eye, and I knew what she would say if we were alone. "Julie," said Jasmine. "You have

also earned another privilege. You already have the visor, but we have one more. If Ben wishes, he may visit you in your cell. These are not overnight visits, but we'll dim the glass to give you privacy. If you have religious or moral objections to being alone with a man in this fashion, we can make arrangements to meet in a more chaperoned fashion." "I don't have any objections," she said. "If he wants to visit me, I hope he will." "I will, Julie," he said. "The visor is nice, but in person is nicer." Five minutes later, Julie's guards were leading her away. Ben turned to me. "I don't know how to thank you, Andromeda. She's amazing. I wish she

could see that. All she sees is that she doesn't fit human standards for body shape. But she's amazing." "She knows she's smart," I said. "And she's proud of it. That gives her a basis. I want to ask you something. Are you willing to lose the second challenge." "It's not in my nature to let her win." "Perhaps not. But the second challenge is mental in nature, and I thought you might like to know that I slipped a cook off challenge into several areas of your grid." He laughed loudly. "I can remove them, or some of them, if you would rather I do so."

"No. You leave those right there." "Ben, you're a good man." I hoped he wasn't acting.

Kitsune I did get a brief nap, and then a package arrived for me via the nook. I wasn't expecting anything, so I was surprised to find a wrapped present with a note. Andromeda, It would please me if you wore this tonight. Sugilite I opened the box and was rather surprised by the contents. It appeared the Kitsune enjoyed leather. There was a pair of leather leggings, a leather vest, although there was a white blouse to go with it, and a new pair of slippers. Then I had a laugh. The blouse

and vest were backless, and I wondered if the Kitsune and Catseye had a similar fetish. To add to it, the leather was in broad, jagged stripes in colors very close to that in Sugilite's fur. It was a little bright, but the pattern was pretty at the same time. I caressed the material. I like leather, but it wasn't my normal style. Still, I didn't think it was wise to deny the Kitsune's gift. And so when it was time, I dressed carefully. Everything fit quite well, and I thought I likely looked dashing, in a Kitsune kind of way. I stood when the guards arrived. They stared at me. "When a Kitsune asks you to

dress in a particular fashion," I said. "You dress in that fashion. I'm not sure what to make of it myself, but it's very comfortable." Then I turned around slowly for them so they could see the back. "We don't get many Kitsune here," Dilly said. "You look very..." "Colorful," suggested Piper. "It's comfortable," I said, "even if the colors represent choices a human wouldn't make. But she is dressing me to, in a way, resemble her own coloring, so I suspect there is a message in these choices. Wouldn't you say?" "I'm not sure we could," replied Piper with a look at Dilly. Then she held up the shackles. I sighed and held out my

wrists. **** When next I could see, the guards were gone, the restraints with them. I was in another of the alien apartments, and Sugilite was looking at me. I thought perhaps her expression was one of amusement, but she was a Kitsune. How could I be sure? "Good evening, Sugilite. Thank you for the clothing. Is there symbolism beyond the obvious?" "Welcome to my little home," she replied with a wave. "There is, but I will save the explanation for later. Please turn around, so I may see." And so I slowly turned, giving her the full view. Then I smiled. "And

will I also receive a full view?" I made a twirling gesture with my finger. "Well, aren't you a cheeky thing?" she said. But then she added, "All right." And she also turned slowly, her hands away from her sides, until she was facing me again. "Do you like what you see?" "I do, actually. I liked your looks from the moment I first saw you. Do you believe dressing in your colors enhances my appearance?" "I am not sure, from a purely aesthetic perspective. But for other reasons, yes, I do, and I would very much enjoy seeing you dress this way quite often." I was sure there was a message

in that, but I didn't want to spend effort guessing. "Well, Sugilite, I want to admit my ignorance." "About why I dressed you this way?" "Well, I already expressed that ignorance, and you have suggested you may explain later. No, I am ignorant in many different ways." She offered a squeak. It was not unlike the Loris laughter, but decidedly her own. "That was a laugh?" "Our equivalent, yes. So, your ignorance." "I would like to know what my role is here tonight. It will help me

decide how to behave." "You are the mating candidate," she said. "Ah, then perhaps I need to better understand your role. I treat the guards one way, Jasmine Brighteyes another way, the other mating candidates yet a third way, and some of the other women here a fourth way." She squeaked again and stepped closer. "I am a potential patron," she said. "Older, powerful. You wish to charm me." "I have never had a patron," I replied. "And we are of disparate species. I may make mistakes." "We all make mistakes," she said. "It is how we learn from them that

matters." I decided she wanted me to flirt with her and perhaps flatter her. I'd had that role before, sometimes for Gerri. I didn't always like it, especially not in the work place. It fed certain stereotypes. But I thought in this particular case, those stereotypes were actually quite accurate. I was here to have my body auctioned off to the highest bidder, so to speak, and while I didn't like that, I did like some of the potential bidders. So I could be charming and flirt with her if it kept me out of trouble. So I smiled, stepped forward, and collected her arm in mine. She allowed me to do so. "I am very glad to

be here, Sugilite. How are we to spend our time?" "We begin with conversation." She set her free hand atop mine and turned us both. It was a short walk to the sofa, and she pushed me down into place, then sat next to me. We turned partially towards each other, and she very deliberately pressed her knee against mine. I set my hand back on her arm, and she shifted so mine passed under hers, my fingers just touching her wrist. "I wish to know all about you," she said. "Regale me, Andromeda." "Well, let us start with my name. You may, of course, call me Andromeda, but you may also call me Andie."

With her free hand, she caressed my fingers. "I like Andromeda," she said. "I looked at the history of the name. I find it interesting that she was a princess of Ethiopia in the northern reaches of this continent, but the art of her all displays her as decidedly from northern Europe." "Ah, you just told me several things," I replied. "Amongst them, you told me you recognize the regional differences in human appearances." "Over time, those differences will merge, and merge further. But it takes longer than the few centuries your species has begun to remix after your ancient diaspora." "And so there are no regional

differences amongst Kitsune?" "There remain some, but that is at least in part to where we wish to settle. Kitsune from our warmer climates do not enjoy the cooler climates, and so there is less mixing in these directions than there may have been. But these differences disappear. We also populate more than one world, and it is possible this will increase differentiation again. But evolutionary changes like this take time, and it is through accent and mannerisms that we can tell ourselves apart based on planet of birth." "I understand," I replied. "You invited me to regale you, but I know almost nothing about you, and you know much about me already. Could you

perhaps tell me at least a little about yourself? It will give me perspective." "I will tell you a little now, but then you will amuse me for a time." At that, I nodded. "You know the obvious. You know my appearance. You have been told or can guess I am powerful. You can perhaps tell I am deemed intelligent. You have experienced that I can be equally as judgmental as anyone, and curt besides." I said nothing to any of that, but only waited. "I am many things. One of them is a politician. The Federation of Allied Planets is a very loose federation. Interstellar travel is slow. Communication is quicker. It is far

easier to send messages across vast distances than people. Do you see?" "I believe I understand." "However, when we work together, such as we do here in your region, we form a tighter government, so to speak. There is a council, and I am upon it." "Will you tell me more about that? How many others are upon it, for instance, and anyone else I know?" "Jasmine Brighteyes is a member, but her voice is not as loud as mine. Each of the primary species has a seat on the council. Some have more than one based upon their power and numbers in this region. There are twenty-two species in the region. Well,

twenty-three if we count humans. But of those twenty-three, nine come from the primary species. There are thirty-two on the council, with two seats representing the species without a dedicated member of their own." "I am told you are married." "Yes. We'll discuss that later, when we discuss your clothing. If we discuss your clothing." "All right. Why is someone as powerful as you spending time talking to someone as, well, as much a nobody as me?" "You are not a nobody." "I am certainly not the President of the United States or the SecretaryGeneral of the United Nations. I was an

assistant to a vice president of a grocery store chain." "You are an experiment," Sugilite said. "And currently unique amongst humans. You are Jasmine Brighteyes' experiment, and while that woman's voice is not as loud as mine, it is not a quiet voice, either. Understand that Jasmine Brighteyes is on the council entirely because of her position here. I would be on the council regardless of my position elsewhere." "Will you tell me this: are you and Jasmine at cross purposes?" "No. I offered my voice to hers in the matter that turned you into this experiment. I did not do so loudly, and it is unlikely I will. She states she can

achieve better results if given more freedom, results that are in keeping with my goals." "Would I be pleased if you shared these goals with me?" "Do you wish humanity to become a primary species in the Federation?" "I believe there are significant implications in that question," I said. "But I believe I would like that." "Then you would like my end goals. You would probably not always care for my methods or my intermediate goals." "But if we discussed this at length, you feel it likely I would be an ally."

"Yes. To be fair, unless either humanity makes significant medical breakthroughs, which is certainly possible, or we were to extend your lifespan quite dramatically, you will not see the day humans are offered primary membership. There are individual humans that could be considered valued members of the Federation, but humanity as a species is not ready." "Will you explain why?" "There are two basic reasons. You must achieve interstellar space travel without assistance. And you are not sufficiently mature as a species. As individuals, yes, but you allow the less mature amongst you to have far too much political influence."

"I certainly agree with you on that, and not only political influence." "Humans do so many stupid things. You imbibe drugs that ravage your body. You gamble your life savings. You rape and kill. You exhibit extreme bigotry. You wage war against each other for the most ridiculous of reasons. You believe in imaginary gods. While raping each other, you also rape the planet, coming to the brink of your own extinction for such shortsighted reasons." "I don't do any of those things." "Which is why I said there are individuals that would be valued in the Federation, but your species as a whole needs a great deal more maturity." She let me think about it.

"Everything you have said is fair. I am embarrassed, but it is fair." "It is not your embarrassment to hold. You are one of seven billion." Then she made a sound. "Seven billion on one planet." She made the sound again. "Kitsune were spread across sixteen planets before we reached seven billion." "For the record, my parents had one child, and I have had none." She stroked my hand. "You promised to regale me." "Will you tell me just a little more about yourself? Do you have children? Hobbies?" "I have children and hobbies. I will perhaps discuss them later. Now, do

not make me ask a third time." "Of course not, Sugilite." She knew much about me already, of course, and so I didn't repeat dull facts she undoubtedly knew. Instead I told her a little about what I was like as a girl. I talked about my parents, and I let my love show. And I told a few selfdeprecating and rather embarrassing stories about myself. She squeaked her pleasure several times. It was cute. Finally she stroked my hand again. "You are forgiven for making me work. It is time to eat." She stood, pulling me with her and not releasing my hand, then led me into the dining room. When we arrived, the table was already set, and there were several covered

platters already on the table along with a pitcher of clear water. I led her to her chair, holding it for her, then asked if she wished me to serve. "Oh, that would be lovely," she said. "The purple covers are mine, and the blue covers are yours." "We do not eat the same food." "I am afraid not, although that could be remedied. I will explain shortly." "All right." There were several platters on the table. I removed the covers from all of them, then looked under the table and found the shelves used to hold the covers. "Ah, you have answered a question," said Sugilite. "You have

shared a meal with a Catseye." "This is a Catseye invention?" "They are not the only ones, but it is a Catseye custom, and Jasmine Brighteyes has placed her mark on this place for those shelves to be there. Of course, in a Catseye household, you would sit, and we would lift the covers together. But this is not a Catseye household. Please continue." Her food looked perfectly fine, although I didn't know what any of it was. There was some sort of meat in a sauce and two different unidentified vegetables. I served the amounts she requested then filled her water glass. Then I moved to my own seat and served myself.

Sugilite used silverware, although the construction was different from a human knife and fork. But once she was eating, I dived into my own meal. "It's very good." "I do not take credit," she said. "It is the cooks here. This is why we have someone like Jasmine Brighteyes here. When you put a Catseye in charge of these details, you can be assured the results will be of high quality. All Catseye are competent in these matters, and Jasmine Brighteyes is as competent as any." "Do I detect respect, Sugilite?" "Was I not obvious?" She squeaked again. "Yes. I respect her for

what she is. There is no one who could do as good a job here as she does, and I believe if she were offered more freedom, she would do an even better job, especially if she were given the personnel support she repeatedly requests." "We've had that discussion." "I imagine." She squeaked. "Solving her problems, at least temporarily, through the use of one of her mating candidates." Another squeak. "I would not have considered such a bold move." "I asked for a job." "And I would have left you in your cell and not even have offered the opportunity to ask. Which is another

reason she is here and I am not. She will achieve results I would not." I actually straightened at that. This felt no different than when someone would compliment Gerri to me. I felt proud. "Does she know you feel this way?" "I imagine she will by sometime tomorrow, or you are not half as loyal to her as you should be." I didn't have an answer for that, and I covered my lack by drinking from the water. Then I said, "You mentioned food." "Ah, so I did." She gestured. "To you, this contains poisons. It is not so poisonous to you that being in the same

room is dangerous, and a small amount wouldn't even make you sick. A meal would, and a diet of my food would kill you." "And my food?" "There are no poisons, but I would not care for the taste, and my body would not achieve what I require from food. It is not food to me any more than grass is to you." "All right." "This, however," she gestured towards her food. "This is food for your body, if not for the poisons. Your digestive system could be altered to process the poisons harmlessly, and the rest would be perfectly good food. The taste may require a process of

acclimation, and so you may not fully enjoy the process of learning to eat from a Kitsune plate, but you would learn. And there are things we can do to hasten the process." "Oh?" "Imagine if your friend, Dark Skies, were here, telling you how much you enjoyed the food." I laughed. "I think I understand." "The details would be different, but you see." "I see." "If you were to become mated to a Kitsune, your body would be altered. You would be altered so you could eat our food. You would still be able to

enjoy human food, but you would be joining a Kitsune household, and you would make the required adjustments." "I guess I understand that." "Furthermore, of course, your reproductive system would be altered." "Jasmine mentioned something about that. I find it, well, improbable." "And yet, true. Do you doubt us?" "I wouldn't say doubt. I would say it is difficult to envision these changes. The food is easier to believe, if it contains the things I need. There are people on Earth who have an intolerance to lactose, but some of them can consume an enzyme additive that mitigates the intolerance."

"The process is similar, but not in detail," said the Kitsune. "And you're right. That is a smaller change, at least to make your body compatible with Kitsune foods. You wouldn't be so easily altered to the food of just any species. Altering your reproductive system is far more significant, and it depends on how much alteration was desired." "I don't understand." "It is not difficult to alter you sufficiently you could serve as a host mother to a Kitsune fetus. This makes you an incubation chamber, in effect." "I see." I didn't care for the thought. "It is a greater step for you to actually reproduce with us, sharing your

DNA. There is an intermediate step involving the laboratory where a sample of your DNA could be spliced into Kitsune DNA, and the results implanted back into your body for incubation." "I met a mating candidate that would love to talk about this with you. I understood much of what you said, but if you go deeper, I won't." She squeaked again. "The mating candidates with a love for the sciences often become the most enthusiastic about their revised position here." "I have noticed that as well. Or the space nuts." "Space nuts?" "I'm sorry. Slang. People with a passion for looking to the heavens. They

perhaps read our science fiction." "Ah, of course. Some of you attend conventions, dressing in your favorite characters from books and movies." "Yes. I was never one to do so, and society makes a joke of them, but I believe the ones who make jokes are the ones who are immature, not the ones who dream of other worlds and other possibilities." "It is good to dream and to have vision," she said. "Do you dream and have vision?" "I haven't in that direction, although I think most of humanity has become more receptive to such thoughts since you arrived on our planet."

"But you have other dreams? Other visions?" I thought about it. "I don't know. I suppose it depends upon what you mean. I have, perhaps, been more worldly and immediate in my vision. I see the possibilities that are close to me. I see the changes I can make to improve the planet, or my portion of it." "Such as changes to the mating candidate process?" "Yes, that is a good example. I was very good at my old job, and that was because I didn't just do the job, but I always looked at how it could be done better, and how the company could be run better. Sometimes I was in a position to do something about it. Sometimes I

wasn't." "And when you couldn't, did you grow frustrated like you did the evening we met?" "Sometimes. It depended upon how directly I was personally affected and how egregious a difference it was between what was happening and what could happen." "So your frustration is not necessarily selfish?" "Nothing I am doing while working for Jasmine Brighteyes is about me. It is about the other women. While we have something in common, I could have a much easier time here if I simply made myself available and lived a life of leisure, allowing the aliens to

entertain me and lavish me with lovely clothing and fine food." She squeaked and squeaked and then reached over and patted my hand for a moment. "So you find these clothes lovely?" "I didn't say that. Maybe I was referring to the kimono that Jasmine Brighteyes offers to me." That was more squeaking. "You are a naughty tease, Andromeda." "I noticed something about the clothes. I noticed Jasmine would appreciate the style. I cannot say for the color, but she would appreciate the bare back." "Have you noticed my back is bare?"

"I thought perhaps the reason is similar to why the Wookies wear no clothing at all, and why the Catseye wish they could keep their tentacles free." "Exactly so. Unless it is necessary for protection from the elements, we do not care for clothing against our fur. It is disconcerting and grows distinctly uncomfortable. We do not wear clothing for modesty so much as protection, style, and to appease other species." "Such as humans." "Such as. I understand the colors are not a choice a human might make, but do you like the fit?" "I love the fit," I said. "This is not a style I could wear at home much of

the year, of course." "Because it shows too much skin?" "Because Minnesota has a winter that lasts nearly six months, some years." She squeaked. "Of course. I do not automatically think of winter. There is no equivalent in the Kitsune language." "You do not have seasons?" "We do, but it is not cold or hot so much as wet or dry." "But you have colonies, and surely there is variety." "There is, and those colonies may have local words for the concept." "Oh. I see."

"So you do not mind exposing your back?" "No. I've grown increasingly comfortable with it since arriving, especially once the Catseye decided I wasn't going to run away, screaming, if a tentacle poked out." "You do not mind that they mark your back? Jasmine Brighteyes did more than mark it." "She was upset," I said. "I felt it was no different than if my hand were held too tightly because someone was upset. Indeed, it was not so much later I was asking for a hand to hold." "I am glad you did not ask for mine. You would have crushed it." "I wanted the Wookie's. Do you

know if I crushed the tentacle?" "The thick part of a Catseye tentacle is very strong," she said. "You wouldn't want to hold the tip so tightly." "So Jasmine tells me." "So you enjoy Jasmine's touch?" "And Clover's," I said. "They assure me it is touch between friends." "So soon, and such an imbalanced relationship, but they call you their friend." She squeaked. "This is good. Jasmine Brighteyes is an excellent judge of character." "You are effusive in your praise." "Maybe I am, as a human might say, sucking up to her, hoping you will

repeat my words to her." "You are the one who holds more power. Shouldn't she suck up to you? She is more able, biologically speaking." She liked that but then said, "You have stopped eating. Am I am overly distracting you?" "You have also stopped. I am larger than you, but I am still a small human." "Ah, and so you are replenished from your busy day." "Yes, thank you." "Well then. If you cover these trays, we can clean and then return to more comfortable seating."

**** Ten minutes later found us back on the sofa, but this time Sugilite subtly kept me facing more forward, and she had a hand across the back of the cushions, lightly touching the skin that was exposed over the sofa. "Is this a hint you would like me to return the favor?" I asked. "No. Well, not now, at least. I wish to touch you. Do you mind?" "It feels very nice," I said. "Are you flirting with me, Sugilite?" "We have been flirting since you arrived," she replied. "It is only flirting. I was told you could be charming, and Jasmine Brighteyes did not lie. Did you require a visit to the Octal before

coming?" "No, only a small nap. I don't typically nap, but it has been a difficult week, and I wanted the calm a nap offers." "Very good," she said. We talked for an hour or so. I'm not sure how she did it, but Sugilite got me to move more onto the edge of the cushions so my entire back was exposed. I didn't even notice until I realized her fingers were exploring the limits the blouse allowed. But when I looked over at her, it seemed like she was doing it almost subconsciously and not as an attempt to seduce me, so I let it go. It felt nice, too. A short while later, she said,

"There is something I wish to discuss with you." And in that simple sentence, I wondered if we had just arrived at the entire purpose of the evening. "Of course." "Do you like the way I am touching you?" "It feels very good," I said. "I actually feel a little guilty and selfish." "You shouldn't," she replied. "If what I am doing feels good to you, then I hope you will simply enjoy it." I smiled. "I have certainly been doing that." "There is a concept that is shared amongst most of the sentient species we know," Sugilite said. "Even when

spoken in English, the words used change, and the manifestation changes." "All right. What concept?" "Humans have slaves and servants." "Slavery is illegal." "It hasn't always been," she replied. "And it still exists on this planet. Do you wish to argue that?" "No," I said. "Unless it is pertinent to your point." "It is not," she said. "Have you played Boardwalk?" "Yes." "So you understand the Catseye concept of a vassal." "I understand it in the terms of

the game," I said. "And Jasmine mentioned it once during a period of teasing." "Did she claim you as a vassal?" "No. I was teasing Jasmine and suggested I should offer myself to Clover and Peony as their Third. Do you know that concept?" She squeaked. "I did not know you did. So you have talked to a Tutor, then. That is another example of the concept I mention." "Yes, I have spoken to a Tutor. I think you missed another example that humans have. Do you know what a mistress is?" "Yes," she said. "And you're right. That is a good example. You also

have trophy wives." I laughed. "Yes." "Well, most of the sentient species have this concept. Some no longer practice it. For some, it is considered entirely acceptable. There are species, including two in the Federation, that actively enslave other species. Neither of those is near human space, which is a good thing for humanity." She let me think about that before continuing. "Sometimes the relationship is entirely voluntary, such as a Catseye vassal or a Tutor third. Sometimes there is a level of coercion. Sometimes there is a great deal of coercion. Sometimes

the relationship carries balance. You understand that there is mutual benefit in being a vassal to a Catseye." "There is mutual benefit to being a slave in that you receive food and clothing." "But the two are world's apart. If you were to become the vassal to a Catseye, she would expect a great deal of loyalty, and she would feel free to use you to her own ends. But she would also protect and nurture you and your career, and give you opportunities you wouldn't otherwise find on your own. There is great mutual benefit, and you can walk away at any time whereas a slave cannot. Even a human servant may not be able to walk away, as she probably has

little economic standing. But if you are vassal to a Catseye, you can walk away and suffer setback but still come out ahead in the end, having been her vassal." "I understand," I said. "And do Kitsune have this concept." "We do. I wish to speak with you hypothetically. This is an intellectual conversation, and I want your honest reaction." "I'll try." "First, there is no human word that exactly fits this relationship in a Kitsune household. It is a little like a Tutor third, but of course without the biological requirement of maturity gained through adversity."

"What word should we use, then?" "Let us use the Tutor word, I believe, but cautiously." "All right. So, a Kitsune third." "Yes. So, hypothetically, let us say I wished a human for a third, what do you think?" "I think I would want to know what you expect," I said. "Are we talking about me specifically or a human woman in general?" "Perhaps both." "Well, you can find women who are easily bought. There are many different ways you could pay her. How easy is it to walk away from being a

Kitsune third?" "More difficult than being a Catseye vassal, and it depends upon timing." "Humans have a concept of indentured servant." "Ah. Yes. There is this element, I suppose." "So she stays until she pays her debt?" "There is an element of that, and there is an element of duties that cannot be interrupted." "We're talking a surrogate mother, aren't we?" "That is one portion, yes." "So she can't leave when

pregnant. Is she also responsible for raising them?" "Yes, although releasing her once her youngest reaches a certain age is easier." "Are we talking two years old or twenty?" "She could be released when the child stops nursing." "So there are two year cycles, or about, during which she could not leave. And you could keep her pregnant and never allow her to leave." "We would not make her pregnant without her consent. On the other hand, as you have said, we can find women who are easily bought."

"I am not easily bought." "Not true. If your mother were sick, and I offered to cure her, you would pay, wouldn't you?" I sighed. "Yes." "Human lift expectancy is currently less than one hundred years. Kitsune life expectancy is forever, although we tend to go a little mad after four or five hundred years. The memories grow to be too much." "I am not sure I can be bought that way." "I could roll your apparent age back ten years." "That certainly wouldn't do it." "I could roll your mother's back

by thirty." I didn't say anything to that. "Tell me, Andromeda. Are you sure you are difficult to buy?" "I don't know," I whispered. "Yes, you do." "You could tell me Mom's thirty years cost me a hundred. And I'd want you to do both parents, and you could tell me that was two hundred." "One child each," she said. "You would be paid after you bear the corresponding child." "One child each," I said, "Paid after I bear the first, but I still owe you the second. Do them together." "That would be a fair arrangement," she said.

"Please tell me this is a hypothetical conversation. I didn't just agree to something, did I?" "So far." "So, hypothetically speaking... Am I just a surrogate mother?" "No. There is more. Let's come back to that. You have a bigger question. Do you know what it is?" "How many children do you really want from me, and how long do you intend to keep me? And what happens afterwards?" "Ah, yes. There we go. I don't know. If you stayed for two children and left, then I would find another third for more children. I do not know if I could keep you bought. If I could, and I were

pleased with you, I would potentially keep you for a very long time, if you let me." "Decades?" "Centuries. But you could leave, if you were unhappy." "Would you drug me like an Octal queen?" "No. Nothing like that." "How many children?" "I don't know. Dozens." "You want dozens of kids?" I asked, doing my own squeaking. "Weren't you the one disparaging humanity for reaching seven billion?" "Ah, but I do not want seven billion. Kitsune are rare in this region of

space. Humans seem to be willing to share. There is room for some of us on this planet. There is more room away from this planet. And there are other stars in this region. It would take countless millennia to fill them." "To the best of my knowledge none of the nearby stars have habitable planets." "Several have planets. They may not be in the habitable range, but that is a small problem to solve." "Wait. You can move planets?" "It is not hard. Humans know how." "I don't think so." "Of course you do. You use the

same concept when you send your probes into space." "What concept?" She paused. "All right. We'll come back to our discussion of thirds. There are two categorizations of energy: kinetic and potential." "Kinetic is when something is moving." "Yes. You can think of it as energy actually doing something. A planet is moving and so has a great deal of kinetic energy. An automobile on the road is moving. And heat is a form of kinetic energy." "All right." "Potential energy is due to a

difference in two states. For this conversation, we will use altitude. If I take, oh, say this glass." She reached and picked up her water glass. "If I drop it from this height, just a few centimeters, it will make a noise, and if I am not careful, it may tip over." Then she lifted it much higher. "If I drop it from this height, it will make a great deal of noise. It will certainly tip over and if it were a breakable material, easily break. It may also damage the tabletop, and if it bounces off the table, it could land on your foot, causing damage." "Right." "This is potential energy caused by altitude. Or more exactly, caused by gravitational pull."

"All right." "A planet is in orbit around its sun. That is kinetic energy. A planet is also at a distance from the sun, and the two exhibit gravitational attraction. A planet in a higher orbit has a greater potential energy. However, to maintain the orbit, it actually is traveling slower, so it carries less kinetic energy." "Okay," I said slowly. "Now, when you send your probes deep into space, you do a gravity slingshot. You send the probe towards another planet. That planet's gravity pulls on the probe, causing it to accelerate." "Okay, but then after it passes, the reverse happens."

"Except you can do it in such a way that the probe leaves the planet much faster than it approached, and so the distance falls off. What happens is that the probe speeds up and the planet slows down by a microscopic amount. A portion of the planet's orbital velocity is transferred into the probe." "Okay," I said slowly. "You can also do the same thing in reverse. You can slow down the probe and speed up the planet." "All right." "Well, let us say that I came to this solar system. And let us say, for the sake of this discussion, Earth did not exist, but the other planets did. Let us say I wished to make a home here. I have

several possibilities, but if I want a comfortable planet, I really only have two. That's not entirely true, but for this conversation, let us discuss two." "You could move Venus or Mars." "Right. I could lift Venus further from the sun, putting it into a more comfortable orbit, or lower Mars. To do so, I would shoot asteroids at the planet I choose. I would send as massive of asteroids as I could control. I would do this over and over, and each one would change the orbital velocity of whichever planet I chose. Let us say I chose Venus. I would bend Venus's orbit so it began moving away. As it did so, it would slow down, eventually settling into a

new, far more elliptical orbit. But if I sped it up just a little at the right point, I could settle Venus into an orbit where Earth is. It would take time, a fairly large amount of time. But I could do it." "Wow." "Now, I'm not sure I'd use Venus. I do not care for the atmosphere that Venus carries. I am more likely to use Mars. Once Mars is where I want it, or maybe as part of getting it where I want it, I would also select asteroids, and maybe a few comets or other objects, and bombard Mars, giving it water and oxygen." "How long are we talking?" "Millennia. But I can do it." "You said 400 years."

"I wouldn't see the end of the project. But I could start it. I could start it tomorrow. Humans could start it sometime this century or early in the next, although it will be longer than that before you are traveling to the nearby stars." She let me think about that, too. "All that being said, it is easier to colonize planets that are already receptive to life. You can move in much sooner. You need to deal with the atmosphere, which is probably poisonous, if there is any at all. But that is easier than moving a planet." She caressed my back. "There are stars not too far that could be colonized. We have not decided if we

are going to do it or leave them for humanity. Your current methods of detecting planets is to watch for a planet to transit its sun. You detect the decrease in emitted light. But that means if the axial tilt is not right, you may never find a planet in even the closest star systems. There are planets nearby you have not found." "Are you going to tell us where?" "Not yet." "Our system?" "It is possible there are large bodies far outside the orbit of Pluto, but if so, we'll leave you to discover them." "Why not just tell us?" "You have a right to make these

discoveries about the world about you. We would not steal that from you." "So, the reasons for humanity to control our population do not apply when discussing the hundreds of children you want me to mother for you." "We manage our population on planets where we are many. We are not many here. And I do not know if I want hundreds. I want more than two." "You said you have children." "I have a daughter living in the system. I have a daughter and a son who immigrated off our home world, I believe to put as much distance from me as they could. The joke is on them, because now I am here, and it would be difficult to be much further away. Of

course, it would have been an even bigger joke if either of them had come along on this mission." "Your children didn't think being on the other side of the same planet was far enough away?" "My two oldest didn't. I am more mature now, and my youngest daughter has a very different outlook. I learned to let her grow up." "Humans can have that problem." "Not as much as Tutors." I laughed. "So I understand." "I was almost as bad as a Tutor with the first two. When they left, with some hateful words, I took the lesson to heart."

"How old is your youngest?" "A little older than you. In Earth years, hmm. Not yet 40. I'm not sure exactly. We tend to stop counting, and then I would have to translate besides." "So, we're still having a hypothetical conversation." "Yes." "If it weren't hypothetical, I would want to meet your daughter before making a decision." "And if your mother were sick, and I offered this price, and no one else were offering?" "Do you know something I don't?" "About your mother? No. This is

hypothetical." "Well, you're right. If Mom were sick, I'd do what was necessary. What would be the price?" "One child to cure something that was going to kill her." "That actually seems cheap," I said. "You can find surrogate mothers for far less than curing my mother of cancer. For instance." "You are forgetting I must modify your reproductive system." "Oh. Right." "This would be the price I would demand, and then later I might ask for more than a child. I might ask for five years. And then we would see. I may

want to keep you, or I may not care for you. You are not always charming." "No, but no one is." "I am." She squeaked. "Especially when I grow testy and leave you bound in the wall. That was especially charming." "That was the word I was using. But I spelled it with a B." "You didn't." "Of course I did, but I used the same word for Periwinkle." "Now, that's not fair. For Periwinkle, the word begins with D." "D?" "Ditz." I laughed. "So you know some

slang. You said there is more. You are married. How does your third become pregnant? And if you tell me 'in the usual fashion', I might suggest that child costs a cure for Mom plus roll both their ages back." "If I do not wish to use any of your DNA, then artificial insemination." "You have a husband. And you're touching me a lot." "Both true," she said. "My husband and I have what might be called a marriage of convenience. It didn't used to be, but we have been married a very, very long time. We are fond of each other, but we have our own lives." "And so, a Kitsune third is quite close to a Tutor third?"

"Yes." "I would not want to be touched by your husband in the fashion you are touching me, and I don't know how I feel about any of this. As I've said, you can readily find women to agree to this." "I can get you to agree, Andromeda, but I wouldn't necessarily want you if you were only agreeing because of what I paid you." I turned to look at her. She was gazing at me intently. "Is this conversation truly hypothetical?" "For now." "For now?" "For now," she said. "I have not decided if I wish to make it less

hypothetical. I want to know something else. What if I didn't offer to pay you at all?" "Become your lover, your surrogate mother. What else?" "You would accept my dominance." "The clothes." "Yes, the clothes. You are dressed in my colors. You would wear other clothes such as these. You said they are comfortable, and you enjoy my touch." "Now you aren't offering to help my parents?" "That isn't what I said. I am asking if that's what it would take."

I looked at her. "Would there be others? Would you touch others like you touch me? Would you have other thirds? Other lovers? Are you still lovers with your husband?" "Does your answer depend on those questions?" "If you're not helping my parents it does." "What other criteria would you have?" "I'd want to know you better. Frankly, we got off to a bad start. I know you are willing to punish me for being emotional." "I did not punish you." "You did. You knew I was

suffering. I told you I was suffering. But you dismissed me and walked away when you could have released me with less effort than a wave of your fingers. You punished me for being upset and insufficiently charming." "I did not punish you. Jasmine Brighteyes did. I simply didn't rescue you from her punishment." I thought about that. "Perhaps," I said. "But both you and Periwinkle contributed to my poor mood. How do you think I felt when you both walked away, leaving me there? That was emotional punishment. I would have been better off if neither of you had approached me in the first place than to leave me there the way you did."

She paused, and her hand grew still. "But regardless, you left me there when it would have cost nothing to ease my suffering. I understand you were frustrated with me. But the entire event makes me leery. I am not saying you are cruel, but I am suggesting that I am not always charming, and I don't know how well we would get along if you are so judgmental because I was struggling emotionally during a difficult situation for me." I turned away. I'd worked myself into a snit, which was annoying. But then she said, "Those are fair concerns. Will we agree the situation was complicated?"

"Yes," I said softly. "So there is room to recover from our start, but it might take more trust building." I turned to her. "Yes, that is fair to say." She nodded. "You care for my appearance?" "Yes, but I believe you are suggesting there is a sexual element to being a Kitsune third." "Yes. Are you suggesting you are uninterested?" "No. Human women, when meeting someone of their preferred gender -- for me, that is women -- tend to fairly quickly categorize them into one

of two groups. Yes, or no." "And I am in the No category." "I have a Maybe category." "Ah." "And it is a fairly wide category," I added. "Ardent females are near the far end, not quite a no." "Ardent women are not interested in female pairings." "I met one who might have been, but then wasn't. Wookies are also in the Maybe category. Implacs are firmly in the Hell No category." She squeaked. "Even male Implacs think that," she said. "They must not or we wouldn't need to deal with them any further."

"So, where am I?" "You are in the Maybe category. I like your looks. But I do not know if you raise my passions. Although what your hand has been doing for the last hour moved you up several notches." More squeaking. "What would it take to move fully into the Yes category?" "Time. Trust. I am leery of you, but we discussed that. And then, and only then, your hands becoming more bold than they've been. I would need to know the relationship was more than sex, more than being your surrogate mother. I would need to feel valued, like my opinion mattered. I'm not sure it does."

"And yet, we've been talking all evening. I have devoted significant attention to you. And I could just buy someone if I wanted a lesser human. I could buy you if I didn't care about how you felt about it. "All right. That helps with the trust issue." I smiled. "But this is still a hypothetical conversation. There are at least three species in addition to humans I already know who are firmly in the Yes category." "Your future choices will not include a human mate. You know that, don't you?" I sighed. "We'll see." "Jasmine won't let you go. She'll never let you go, unless it is to a mate,

and not just any mate, either." "She'd let you have me?" "If you asked her to. Possibly if I demanded, regardless of how you felt, but I wouldn't want that battle. I'd rather ask her for someone else, if you weren't willing." "Your touch feels nice. I am now asking a question, and I don't want a hypothetical answer. Did you invite me here to seduce me?" "I don't intend to seduce you tonight. I haven't decided what I want." "I have made promises to Jasmine Brighteyes. I am to accept dates. I do not believe you would be happy sharing my social calendar, once you make up your mind."

"If I make up my mind, you will not be dating anyone else, Andromeda." "Unless you are buying me, I'm also not making long term promises just because you ask. Human women don't do that." "In other words you expect us to date." "Yes, if this conversation turns non-hypothetical." "You wish trust to build." "And attraction determined. Yes. I want to know how you're going to treat me. And I won't make long term promises without meeting your daughter." "Unless I pay what you feel is a

significant price." "Then it becomes business, and I don't know what happens to a warm relationship." "Which is why I would rather you came willingly without a price." I nodded. "I have another hypothetical topic. Well, it's not entirely hypothetical. I have a daughter. She is not hypothetical. She is unmated, and there are no nearby Kitsune with whom she shares mutual attraction." "Are you about to pimp me out to your daughter?" "I do not know this phase." "It's very crude," I said. "Are you

about to ask me to date your daughter? And you're asking that after the previous conversation?" "Well, so far, they are both hypothetical," she replied. I shook my head. "All right. You have a daughter. She is single. She doesn't have any immediate prospects because the pickings are slim. Um." "I know that phrase," she said. "She might be interested in a human. She might be interested in a female. I will tell you flat out, I am not interested in any relationship that involves me sharing a household with an adult male." "What if, hypothetically speaking, she lives in my household

along with her male cousin?" "Does she?" "She might." "Fine. I'm not interested in a relationship where the male has amorous intentions on either of us. I am not interested in sharing a household that contains a male who is going to look at me like he wants me. I am not interested if there is any chance he's going to touch me in a fashion I don't care for." "She is beautiful." "No. If this nephew of yours is going to leer at me, then find someone else." "What about your good parents, who will surely grow old and die?"

"You weren't offering that price," I said. "And I bet I can get that handled, anyway, and not get leered at by some male." She squeaked. "You probably can, actually. There is no male cousin, and while she currently shares my household, I would expect her to establish her own household. Nearby of course. It's the space station, after all. How far away can she get?" "There's a base on Titan and aliens living on Earth." Squeaks. "Just so. But her work is on the station, and I believe she intends to stay there." "Except when she comes down to woo me?"

"Yes, although I believe the excuse for the trip would be different." "Does she know you're trying to arrange a marriage?" "She asked about you." "About me? Specifically me? When?" "When she saw the video." I grew cold. "No, no, not that video. The one from the arena. Well, she's probably seen more than that by now. We talked earlier today. She asked then. I told her we were having dinner." "What did she ask?" "She just asked, I don't know. She asked about you."

"Oh, that's a definitive answer." But I smiled. "Has she expressed interest in human women before?" "She's expressed interest in Catseye." "She's gay." "She is definitely, as you say, gay." "And you?" "Are flexible. She is not." "Do you have a picture?" She cocked her head, and a moment my visor told me I had new mail. I opened it and found someone who looked remarkably like Sugilite. "What's her name?" "Charoite." She sent me another

email containing an image of a mottled purple gemstone. "She answers to Charo." "She's pretty," I said. "Would I like her?" "I don't know." "Is she smart?" "Brilliant." "What does she do?" "She hopes to lead a team to establish a proper colony here in human space. It is a long term project." "Where?" "That isn't determined. Possibly here on Earth. Possibly we will ask if we may have a portion of Mars. Possibly we will move something very

large into Earth's L4 or L5 orbit." "Where are those?" "The same orbit, almost exactly, but 60 degrees before or after Earth's orbit. We won't do any of these without permission." "What does she do in the meantime?" "She is a multidisciplinary scientist. She studies your solar system. She likes to visit the various moons and larger asteroids." "The pieces she wants to move." "Or use to provide atmosphere and water. She could move a great many modest asteroids and then fuse them into a moon."

"Long term project?" "A couple of centuries. We'd rather use a portion of Mars. Of course, we'd really rather be fully welcome on Earth." "What happens to her plans if we open our arms more completely?" "She'll figure something out." "She speaks English?" "Yes, almost as well as I do." "Would I be a human pet or a proper mate?" "A proper mate. Not a third." I paused then turned back to face Sugilite. "You need to decide what you want. I am not going to date her and then become your third. That is just too

weird. I do not want to date you for a while if you intend to sample me, then begin dating your daughter. That is also too weird. I do not promise I will like her. I do not promise to terminate my agreement with Jasmine for her. But if you introduce her, and she asks me on dates, I would enjoy giving her an opportunity." "That was said far less hypothetically than our first conversation." "No, it wasn't, because I admitted I'd let you date me if you asked. But I'm not sure if I want to terminate my agreement for you, either. So it is what a human calls casual until I decide. If you don't like that, don't ask me out."

"And so you are telling me to stop touching you?" "Oh, no. You may touch like that all you want until some other woman tells you that you have to stop." She squeaked. And I closed my eyes and let her touch. It felt very nice. **** I sent a message to Jasmine. "Call me." I received an incoming call seconds later. "You summoned?" "Like you weren't waiting for just that message," I said. "Invite me to your room. I'd rather do this in person." "Follow the bouncing blue lights."

Ten minutes later had us in her living room. "You are dressed rather colorfully." "If it had taken you more than two minutes to call, I would have changed, before you could yell at me." "Of course. Do you know the significance?" "We had several conversations. First, she was effusive in her praise for you. Do you want details?" She waved a tentacle. "No, but thank you for telling me." "We had two hypothetical conversations. One regarded her daughter." "Charoite?"

"Yes. Is she nice?" "She's brilliant and intense. I don't know if she is nice. I don't know her socially." "The other conversation covered the clothes and the concept of a Kitsune third." "I see," Jasmine said coldly. "Did you make promises?" "Yes. I promised if she introduced me to her daughter, I'd let her ask me on dates the same way I would any other female. I also told her that if Sugilite asked me on dates, I'd accept in the same fashion." Jasmine snuffle-laughed. "And her reaction to that?"

"She suggested she doesn't share, but I told her if she can't handle casual while I figure it out, then don't ask. Jasmine, it was a hypothetical conversation, although it didn't feel hypothetical. She offered a significant bribe, and she also suggested my mother might be sick. Jasmine, is my mother dying?" "Oh, Andie." She pulled me to her. "If she is, I don't know it. Do you want me to find out?" "Can you?" "Yes. I'll take care of this, Andie. Don't worry." "How can I not worry?" "Did you ask if your mother were sick?"

"She said it was hypothetical. If she were sick and needed to be cured." "Then I think she was using it as an example, but I will find out for you." "What if she is? You can cure her." "That isn't guaranteed, but it is likely." I pushed away. "I'm working with you on this. If my mother is sick, you will fix her." "If your mother is sick, we'll discuss it, and we'll come to an agreement." "You'll fix her." "There will be a price, Andie. I can't control that. I have to charge a

price, and the price is a lot, lot higher when it's a woman your mother's age than if she were your 5-year-old child." "I'll pay it." "Don't say that until we know. And don't give up your negotiating position so easily. You might not be negotiating with me, and you already know I'd take advantage of such a blanket offer as that." "We're not letting my mom die, Jasmine. Please." "Let's find out what we're dealing with." "Tell me." "If it's late stage cancer, the price might be far, far too high."

"How high?" "What if I said you had to marry a male Implac?" "You wouldn't?" "What if?" I looked away. "You know your mother would never let you pay a price like that for her. She would be horrified if she found out. You know that. You would, in effect, be offering to die for her. No mother would ever accept an offer like that. But what if." "That's not the price," I said. "Probably not. It was the most extreme example I could think of that you could actually pay."

"It won't be that price." I looked back. "Please, Jasmine." "Let's find out. I bet she's perfectly fine. I don't know how Sugilite could have such information. It's an example. But I'll find out." "How?" "Dark Skies will break into the proper computers." "Really?" "Really. And if we can't get it that way, I'll kidnap her." "You wouldn't!" "Oh, probably not. I might invite her to visit you. I'll get her into a chair. Do you doubt me?" "No. Thank you, Jasmine." I

pulled myself tightly to her, and she held me for a while. We stayed that way for a while, then I said, "She offered to roll back their ages. Well, a hypothetical roll back. Am I selling myself to one of you too cheaply?" "I bet she's trying to get you to agree without any price paid at all." "Yeah, but if you can do that, and it's not that hard, why hold back?" "Because she doesn't want to buy you. She wants you willingly." "I should hold out then." I pushed away again. "Right? I should go for the best deal I can get." "You should aim for happiness,

Andie. Humanity is on the verge of solving this." "Not in time." "Maybe. Your futurists are predicting 25 years. You are testing antiaging drugs. I won't say if they show promise, but I will say this. We do not scoff at that 25-year estimate." "That's anti-aging. No one is going to want to freeze her age at 80 years old." "Perhaps not, but if they think they can do forever in 25 years, and they think they can slow it down in ten, then really it's not 80, is it? And who knows what you could arrange down the road? Do not sell yourself for this, Andie. Please, do not sell yourself that way."

"What if she's dying?" "Then sell yourself to me, or make the two of us fight over you." "To you, personally?" "Well, not necessarily, but don't take her offer without including me in the conversation, unless you want her offer in the first place. She isn't your only choice. I promise you." I nodded. "Thank you, Jasmine." "Better?" "Yes. Thank you for seeing me." "There's a price." I laughed, somewhat raggedly, but I laughed. "You must let me taste." "You haven't been?"

"You were upset." She wrapped around me, and then she held me. "These really are quite garish." "I know. Comfortable though, and you like the back." "I do. I like your legs bare though." "Voyeur." "Maybe." We sat quietly for a minute, then I said, "I learned something about you." "Oh?" "You're quite the important Catseye." "Ah, you're attracted to power." "Stop it," I said. "It is my position that carries

influence." "She said no one would do a better job than you do. Although I will point out she also indicated I should relay the flattery back to you. Is that politics?" "Probably, but it's not the first time she's been supportive." "If she asked you for me, would you give me to her?" "If you wanted me to. I told you that you'd have a choice, and it ruins my experiment if I then override it." "Keep holding," I said. But I pushed away so I could look at her. "I'm not ready to go. We're doing something here, and I want to see it through."

"So if Charoite comes to visit, and she's absolutely amazing, what happens?" "Maybe she'll let me finish what I started. If she's truly amazing, she wouldn't want me to quit after being here just long enough to stir things up." "If Sugilite demands an exclusive arrangement with you, unless you aren't interested, I'm going to let her, at last while you figure things out." "So power works in the Federation the way it works on Earth?" "Not always, but in this case, she was sending us both a message." "What is that?" "That we are allies, and it's not

always power that determines these things, but relationships. Consider her and I as having a Boardwalk partnership." "All right," I said. "But if I don't take whatever offer she wants, then I may choose to extend our arrangement, because you're the one who interrupted my chance to get to know people, not me." "I'll agree to that. We'll talk more if it comes to it." "Agreed." "And if Charoite comes all this way just to see you, you will give her more than her share of attention." "All right, but see previous comment."

"Understood. Andie, as long as I believe you're operating in good faith, I intend to give you time. Not as much time as a human might want, but time." "Thank you. Now please taste me however much you want before you send me back to my cell." And so she did. **** I'm going to jump ahead a few days, just to put this to bed. "Andie," said Dark Skies. "I can't find any evidence either of your parents is sick. They're starting to show their ages, but there's nothing to indicate they shouldn't live good, long lives." "Are you sure?"

"An inability to find it isn't proof it's not there," she said. "I'm sure I didn't find anything. But if it's really new, isn't in the records of either of their primary physicians, and hasn't made it to their insurance company yet, then I may not have looked everywhere I should have looked. And it's even possible your mother was somehow scanned by one of our doctors, but there's no indication of that, either." "This is good news," said Jasmine. "It's not proof. I talked to Sugilite. She was expecting the call and said, 'I have no information on Andromeda's parents'. I believe her. But if you want to be sure, we can be sure." "I want to be sure. Can we be

sure without actually kidnapping them?" "If they cooperate. You have a good relationship with them." "Yeah. Really good." "I'd let you call." I choked up and put my hand over my mouth, then nodded. "What price?" I whispered. "You don't get mad when I threaten you. You will say what we agree you will say. You will tell her you have taken a temporary job with us. You may say you are working for a Catseye. That's all you will say." "I will. I promise." "If you break this promise, Andromeda... I do not want to make this

threat. I really do not. But I have no choice. If you tell them what is happening here, we're going to kill the three of you." "I won't! I won't!" "That threat did not come from me. It came from the council. Do you understand?" "This went to the council?" "Sugilite knew she freaked you out and had the threat waiting. It's not from her, either." "I won't tell." "I know you won't. You're going to practice your conversation with Dark Skies before you call them." "So, I call them. Then what?"

"You ask. If they tell you they're perfectly healthy, then you can talk them into accepting an examination. It will be at the testing center there and we can do it tonight. They'll be back home by bedtime." "What can I tell them?" "It's public knowledge we do a medical exam. It's public knowledge we'll tell the people we test if they have something they need to know about. You may plead all you want. For them, it's a free exam, and they would be fools to decline." "There's a price for me." "Yes: those reparations you wanted from the Implac." "I'll do it."

"I knew you would." "The Implac isn't paying for this, is she?" "No. I'm taking those reparations and keeping them. This is a small thing for me to do for you, but I am obligated to make it a big deal for you. I'm sorry." "It's fine. I wanted the reparations because I wanted her to pay. If she gave me ten million bucks, I wouldn't have complained, but this is more important than money." We talked it over a little longer. Then Dark Skies and I practiced. And she worked hard to trip me up. But Jasmine cautioned me to speak slowly, and she said if it looked like I was getting into trouble, she'd interrupt the

call. Once we were all satisfied I could make the call, Jasmine said, "Your parents are both home. They aren't currently on the phone. I will patch a call to your visor." A moment later, I heard ringing, and then Mom answered. "Hello?" "Mom!" I said. "It's Andie." "Andie! It's about time you called your mother." "I know, Mom. Long story." "Give me the Reader's Digest version." "I lost my job. The aliens gave me a new one. It's temporary, but it might become permanent. We'll see." "Well, that's brief," she said.

"Doing what?" "More of what I did for Gerri. Personal assistant to one of the Catseye, although they call it something different." "And what do they call it?" "Hell if I know. She says it in Catseye." Mom laughed. "And tell me. Where is this job?" "Um. I'm not supposed to tell you. But winter is coming to Minnesota, and I'm working on my tan. You can envy me while watching Dad shovel the driveway. You know how the aliens are. They don't tell us any more than they have to." "What are they like, Honey?"

"Strange. I don't know. Some of my coworkers are becoming friends. So is my boss, I think." "Well, that's good. You always had a good relationship with Gerri. What happened there?" "She got fired for something someone else did, and then they were going to make me work for, oh, about the worse guy in the entire company. So I told them give me a severance package I liked, or they were going to have sexual harassment lawsuits and bad press for years to come. Now, they're still going to have those, because he's a real horse's ass and needs to get fired. But he's sleeping with the boss's daughter, so he'll hold on long enough to cause

problems. But I got my money and got out." "That's too bad about Gerri. She called, worried about you." "Well, tell her I landed on my feet, would you? I can't make many calls from here, but I needed to talk to you about something." Then I put my hand over my mouth. I hate crying. "Honey, what's wrong?" I took a deep breath. "Mom, the aliens know stuff, you know. Stuff." "What kind of stuff." "Health stuff." "Are you sick, Honey?" "No. But I was talking to one. It was about the weirdest conversation I've

ever had, but in the middle, she suggested you might be sick." "Oh, Honey, I'm perfectly healthy. You know us. Oh, sure, there are days I think I might have to get serious about prune juice, but both your father and I are healthy as horses, for our age. And we're not exactly old." "Mom, if you have cancer or something, you need to tell me." "Andie! Did this alien say I have cancer? I don't. She's wrong." I looked over at Jasmine. She nodded. "Mom, they know stuff. And now I'm scared." "Honey, I'm fine."

"I need to be sure. There's a car pulling into your driveway. They're going to drive you to the alien testing center, and they're going to do a medical exam on both of you. It only takes an hour, and it's a little weird, but if there's anything wrong at all, they'll find it. They give you a complete report and send one to your doctor. Even if you're mostly healthy, they'll find out if you have an ingrown toenail." "I'm sure I can self-diagnose an ingrown toenail, Andromeda." "Mom, this is a really hard job, and I can't do it if I'm worried about you. You'll be gone about two hours. Even if you aren't willing to do it for yourselves, please do this for me. Please."

"Honey, this isn't necessary." Then I heard Jasmine's voice on the call. "Mrs. Hayes, my name is Jasmine Brighteyes. I am a Catseye and your daughter's new employer. Tell me, when was the last time you saw her cry?" "The day she told me..." "That she's gay?" "Yes." "She was a teenager?" "Yes." "She cried two nights ago when she came to me about this. And she's on the edge of tears now." There was silence, then Mom said, "Do we need to bring anything?"

"You and your husband can walk out in whatever you're currently wearing and get in the car. You'll be home by bedtime." Mom paused. "I'll talk to him." "Both of you, Mom," I said. "You both have to go. Please." "All right, Honey. He's here now. Do you want to talk to him?" "For a minute, then you have to go. Promise me." "We'll go, Honey. I'm sure we're fine." "Thanks, Mom. I love you." "I love you, too. Here's your father." There was a pause, then, "Hello,

Pumpkin. What's this about a doctor?" "Mom will explain, Dad, and you're then going to do what you always do." "Bitch for a few minutes while doing whatever she tells me." "Yep. So, I've got a new job. Mom can tell you about it." "That's fabulous, honey!" We talked for a minute, and then he said, "I guess we're going somewhere. Your mother has my jacket." "Thanks, Dad. I love you." "I love you, too." After that, I fretted for the next ninety minutes. Jasmine let me stay with her, even though I couldn't sit still or do

anything useful. But then she took a call, speaking Catseye for only a half minute or so. She turned to me, and I had my hand over my mouth. "They're fine," she said. I burst into tears. She pulled me into her tentacles. "They have the little things consistent with their age. Your mom has a touch of arthritis, but it's not bad. Your dad's broken leg healed well." "What broken leg?" "Oh, oh," she said. "You're serious?" "Yeah. Last year some time." "They went skiing, and then I was tied up with an acquisition, and I

didn't see them for a few months. God, they didn't tell me." "Maybe they'll feel better if they don't know I did." "Healthy?" "Little aches and pains. Absolutely nothing you were afraid of. There is every indication they're going to live good, long lives. If your Dad doesn't run into a tree the next time they go skiing." "Thank you, Jasmine," I said. "Thank you. Thank you." "You're welcome, Andie."

Charges Well, let me back up to the day after my evening with Sugilite. I was worried about my parents, but I managed to put it aside enough to do my job. After all, these women needed me. I want to talk about a few of the events. Over the next weeks, I would help with a large number of challenges, but I'll only describe a couple. First was Haruki and her two Greygreens. That event was back in the arena. It was actually rather funny, in a way, but you'll decide for yourself. There was to be unarmed combat. I couldn't have told you who was more pleased by that. Haruki knew

she was playing for points to be used in her first one-on-one challenge, and this did not count as her first of three -- or five, or whatever the final count would be. The arena was set up quite simply. There was a cage at one end and an exit at the other. Haruki would begin in the cage, but it was timed to release her. On her release, she won if she escaped the arena, and that was worth points. She could also win points if she did anything that would score points in either taekwondo or jujutsu. That meant she could decide to run and hope she made it out, or she could engage in combat for points, or she could just use her combat skills while trying to escape.

If the males caught her, they could throw her back into the cage, and the timer reset. For one of the males to win, he had to defeat the other male. Jasmine was going to make that portion a complete free-for-all fight, but Haruki asked them to be bound by the same rules she would follow. There was some back and forth, and eventually it was decided to use the rules from human mixed martial arts fights, but there would be no rounds and no breaks. A male was beaten if he became unable to defend himself or if he submitted. A broken limb counted as a submission. That thought made me shudder, but who was I to talk? I'd been

willing to fight with a broken cheek and two cracked ribs. Of course, I didn't know they were broken, but still... There were only two other rules. The males were not allowed to fight in the area immediately around Haruki's cage, the exit, or a path between the two. They would need to take their combat to one side or the other. This gave Haruki a chance to run. On the other hand, a buzzer would sound when her cage was about to release her, and they could decide whether they wished to continue their fight or to pursue her. During our conference, both males promised a truce at the buzzer, but I wasn't sure if they'd keep it. We gathered on the sand:

Jasmine, the two Greygreens, Haruki, and me. We verified the rules and that Haruki's safety gear was operational. And then the three of them all bowed to each other. Haruki calmly walked to her cage and was soon floating in the middle, facing out to watch the competition. Jasmine and I moved into the stands, and I took control of the cameras. "Begin!" Jasmine called. The males went at it. If you were into that sort of thing, I imagined they were quite impressive. There was a lot of posturing, a lot of kicking, a lot of punching, a lot of ducking and weaving and blocking. And then Haruki's cage buzzed,

and they immediately separated. They were not allowed in her runway until she exited the cage, but they were waiting for her. She grabbed the edge of the cage, watched them for a minute, then stepped out. Then she walked towards them. They spread out, cutting her escape. I thought as she got close, they would swarm her. I thought she'd make a dash for it. That's not what happened. She stopped about six paces away, eyeing them both. Then she tucked her hands under her chin, bowed, and settled into a fighter's stance. The two males glanced at each other. Then one stepped forward,

bowed, and went into his own stance. The other backed away then moved closer to the exit, but only a half dozen steps. Haruki charged the first male. There was a flurry of strikes and counterstrikes, and then the male went flying over her hip. Oh, she was good, but perhaps he was limited by the rule set. He hit the ground and then rolled away, coming to his feet. But then they bowed, and he backed away. Haruki turned to the other, then the first took a new position another half dozen steps closer to the exit. Haruki earned three points total before she was the one who landed on

the ground, her opponent on top of her. Then a moment later he stood, pulling her with him, and the other male stepped forward. He grabbed her arm, and the two of them walked her to the cage, turned her around, and gently pushed her in. "This is..." "One of the best challenges we've ever run," Jasmine finished. The challenge lasted a long time, longer than we expected, but we'd made room for it. Haruki was released every five minutes. She didn't score points with each release, but she built a healthy number, and the males were clearly growing tired faster than she was. She almost escaped, near the

end. The fight between the males had moved to the ground, one of them clearly in a dominant position. But then just before Haruki's cage began to buzz, the one on the bottom did some sort of reversal, and even I could tell he was attempting a submission hold of some sort. I couldn't have explained what. But then the buzzer sounded, and Haruki was free. The one alien didn't want to give up his hold on the other, and that one was unable to extract himself. Perhaps the first didn't hear the buzzer. Perhaps he thought even letting Haruki earn points was okay if he won the competition. Haruki took a look and then ran.

She was halfway to freedom before the one either freed himself or convinced the other to release. They barely caught her, just barely caught her as she was dashing through the exit. At that point, she fought and struggled, but they each grabbed an arm and half dragged her, struggling, back to the cage and pushed her in. I zoomed in. She looked angry, but then she took a deep breath and went back to watching the males. She would be released once more. We agreed that the solo winner had to return her to the cage one final time. The two males went after each other, they went after each other hard. There was grappling, and then a scream

from one, and an arm hanging oddly. "Halt!" Jasmine yelled, and the other stepped away from his fallen comrade. But then he nodded to Jasmine before kneeling down and going to the aid of his opponent. He held him as medical staff came swarming onto the arena grounds. The winner bowed once more to his opponent as he was carted away. "He'll be fine," Jasmine said. "In a few days." Then she projected her voice and spoke in Japanese. Both the remaining competitors bowed to us. And then Haruki's cage began to buzz. The winner ran into position. Haruki stepped from the cell, approached, and bowed.

They had a great fight. Haruki got the first point and made a run for the exit. Her opponent jumped to his feet, overtook her, and cut her off. He got the next point, but she rose to her feet and didn't let him drag her back to the cell. Haruki got one more, but after that he was able to push her back until finally he threw her to the ground and settled on top of her. A few seconds later, she tapped his arm. He stood, pulled her up, and she let him pick her up and carry her to the cage. Event over. **** I managed to arrange practice time for Julie. Hers wasn't the only challenge requiring a similar arena

configuration, so I begged with Jasmine. And so it was late on the second day that I gathered with six women that would have similar, but not necessarily identical events. I told them to wander the arena for a few minutes, but then we collected near the front of the cage. They all eyed it. "I cannot believe they make us do this," said a woman in an enchanting French accent. "I understand," I said. "But you know what? This kind of looks like fun at the same time." "You are American. You have a love of guns." "Give her a break," said another woman. She was British. "Unless you

would prefer that fight we all saw." "Well, we have an hour," I said. "We've got enough guns for everyone to have one. Your name is on your gun, as you don't all get the same kind in your challenges. And the targets and goal may not match this setup exactly. But if you can shoot a round target, you can shoot a square one, right?" I passed out guns -- and there was one for me. Then I said, "The blue targets are just targets, so if we want to just do target practice, you can shoot at those. But if we want to see what the event looks like, we have the other targets." "I want to see the entire event," said the woman from Britain. "But target

practice is a good start." "All right. They're going to disable the other targets, and we can shoot the blue ones. I recommend you move around and try from different angles. Standing, sitting, hiding behind one of the obstacles, maybe even falling on your butt. I don't know. But let's use fifteen minutes that way, then we can do some competitions." The gun was actually kind of fun, and all of us spent time shooting at the targets. "Who is listening?" I asked out loud. "It's just me in the control room," said Dark Skies. "But there might be one or two watching the video. Not that there's a certain Catseye watching you or

anything. And if you look in the stands, you might see some familiar faces." "Jasmine Brighteyes, are you being a voyeur again?" "I should have made you do this in your undies," said Jasmine. "But we don't have any that would record a laser hit." "You could join us. We could use a moving target." "As delightful as that sounds, I'm working and must pass." "It would be really good for morale." "And yet, I am in Control Room 4 coordinating two other events, Andie." "Oh. I'm sorry. Well, if you

finish, come on down. I'll let you shoot me." "I'll keep that in mind." But then I scanned the stands, and Dark Skies was right. There were familiar faces. "Hey, can you patch me into Cherish and Soft Rain?" "They're already listening." "You two. Come play with us. Get suits and bring the other Wookie." And then I saw Sugilite. "Is the Kitsune listening?" "Not on this channel," Dark Skies said. I saw Soft Rain turn to Thick Fog. And then they got up, collected a reluctant Cherish, which amused me

deeply, and disappeared into the stands. "Excellent," I said. I moved to the edge of the arena where I could barely see Sugilite. I bowed to her. "Come on down, Kitsune!" "You'll shoot me," she said. "You and me," I said. "Right down here. If you win, I'll let you pat my bottom." "And if you were to win, as unlikely as that is?" "You agree to be target practice and run around, letting the rest of them try to shoot you." She squeaked several times. "I think I shall stay here, but maybe next time."

"So I should make a similar offer another time?" Sugilite leaned forward. "Sure. But if I win, you are my third for two weeks." "That's too steep," I said. "One night, but you know that means you can't ask me about Charo again." "Ask again sometime," she said. "Or perhaps I'll ask you. I believe your charges require your attention." I turned around. Cherish and the two Wookies had just entered the arena. They were in their own battle suits and holding laser rifles. The human women were eyeing them cautiously. I looked over my shoulder, "Next time, Sugilite." "I look forward to it."

I took off running, coming to a stop between the two groups. I turned to the humans. "These are three of my friends. They are very good people. They're here to help us." Then I gestured the aliens forward. The humans looked dubious about the arrangement, but they allowed me to perform introductions. "They want to see this event," I said to the aliens. "And they need target practice on moving targets. I bet you three are faster than a human. Are you willing to let them shoot you?" "I'm willing to shoot them," Cherish said. "I came down to see if you wanted a little mini event with me." "And because Soft Rain was about to carry you over her shoulder if

you didn't." She snorted. "And that." "You made friends with the aliens?" ask the Dutch woman. "These are good people," I said. "The Wookies helped me with the Implac, and Cherish is amazing." "The Wookies are helpful," said Soft Rain, "But Cherish is amazing." Then she lifted her gun and shot me in the leg. "Hey!" I said as the battle suit stiffened. "That's not funny!" She said something in Wookie howls, and then both of them shot me in the same leg. That finished stiffening the suit, and I fell over.

"Not funny!" I began firing back at them. "Get 'em!" It turned into a free-for-all in seconds, with all the humans shooting at the aliens, the aliens diving behind obstacles and shooting back, the humans diving behind their own obstacles, and then someone -- I think it was Cherish -began plinking at me, stiffening my entire suit. "Not fair!" I said. "Not fair!" Dark Skies began laughing, and then I heard Jasmine, too. It was perhaps a minute later before everything grew quiet. "Did anyone hit the Wookies even once?"

"Everyone got hit multiple times," Dark Skies said. "I can't stop laughing." "So if you release my suit, they're all incapacitated, and I can make a run for it?" "You can try," she said. My suit relaxed. I carefully checked motion, trying not to be obvious. Then I stood and tried to run. I got hit from about seven directions, all at once, and made it all of five feet before I landed in the dirt again. "Ooff. Okay, not funny." Dark Skies was laughing her head off again. Then Jasmine's voice rang out,

"Only half of the contestants are fully disabled. There is a significant privilege for the last human still firing, and for two evenings, Andromeda belongs to the alien who throws her into the cage." "Protect me!" I yelled out. "Wait for them to break cover, then nail 'em!" It took Cherish and the Wookies, moving slowly, to take out the remaining humans. Ironically, the woman from The Netherlands was the last holdout. She got a good defensive position and held them pinned down for a long time, scoring points, but unable to fully disable any of them. But they finally got her. Then the three of them went after each other. It was eventually Cherish that

crawled across the sands -- slowly, as her suit was stiff, but not fully disabled. Then she began dragging me for the cage. "Seriously? Jasmine, she has to drag me to the cage? Seriously? I concede." "Dark Skies, reset the Tutor's suit but no one else's." A moment later, Cherish stood, stretched, then casually picked me up, carried me to the cage, and threw me in. "Well done," I said. She leaned closer. "I still want challenges." "I'll play your game all you want, Cherish."

"Will you act as my Third?" "I will." "Thank you, Andromeda." "Event over," Dark Skies declared. "Disabling all rifles. Resetting all suits." But she didn't let me out of the cage. Everyone seemed to enjoy collecting at the front and laughing. "Okay," said the Dutch woman. "You were right, Andromeda. That was fun. I wonder what privilege I have won." "I'm sure it will be good," I said. "Is anyone going to let me out?" "You look good in there," said another woman. I hadn't caught her name.

"I'd grab you, but I think the Wookie will throw me in." "Look, we have to show them the event, and I can't do that from in here!" Well, it turns out, I could. The humans wanted to see it done, and they negotiated among themselves. And then they elected Julie to be the human representative. The three aliens conferred, and then Thick Fog took the alien position. Everyone else took places to the side. Dark Skies pre-triggered a portion of the targets and called begin. Julie held her own for a while, but the Wookie was quite good, and it took a few minutes before the force field pushed Julie into the cage with me. But

she was laughing. We hugged, awkwardly. And then Dark Skies let us out. **** Julie lost her event the next day, but she went into it with a certain amount of confidence, and I thought she had fun. Ben was extremely gentle with her when he pulled her from the cage. They hugged, and she clung to him, so he picked her up and carried her from the arena. She was crying, but I was sure they were tears of joy, not sorrow. Ben let her steer challenge number two, the intellectual challenge, into a cooking contest. Julie was tickled

pink. Ben lost badly, but they both had a good time, especially when they sat down to eat what she had made. Their third challenge was to be physical again. We sat down to plan it. The grid had items in most branches that Julie could do with some sense of satisfaction, but it would also be easy to steer where Ben wanted. He steered to a large arena. And then he steered for a hunt. When she realized that, Julie became morose, staring down at the table. "Julie," Ben said, "what is wrong?" "You told me you needed a win, that you needed me to do my best, or you would not feel as if we could become

mated." "That is true." "I can't do this, Ben. You know I can't." She lowered her voice further. "You did this on purpose. You don't really want me." "That isn't true," he said. "But I need a hunt, Julie. I need to find you, to capture you. This is my biology." "You said you needed a challenge." That was when I spoke up. "Julie, have I steered you poorly yet?" She turned to me. "I built this grid. The computer helped, but I made adjustments. And now you must trust me. Don't spend any

more of your points and save them for now. Okay?" "Okay," she said quietly. They outlined a few more rules, and then we reached the handicap system. Ben had spent his points. Julie had nine remaining. "Julie," I said. "You have nine points. You can use them to hamper Ben, but there might be one or two items that make you more competitive. Don't spend your points at all until you're sure." It took her five minutes. Then she smiled. "Nine points. I get a laser rifle, and if Ben is within two hundred yards of me, my visor tells me where he is. And with my last point, I get a detailed topographical map of the arena."

"Which I am sending to you now," I said. "Can you read it?" "Of course I can read it," she said. "He has to catch me, and he has twenty-four hours to do so." "Yes, but after half of that, his visor will give him distances to you." In other words, no matter what she did, he'd find her. "But I get two hours to hide." "Yes," I said. "You do." She smiled. "This will be a good challenge." She lost. Of course she lost. But she gave him a good challenge, and she kept him pinned down for nearly two hours at one point. I don't know if she let

him get away at that point, or if he just managed to move enough every time she stiffened his suit and finally moved into cover. She was crying when he caught her, but she clung to him tightly. **** Haruki's challenger was called Neon Blue. Haruki won her first one-onone challenge against him, a jungle hunt. She lost the second, but she acquired enough points in the playing that she was still ahead on points. But in between the events, she went on three dates with Neon, her awarded privilege for the gracious play during the challenge play-off. At the end of the third date, she sent me a message.

"Could I speak with you in person?" That translated into a request to Jasmine. I was locked in my own cell for the night. "Ask her if I may be present." I asked her to initiate a conference call, and a moment later, both their images appeared. Haruki looked between the two of us. "Haruki," I said. "You know I am also a mating candidate, and I am unable to grant requests without permission." "I didn't know you couldn't see me." "I would like to know if I may be present," Jasmine asked. "I believe I know what you want, and Andromeda does not have authority to grant it. And I

do not want the two of you to cheat. I believe I need to be there." "Will you let me talk to her first, privately?" Jasmine paused before answering. "Yes, all right. The guards are gone for the night. Andromeda, I will send you to her cell. I will have shackles delivered. You will escort her here. Haruki, you do not want to abuse Andromeda. It won't do you any good but a great deal of harm." "I want to talk." "You will come here, and I will give you privacy here. I do not want you talking down there. Andromeda, collect her, say as little as necessary, and come here."

"Will do," I said. "Authorizing your cell door. I'll see you both soon." "Could you put on some tea?" "Yes." I collected Haruki. She was sitting on the bed in her cell clothing. We were both in undies, camisole, and thin kimono. I thought she was amazingly lovely, and it was hard not to stare at her legs for a moment. So I did. She turned to look at me, and then I stepped forward. The cell opened a doorway then closed the moment I stepped inside. Haruki pointed. "It arrived a

minute ago, but I stayed here." Her cell was identical to mine. I crossed to the nook and collected the shackles. "Jasmine, are you listening?" "Yes." "I don't know how to apply these." "Wrap them around an ankle or wrist and they close automatically. Do her legs first while she's still on the bed, and I want her hands behind her back." "I'm not going to make trouble," said Haruki. But she held her legs out. I knelt down and did the shackles. They were set really quite short, and she would have to shuffle. I looked up at her and shrugged.

"It's fine," she said. Then she rolled onto her stomach and offered her hands behind her back. I got them locked together then helped her from the bed. I took her arm. I didn't have access to control her visor. "Jasmine, the visor." "I'm already blinded," Haruki said. "All right then." We stepped forward, and the cell let us out. It was a slow walk. Haruki apologized twice. So did I. Then we both laughed, realizing it wasn't either of our fault. "I'm dying to ask about your date, but I'm afraid if I do, Jasmine will punish both of us if you answer."

"She'd do that, wouldn't she?" "She's put us both in the arena with a pack of rabid Lorises." "I'm telling Bay you said that," Jasmine announced. "He'd be the pack leader," I said. "Then he'd give us super soakers filled with robot food and threaten something truly dastardly if we didn't squirt each other." "Robot food?" "Nasty," I said. "They dropped me into a pit, filled it with robot food, and then let me out. Think molasses. Sticky, oh it was sticky. And the robots are the size of big ants, but some of them fly. And I was covered in it."

"Eww." "Yeah. Big time." "Were you freaked?" "I screamed and went insane. I don't know how long I continued to scream even after they were done." "Did they bite?" "No, but imagine having about a million ants crawling on you." "Nasty," she said. "Very nasty." "Yeah." We reached Jasmine's apartment, and the door opened as we arrived. Jasmine was waiting and directed us to the living room. There was tea waiting. She attended to Haruki's wrists, releasing them but binding them back in

front of her, very close together. She and I both sat on the sofa, and I helped her with the tea. "You are not being recorded," Jasmine said. "You will have to trust me, because I have no way to prove it. I will be in the next room, close enough to hear if you call in a firm voice, but not close enough to hear if you speak quietly. If the two of you conspire to cheat, I will figure it out, and you will not like my response. Bay's robot ants are not the worst thing I can do to you, but imagine four hours of that, Andromeda, with your mouth pried open." "You don't have to threaten," I said. "You know that." "No, I don't know that. You have

conflicting interests." "We won't conspire," Haruki said. "I have no desire to have robotic ants crawling everywhere." "All right." And then Jasmine stepped away. "So," I said quietly, then took a sip from my tea. "How was the date?" "I like him, Andie," she said. "I really like him. And he's made such promises to me. I want to go. I want him to win. But I have enough points that unless I'm a complete idiot, I'll win our next challenge. And you said they need to win. It's in their biology. He won't want me if I beat him. I can even understand that. A Japanese man would lose face if his wife could beat him. I

understand." "And if you don't look like you're doing your best..." "Then it's dishonest. I do not want a relationship based on dishonesty." "Why couldn't you tell this to Jasmine?" "She's an alien. She might tell him. I don't know. I trust you. I don't know about her." "Well, there are solutions, and I think I know what she'll do about this, but she may not want to tell you. I don't know. But I think we should trust her and invite her in." She studied my face. "You are

sure?" "I am sure. She told me she is not the sort of alien who lets mating candidates go. She's not going to let you go." She smiled. "Invite her." "Jasmine! We could use your wisdom." She appeared in the doorway a moment later. "My wisdom?" "I'm sucking up," I said. "Just in case you were in there thinking of nasty tricks the next time I'm in an event. Please sit. Have some tea." She stepped into the room and took her own seat. There was a cup waiting for her, so I poured for her. She

collected it and leaned back. "I already know what's wrong." "Do you?" "You are a deeply honorable woman and don't know how to throw your next event." She lowered her gaze and nodded. "Do you really think I'm going to let you win, Ms. Tsukino?" "You told us we could win." "You could," Jasmine said. "It happens. Most of the time it happens, it's because I know this would be a horrible match. Maybe I do not like the male. Maybe I just feel it is a poor match, and I am willing to let a candidate go to

prevent the long term difficulty that would ensue if they become mated. But who makes the challenge grids, Ms. Tsukino?" "I won my first and almost won my second." "Proving you are a formidable mating candidate and worthy of Neon Blue. You will not win your third. Do you doubt me? He only needs one handicap. One. I don't care what event it is. One handicap. How well do you see in the dark? He sees into the infrared. Do you think I will let you win?" "So you lied to us when you said we could win?" "My sense of honor is different than yours," Jasmine replied. "I am

willing to cheat to achieve the best final result. The final result for you is to lose your event, but to go down doing your best, isn't it?" "Yes." "Well then, are you going to be angry if I make sure that is what happens?" Haruki smiled. "No. But it must be an honest competition! He must begin to feel mated. Won't he know that you cheated?" "I won't have to cheat. It would be a real shame if you fell into the pit Andromeda mentioned a few minutes ago. Do you think you could maintain your focus with all those giant ants crawling on you? They look just like

real ants, but if that's not enough, half of them can fly." "Thousands," I said. I shuddered. "If this were a poor match, or an indifferent match," Jasmine said, "Then we would provide a grid that is as fair as we can, and with your points, you would have a real chance. As is, we tried to be sure you lost the first challenge, but my assistant underestimated your skills and made it too easy for you." "Hey!" I said. "She earned that." "She did," Jasmine said. She smiled. "Whatever your challenge is, you're going to have the fight of your life. But if it looks like you're about to win, I'll cheat. You may not see it. He

definitely won't see it. Now, who wants some ice cream?" "You're going to eat in front of her, Jasmine?" "Are you upset by this conversation, Ms. Tsukino?" "If we're having ice cream, could you call me Haruki?" "Good." I heard an unzip. "Don't scream," I said. And the tentacles began poking out. Haruki stared, and soon they were on full display. Haruki stared, and then she turned to me. "Why would I scream?" "Excellent question," I said. "What kind of ice cream do you have

tonight, Jasmine?" "I'm sorry, I only have vanilla." "I like vanilla," I said. "Haruki, do you like vanilla?" "I love vanilla." "I'll retrieve it," Jasmine offered. "You two can talk about your date, Haruki." "Do you need a hand?" I asked with a grin. Jasmine waved a tentacle at me. I turned to Haruki. "So. Good date?" She leaned back on the sofa. "The best. The best, Andie." "Tell me. Where did he take you? What did you both wear? Did you kiss? Do Greygreens even kiss?" "Yes," she said. "As a matter of

fact, they do." She looked at me. "Are they drugging me, Andie? I've never felt like this before, and... Are they drugging me?" "Well, if they are, I don't know about it, but let me tell you about the Octal." **** She lost, but it was a little close for comfort. I think Jasmine cheated, but I didn't catch her. Haruki and Neon Blue certainly didn't. After the event, it was difficult to tell who was the most pleased. **** In the end, all my charges lost, but that wasn't surprising. They weren't all as happy as Julie and Haruki were.

But most were accepting affection, and Jasmine told me that at this stage, that was the most important part. "And that they lose." "Oh please. I told you, I don't let mating candidates go. Just remember that."

Dates and Disappointments Clover was able to go see Peony for four nights, returning very late on the fifth day. She came to me in my cell, pulled me to my feet, and hugged me for a good ten minutes. When I looked later, my back was deeply marked. I didn't care. I was nearly as happy about it as she was. I had my event with the two Wookies. They hunted me as a pair, and I even gave them a run for their money. Oh, not a long run. I never got even close to the finish. But it was fun. And then they proceeded to scare

the shit out of me. The competition between them was to see who could get me to scream the longest. Not that I knew that going into it. Let me just say this: they were inventive. Thick Fog won, but it took Dark Skies to calm me down at the end. Under her influence, I became, shall we say, quite agreeable, and it didn't wear off for hours. Thick Fog got her bath, and then the three of us stayed up late, the two of them touching me a great deal and me frustrated because there wasn't more than touching. In the evening two days later, Soft Rain asked to meet with me in my cell. Together we sat on my bed facing each other. It was a little funny to see the

Wookie sitting with her legs crossed. Then she looked down at her hands and wouldn't look at me. "Are you in love, Soft Rain?" "Yes," she rumbled. "Are you both my friends?" "Yes," she said more loudly. "Does she love you?" "Yes." "Good. You're good together." She looked up. "We talked about asking you to be our third. It is not the same as the Tutor do. In fact, we don't really do that. But we thought we might want to keep you." "You don't want me the way I want to be wanted," I said. "You want a

pet human because I'm fun to play with." "Are you mad?" "I'd have been mad if you tried to force a relationship you didn't really want. We can still play, Soft Rain. Do you live on Earth?" "No, but we visit sometimes. Not often." "Well, I don't know where I'm going to be in six months. Who knows? We could become neighbors. I'll be disappointed if we aren't friends. I'll be disappointed if you didn't find ways to earn a bathing." She rumbled. "I do enjoy that part." "When are you leaving?"

"She's waiting for me now." "She didn't want to say goodbye?" "She says she hates goodbyes." "All right. I want to tell you something. What happens here is hard for us. It was going to be very hard for me. Then I met you. You didn't want anything from me but friendship, and you offered so much. Do you have any idea how amazing that is? You're a Wookie. Do you know how many people would die to get a hug from a real, honest-togoodness Wookie?" "I am not your Chewbacca." "So? You're an amazing person, and our stories are filled with wondrous creatures that we never get to really see.

You're a wondrous creature, and you've become my friend. I'm glad I'm here, and you're a big part of the reason. My heart is going to break knowing you're gone, but I'll be fine now. You got me through long enough to make more friends, unlikely friends. I don't know how I would have made it without you." And then she was rumbling. A moment later she held me to her, but she was warm and gentle. She rumbled and she rumbled. And then, when she calmed down, I reached a hand up to the back of her head. "Do Wookies kiss?" "Not like humans." "Well, this human kisses, even Wookies that don't kiss back." And I

pulled her to me. We had a soft, sweet, surprising kiss. "Thank you, Soft Rain. Promise me this is not goodbye forever." "It's not," she said. "And the next time I see you, there will be more challenges." "Good. Tell Thick Fog congratulations for me. And give her this for me." I kissed her again. A minute later, she was gone. I waited another minute then began sobbing. And a minute after that, Jasmine was there, holding me tightly. I cried for a long time. "Do you hate us for putting you through this pain?" she whispered to me. "Don't be stupid," I said. "She doesn't live on the space station, does

she?" She didn't answer immediately but then said quietly, "No." "Am I ever going to see her again?" "I don't know. She didn't lie when she said she visits. But this is only her second since we arrived. I'm sorry, Andie." "It's fine. I'm richer for having known her." **** Two nights later, Dark Skies ambushed me, quite literally. She snuck into my cell before I arrived and filled it with her scent. And she programmed my visor so I couldn't see her. I walked right

in and smelled her right away, but the door closed behind me. Then I heard in my ears, but I couldn't tell from where, "I want you, Andie. You're going to last about a minute. I will let you say no, but otherwise I am keeping you until morning." "I'll never say no to you, Dark Skies. Take me home with you." She did, but only after I was completely obedient to her. I spent hours worshipping her, and hours more in utter ecstasy. **** Our next batch arrived. We did it my way. I convinced sixteen to volunteer, although I had to work on

some of them. I'll explain. I took them four by four, one each from Bay, Cedar, Clover, and Jasmine. They picked the order I would see them, but in time I would learn to do the batch selection my way. Most of the meetings went the same. The four women were brought to me all at once, at least until we reached the ones that fought enough to require four guards. They were placed in chairs and locked in, and then their hoods were removed. For each, I stood in the room, turned away, and I waited until at least one of them asked me who I was. There was typically swearing. But I was dressed the same way

they were. I had four tablets set up, one in front of each of them, and I played the video of my own arrival here. After that, I turned to them. I didn't sit, not yet. I wanted them to work to watch me. "I came here much the way you did. I actually was put through a second Testing, and they took me at the end. Most of you were taken from your homes." "I was taken from Testing, but it was my first." I'd hear that a few times, but not often. Some spewed anger at me. Some cried. Some just wanted to know what was going on. Most swore, some more loudly than others. Then finally I would sit down.

"This meeting can go one of several ways. You can all shoot the messenger. You can scream and yell at me. You can do that for an hour. Then the guards will come and take you away, and you'll have lost the opportunity." And invariably, one would ask, "What opportunity?" "For my help." With almost all of them, that was all it took. They listened. Oh, there might be some screaming, but they listened. I'd tell them what was going on, but I wouldn't tell them how I could help. Invariably, eventually, one of them would ask. "I can't send you home. They won't let me go home. They're not going

to let you go home unless you beat them." Then I would lay out the choices. After that, I watched, and I skimmed their bios, and I talked about the good parts, the opportunities. I didn't downplay the unfairness, but I pointed out we owed the aliens, that humanity owed the aliens, and yeah, it sucked we're forced to pay that bill. But we'd be paying it, and now it was time to make sure we came out ahead on the deal. "We're not going to beat them in the arena," I said. "But we can beat them by making them give us what we want. I know this isn't what you wanted, but sometimes life isn't fair. Now, let's talk about making the most from this."

Then I would talk a little longer. In the end, I got sixteen to volunteer from those meetings. Eight told me flat out they wanted to fight, but they might offer ribbons. Twelve offered ribbons. And eight more accepted willingly when facing the reality in the arena. Clover got another five days with Peony. **** I do want to talk about one unruly woman, however. And I would have one or two of these in every batch afterwards. The four were brought in. This woman fought her entire way, so it had taken four male guards to bring her in,

and if she'd fought more than that, they'd have had to use extreme measures. But she struggled in her chair, even once it was hopeless, and I knew she was going to be trouble. We removed the hoods. The guards left. And it took her about three seconds before she was screaming at me. I tried to wait her out, but she continued to scream horrible things at me. So finally I marched down to her end of the table and screamed, "Do I look like I'm dressed any better than you are?" That shut her up for about three seconds. "I don't see you locked into this fucking chair, and what's that over your eyes?"

"I've been in that chair. Well, not that one, but I've been in that one-" I pointed, "More times than I can count." "But now you're some sort of collaborator." "Let me ask you something. Do you want to know what's going on? Because I can have the guards come back and get you, and you can find out when it happens. Or do you want to know ahead of time?" She actually shut up for a while, but it didn't take long before she was telling me, "This is bullshit! I know my rights." She went on and on about that. And I didn't blame her. "You can shut up, or you can let me finish and then tell you how I can

help. If you don't want to know, I bet these other three do." That got me another five minutes. But at that point, she began telling everyone else what to do. When one tried asking me a question, she shouted over her. "Why are you asking her? She's with the enemy! We're going to fight. We're going to stand together, and we're going to fight. They aren't going to take us like this." Blah, blah, blah. "You know," I said. "You're as bad as the aliens. No one in this room has very many choices to her. I'm not going home. I don't know when I'll see my parents again. None of you are going home, either, unless you win the

challenges. We're all in this together with only limited choices. But you're as bad as them. You're trying to take away the rights of these three to make any choices at all. If you want to fight, great. Then fight. But these three women deserve the chance to make up their own minds without having you screaming at them. So shut the fuck up." "Go to hell." Then she began browbeating. "Jasmine Brighteyes," I said. "I need you and a squad of Ardents, if you can assemble them." It turns out she could, and I was sure she had them waiting, as they walked in the room only a minute or so later.

The woman hadn't shut up. I pointed. "I don't care what happens to that one, but I would really like her to shut up." Two of the Ardents stepped forward, and they had some sort of alien gag. It took them about a second and a half. The woman went insane, but she was a lot quieter about it. "Now," I said calmly. "You three. If you want to listen to more of what she has to say, I will arrange it. Do you?" One said, "No," and the other two shook their heads. "Fine. Administrator Brighteyes, please have that woman removed. I do not care what you do with her, but I absolutely hate women who bully other

women." The Ardents had her out of there seconds later. I breathed heavily for a moment, Jasmine watching me. "Thank you," I said. "She ate all my time. I need my next group delayed. These women deserve the chance to discuss their options." I paused. "And I'm sorry. Everyone, this is Jasmine Brighteyes. She is the administrator here. She is a Catseye. Do you want her to stay so you can ask her questions, or should I ask her to leave?" Then I plopped down in the nearest chair. "What's going to happen to that woman?" "She won't get any privileges,"

Jasmine said. "She'll go into the arena. She'll try to fight. She won't fight very well. She'll go into a cage. She'll have her challenges. She will lose." "Are you going to hurt her?" "We don't do that here," Jasmine said. "We deny privileges. But no matter what you do, we feed you. We take care of you. We won't hurt you, but if you twist an ankle or something like that, we fix it. We take the pain away and we heal it for you. But understand that you will be here for some time. The cells are very boring. Very, very boring." "I can vouch for that," I said. "I can, too," said one woman. "Please don't put me back in there." "There are privileges that make

it less boring," said Jasmine. "I'm wearing one of them," I said. "It's basically the best computer on the planet, and I get all the television shows without commercials. Not that I have time to watch television, but that's just a detail." "Those glasses?" "Yes," I said. "It's called a visor. It's like one of those virtual reality devices you hear about coupled with military night vision goggles. I can make phone calls, surf the Internet, and see in the dark." "Ms. McGowan," said Jasmine. "I know you don't want to be returned to the cell. Ms. Hayes doesn't want to go back to her cell, either."

"They keep you in one of those cells?" "Yes," I said. "For the last three weeks or so." But I tapped the visor. "It's not so bad, although I get tired of the aliens ogling my legs." There was a half smile at that. It was ragged, but it was the best I'd gotten with these women since they'd arrived forty minutes ago. "You have pretty good legs," another said. "No one's going to ogle mine." "You'd be surprised," I said. "Please don't let them put us back in the cells," pleaded Lisa McGowan, the one who was already afraid of the boredom.

"Ms. Hayes has no control over that," said Jasmine. "Even I don't have control over that. I don't even control whether you get a visor." "Then who decides that?" "You do," Jasmine said. "You decide to earn a privilege. And this is the first we offer. It is also the first we take away." "Please," said Lisa. She turned to me then back to Jasmine. She didn't know whom to ask. "Would you like a visor, Lisa?" I asked. "Yes!" She looked at the other two women. They were watching her. "I mean. The other woman..."

"The one who wanted to make your decisions for you?" I asked. "The aliens made a few for you. They made some really big ones, and they aren't done, either. But they're leaving you some choices. You can be obstinate. You won't win. Or you can make the best of the situation. That can be hard, because I bet you really want to walk over here and slug Administrator Brighteyes right in the nose, don't you." They all turned to Jasmine. "Do we lose privileges if we say yes?" said Jane Easton, one of the others. "No," I said. "She's heard far worse. There are two ways you earn privileges. You can earn one right now, but if you don't want to take this choice,

you'll get another chance tomorrow." "Tomorrow?" "It's boring. I slept a lot the first day." Then I did my normal sales job. Lisa I sold because I told her the wonders she would see and the things she would learn. Jane I sold when I talked about the types of men that she'd find in the arena as compared to the ones who wanted a willing mate. And I reverse-sold Chelsea the same way. Jasmine walked out of the room and returned with two visors. Chelsea looked at them longingly as we fit them for Lisa and Jane. "Administrator Brighteyes, Chelsea didn't turn us down because she

isn't going to cooperate. She turned us down because she wants someone big and rugged. I think she doesn't have a very good idea what that really means, but can you blame her for that?" "Actually, I can," Jasmine replied. "Who would want a big, rugged man?" They looked at her nervously, so I leaned down and whispered conspiratorially, "She's a total lesbian. She's constantly looking at my legs. She's the worst of the lot, really. But maybe it's not so bad when she looks. She's kind of cute." "Please, Administrator Brighteyes. Could I have a visor?" Jasmine studied her. "There is a

price for an early privilege." "She's always charging a price for stuff," I said. "Don't let her scare you. What price this time?" Jasmine talked about the interviews in the arena and how she wanted the women to go out there, stand tall, and give the challengers a real chance to get to know them. "I normally don't make this offer this soon, but if you promise to do what I ask, I'll let you have one now. But if you don't keep your promise, I'll take it away." "I promise," she said. "But I don't know what you mean." Jasmine retrieved one more visor and then explained what she meant. And then she put me through a simulated

interview. "You see?" Jasmine finally said. "That's not so hard?" "I'll do my best. I promise." And so I sent three back to their cells, all in visors. Once they were gone, I turned to Jasmine. "I have five minutes, and if I don't spend the first four wrapped in tentacles, I'm going to cry." She was holding me nearly immediately. "What's wrong?" "That woman. That woman. She made me so angry, Jasmine. These women have so few choices, and she wouldn't even let them consider the possibilities. She's a small-minded bully. I understand her frustration, but she had no right to bully these women.

Tighter, please." She held me for a few minutes then said, "You're a good woman, Andromeda Hayes." I huffed. "You had those four Ardents waiting." "Of course I did. You're going to get some of those. Surely you knew that." "I suppose. Thank you." "Of course." "It's going to be late, but do you think you'd have dinner with me tonight? If it's too late, or you have too much work, that's fine." "I'd love to have dinner with you. Will you want to swim first?" "If that won't make it too late."

"It won't be." Then she tightened her hug. "I wouldn't suppose you could skip the suit." I pushed away from her, although she knew to keep tentacles wrapped around me. "I think you're teasing." "There are new women here," she said. "They've never seen." "There's a lot of video of me they can all look at." "It's not the same as in person and you know it." "You're serious, aren't you?" "Yes." "And tomorrow morning, too?" "Yes," she said. "Are you going to ask me to do

this every two weeks?" "No comment." "Fine," I said. "There's a price." "Blankets?" "Screw the blankets. After everything I've done, you owe me twelve-million-count silk sheets. You. Me. And a challenge. I'll give you your two swims, and I get a challenge." "Oh, you think so." "Yep. And in two weeks, if you want me to do it again, it's another challenge." "We don't have time for a challenge today." "You can owe me." "And I suppose you want to make

the decision grid." "You can decide what we're doing. I know you'll pick something we can both enjoy." "And you know that, how?" "Because if you don't, it'll be the last time I do this for you." "Are you blackmailing me into letting you win besides?" "Not at all. A fun challenge for both of us, and fair for both of us. If I win, I want a backrub, delivered on command." "All right. If I win... You already let me taste whenever I want. I don't know what to ask for." "Seriously? Didn't I once hear

you say you always think of something?" "All right. If I win, you let me touch those." She gestured towards my chest. "Are you serious?" "I've never touched one," she said. "I'm just as curious as the next alien, Andie." I pushed away from her completely. "I think you're messing with me." "I don't know what else to ask. This is something I can't just take from you if I want it. You already give me everything else." I studied her. "I'm sorry, Jasmine. That's just... To me, it's a prelude to sex.

I can't just sit there and let you fondle them that way." "It's not sex." "It's a prelude. No one touches them except my lovers or my doctor, and I can't begin to tell you how uncomfortable that has always made me." I turned away. "I'll do the swims. Forget the challenge." I didn't fight her when she stepped up behind me and enveloped me again. "If I win, you owe me an evening of conversation, any topic I want to talk about. Any question I ask. Honest answers only." "If you let me have proper clothing for it." "Agreed."

**** She won that first challenge, but we were both laughing before the end. After that, I didn't win half, but I won my share. I enjoyed our evenings. **** I didn't make any further inroads on convincing more women to accept willingly but I more than doubled the ratio that Dark Skies referred to as B.A. Before Andromeda. More of them also gave ribbons than previously, although that was a much smaller factor for us. But we were able to eliminate one arena event from the first day, and that meant more time for planning and a more streamlined process in general.

Clover got to see Peony twice a month. **** I dated. I'll talk more about that shortly, but there are two more disappointments coming up. So I'll say I dated. Dark Skies claimed me for another night, about six weeks after I arrived. This time she caught me in the hallway as I left the swimming pool. Again, I couldn't see or hear her, but it turned out she walked in front of me, spreading her pheromones, and I was happily walking along, breathing them in. I was panting and desperate before I even reached my cell. It was amazing. Cherish and I saw each other one

or two evenings a week, in addition to our swims and other encounters. If she had asked, I would have accepted. And then one day, she wasn't swimming. She hadn't missed in weeks. I commented on it an hour later when I showed up in Control Room 2. Jasmine put an arm around me, turned me for the exit, and then we walked. "What happened?" "She left." "She left without saying goodbye?" "Tutor don't like saying goodbye." I brought us to a stop, staring

down the hallway. "I would have said 'yes' if she asked me, Jasmine." "I know. So did she." "So she dumped me and left you to tell me?" "Yes." I turned to her. "When did you find out?" "I'm sorry. Ten minutes ago. I knew she was on a flight, but she comes and goes. She sent me a message and said this time, it was going." I closed my eyes for a while and turned to the wall, leaning my forehead against it. "Why? Is it because I'm not smart enough? I'm not pretty enough? Why?" I turned to her. "She told me she

can't have another Tutor. I don't understand. She'd rather have no one at all than me. Is that it? Am I that horrible? You've introduced me to I don't know how many women, and they all leave. Sugilite left weeks ago. Soft Rain met someone else. Jessica certainly didn't want me. Dark Skies doesn't want me, except as an occasional toy. You certainly don't want me. And now Cherish doesn't want me. I'm a dud. Face it. Your experiment is a failure. You should have picked someone who might be wanted. God! The aliens come here and pick people because they like their looks, and they fight over them, but you introduce me to people and they all run. What the fuck?"

And then I turned and ran from her. She didn't try to follow. But I ran right into a red-tinged corridor and froze. "Andie," she said into my ears. "Back up. Straight backwards. Right now." I did what she ordered. It was five steps before I would out of illegal territory. "I'm sorry." "I know. Follow the blue lights, Andie." I turned around. She didn't lead me very far, just to a door, and on the other side, a small meeting room. "Do you want me to come there?

We need you here, Andie. Are you going to be able to collect yourself and help us?" "I-" "Do you want Dark Skies?" "No. I'm done letting myself be drugged just because something upsetting happened. Save that for good times." I sighed. "Give me five minutes then please come get me." And so, I gave myself a good, five-minute mope. And then Jasmine was there, and her tentacles, and a few escaped tears wiped away. "I think she got scared. I think she was falling in love, Andie. I think she's not ready for that. I think she'll be back. But I think she left so you would

actually look at a few other people, too." "I've gone out with everyone who has asked. I've taken challenges from everyone who has offered. No one new has offered." "Charoite will be here in three days." I turned to face her. "She didn't run from me. She ran from her?" "I don't know. I think so. I need you to give Charoite a chance. You don't have to promise more than that, but you give her a chance." And so I nodded. "Fine. But you promised a lot more choices than I've got right now, and so far, it's not going well. I'm not taking Charoite just because you can't find anyone else who

wants me." "Fair enough." **** I'll have to talk about the Kitsune, but there was one more disappointment. It wasn't for another month, but I'm going to talk about it now, out of order. We were five days into a new batch of women, and again, in Control Room 3. I got there, and Dark Skies wasn't there. "Where's the Octal?" I asked. Clover and Jasmine both looked at me, and I went dead inside. "Clover, give us a few minutes." "What happened?" I asked

quietly, once Clover was out of the room. "She was ambushed." "What?" I said. "Is she all right?" "She's fine." "Can I see her? Is she in sick bay?" "Not that kind of an ambush. She miscalculated. She's young, and she miscalculated." "Just tell me." "Did you see the group of Octals here?" "A four," I said. "A half Octal. They need another half Octal." "Well, it turns out that's not entirely true. Octals like powers of two.

1, 2, 4, 8." "Right. I know what powers of two are." "Other than 1, they dislike odd numbers. They invited her for dinner. She accepted, because she knew the queen wouldn't want a five." I grew numb. More numb. "What happened?" "I didn't know this was going to happen. The queen asked to borrow Claudia Gates." Claudia was one from this batch who had agreed to a willing relationship but hadn't been paired yet. "And?" "I didn't know Dark Skies was having dinner with them. You already

told Claudia about the Octals, so she was all for it." "That's four and two. That's not eight." "Some Octal queens will do six. Dark Skies didn't know Claudia was there in another room, already deeply succumbed. The queen took her. Four and two. They can handle four and two." I stared. "I'll kill her. I'll kill that queen. Give me a gas mask, and I'll kill her!" "No, Andie," Jasmine said. "Listen to me. Dark Skies is happy." "She didn't want this! She wanted to be queen." "They all want to be queen, but

only one in seven can be. She is going to be insanely happy." "This is wrong, Jasmine. They drugged her. Get her back and let it wear off." "It doesn't work that way for them. The queen sort of locks it in. I don't really understand it. I don't. But Dark Skies would never willingly leave her. They're gone, Andie." "I didn't get to say goodbye. That's twice. Twice! The two women who actually wanted me, and they're both gone. And that bitch stole her! She had no fucking right." "This is their biology, Andie. You and I can't understand it. But if Dark Skies could have tricked that queen, she

would have. But the queen knew Dark Skies was young and didn't realize her danger, and I don't think I know any single Octal that could withstand a half Octal if she didn't see the danger coming." I turned away. "I want to talk to her." "Dark Skies." "No. That bitch." "No." "Yes!" I spun back on her. "You set it up." "No." "Yes!" I screamed. "She stole my friend, and I'm going to give her a piece of my mind."

"No." "Yes!" I said. "Do it! That bitch stole from me, Jasmine. She stole from you. Did she ask permission to steal Dark Skies from you? She stole from you, and we needed her. How are we supposed to do our jobs here without our best technician? And whom am I going to talk to when I'm mad at you? She stole from us. She stole from every human woman who comes through here. We needed Dark Skies. I needed my friend. We needed our coworker. These women needed an amazing tech, sweet and kind and so caring about what happened to them. Set it up." "Please don't make me do this, Andie."

"Excuse me? Like you can't just say no four hundred times until I give up." "There's a price." "Fine. I'll pay it." "No. She won't take the call unless I pay the price." I looked down. "Is it a bad price?" "It's a risk. It's a risk I don't want to take." "You're not going to tell me." "No, but she is." "I don't understand." "I know." "Can you manage the risk?" "I don't know."

I stood up. "I wish to go for a walk. May I have fifteen minutes? I can't decide if I can ask you to do this. I don't know the price. You have to decide." "Go." I nodded and was gone a moment later. I headed to the arena. It was set up for our challenge, another capture event. The aliens loved capturing the humans. I wandered around for a few minutes, but then when the visor told me to head back, I let it show me the path. I walked into the control room. Jasmine was alone. "Will you let me talk to her?" "Yes."

"Thank you." Fifteen seconds later my visor automatically accepted a call, and I was staring at an Octal queen. "Andromeda Hayes," she said in greeting. "Please call me Smooth Seas." "You're the bitch that stole my friend." "I am the Octal queen that has returned your friend into the loving embrace of her kind." "Pretty words. I needed her. She was one of few friends I have here. We needed her. She was exceedingly good at her job, and what we do was already hard. These women needed her, because she cared, because she helped to ensure we made good matches. The Federation

of Allied Planets needed her, because without someone like Dark Skies helping us, fewer of you will have good matches. You have stolen something precious from all of us." "This was inevitable. She was weak and alone. One of us was going to come for her eventually. And she would have lost." "She wasn't weak! She's amazing. Don't say she's weak!" "She is your friend, Andromeda Hayes." "You're a bitch!" "No. I am an Octal queen, and Dark Skies is now part of my family. She loves me, and I love her."

"Right. That's why you ruined her life. That's why you took her from me." "She was not yours to keep, Andromeda Hayes. She told me about you. She told me about your time with her." "You made her tell." "She asked a favor, and I am granting it." "What favor?" "Jasmine Brighteyes has something for you. You must decide." And then Jasmine was holding something to me, a small gas mask. I stared at it for a moment, then took it from her, still staring at it. "This is yours," I said slowly.

"It is," she said. "If you breathe, you will become mine." "That's not happening." "You would be with Dark Skies for the rest of your days." "You mean we would both worship you." "Jasmine Brighteyes has two of those, and there is one more woman there I would take. I would have a full octal. Four and one and one and one and one." "Excuse me?" "Four octal female. One octal male. One and one and one human females. The human I want spent a night with me, and she will consent. Breathe,

and you are mine. Dark Skies still produces pheromones, the same she always produced, but now they strengthen my family. I will let the two of you play. Not every night, but quite often. When we sleep, you would sleep together, here with me. You would be together, here with all of us. You would love me. I would love you. But I would also let you love Dark Skies, and for her to love you. You will be insanely happy." "Why are you doing this?" "I wanted you, but Jasmine Brighteyes wouldn't let me have you." "So you took Dark Skies instead?" "She needed to come home,

Andromeda Hayes. I came to take both of you. She couldn't build an Octal of all humans. And if she built a partial Octal, she would lose it again." "It should have been her decision." "That is the human way. This is the Octal way. She will be happy. I am a good queen. I am good to my family. I would be good to you. Breathe, and you will never be sad again. You will forever be loved. You will love me, and you will love Dark Skies. And in time, you will love the daughter I put into you, and perhaps another daughter after her, but we do not know." "Do you know what you did to us here?"

"Jasmine Brighteyes is the most competent Catseye in human space. This is barely a blip of trouble for her." "If she's the most competent, why is she here instead of managing the space station? That has to be a lot harder." "That is easy," she said. "I could do it. It is all logistics, but those are easy. No, what happens there, that is what is hard. And she is the best." I looked at Jasmine. She had her back to me, but her tentacles were barely contained, wrapped around her, but I could see them quivering. I looked at the inhaler, a little face mask with a small bottle attached to it. "What happens?"

"If you breathe? It is very concentrated. You will come to me. I have a jumper waiting. Jasmine Brighteyes will collect the other human, and she will breathe. Then the two of you will come to me and be mine. I will take you first, of course, because I must seal what I start, and the human who comes with you. And then we will be eight." I stared at it. "You would make my future decisions." "You would be happy." "I would be devoted to the woman who stole from me. I would be devoted to the woman who ambushed my friend. And maybe Jasmine will fix the

shortage, but we have 43 women who are in the middle of their challenges, and their challenges will suffer. And we have 64 more coming, and 64 more, and 64 more, and how long will it take before we have someone as good as Dark Skies is? How soon? How many women will pay the price because you saw something you wanted, and you took it without care for what you have done." I paused. "Please don't abuse her for my words." "I treat my family well, Andromeda Hayes. I am sorry you will not join us, and I am sorry for your pain." And then she was gone. Jasmine turned to me. I held out

the inhaler. "Were you tempted?" she asked. "No. She's a fucking bitch. She doesn't even care who she hurt. She saw something she wanted, and she took it without an apologetic look backwards." Jasmine said nothing. I breathed heavily for a minute then asked quietly, "Can you make her suffer?" "I would be hurting Dark Skies if I did, Andromeda. I won't do that. I'm sorry." I turned away, staring at the screens. "Our event is way behind schedule, and now we're short handed." "I told the council we are slowing to a four-week cycle until our

staffing issues are resolved." I laughed although somewhat raggedly. "That will light a fire." She stepped up behind me and wrapped me in tentacles. "I need you now more than ever." "I don't know a tenth of what she did." "I know, but Bay does. I need you to take the full duties of a senior event coordinator, at least as long as you're here." "I'm not ready." "You're going to have to be." I turned around inside the ring she formed around me, looking up into her eyes. "Fine. But I want a raise and

benefits." "What benefits? You already have full health care and the most amazing pension plan imaginable. And free room and board besides. You even get a clothing allowance." "Ha. Funny. Have you been paying me or not?" "Yes, your old salary, and your bills get paid." "Seriously?" "Seriously. And income from us isn't taxed by any government. So that's a rather significant raise for you." "Okay, skip the raise. But you should give me something, even if it's just a token."

"How about a blanket." "Screw the damned blanket. Come on, Administrator. Give me something." "I've got this inhaler you can have." "You're funny. You're really not going to give me anything?" That was when Clover walked back in. I turned to her. "Tell her if she's making me do Bay's job and my job besides so that Bay can do Dark Skies job because that bitch stole from us, tell her she has to give me something." Clover held out a wooden box. "Maybe this will do." "That's a visor box." I tapped

mine. "She gave me one weeks ago." "Ah, but this is a much, much better model," Jasmine says. "And it has a special ability." "Oh?" "It can make phone calls." "My current one can make phone calls." "To Minnesota?" I spun back to her. "Are you serious?" "You know what you can say and what you can't. Yes, I'm serious." "You had this planned already." "Of course I did. I wanted to see if you asked for something smaller." "I thought you'd give me some art

for my wall or something." "I did." She gestured. "Improved version, remember?" "It can put art on my walls?" "Child's play." I moved to her and held her tightly. "Thank you. But if I ever see that bitch, I'm killing her." "I wish you wouldn't. Death of an Octal queen means death to the entire octal. So that's a particularly bad idea." I sighed. "Give the visor."

Charoite But I must back up, but not far. I'd been there close to two months the day Sugilite's daughter arrived. Ostensibly, she was on Earth to talk about her colonization project, but she then "popped down" to The Center. She timed her arrival well. We'd been hosting the receptions for the women who would willingly accept their role. The aliens who were present tended to rotate, with some staying for a few cycles, some only briefly. Some found mates. Some decided this wasn't what they wanted, or not quite yet. Jasmine insisted the mating

candidates dress in our skimpies, and my efforts to change her mind went nowhere. That didn't stop me from working on her. I thought we would show better if dressed for a cocktail party, but she was implacable. Yes, I loved using that word with her. She always bristled, every time. But if she was going to be implacable, I was going to call her that. Implacable, implacable, implacable. It's such a great word. She also insisted we all be escorted by the guards, even me, and then she shoved us into the wall beside. Jasmine had been equally implacable about that. And unlike the first time, she

programmed the wall to hold us immobile, but not so fully encompass us, and it was transparent besides. So we were held by our wrists, upper arms, neck, waist, upper leg, and ankle. It was quite annoying. For the first few of these, I had friends there. But my friends had been leaving. Dark Skies was still there, but Jessica was long gone, the Wookies were gone, and now Cherish was gone. I was still bitter about Cherish and begged Jasmine to forego the wall. Of course, she didn't. And so the guards led me in, and I stood complacently as they held me, and the wall reached for me. And I avoided muttering.

I already knew what the count would be tonight. There would only be three of the new mating candidates this time. It varied. We didn't always get the same number of lesbians, and of course, they were frequently the ones most willing to fight. So there were three plus me. The visor awakened. I knew what to expect. I wouldn't say the room was full of aliens, but the count was significant. I scanned and counted twelve plus both Jasmine and Clover. The aliens roamed the room, looking at one of us before moving to the next. I received my share of attention, but they knew my status was different, and by now, I knew I would be treated

somewhat differently. But at least I hadn't spent a half night locked in the wall since the first party. Jasmine has never told me what the signal was, but I'm sure there was some signal before the aliens were free to release us. There was always a "look at the helpless humans" period. I couldn't say how long it was, because she always locked me from the visor controls from the moment the guards arrived in my cell, and getting them back from her before they sent me back to bed was a challenge. So I had no clock to reference, only my stiffening body. But then, after this period of staring at us, some of the aliens approached. There wasn't a real pattern.

Sometimes they talked to us one at a time, and we'd get released one at a time as well. Sometimes some of us or even all of us were released together, each to the arm of a different alien. Tonight was to be a mix. I watched as the other women were approached. My nearest partner was led away, and then the woman on the far end, and then the third. A few aliens stopped to talk to me briefly, but they didn't release me, and I didn't ask why. Jasmine stopped by. "How angry are you?" "I wish you wouldn't do this to me. It's embarrassing. I'm always the last to get picked. It's like I'm the consolation

prize for the aliens who didn't get one of the younger models in time." "Let me ask you something. Do you think you should go first, and leave the others here." "I don't think you should do this at all." "Well, that isn't changing. So, you want to go first." I didn't say anything. "Who should go last instead? Because I'm sure as vulnerable as they're feeling, they'll take it better than you do." "You know, you could at least tell me you understand and offer me a little ice cream or something." "You're not hungry." "You could let me have my visor

controls." "Nope. Then you'll zone out." "When is the last time I got a date from one of these events? The only reason I come is to help the other women. Your experiment is a dud, Jasmine. Face it." I looked away. At least that I could do. "No one wants me. No one is going to want me. There's an entire planet of young, pretty women. Why take the tired model?" "You're awfully self-deprecating tonight. Maybe that's why they don't want you." "Fuck you, Jasmine. If you're not going to let me out, go away." "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

"Then why did you?" "Because Charoite is here, and..." "And what?" "Nothing." "You don't get along?" "We don't know each other, not really. You need to be charming, Andromeda." "Yeah, we know how that works after you push my buttons. How long have I been in this wall?" "Just short of an hour. You look amazing, you know." "Yeah." "You do. Yeah, the frown isn't your best expression, but you've got

good legs, you're in amazing shape, and you look great in a kimono." "Give me my visor for five minutes and then I'll charm the socks off the Kitsune for you." "Tell me what you want it to do." "Music. I have a playlist, but when you yank the controls, I can't get to it. You could at least let me have the music controls when you do this to me." "All right. I'll give you the music controls, but it stops if anyone approaches within three paces." "Perfect. Thank you." She nodded, concentrated for a moment, then said, "There." She turned away, but I said,

"Jasmine." She turned back. "I'd calm down faster with a little tentacle." She snorted but then reached with two and began to caress my face. One slipped across my lips. I kissed it, but she just caressed a moment longer then withdrew. I turned on my playlist and closed my eyes. I think it was longer than five minutes. It was during the third song that the music faded. When I opened my eyes, a Kitsune stood four feet away, looking at me. She was stunning, absolutely stunning. "The photo your mother showed me doesn't do you justice."

She stepped closer. "I am Charoite." "Andromeda." She cocked her head, and then she gave me a fairly thorough examination. I had no choice but to accept, as I couldn't move more than about four muscles. "That looks rather secure." "It is. But I could probably arrange for you to try it, if you're curious." "Curious, but not that curious. Are you being punished? Mother said you could be more honest than was always good for you." "No. Are you familiar with how

humans give gifts? We wrap them in bright paper and put a bow on them, and then the recipient can look at the pretty wrapping, then pick it up and shake it before they finally tear open the paper to discover the prize." "Yes, I am familiar. And so you are a gift to be unwrapped?" "It appears I am." "A gift for me?" "Perhaps. On that, I couldn't say." "And so I should look at the pretty wrapping for a while before I shake you and eventually unwrap you?" "Perhaps you have looked long enough, and I wouldn't mind if you skipped the shaking part. We mustn't

carry any analogy past its useful limit." "No, of course not. But I find it quite pleasant to look at you wrapped like this. Perhaps I like knowing you can't get away if I choose to talk to you." I wasn't going to beg. "Do you often find human woman attempting to be away from you? I wouldn't have guessed." "I have had little experience at all with human women, and none who have been gift wrapped in this fashion." She paused. "Andromeda, I know you wish your freedom, and I am going to grant it. But... It's wrong of me, but..." I thought about if the situation had been reversed. "I think if you are going to keep me in here a while longer,

you must see to my needs." "What needs are those?" "If this will be for some time, I could use a little juice to drink. And this wall is not as comforting as your touch might be." "You do not ask me to hurry your freedom?" "And put an end to your fun, and so early in the evening besides?" "Well. Well." She cocked her head. "I think only another few minutes. I really may touch you?" "I can't stop you." "No, but I wouldn't touch without permission." "Do you know those parts of a

female body that are not for casual touch?" "Those," she said, pointing. "And the same places I wouldn't want someone I had just met to touch me." "You may touch the rest all you like." She stepped closer. She really was quite stunning. Then she touched my cheek. She traced an ear with her fingers. Then she moved down. She caressed an arm, and my side through the light clothes. Then she actually knelt in front of me to caress both legs, running both hands down one leg and up the other. She stayed there for a minute or so, and it was a little surreal, this woman kneeling before me. It might have

been a submissive act, but I was the one who was restrained. She looked up at me; we looked at each other. Then she slowly stood, moving to my side. My back was not against the wall; the wall held me at arm's length, so to speak, and so she reached a hand behind me. She caressed my back. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the touch. She caressed my back, and my arm again, and then my back before her hand traveled down to cup one cheek. My eyes snapped open, and I turned to face her. She was watching me, her hand moving slowly. "That touch is out of bounds." "Is it?" she asked. She moved up

slightly, but only to slide two fingers inside the panty waistband. "Charo. Stop." "You started panting lightly as I caressed you, and your breath hitched when I reached here. You like this." I squirmed once, but I knew the wall held me firmly. Her fingers teased me. "Charo, stop." Her hand stilled but didn't slide away. "I'm not sure you want me to stop." "We're in a room full of people, and in spite of how Jasmine Brighteyes makes me dress, I am not an exhibitionist. Do you understand what I

am saying?" "If we were alone, would you be telling me to stop?" "We met three minutes ago," I replied. "Yes, I would be telling you to stop." "And tomorrow, if I have you in this position, but we are alone?" "That is tomorrow," I said. "I am unable to predict the future." "You did not say 'no'." Her hand moved away. Instead, she folded her arms and leaned against me, well, actually against a portion of the wall that held me, looking into my face. "This visor you wear is inconvenient. I cannot see your eyes."

"I do not have the control to remove it, and I am going to need it." "I do not believe you will. I believe I should remove it." "I believe Jasmine Brighteyes is poor at selecting music, and I enjoy dancing." "Hmm. Do you wish me to release you?" "Yes, I would like that, but I am not going to beg." "I wouldn't make you beg," she said. "Well, maybe not this time." "You are awfully playful." "I have been envisioning this for some time," she explained. "Do I frighten you?"

"No, Charo." "Good. I know I promised to release you, but will you let me charge you for doing so?" "What will be the price?" "Your undivided attention for the rest of the evening." "I have duties here," I said. "You are a mating candidate. Your duty is to become mated." "That is one duty, but I have responsibilities to these other human women. You may have much of my attention, but you must allow me to attend to my duties as well. However, you could help, if you like." "You will remain mine for the

night. You will not accept offers from any others." I nodded. "For the evening. I make no promises to make it for the night." "Of course. English is not my first language." "I wished clarity," I said. "Of course. Misunderstandings are inconvenient. My second price is this. Mother tells me you are able to be very charming. You will seek to charm me." "No." She leaned away. "You will not seek to charm me?" "Oh, I will, but because I want

to, not because you charge it as a price, and because you will also be seeking to charm me." She leaned back. "Well, I think I can accept that offer. Third. You will allow me to touch you any way I desire." "No. That is also not a price of my freedom. But I will allow you to touch me almost any way you desire, if you are making the same offer." "These negotiations are not how mating candidates behave." "They are how this mating candidate behaves." "I do not believe you are in a position to negotiate." She tapped a finger against the restraining wall in

emphasis. "I believe I could touch you right now, and you could not stop me." "You probably could, at least until Jasmine stopped you instead, and it would be the last time you set a finger on me." "That is not your choice, either." I cocked my head. "We have just met, and your mother is the only other Kitsune I have met. I do not know if you are serious or teasing me." "I am partly teasing," she said. "Oh, you know I'm going to let you go. Does it frustrate you that I make you squirm?" "No, Charo. But I feel you are playing a game, and I don't know the rules. I like games, but not over my life."

"But I understand you only spend your evenings with those who do just that." "I don't understand." "You demand challenges." "Oh. Those are in fun, and I haven't turned anyone down who has offered an evening without a challenge. Is it my fault no one has offered? For that matter, your mother received time of mine, and there were no challenges. But in the end, she was not interested." "She was very interested, actually, but she also told me what you said to her, and she offered to let me meet you before you were committed in one direction or the other." "It is surreal that a mother and

daughter are negotiating over me." "I suppose it is." She tapped the restraining wall again. "I want one more price, but you've turned my last two prices down. And I think the others I might ask would receive the same treatment." "I would offer a dance." "We're going to dance anyway," she replied. "If I asked for a kiss, you would tell me something about how I must first charm you." "So the price you want is my attention this evening, and a kiss before sending me to my cell?" "No, the price is a kiss now, your attention, and the possibility of far more than a kiss later."

"Do Kitsune kiss?" "Humans kiss. Like many species, Kitsune lick. We would do both." "I agree to most of your price, but I do not share bodies on the first date. If we have a nice evening, then I would want more than a simple kiss before I must go, but if you want me for far more than that, then you will woo me, and you will have to work for me." "Will you not work for me?" "Yes, but you are in the position of power, Charo." "One last question then. Does that bother you? Does this teasing bother you?"

"It is not a familiar experience for me. It would bother me depending upon how you were to use your power. Your price here is one I am happy to pay. If you demanded something I wouldn't give you simpy for the asking, then yes, it would bother me a great deal." She stepped a half step away, cocked her head, and the wall retreated it's hold. I sagged for a minute, leaning backwards, no longer supported. "Are you ill?" "I have been in that position too long," I said. "I only need a moment." I stretched my body, twisting this way and that. I heard a pop, which I found disconcerting, but then I stepped forward and collected Charo's arm in mine. "I

would like a glass of juice and to sit for a few minutes. Could we talk, and then perhaps dance in a short while?" "I would like that." She walked me to the refreshments table. "What would you like?" "I would like us to share something, but the water is the only safe choice. Did Mother explain?" "She did," I said. "Do you wish to share water, or do you wish to pick something only for yourself?" "You wanted juice." "I would share water before drinking my juice alone." "Then we shall share water."

"That we can take at the table," I said. I tugged her arm, and we found an unoccupied table, sitting side by side. I grabbed a glass and poured from the pitcher. I offered it to her, but she told me to begin. And so I sipped, and then I offered it to her. She didn't take the glass. Instead she took my wrists and guided me, her eyes not leaving me, as she took her own sip. It was such a simple thing, but she had begun to fascinate me, and this act only added to the fascination. I set the glass down, and when I turned back towards her, she collected both of my hands in hers, holding them so our hands rested on my knees.

"You aren't subtle," I told her. "We are two different species," she explained. "We not only come from different societies with different expectations, but from different planets. The danger of subtle signals being lost is far too high. I do not wish misunderstanding. Does my forward behavior upset you?" "No. Like everything about my situation here, this is unfamiliar to me. But I wish to equate your behavior to that of some human women." "All right." "If a human woman behaved as you are, I would use the phrase, 'a come on'. Do you know this phrase?" She cocked her head and paused.

"Ah. Yes. And?" "I would assume she was after a conquest and would be gone once achieving it. I've let that happen a few times, and it can be fun." "You are telling me something, but I wish you to explain further." "All right. If someone comes on this strong after barely meeting me, then it is almost certainly because she likes my looks without knowing anything about me. We don't know if we could even be friends, much less permanent lovers. But she is putting everything into it. She can't possibly be emotionally invested without knowing me so much more, so she is invested only in what she sees. She wants a conquest of a few

minutes or a few hours, and then she is gone." "I believe I understand that part. And you wonder if that is what I want." "Yes. And if it is, I'm not saying I won't play, but I'd like to know. If you were human, we wouldn't have this conversation. I would decide if I were going to play and know you would be gone no later than breakfast tomorrow. But you are not human, and you came a very long distance." "Well, I do not know what I want, Andromeda. Well, that's not entirely true. I want a mate. I do not know if I want you as that mate. But I like what I have learned about you. I believe in many ways we could be

compatible. Mother told you of my project." "Yes." "I have heard something about your old job, for this Gerri Cambridge woman. I know you worked for a store that sells food, but I know you did not sell food. You did a great deal more than that, and I have an idea what that was. I also understand Gerri Cambridge recommends you very highly." "How do you know that?" "Because I called her and pretended to be thinking of offering you a job. She was quite glowing in her recommendation." I looked away from her, quite surprised. "You did that?"

"Did I upset you?" "No. Surprised." I turned back. "Why?" "You said something earlier. I am the one in a position of power. I am a member of a species that is a primary species in the Federation of Allied Planets. Humanity has been offered an associate membership. There is a vast difference between those two." "I am aware." "This means, if I take a human wife, she comes into my life. She moves where I live. I am not the one who moves. She comes into my household." "I understand you do not have one."

"I would make one." "We would make one." She paused. "All right. Yes. We would make one. But what I am trying to do here is important and difficult. You would not only be my mate. You would also devote yourself to my project." "Our project." Again she paused. "Am I clear? We are just wondering what we want. We are getting to know each other. But if I become your mate, it is our household. If I work on what is currently your project, it becomes our project. Oh, I do not diminish what you are doing, but you must understand I will call it our project, and if you do not, it will hurt me."

Again she paused. Then she tried on both phrases. "Our household. Our project." "Our lives together." "Yes. Our lives together." "That being said, your mother told me a little about what you're trying to do. She also told me how long it will take. I don't know a thing about any of it. I don't know how to move planets or moons or asteroids or whatever you would have to do." "Mother says you understand numbers." "Yes, but it is the sense of selling groceries. I know what it costs to run a warehouse, and to fill the warehouse, and to deliver the groceries to the stores.

I know what you pay employees, and I know about what you pay them that they don't know you pay." "I don't understand." "You pay employees a salary. That is what they see. They do not see there are taxes paid against that salary." "I have heard humans complain about paying taxes." "They have their taxes, but there are more taxes the company pays based on the payroll costs. And there are benefits that must be paid, as well. And there are people hired simply to support the employees. And uniforms to purchase, break rooms to furnish, a car starter service to keep on hand." "What is that?"

"Well, we don't have to do that one anymore, I suppose. Sometimes an employee would return to her car, and it wouldn't start. Do you understand how internal combustion engines work?" "Disgusting things." "Yes. Well, if the employee forgot her lights on, she could drain her battery. Countless things can go wrong. You see?" "I see. And I understand." "I understand numbers like that. But high school physics was a long time ago, and I took the least amount of math and science in college I could get away with." "You do not care for the sciences."

"I knew I was headed into business, not science, and so I was very focused." "Well, you do not need to know how to move asteroids. You need to know how to feed the people who move the asteroids." I smiled. "I don't even know how to feed you." She laughed. "But you could learn." "Yes, I could learn." "I do not need my mate to move asteroids. But I do need her support on this project. We would work on it together. If I were to mate with another Kitsune, she would have his or her own work. But if I am to take a human mate,

she will join my project." "And there will be meaningful things for me to do? It sounds like this is a very long project, and you don't even have permission to really start." "You will have ample things to do, and while you don't need to know how to move asteroids, you need to know more than you do. I would teach you." "I'd like that. We were talking about what you want." "My choices are limited. There are no Kitsune in nearby space with whom I share common attraction. I wish a mate, but I do not need a mate. You see the difference." "Yes."

"I do not wish to wait until one of the younger Kitsune is old enough to be a choice, and I do not know how I would feel about such a relationship. But that is at least two decades. So my choice is a human." "Not one of the other species?" "No." "All right. So a human, and by that you mean a human female?" She smiled. "Yes. And there is more. I want my human female mate to carry my children." "Our children." She paused. "It was nice meeting you, Charo," I said.

"No! Wait." She set a hand on my arm. "Our. Children." "Just wait. Give me enough time to explain." "Fine," I said, but I put as much ice into it as I could. I settled into the chair. "Let me ask this. If you were to mate with another human female, whose DNA would be used to produce your children?" "We would discuss it." "Who would carry the child?" "We would discuss that as well." "Well, you and I are discussing it now. You would carry the children. Is

that a problem?" "Not the children. Our children." "You would carry, not me. Are we agreed? If not, then walk away." "I can't believe we're having this conversation." I said. "Yes, fine. If it can be made possible and safe, I would carry our children." "They would be Kitsune children, Andromeda. If not, then walk away." I didn't walk away. But I turned my head from her, staring at the wall for a while. "One of each?" "Your body would accept changes. It is too hard on you to change you back and forth, and do you really

think yours would be first?" Finally I nodded and said quietly, "Our Kitsune children." "My DNA." I looked at her. "Your mother said you could possibly use a portion of my DNA." "How important is that to you?" "It's not," I said. "But do you want to know what is important? Our children. That's important. I don't care whose DNA is used. I don't care if they're adopted. I don't care what they look like. But they would be our children." She paused then nodded. "Our children. Our household. Our project."

I smiled. "I'm sorry I got upset." "I don't blame you. I would have, too." She took my hands again. "I want to start all this sooner rather than later. I can wait, but I want our household well established long before our project heats up. I am ready now, but if it is not to be you, I can be patient. Maybe someone else in this room is interesting, or maybe I won't find someone for five or ten years. I would rather it not be that long, but if it is, then it is." "All right," I said. "And what kind of human mate do you want?" "What I see of you so far is a good description." "You do not want someone younger? Some of these women are quite

lovely." "And young. We are of similar ages. That is better. The age of your body is irrelevant. It's not like I'm going to let you grow old." "Your mother suggested she could roll back my apparent age. Would you want to do that?" "Are you asking me to do it?" "I am asking what you want. I am quite comfortable at 34." "You are not entirely comfortable. You worry you are old." "All right, true. Human women prefer to stop at 29. But human men wished we stopped at 22." "If you want to roll back, I would

let you." "Let?" "On issues involving our technology, that is the word we will be using." "All right. No, if you're happy with this age, I'm happy with this age." "What if I weren't?" I sighed. "You just said you were." "Kitsune like to discuss hypothetical situations." I laughed. "If you wanted me younger, and we otherwise were to be happy, I'd let you, but not too young." "What is too young?" "18 for sure. I think mid-20s is

as young as I'd want to look." "This is important? Why?" "When I interact with other humans, they will see my apparent age, not my real age, and treat me accordingly." "So it is not that you dislike a 21-year-old body." "Oh, no. I definitely can appreciate a 21-year-old body." I looked around the room. "She's 21." The Kitsune turned to look. "Nice butt." "Good legs, too." "Hair is a little dull." "Nothing a little color wouldn't fix. Unfortunately..."

"Yes?" "High, nasal voice." "We're being quite mean." "I know. Especially because I just lied. She has a very nice voice. And she's very sweet. But she's 21." "I'm not sure the Hobble is ready to let her go." "I could take the Hobble." She laughed. "I bet you could. And while you were doing that, I could acquire the human." "I bet she doesn't know a thing about moving asteroids, either." "I can teach her." "She's a fresh college graduate." "So young."

"She was accepted to Stanford University for her doctorate. You've stolen her from that." "She'll have other opportunities. What was she going to study?" "High energy physics. She's such a ditz." The Kitsune squeaked and squeaked. I leaned closer. "You probably wouldn't have to teach her the math. Are you sure you don't want her instead?" "She's 21. And she doesn't know how to feed my workers." "Maybe her only hobby is cooking." "Yeah, right. Her only hobby is

soccer." "Now you're cheating," I said. "You looked her up." "After you told me she was a physicist." "Ah, so you are interested." "Remember when I said some Kitsune prefer complicated relationships? Maybe I want two human mates." I laughed. "You know nothing about my species. I might want three humans." "A half an octal," I said. "Why not go for a full octal?" "How could I possibly find seven females who would all get along?

I don't have the ability of an Octal queen to enforce it. Three would be hard enough." "But you would want us all to focus our attention on you, our Kitsune queen?" "Maybe I like to watch." "Maybe you are so full of shit," I said. "What if I weren't?" "I hate this." "What?" "I can't read your expressions." "My own mother can't read my expressions. You're certainly not going to." "I think if that's what you want, I

can begin introducing you to women who would like the same. Of course, I think you'd lose the battle of wills, but you'd be very, very happy." She laughed. "Not interested? That one's got great legs, and her hair is pretty." She gestured with her nose. "I don't share. If you're serious, then it was nice meeting you." "And yet you know about Octals." "And I am sitting here, not staring vapidly at Dark Skies." "Oh, she has a name!" "She's a friend." "Well, to be clear, I'm not very good at sharing, either. I do like to tease

though." "I'm figuring that out. How are you at being teased back?" "I can take it." I smiled. "How many children?" "Good question. I'm not sure." "So this would be a discussion." "We'd start the discussion around two in the first decade and one per decade after that." "Um. I'm 34. You can have a few until I'm 40, but after that, the chance of birth defects increases, and I don't like to gamble that way." "Oh, Andromeda. Do you forget the conversation from five minutes ago?" I stared for a moment. "You'll be able to

safely carry children for a very, very, very long time." "Oh," I said in a small voice. "So, as I said. Two in the first decade and then one per decade after that. The needs of our project would adjust that schedule, but it won't move so quickly that we can't start with two. There would be gaps after that, but it's too early to predict." "So, when you say a long time, you mean several decades?" "No, Andromeda. I mean twenty to thirty children." "We won't remember their names!" She squeaked. "I'm not teasing

this time." "And you aren't offering to carry any of them?" "Oh, I might eventually, but you shouldn't count on it." "You just want a baby factory." She squeaked. "Yes. I want a baby factory that only pops out a baby once a decade. I have no idea what I'm going to do with her the rest of the time. Are you really telling me no?" "No," I said. "I'm just a little shocked." "Is this a deal breaker?" "Wow, we're getting ahead of ourselves. What if I hate being pregnant?"

"Then we'll get a third." "We will not! I was teasing." "Maybe I was, too." "You weren't." "Neither were you." "Fine, maybe I wasn't." "One a decade. If you don't want to carry them, we'll get a third. We don't call it that, but Mother told me you understood the concept. Deal breaker?" I sighed. "No. Can you dance? That might be a deal breaker." "I can learn." "I think it's time for your first lesson." **** We danced, and we talked. And

we talked, and we danced. And we never stopped touching the entire time. I took care of my duties to the other women, but they were all having a good time. They tended to let one person monopolize them, but that wasn't too hard to break up. But then I stopped worrying about it and let them talk to whomever they wished. As it was getting late, one of the women approached Kitsune and me. "Could we talk to you?" asked the alien, a female Luxan named Abby Boomerang Nebula. With her was the young physicist, Ferny Cook. "Of course," I said with a gesture. The Luxan held the chair for Ferny then took her own, pulling it

closer so they could continue to touch. "Fernanda informs me if I wish her to become my mate, I must woo her." "She has choice," I said. "Abby told me she needs the challenges," Ferny said. "That is true." "I don't have to go into the arena, do I? I agreed to do this willingly. I don't want to risk a man taking me." I turned to Abby. "Do Luxan require you to first win her from other challengers?" "No. I only must win her, or she must win me. Either way will satisfy my biology, but she is not able to win me in a fashion that will trigger my mating

response." "I'd have to beat you up?" "No, but you would have to win a physical challenge in a fairly physically dominant fashion. You aren't able to do so. My mating response would trigger at that, or it can trigger if I win. Which is what will happen." "Only if I agree," said Ferny. She looked back at me. "Right?" "Well, if you accept her as your challenger, Ferny, you're sort of stuck, unless you beat her. If you're not willing to be stuck, then you need to either tell her no, or give her the chance to convince you. You get two weeks to decide." "Only two weeks."

"And she may grow offended if she feels you are leading her on." Then I turned back to the Luxan. "Humans do not do it this way. Two weeks isn't remotely long enough. Do you understand that? She is not expressing reluctance for your suit. She is expressing dismay at being forced into such a short timeline, especially when she is so young and hasn't fully experienced the possibilities." "I understand your words, Andromeda Hayes." "If I date her," said Ferny, "I'm not stuck. But if I accept a challenge, I am." "Once you accept the first challenge," I said. "Yes. I don't like this

rule, but it's better than what they were doing before. And I think the aliens who need the challenges need it this way for their biology. I do not think they can do this casually like a human can." "We become a little territorial," said Abby. "What she means to say, Ferny, is that once you accept the challenge, she'll kill anyone else who touches you." "I can't hug anyone else?" "Well, maybe not that type of hug." I turned to the Luxan. "I'd allow hugs of the other humans, but you will not hug any other of the extraterrestrials. I cannot allow it." "You cannot allow it," Ferny

repeated. "Ferny," I said, "She can't help it. Think of her as a protective dog who won't let you pet other dogs. You can talk to people all you want, but no petting other dogs." "I am not a dog, human!" "No, I know you're not, Abby, but I'm trying to phrase this in terms she can understand. Do you have any idea how shocking this experience is to us? A week ago she was beginning to work on a doctorate in physics, and then she was yanked here in what feels to us an awful lot like an interstellar sex slave trade." "It is not a slave trade." "Would you like to see the cells we live in when we're not being paraded

before all of you, barely wearing any clothing at all? Would you like to see how we're led -- in chains, I will point out -- to the arena? Oh, you've probably seen that before. We aren't given a choice. No one asked if we wanted to be here. So yes, it is a slave trade." I stared her down, and she dropped her gaze first. "I do not want a slave," she said quietly. "I need a mate." She turned to Ferny. "I would like if it were you." "Ferny, what do you think? She's not at all what you ever envisioned for a partner." "She's kind of butch." I laughed. "You like understatements, don't you?"

"I like butch," she said. "I like her," she said. "But I've met people I've liked before who have turned into royal bitches. If she's a royal bitch, she can squish me like a bug." "I would never!" said the Luxan. "Ferny, I couldn't possibly hurt you." "She doesn't know that, Abby," I said. "A human woman your size, if she has a temper... Did you see my challenge with the Implac?" "I would never!" "How is she supposed to know that, Abby? She didn't even know your species existed two days ago. I know your species is capable of a great deal of empathy. But I don't know if the individual members are. Can you

consider yourself in her position?" She turned to Ferny and looked at her. Ferny, in turn, was looking back and forth between the Luxan and me, finally settling back on the Luxan. "She's not trying to be insulting," I said in a quiet tone. "But she's scared, Abby. Can you really blame her?" "No, I can't. I can only promise, but promises are easy to break, aren't they?" "Ferny, this is the fourth Luxan I've met more than casually. The other three were men. And they were each exceedingly gentle and caring. Did they remain that way once they left here? I don't know." "I do," said Charo. "I'm smaller

and far more delicate than you are, Ferny, and I would trust her. I have Luxan friends. They are very loyal, and they treat me with great delicacy, even if they are rough with each other. We play games, athletic games." "You pay sports with them?" Ferny asked. "If I were your size, I'm not sure I'd want to play with humans, much less someone her size." "I'd play with the Luxans before I would humans," Charo replied. "I know the Luxans will watch out for me. Some humans would, too, but not all of them." Ferny turned back to face the Luxan. "What about children? Andromeda said you expect us to carry them. I don't think I want a Luxan baby

coming out my... um... I bet they're huge." "Our babies are actually quite small," she said. "Small by my standards?" she asked. "A human baby is three to less than five kilograms," I said. "Five kilograms causes damage during birth, unless it is delivered surgically. Even three kilograms can cause damage." "It is safe," Abby said. "You would have the best medical care in the entire solar system." "Do you think I'm stupid?" Ferny asked. "When did I say you were stupid?"

"You didn't answer Andromeda's question. You tried to deflect. Do you think I'm too stupid to notice?" "I think everyone needs to calm down," I said. "I'm calm," Ferny said. "I want her to answer the question. How big is a Luxan baby?" "Small enough?" said the Luxan. "How small enough? How many kilograms?" "It varies." "Over what range." "They can be as small as five kilograms." "Assuming proper medical care," Ferny said, "and proper nutrition, and no

complications, how often are they five kilograms?" The Luxan didn't want to answer. "Charo, do you know anything about this particular topic?" "Not really." "Could you please retrieve Jasmine Brighteyes for me?" "Of course." She got up. As soon as she was gone, I said, "I do not believe this relationship is going to work. Ferny, if you cannot find someone from this two week cycle, I will use whatever influence I have to obtain an extension for you." "No!" said the Luxan. "I want her."

"She has a choice," I said. "And your refusal to offer a straight answer to her legitimate questions has now convinced her she is going to die giving you your first child." "I told her it's safe." "But you refuse to answer a direct question with a direct answer, which means you know she is going to have a problem with an honest answer. So instead you attempt misdirection." That was when Jasmine and Charo arrived. I should have found a way to get rid of Charo longer, as Jasmine heard my last sentence or so. "Oh my. An angry Luxan, a human on the edge of tears, and another human who is offering the Luxan her best

glare, which she has been practicing on me." "Your human accuses me of lying," said the Luxan. "And attempts to keep my mate from me." "I'm not your mate yet!" Ferny said. "And if you're going to get all stalkerish about it, I won't become your mate, either." "All right," said Jasmine. "Everyone calm down." She grabbed a chair and sat down, and then Charo sat down, taking my arm. I glanced at her but turned my attention back to the Luxan. "Andromeda, did you accuse the Luxan of lying?" "No, I accused her of using misdirection to conceal the truth. She

seems to think Ferny and I are stupid enough to fall for it." "What truth?" "The size of a typical Luxan newborn," I said. "Six to eight kilograms, sometimes a little more. Why should that be such a secret?" "Eight kilograms?" squeaked Ferny. "I'm not pooping out an eightkilogram baby." "Of course you're not," Jasmine said. "Once the child is big enough to be viable, we would either induce labor or take the child surgically." "C-section?" "Our version, yes," Jasmine said.

"It's perfectly safe, and even if you give birth naturally, there is no pain. We wouldn't allow you to be hurt, Ferny." Ferny looked at her. "Are you sure, Administrator Brighteyes?" "Of course I'm sure," she said. "You couldn't possibly give natural birth to even an average Luxan baby. It would tear you to pieces, and I'm not sure you would make it, even with our technology. Do you think Abby would let you die during childbirth?" "I didn't know. She wouldn't explain." "I told you it was safe." "But you didn't tell me any of that," Ferny replied.

"Why is that, Abby?" I asked. "I'm a pilot and fight instructor!" she said. "What do I know about all this? I just know it's safe. I didn't know the details." "Why didn't you just say so?" "I was embarrassed," she admitted. "And I don't always think fast on my feet." She turned back to Ferny. "I'd take good care of you, and I'm not stupid, but when I'm put on the spot like that, sometimes I freeze. I'm a good pilot. I don't freeze like that when flying. But socially, I freeze." I looked between everyone at the table. Ferny had physically withdrawn from the Luxan, but she wasn't yelling or trying to run away. "Ferny," I said. "Do

you know what you want to do? Do you need your mate to be as smart as you are?" "She's not stupid," Ferny said. "But if she doesn't know something she needs to admit it so we can figure it out. It felt like she was trying to lie to me." She turned to the Luxan. "If you think I'm going to put up with being lied to, you can find someone else." "I won't! I wasn't trying to lie." "Ferny, do you want her to ask you on a date?" Ferny eyed the Luxan. "A date isn't binding, right? It's just a date, like a human date?" "Right," I said. "Luxan, did you hear me?"

"I heard you." "And I get to wear real clothes," Ferny said. "I'm not going on a date in my underwear!" "Yes," said Jasmine. "I will provide proper clothing. It will not be jeans and a hoodie." "What will it be?" "Probably a dress." "What if I suggested I like to wear leather?" "We're in Africa, Ferny," I said. "Are you sure leather is a good idea?" "Oh. No, perhaps not. But the last time I wore a dress was in Sunday school, and I refused to go once I hit 12 and realized how stupid it was."

"Wearing the dress, or Sunday school?" Charo asked. "What is Sunday school?" "Sunday school is on Sunday mornings," explained Ferny. "And it's when they try to indoctrinate human children into their Christian religious cult." "Oh, zing!" I said, and held up a hand to Ferny for a high-five. "And both are stupid," Ferny added. "Although I meant Sunday school." "Ferny, you have great legs," I said. "Really nice legs." "And a good butt, too," Charo added. "I noticed earlier."

Ferny climbed partway out of her chair and looked at her own ass. There were some smirks, but no one flat out laughed. "I think I'm kind of scrawny." "I think you're perfect," Abby said. "I suppose you think I'm going to wear a dress during these challenges, too. And probably high heels, jewelry, and makeup." She made a face. "Not during the challenges." "I'm not wearing high heels! Ever. Get that idea out of your head right now." "I'd love to see you in a dress," Abby said. "No heels. I mean it."

"All right, Ferny. Will you let me take you to dinner tomorrow night?" "That means out of the cell, right?" "Yes." "I'm I going to get carted around in chains?" I turned to Jasmine. I already knew the answer, but we always negotiated a little to let the women think they won something. "What am I offered?" Jasmine asked. "I'll wear the damn dress. With flats. But I'm not putting on any makeup." "The dress I pick for you?" "You're not going to make me

look like a hooker, are you?" "That's slang for a sex worker," I said. It wasn't the first time Jasmine had heard the word, but I wasn't sure about the others. "It will be a nice summer dress fitting the climate, expected weather, and venue for your date. Perhaps a cocktail dress." She looked at me. "What's that?" Ah, she was young. "Have you heard of a Little Black Dress?" "Yeah, my roommates had them." She made a face. "Fine. They looked hot, but they were straight and got mad if I stared." She turned to Ferny. "If you stare at my legs, I'll..." She trailed off.

"You'll what?" Jasmine asked. "Cross them." Everyone snickered at that. "I do not see how crossing your legs is punishment for staring at them," Abby said. "It's a human thing," Ferny said. "If I cross my legs it means something important." "What is that?" "That I wanted to cross my legs," she said. "And maybe swing one. One of my roommates was a real bitch. She's sit in her chair studying, then if she caught me sneaking peeks, she'd cross her legs and swing one. I'd have to leave if I wanted to get any studying done."

I guffawed. "I had someone do that to me once. But it was at work. I was so embarrassed." "If you cross your legs and swing one," said the Luxan. "Do you know what I will do?" "No." "Stare at them." "You want to objectify me." "You objectified your roommate," said Charo. "And you weren't offering to become her mate and take her to the stars." "Oh, sure," said Ferny. "Double team me. You kind of look a little like a fox." "My species is called Kitsune."

"Oh. Cool. Mythical Japanese fox. That's cool. It fits." Ferny turned back to Abby. "I don't put out on the first date." "She means," I started to say. "I know what she means," said Abby. "Do you hold hands on the first date?" "Yeah, I guess." "Do you kiss on the first date?" "Like a make out session, or a good night kiss?" "Maybe a hello kiss and a long good night kiss. If all I'm going to get is a little peck, I might not pick as nice a restaurant." "Ha. Funny. The duration and

intensity of any good night kisses will depends on how much I like the way you treat me." "Would you like to dance?" "I'd love to." We watched them go, then Charo said, "Okay, she's cute. She's smart. I think I like her. But wow! She's young." I laughed. "She's going to run rings around the Luxan. Jasmine, I don't know if this is a good match." "Are you kidding?" Jasmine asked. "The Luxan is already head over heels, as you say. And while male Luxan do not, female Luxan, um. Cheat." "Cheat?" asked Charo. "I have never know a Luxan to cheat at

anything." "She means they emit pheromones, like an Octal, but I presume far weaker." "Oh. Yeah they do that," Charo said. "Why is that cheating? It helps to cement the relationship. I envy them that." "Long story," I said. "My point is Ferny's resolve will be wavering by the end of this dance. The Luxan isn't stupid, Andromeda, but she's young, too. They will have a good life together." "We have to put them back on the challenge list." "We can handle it," Jasmine said.

"Andromeda, you are confined to this room unless you are shackled and led by a guard, unless Charo takes you instead. Charo, she must be blinded when you escort her through the facility. You have authority over her visor." "What?" I squeaked. "Am I obligated to return her to her cell?" "You are responsible she returns there by breakfast, and you may find she becomes testy if she doesn't get her morning swim. Good evening, both of you." We watched Jasmine go, then I turned back to Charo. "Tell me, Andromeda. Do you put out on the first date?"

"I've been known to." She stood, and I was blinded before we even made it to the door. **** It was some time later that we lay together. I'd shown her mine; she had shown me hers. And then she had demonstrated something that human women attempted, but, in my experience anyway, never worked. But when she did it, it worked, and it worked quite well. Then a little later, she'd shown me a few other things she could do, and a few things I could do. And I felt really, really good. "I wish an agreement," she said. "I agree that was amazing."

"I do, too, but that is not the agreement I wish. I am aware of your status. I know you are Jasmine Brighteyes' experiment. She asked me, through my mother, not to interfere." "What does that mean?" "It means I am not to ask for an exclusive arrangement nor a hasty decision." "Ah." "I will remain on Earth, at least for a while. I will go back and forth from this place. When I am here, I expect you to have time for me." "My other duties-" "I understand those duties. I will work within your schedule, and I will

coordinate. But you will give me your attention and not ask me to share you when I am here." "And then you will stay here, and Jasmine will grow angry?" "No. I will come for a few days at a time. I will spend the rest of my time learning who I must influence for permission for my colony." "All right," I said. "I wish us to spend the day together tomorrow." "I am needed. My duties-" "I have offered my assistance. Jasmine Brighteyes tells me you can teach me how to drive the cameras, which will free you for other tasks."

"All right," I said again. "I'd like that." "And tomorrow night, you will also be wearing a little black dress. And I will stare at your legs. You will proceed to cross them and wave one. And I will stare some more." I laughed. "Maybe your legs are the ones that will receive attention." "I believe we would be good mates, Andromeda. I was worried about this part." "I think this part has worked out quite well, but I was also worried. I'm not anymore." "I must tell you something. I can be quite the hedonist."

"I think I can handle that." "I must tell you one more thing." "Oh?" "I really, really enjoyed our initial conversation." I stilled. "You did, did you?" "Am I clear?" "You think you're going to do that to me again, do you?" "I do. Do you doubt my ability?" "No. Do you doubt my ability to get pissed off?" "Did you just say 'no'?" "Not necessarily." "Will you speak clearly?" I considered it for a minute. "If you want to do that to me, then for now,

you're going to have to win challenges." "For now?" "Maybe I'll decide I like it. Or maybe I'll decide I hate it." "Oh, I can answer that." "If you ambush me, I will probably become angry. If you win in a challenge, it will be fun. We have a level of trust, but that's more trust, Charo. Help me learn to trust you, and you might not need to win a challenge. But you will always have to ask." She caressed my face. "When you win, you are not getting the same agreement. Think of something else." "I enjoy being pampered," I said. "You may offer different styles of

pampering." "That is good," she said. "Will you go to dinner with me tomorrow?" "I would love to. Inform Dark Skies. She manages my schedule as a mating candidate. Now, there's something I enjoyed doing to you, and I think I'm going to do it again." Then I began kissing my way down. Soon, she was squirming. **** Something was crawling on my face. I brushed it away. It flew away, but then came back. I slapped at it, encountering a hand. I opened my eyes, and Charoite was leaning over me, brushing some of my own hair across my face.

"Wake up, Andie. You have time to swim before breakfast." I smiled. "I could get exercise another way." I reached for her, but she captured my hands, and I let her press them to the bed beside my head. "Kitsune swim," she said. "And I have heard you swim naked." "You've seen everything, and I bet you've seen a certain video besides. But I only swim naked once per batch, and you missed it. If you want to see it, you need to be here in just under two weeks from today." "I do not know if I will allow you to continue to swim in this fashion." "You just told me you wanted to come watch. And it's not your decision.

That decision belongs to Jasmine Brighteyes and me." She leaned closer, staring into my eyes -- she'd made me take the visor off the minute we were inside her apartment. She paused then said, "For now." "For now," I agreed. "It's not that it's something I want to do, Charoite. I pretty much hate it, actually." "Then why do it?" "Because Jasmine Brighteyes is very convincing." "Ah. Yes, I suppose she is." "She has reasons. She tells me she is not lying. I can't judge whether she is or not. There are days I think she is

laughing at me." "You are developing a reputation, Andromeda." "As a slut?" "As a human to be reckoned with. As a human who does what is necessary. As a human who is willing to work with us, but we better not betray you." I nodded. I could live with that sort of reputation. "Are you coming swimming?" "I believe I am." **** I missed Cherish. I missed her the most during my swims. I thought I could like Charoite, but I knew I liked

Cherish. But she left, and she didn't even have the courage to say "goodbye". I still missed her, even with Charoite swimming with me. She swam, but for her, swimming meant splashing around in the water. It didn't mean proper swimming. So I splashed with her for a while, but I kept eyeing the lap lane. "Go ahead," she said. "I know you come for exercise." "Are you sure?" "I'm sure. I'm going to get ready for the day and have breakfast. I am told you are allowed to be policed by your visor, so I may leave you here without

acquiring the wrath of Jasmine Brighteyes." I laughed. "Yes." And so I moved to swim laps. But Cherish and Soft Rain were gone, and Dark Skies wasn't there that morning -- she hadn't yet been taken from me, although that was not so far off. She didn't swim every morning. And so I swam my laps alone. And really, really missed Cherish. That made me feel bad, because I'd been in Charoite's bed just an hour previously. But I couldn't help it. But I swam, and then the visor warned me my time was ending.

And so I showered and wore a robe back to my cell. Breakfast arrived, and immediately after, an incoming call from Jasmine. "Have a nice evening?" "Good morning, Jasmine," I said. "How are you this morning?" "Aren't you going to answer my question?" "I am sure you know I didn't spend the night in my cell. You may just use your imagination. What can I do for you?" "If you ask, and if you have an offer, I would allow early termination of our agreement." "I was told you weren't allowing

that. You have an experiment, and you want it to play out." "If you ask, Andie," she said. "You must know that." "Well, I'm not ready to ask, and I believe we should continue your experiment." "You do not have faith in this budding relationship?" "I met her last night. You know humans don't work that fast." "And yet you spent the night not in your cell." "Well, you know sometimes we work that fast, but you also know that a romp in bed is not a commitment." "So you romped."

"If you want details, you're going to have to check your video." She snuffled. "You don't really think I'm foolish enough to bug a Kitsune's apartment, do you?" "I have no idea how undetectable your bugs can be. For all I know, deactivating the visor doesn't turn it all the way off." "Oh, maybe it doesn't," she said brightly. "And for all I know, telling a visor to stop recording doesn't mean it necessarily does so." "Maybe it doesn't." "Which is why the visor wasn't in the bedroom, and I didn't spend the

night on a sofa in the living room." She snuffle-laughed again. "I like her. We had a good time. I intend more good times with her. She's asked for my exclusive attention when she's here. But I'm not in love and I'm not ready to commit. And so our agreement remains intact, but perhaps you will choose to continue to drive off all my other choices, leaving me one single choice." "How can you make such an accusation?" "Until last night, Cherish and Dark Skies are the only aliens who have asked me on a date in several weeks. There have been more aliens looking for dates than humans available for them,

and so even if I were the last choice, someone would have asked me. I may not be 20 anymore, but even I'd score better than I have been. Unless you're meddling. We have an agreement, Jasmine Brighteyes. Are you in violation of our agreement?" "Your growing reputation may be scaring them off." "Oh, please," I said. "You can do better than that. Come up with a lie I might believe." "I might not be the one scaring them off." "So you admit someone is scaring them off." "It could be your reputation."

"Do you believe that?" "It could be Sugilite's reputation." I'd considered that. "It might be Dark Skies, still hoping to keep you for herself." "No one is afraid of her." She laughed. "She has a legitimate claim on you, Andromeda, and by Octal rules, anyone who interferes opens themselves to being claimed. Now, she's not doing this, but she could be waiting to collect a half Octal all in one night, just waiting for two more females she wants in her family." "Seriously?" I paused. "Oh, nice

misdirection, Jasmine. It's not Dark Skies. It's Sugilite." "I have handled it. You'll begin receiving a little more attention. And Charo and I have already talked." "All right." "So, how was it?" "Voyeur." **** Charoite found her own way to Control Room 2 and was talking to Cedar when I arrived. As soon as I stepped in, Cedar told me, "You have twenty minutes to teach her the cameras. I want you on both livestreams." Yes, we were running two nearly simultaneous events. They would begin a half hour

apart, giving us time to get one started before the other. But after that, we'd be watching both at one time. "Got it. Hello, Charo. It's good to see you again." "Hello, Charo," mimicked Cedar. "It's good to see you again after spending an entire night humping like clowns." "Do clowns hump?" I asked. "And if so, how do they go about it. Do they do something special with those big, red noses? Maybe it's the clown shoes that make it special. Charo, did we do any clownish humping?" "Not that I recall, Andromeda." She stepped towards me, and I leaned down and kissed her cheek. I was not used to dating someone

smaller than I was, especially lately, what with Ardents and Wookies running around everywhere. "Let me show you what we do." I took her hand and drew her to a workstation. I set myself up next door. "Do I have to use this?" "I can't teach you any other way, but once I show you, do what you like." It didn't take that long to show her how to use the cameras. I helped her wake them up, getting them into the air and deployed in both arenas. Then I moved to my own workstation, setting up to watch both events. "Cedar, are all contestants wearing visors?"

"Yes," she said. "Excellent." I lowered my voice. "If they're wearing visors, then they're programmed to ignore the cameras. We can get them a lot closer and they won't recognize them." "Got it." "But you have to be careful you don't run into anyone." "Right." "We have two jumpers in the air," Cedar said. "ETA for the candidate: seven minutes. Challenger: seven and a half." "I like to get shots as the jumpers land," I said. "But we have a few minutes. Let's show people the course. I

want you to zoom around the two starting locations. Which camera?" "SS-11-A and SS-34-D," she said. "Got it. Do 11-A first." She understood, and we got a real good view of the mating candidate's starting position, ending with a close view of the stone pillar where she was soon to stand. I added subtitles explaining what it was, and then we did the challenger's start, complete with more subtitles. The video itself didn't include the subtitles. Instead, it went into the stream as a separate element, just like the audio portions were all separate elements. The receiving systems would merge them all together, including a translation of the

subtitles into the appropriate language for the viewer. It was all pretty amazing. I could write in English, but the words might appear in Wookie if Soft Rain were watching. I could also add voiceover if I wanted, but I only spoke English, and it didn't get translated. Sometimes Cedar or Jasmine would add voiceover. But if I wanted critical information included, it was subtitled. "Candidate's jumper approaching." Charo was ready, and I switched views. "Mating Candidate Megan Francis" was the subtitle. A few seconds later I had to do a split screen, with one

side staying on her and the other on the jumper for the challenger. "Challenger Warm Wind (Greenbear)". Megan was led from her jumper. Charo did a good job with the cameras, but I said, "Give me a slight zoom out as she is pressed into place, but then I want to see her hands stuck in the pillar with a pan up to her face." The Greenbear lumbered out of her jumper and moved to her starting spot. "I love the jungle challenges with the Greenbears. They're at home in our jungles." "I'm looking forward to our challenge tomorrow," Charo said. "You will lose, and you know what happens

after that." "Focus. I like to show the jumpers leaving." "Got it." **** Our last events were Jasmine's. One of them looked like it would be running for some time. The human was being particularly wily. Jasmine finally said, "You two can go." "But-" "But you are a mating candidate first and a camera coordinator second," Jasmine said. "Yes, Administrator Brighteyes," I said, putting just a little sarcasm into my tone.

"That's right, and don't you forget it." Charo and I stepped out. "Is an hour too long?" I asked. "No. Perfect. There will be clothes in your cell. I'll collect you in exactly an hour." I smiled. She pulled herself to me, stepping up on tip-toes to accept the kiss-lick we'd worked out between us. I kissed. She flicked her tongue at me a few times, and I parted my lips, and then she licked. We'd done that a lot last night, and it had already become associated with the other things we'd been doing at the same time. I clung to her, enjoying it, and then released her.

"I like doing that," she whispered. "I do, too." "We need to do that more." "I agree." So we did. "Ahem." We broke our kiss-lick and simultaneously turned. Jasmine stood at the edge of the corridor with her hands on her hips. "Charoite, are you mauling my mating candidate in the middle of this corridor?" "Jasmine-" "Silence, Mating Candidate Hayes." I closed my mouth. "Well Charoite?"

"I wouldn't say mauling, Administrator Brighteyes. I might suggest that I was appreciating her from very, very close." "I see," she replied. "As long as we're clear. Carry on." And then she turned and strode down the hall. A moment later, we both began laughing. Well, Charo squeaked. I laughed. "Do you know what that was really about?" Charo asked. "A reminder to me what my status is." "And a reminder to me that she holds me responsible for our shared behavior."

"Because I am a child and don't make my own decisions, right?" "No, because we stole your power from you, and it now rests in my hands and hers." "I think it won't help my mood if we talk about that. Please kiss me again." So she did, but then she sent me on my way. I set the timer on my visor and headed for the showers. **** I stared at the clothes that were waiting for me. I should have predicted them. It was the same outfit I'd worn to the first meal with Sugilite. And then words appeared on the visor.

As Charoite suggested, Andie. We stole your power. You have no choice, you know. I stared at the words a short while then got dressed. Well, the clothes were comfortable, even if I looked ridiculous. I wondered if she would expect me to dress like this every day, or if she was sending a message. Maybe she thought these colors actually looked good together. If so, it was evidence she had the worst taste imaginable. Then I wondered if that was why she was here with me in the first place. And then I thought about their words. We stole your power.

Those words went through my head, over and over through my head. We stole your power. They had never even apologized. They had never even tried to justify why they thought they had the right to do that. You have no choice. Was that true? I wasn't sure it was true. I looked at the clothes I was wearing. I wondered if I was willing to make a statement. By doing, what exactly? Putting the undies back on instead? It wasn't like I had other clothes I could access. I wore what they gave me or I wore nothing at all. I sat down on the bed, staring straight ahead. I tried to decide what I was going to do. I was sure I had no way

out of this. They were right. They stole my power, and I had no way to get it back. I had no illusions I could escape. I had no illusions they would actually let me go. For about a second and a half, I thought about telling my parents what was going on. They could go to the press. But could they even get that far? Jasmine had been clear. If I told my parents anything, she'd kill us all. I was sure she'd do it. Well, someone would do it. She acted like she cared about us and what happened to us, but that was a lie. Maybe she cared a little, and that was how she assuaged her guilt for her role.

Incoming video call from Jasmine Brighteyes. I considered denying it. I wasn't ready to burn bridges yet. "Hello, Jasmine." "This is not the body language of someone about to go on a nice date with someone she was kissing in the halls an hour ago." I didn't say anything. "What's going on, Andie?" "Nothing. Long day." "You've got something stuck in your head, don't you?" "You never even apologized," I said softly. "You never apologize to any of us. We're just the natives. Me. The

women here. Our own people gave us to you for this slave trade. They gave us to you to appease our overlords. And you don't even think we deserve apologies for what you're doing to us." "Is that what you think?" I didn't answer. "You're right. I don't apologize. I don't apologize because I'm not the one who is doing this. I am the one who is trying to make the best of the situation for you." "Yeah, right." "And an apology? There isn't an apology big enough for what is being done to you." I stared for a while, not focusing. "You and Charo are right. You stole my power. I have no choice. But don't

pretend to care, Administrator. You love the situation. You revel in it. You make sure at every opportunity to remind me just how weak and helpless I am. But you're a fucking hypocrite. You talk about humanity's immaturity. I think you need to look in the mirror. You talk about humanity's immaturity, but look at the people who are doing this to us. Look at the people who accept it. Look at the people who come here and take a woman against her will. Look at the people who decide, they're just humans. They have no rights. They're just humans. That's all the justification we need to do this to them." I focused my eyes and looked at her. "You withhold the most basic of

rights, instead calling them privileges, and doling them out parsimoniously, as if it actually would cost you anything at all to let us chose our own clothes or have a modicum of privacy. I'm wearing this utterly ridiculous outfit because it's either this or nothing. I literally have nothing else to wear." I shook my head. "And then you're going to give me to someone who takes advantage of what you do to us, and if I don't like it, you'll find someone horrible and give me to him instead. And there's not a thing I can do about it. Fine. Humanity owes you, so you get your sex slaves. I suppose that's how you justify it. And some of us are lucky. You drug us out of minds so we don't care. But your

argument that you're more mature than we are? That's bullshit. You're nothing but a human trafficker. And humans consider them lower than terrorists. So get off your fucking high horse." Then, before she could say anything else, I terminated the call and deactivated the visor. I set it aside and stared at the wall. I was there perhaps another ten minutes when I heard the glass wall make a doorway. There was always a sort of whoosh sound. It wasn't loud, but I'd grown accustomed. I turned, expecting Charo to have arrived. Instead, Jasmine was there. "Have you come to remove privileges?"

"No, Andromeda." "Am I to be punished?" "That isn't my plan. May I sit?" I moved down to the far end of the bed, leaving the near end for her. She sat, facing me, but I continued to stare at the far wall. "You went out of your way to remind me. Twice. I don't think your timing is coincidental." "I was not the one to choose this location or built this facility," she said. "Although I've made improvements. I was not the first administrator. I was the third, and I've held my position beginning three years after we arrived." "That's a lot of women whose

lives you have ruined." "It's a drop in the bucket compared to the number hurt by what humans do to each other." "Yes, but the women whose lives you are ruining aren't guilty of doing that, are we? So if you use that as an excuse, then you're abusing the wrong people. Why don't you do something about the people who victimize others?" I turned to her. "Oh, wait. You'd have to start with yourselves." "I have spent the entire time I've been here trying to enact changes in how this is done." "Yeah, because what I've helped to accomplish is a distinct difference. I'm the spoon full of sugar that makes the

medicine go down." "That sounds like a cultural reference." I sighed. "You're right. If you add sugar to medicine that tastes horrible, you can convince a child to eat it, even though it still tastes terrible." "I sacrificed a friendship that was very important to me so that I could make the sort of changes that you're experiencing. I am finally making progress, but it's not going to happen overnight." "Right. You're a saint." I turned to her. "You didn't comment on the reminders." "You're right. I didn't."

"What do you want?" "I want to know if you're cancelling your date, Andromeda." "I'm still wearing the clothes, aren't I?" "So you're going to burn your bridges." "Jump to conclusions much?" I sighed. "I don't know what I'm going to do. But she's complicit in what happens here." "She didn't invent it." "She is here to take advantage of it." "Did you drive an internal combustion car?" "I'm not the one claiming to be

the superior race while buying a human being from slave traders." I shook my head. "The only alien I've ever met who wasn't a fucking hypocrite was that Implac." I turned away. "Are you going to tell me why you did this to me, and why today?" "No." "Did you do this so I'd burn my bridges with her? Are you hoping to present me to someone else? Or maybe you really don't want to make these changes, and you're manipulating me to ruin your experiment." "I remember one of your first women," she said. "A big woman." "Julie."

"We gave her something she thought she could never have." "An anomaly." "No. We get women in every group who are happy when they leave." "How many of them had to get pushed down to rock bottom, so anything was a step up? Is that why you treat us like this? I bet it is." "Of course it is, or at least part of it. You've helped manipulate those women, Andromeda. You've helped make them feel gratitude for a bathrobe." "Oh, so you're equating my position with yours? The difference is, I'm helping them get the best you'll let them have. But you're the one who won't just give them the bathrobe."

"Do you think I haven't tried other approaches? My goal is for both mating candidate and challenger to find happiness in each other." "In other worse, you teach the slave to appreciate being a slave." "You can all leave!" she said, almost screaming. "You'll be able to leave. Accept Charoite's offer, if she makes one. You can be home in a little more than three months." "With my severance package money spent, who knows the status of my bills, I've done nothing to find work, and I wouldn't have applied for unemployment insurance. I don't know that process, but there is a delay." "I want a promise."

"Go to hell." "I'm going to tell you something and I don't want you to tell anyone else. Promise, or I won't tell you, and you can remain ignorant." I thought about it. "Fine. I won't repeat it." "We pay your bills. If you go home, we continue to pay your bills for months afterwards. We help you find jobs, good jobs. The few women that go home -- and it's not very many -- come out ahead financially. The ones who don't go home have lives the rest of humanity can barely dream about. You have a right to bitch about a lot of things, but money isn't one of them." "And this is a big secret, why?

You have to know we're all worried about that. They don't all say it, but everyone assumes she's been fired. If they win their challenge and go home -- I know, it doesn't happen, but we make them believe it could -- believe they're going back to no job, no money, and job abandonment means you don't get unemployment. Everyone in here thinks you not only did this to them, but if they do go home, they don't have a home because it's been forfeit. They believe everything they owned is gone, never to be seen again. If they have pets, they believe they've been killed." I shook my head. "More of your emotional torture, I presume to keep us feeling vulnerable and so we know beyond all doubt we're

entirely dependent upon you for every little thing in our lives." "So, what are you going to do about all this, Andromeda?" "I haven't figured out all my choices." "Which have you figured out?" I turned back to her. "I could commit suicide." "You promised you wouldn't make that threat." "I didn't say I was going to. It's an option. You asked what my options were. You shouldn't ask a question if you aren't going to like the answer." "Do you think we haven't had attempts?"

"I'm surprised there aren't a dozen or so in every batch." "We filter for self-destructive tendencies." "You push us hard enough that shouldn't matter." "We get attempts." "If someone is committed to suicide, she'll succeed." "With us watching her?" "Whatever. That's one choice. I could burn every one of my bridges. You'll give me to some horrible male. I'll eventually kill him or me, but maybe you take steps so he can safely rape me and I can't do a thing about it. I wouldn't be surprised."

"Is that what you think we do?" "Yes, Administrator. I do. I think any woman who fights hard enough is given to someone horrible, and she spends the rest of her miserable life getting raped on a daily basis. That is exactly what I think happens." She got up from the bed and walked to the door. I thought she was leaving, but she stared out. "I told you how many rapes have happened, and what happened to the men who did them." "You've told me a lot, but I also know you lie to every woman who comes in here. You lie to all our families, to our previous employers, to our friends, to all of society. I don't

know what's truth and what's utter fabrication. And you're the one who told me take your deal or you'll give me to a male. How many other lesbians have been told the same thing. Capitulate, or I'll make it not just bad, but really, really bad. That's what you told me, Jasmine, so don't blame me if I actually believe you." "What do you consider your other options?" "Let you get away with all of it. Give up. Surrender my soul and let you give me to the least objectionable woman who makes an offer. So far, those are the three choices I see." She spun. "You could try to find happiness."

"They keep leaving!" I screamed. "I could have been happy with Cherish, but she left. She doesn't want me. Soft Rain didn't want me. Dark Skies doesn't want me. Maybe Charo does, but we won't know for a while, will we? And if I go with her, will I ever see my parents again? Do you think there is anything you have for me, anything at all, that would mean I'd give up my parents?" I pulled my knees up. "Go away. My date is late, and if I don't want you to give me to a rapist, and instead accept my fate as a sex worker to a Kitsune, I need to try to get my mood back. Cause she sure as shit isn't going to want me if she sees me like this." "You like her, and you liked what

the two of you did last night." "That was before your little reminders today, which sure as hell were intentional." "Do you need me to send Dark Skies down before I let Charo head in?" "No." "Are you going to burn your bridges?" "That is not my intention at this time. Did you want me to? Were you hoping?" She didn't answer. **** Charo arrived about ten minutes later. I spent the time with music playing and my eyes closed, but I asked the visor

to alert me if anyone entered the cell. I calmed down, but not by much. I opened my eyes. She stood near the bed, looking at me, smiling. And from her hands dangled the wrist restraints and chain Jasmine used on me during arena event days. I stared at it. In her other hand were ankle restraints. "I do not believe you won a challenge yet." "I'm not allowed to take you off the facility without them." She waved them at me. "You're going to look cute. Stand up. I want to get a look at you." I slid from the bed, moving away from her a little. Then I held my hands up and did a slow turn. I was halfway around when she stepped up behind me

and set a hand on my back. "I especially like this." "And the colors? Your colors." "Well, they're a little garish, aren't they, but I'm sending a message." "To whom?" "Jasmine Brighteyes, of course, and maybe you and anyone else who thinks to lay a claim on you. I'll let you date others, because that is my agreement, but I intend for you to become mine." I turned back to her. "Made up your mind have you?" "Maybe not entirely. The newness might wear off in a few days, but if last night was any indication, I

think it'll take decades." I almost made a scathing remark, but I held it back. I really did. I managed a smile, although it was weak. "So," she said. "We have a few minutes." She eyed the bed and then stepped closer. "And where's my kiss?" "Do you know why Jasmine delayed you?" "No. Do you?" "We were having a fight, at least as big as the one we had the day I got here." "Oh my," she said. "Do you want to talk about it?" "No, or I'm going to unload on anyone nearby. But it's going to take me

a little time to finish calming down. Timing was poor. I think she did it on purpose." "Sit." She pointed to the bed. I thought it was so she could apply the restraints, so I obeyed. Instead, she dropped everything on the bed and sat down at the other end, her legs tucked up, facing me. "I know you said you didn't want to talk about it, and a portion of me is sorry about this. But I came literally a billion kilometers to meet you, Andromeda, and I deserve some consideration for doing so. So I'm going to ask you to listen to me." "Fine," I muttered. "Furthermore, if I ask a question, you will answer."

"We'll see." "The fight was based at least in part due to what I told you earlier. We stole your power." I sighed. "Yes." "And I was listening when you told the Luxan last night this is a sex slave trade." I didn't respond to that. "Andromeda, will you please look at me?" I turned sideways to match her and looked up, but it was hard to hold her gaze. "I didn't come here for a sex slave. I came here for a mate. I came here because you are the first woman here being given the sort of choices you're being given. And, of course,

because I liked what I could learn from a billion kilometers away." I didn't say anything. "I don't necessarily care for this mood, but I enjoyed your company last night. I liked our banter. I very much enjoyed teasing you. I think you found some of it frustrating, but I think you enjoyed most of it. Am I wrong?" "No." "Clearly I have had some experience. Clearly I have interacted with other humans. I have not had a human girlfriend. I like to tease. I like being teased. I try very hard to learn what teasing will be seen as teasing and avoid the sort that is seen as being mean. I will make mistakes, but I will learn."

"That's fair. I was a little concerned you didn't care if your teasing hurt." "I was learning. That's all. I might be willing to push a little, but not a lot. I bet you aren't that different." "No, probably not." "I think we could be good together. I think we could be very happy together. But we have barely met, less than one day ago." "Right." "And I have one fear. I fear you will pick me as the least of all evils, not as the best of all choices. I deserve better, and frankly so do you." "Yes, but I am not being given the

choice to walk away, and you are." I looked up. "I have fears. I fear everyone who I would accept even if I had full choice will leave. And I'll be left only with the choices I'd accept, because they're better than the alternatives. I know I'm not getting out of this, after all." "That is not true. You could always pick someone you absolutely know you can resist, and three months later demand to be set free." "And if during those three months, she gets a little help from an Octal queen?" "Is that what you think I'll do?" "I don't have the vaguest idea. Do you know how I met Dark Skies?"

"Yes." "So your plan is dangerous, because I could get drugged out of my mind so I can't dream of leaving, but if I follow your plan, I'd be forever bound to someone I hate." "All right. I admit. I didn't consider that. I am going to make you promises. You may not believe me, but I swear I am making honest promises." I nodded at that. "I will not accept a relationship if I believe I am your least of the evil choices. As I said, I deserve better." "I wouldn't expect you to." I didn't mention where that left me. "If we do choose each other, then I will treat you honestly. I will not lavish

you with everything you want, wait for your commitment, then stop." "Thank you." "And I am convinced we can be happy from what I've seen so far. I know you feel vulnerable. I don't blame you. But I'm not the enemy." "You're taking advantage of what is still a slave trade." "Well, I've never liked how we do this, but I don't have a voice to change it. But I admit, that part bothers me. But do you want me to go?" "No. I wish the situation were different." "Fair enough. So do I. Ask me to leave, and I'll leave, Andromeda."

"I don't want you to leave." "Good. I don't want to leave. When I walked in, you were almost as mad at me as you were at Jasmine Brighteyes, weren't you?" "I was trying not to be." "Was that because you didn't think I deserved it, or because you didn't want to drive me away in case I was your best option?" I sighed. "The latter." "And that's because you considered me part of the problem." "Yes." "Do you still?" "No, Charo. Thank you." Except I wasn't sure I believed myself.

"You're welcome. Better?" "It takes me a little time, but yes, I will be. Where are you taking me?" "To a restaurant, and then we'll see." "All right. I'll be fine by the time we get there. I'd rather we not kiss until I can smile." "That's fair." She gestured to the restraints. "These made you angry. I want to talk about it." "It's not your fault." "No, but you resent them. And if I express any joy, you're going to resent them more." I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to control my reaction. "Yes," I

said finally. "How would you feel if the situation were reversed? If you were able to restrain me instead?" I opened my eyes and looked at her. "Would it please you?" "I don't know. Maybe. No. No, it wouldn't." "Why not?" "Because you partially resemble an Earth animal, and chaining you would be treating you like an animal. You're not an animal, Charo." "If I chain you, am I treating you like an animal?" "No. You're treating me like a

slave." "All right. What if I were as human as you, does that change the pleasure you'd get?" "I don't know." "What if you won a challenge, and letting you chain me was your reward? What if I specifically said you had to take me out? Pleasure, or no? You get to tug the chain. Everyone gets to see me. You know at least for the night, I'm yours." I looked away. "I might enjoy that." "Do you think I'd resent it?" "You have a choice." "Ah, but you have a choice, too."

"I don't think so." "You can ask me to take you to my apartment, and we can stay in. No restraints required. If that's what you decide, I won't resent the choice." I turned back. "But before you decide, I want you to think a little more. What if the restraints weren't required, but I won the challenge, and this was what I wanted. Would you let me do it?" I considered. "I don't know. Maybe." "Only maybe? For me, Andromeda?" "If I let you, then I am complicit in my subjugation."

"It's not subjugation. It's play. What if I tricked you into wearing them? I got you into them, but then found a way to take away your anger." "Are you going to tug?" "Undoubtedly." "Please don't humiliate me." "I wouldn't. I'll tease though, but you can handle that." "Yeah, I can handle teasing. Do you think we could spend a few minutes kissing?" It turned out we could. And then I held her, carefully, but I held her. "Thank you." "You're welcome, Andromeda." And then, behind her back, I felt

the restraints snap around my wrists. "You little minx!" She squeaked her pleasure, then trapped my ankles and did them as well. She slipped out from underneath my arms, tightened the loop, and helped me to my feet. "That was fun. As much as I prefer looking into your eyes, you must wear your visor." "It's there." I gestured. Still hanging onto the chain, she collected the visor and helped slide it into place. Then she caressed my cheek. She tugged me from the cell. **** She teased me during the brief jumper ride, only about five minutes. But

she was very good at teasing, and she had fully jollied me into a good mood by the time we landed. Then she pulled me -- tugging the chain -- from the jumper. At the bottom of the ramp she turned to me. "Oh, I'm having fun." "If you keep this up, you might get lucky tonight." She squeaked. "It isn't luck, Andromeda, and you know it." And then she led me into the restaurant. I presume we made a sort of scene. Imagine the image. A diminutive alien, furry in back with tufted ears, with purple her dominant color. She was leading a human woman wearing sleek leather, but backless and of garish

colors. The human had her ankles and wrists shackled together, and the alien was tugging her by the chain. Yeah, I think heads would turn. But she put me in the chair, loosened my hands, and sat herself. The visor brightened, and I saw my chain spread across the table and wrapped partly around her far wrist. She was gazing at me, her expression bright with her ears forward and twitching, her mouth open slightly to expose small, sharp teeth. The combination of twitching ears and parted mouth was the Kitsune version of a human smile. The Catseye could put on a human smile, but for them, it was the tentacles that told the tale. For the Kitsune, it was ears and

mouth, but a different expression than humans. So when I say she smiled, understand that meant her ears twitched and her teeth were just visible. I looked at her then dropped my gaze to the chain for just a moment, then back at her. "Thank you for letting me have my little pleasures, Andromeda." I glanced at the chain again then back up at her. And I decided something. "You're welcome, Charo." I offered my own smile. "Maybe this is a little sexy." She squeaked and then leaned closer. "It's not a little sexy, Andromeda. It's a lot sexy. And you think so, too."

"Maybe, but if you want to carry it further than this, you still need to win a challenge." "Does it need to be a physical challenge?" I considered briefly. Rule number one of dating: don't talk about other women. So I told her that. "Why do you mention that? I know you need to date other women. This is pertinent?" I told her very briefly about Cherish and somewhat more about the concentration game challenges we had. "I know this game," she said. "It is a Tutor invention. I have played only once, and she beat me soundly."

"We played far more than once, and even with a significant handicap in the game settings, she easily beat me, too. But it was fun. If you can devise intellection challenges that are as fun, then I will accept them. But remember something. I like to exercise, and I like to get outside. But I only get to go outside if you take me, and I've been here nearly two months." I thought about it. "Maybe that means less to someone who lives her life on a space station. You're always inside." "No, I understand entirely, Andromeda." "If we were playing strictly for fun, then I don't even mind if the challenges are imbalanced. But if there

are consequences for losing," and I shook my wrists, "then I should feel like you're at least trying to make it fair for both of us." "Were there consequences when you lost these concentration games?" "Yes, although I felt they were less than this, and she gave me a significant handicap to make up for the difference in experience. Plus I felt there wasn't a species advantage. It was a game I could get better at. I am not a big human, but I'm larger and presumably stronger than a Kitsune. I don't know if I am faster. I don't know what physical advantages you have over me." "Better hearing," she said. She swiveled her ears in punctuation. "But as

you said, I have spent much of my life on a space station. This is your world. It is alien to me. The average human, at least the average human in good shape, is a significantly better athlete than I am in almost all ways." "Well," I said. "I want fair challenges. There are some that can be made very even and can be fun. Do Kitsune like to hunt?" "Ancient Kitsune were, of course, predators, but we are deeply isolated from that. I have never hunted anything in my life, and I have no species imperative to do so. I can survive on fruits and berries, although, like you, I require sources of protein." But then she did another Kitsune smile.

"I admit, chasing and catching you sounds like fun. Letting you catch me though, I'm not sure how I feel about that." I laughed. "I will let you pick the challenges. Make them fun." Her ears swiveled, and one dipped. Then she paused and nodded. "What was that?" I asked. I gestured to her ear. "Nodding for yes is a human gesture, and it's not even universal among humans. It's not used by any other species that I know of." "But you just nodded." "If you see one of us nodding to say yes, it's because we're trying to offer

gestures you understand. The single ear tip is the Kitsune equivalent, but then I realized what I had done." "Oh," I said. I smiled again. "I would like to grow accustomed to your gestures and expressions. Will you help me?" "Of course," she said. She put a hand on mine. "Some are shared, like this." And she squeezed my hand. "Most of our facial expressions are through our ears, and some are involuntary. But we have a few expressions with our hands, including one that is mirrored by both humans and Catseye?" "Oh?" "You have perhaps noticed the Catseye express themselves through their

tentacles." "Yes. They wave and quiver. I'm just starting to distinguish the different types of quivers." "Right. Well, there's a human gesture." Then she made a loose, partial fist, with her index finger pointed into the air. Then she waved it back and forth slightly a few times. "No," I said. "Right." "That's not universal." "Perhaps not, but you recognized it. Well, Catseye will do something very similar, but it's a tentacle tip. And Kitsune also do something similar, but it's two fingers, like this." She used her

index and middle finger, and her hand was turned at a different angle to me than the human gesture. But it was unmistakable. Then she brushed my hand again. "I'll teach you as we go. But now it is time to order our meal." **** Dinner was lovely. The food was good, and Charo was enchanting. All my anger and frustration from earlier evaporated, and I grew increasingly relaxed. She teased me, of course. Partway through the meal, unbeknownst to me, she kicked off her shoes, and then one foot came sneaking over to caress my leg. The first time that happened, it

was a surprise, but I looked down and saw the foot, and then I saw her ears twitching. After that, she spent much of the rest of our time sliding a foot over my leg. A few times, she wrapped toes into the chain binding my ankles and tugged on it, just to remind me it was there. Each time she did that, her ears twitched rapidly. She held my hand. She stroked my arm. And she tugged that chain a few times, too. We shared stories. I learned about her older brother and sister, much older than she was. "I was very young when they left the planet. I remember a few of the fights with Mom. I remember

Mom being very upset when they left. As I was older, old enough to understand, she explained she didn't blame them. And she made promises to be more supportive of me. And she has been, or I wouldn't have come with her when she came here, and I certainly would have my own household." "Would we live right next door?" I asked. "I'm not sure how I feel about living next door to my mother-in-law. It's a big space station, right?" "It is," she said. "I don't want to tell you too much about it. No, we wouldn't live right next door, not literally. But we would be close." "How close?" "Walking distance, although that

could still mean a kilometer or so." "It's five kilometers across." "And we tend to travel the rim, even when crossing to the opposite side." "And there are two rings, right?" "Yes, but only one is used for living quarters. I don't want to explain why, but we would live within a kilometer, probably closer. Perhaps fewer than a hundred meters. Does that disturb you?" "I don't know. I suppose in the scheme of things, there are worse things." "I was under the impression you liked her."

"I do, but I was under the impression she likes to meddle." She squeaked. "Well, that's true." "We're getting a little ahead of ourselves." "Not that far ahead," she replied. "What about your parents?" "Well, I inherited their athleticism. Until a few years ago, they were better water skiers than I am, especially Mom. But they still can bike a century." "A century? A hundred years?" "A hundred miles." "Is that a long way?" "Not if you're a professional," I said. "But yeah, it's a long way on a

bicycle. But in spite of winter, Minnesota is bike friendly." I talked about them for a while, Charo asking questions periodically. "It sounds like you have a good relationship." "We do," I said. "I have never done these things," she said. "I have never been on a mountain. I have certainly never skied or ridden a bicycle." "You could always take me skiing," I said with a grin. "I'm sure there's snow somewhere by now. I could teach you." Her ears twitched. "You know that isn't going to happen."

"I couldn't escape. I know that." She sobered. "It would take you seconds to tell a room full of people what happens here, Andromeda." "I could promise not to." "Maybe someday," she said. But she leaned forward. She used one hand to hold mine and the other to caress my arm. "I'd like to go for a walk." I looked down. "I don't want to shuffle around, and I don't think I want to be tugged all over town. Are there other options?" "But a walk would be nice?" "A walk would be nice." "Good. The bill is paid, so we can go."

I drank a little more water, and while I was drinking, the visor dimmed. Charoite took the glass from me, tightened the hoop that bound my hands closer together, then took my arm. She led me from the restaurant, caressing my arm as we walked. "Andromeda," she said, "I think I really like you." "I think I like you, too, Charo." She led me into the jumper, set me in the seat, and then I was partially swallowed. "Where are you taking me?" "How would a walk along the beach sound?" "I think I'd enjoy that quite a bit."

A minute later we were in the air. We talked easily during the twentyminute flight, and then I felt the jumper set down. "I think barefoot sounds good. How about you?" "Barefoot sounds wonderful." I felt her hands on my feet. She took off the shoes and then the ankle restraints. "I'm keeping the wrist restraints, Andromeda. Frankly, I'm enjoying it too much." "I can tell," I said. She released me from the chair then tugged me from the jumper. At the bottom of the ramp, we stepped out onto the sand, and I could hear the surf. We walked a short distance, and the sand

grew firm and damp. She tugged me into place beside her, wrapped an arm around my waist, and then the visor brightened. We were standing on the beach, facing the ocean. The sun was low in the sky, and it would be sunset soon. "Earth has beautiful sunsets," said Charo. "Do you know where we are?" I looked around. "This is the coastal arena. The typical starting point for the mating candidates is..." I looked around. "That way, I think." "Have you used the cameras to explore?" "Of course. The aquatic cameras are especially fun to play with. There's a

reef offshore that's filled with colorful fish." "How about the edges? Do you know the limits?" "Yes," I said. "Why do you ask?" "You've seen the fence." "Charo," I said, putting as much reproach into my voice. "I'm not going to try to escape from you. I'd get three steps and you'd blind me." "You could hurt me first." "Charo," I said, hurt in my voice. "You're bigger than I am. Stronger." "Where would I go?" I asked. "All I know is we're somewhere in western Africa, I presume slightly south

of the equator. This is not a politically stable region, but I don't even know what country we're in. I don't know which countries are particularly unstable. I don't know if the local villages would give me back to you. I bet you could post a big reward for me, and these people are so poor, they'd give me back for ten bucks. I wouldn't know which direction to go. I don't know how to live off the land. I'm barefoot, Charo. I don't know how to find water. I certainly don't know how to filter it. I don't know how to find food. I can't take the visor off." "You could break it," she said. "Fine. So I could break it. But the only thing I can accomplish by hurting you is committing suicide."

When she didn't respond to that, I shook my head. "I'm not happy about the situation." "You threatened-" "I did not! Jasmine asked me what my options were. Suicide is an option, but I never threatened it or suggested I was considering it. It's an option. Admitting it isn't making a threat to do it." I sighed. "This was a stupid conversation, and now it's your responsibility to put me back in a good mood." She didn't say anything, but she collected the chain, wrapping it around her arm, and then we turned down the beach and began walking quietly.

Neither of us spoke for the next several minutes. I spent most of it looking around. It really was pretty here. To our left was the ocean. To our right, more beach, then jungle, and then cliffs, forming quite the wall. I knew that periodically the wall was broken, and one could climb to the top of the cliffs. But the jungle was sufficiently thick it wasn't always easy to see where those spaces were. "Is sharing your life with me such a horrible thought?" "Charo, stop it," I said. "I was mad at her. And I made no such threat. But I'll also point out you haven't offered yet. You could leave like all the others have left or turned away from me. You

aliens don't seem to think I'm such a good catch." But now she had annoyed me. I shook her arm off and plopped down in the sand, turning to face west to watch the sunset. After a moment she sat down beside me, not touching. "Are you from the Kitsune home world?" "Yes." "What's it called?" She made a noise I couldn't have duplicated. I laughed. "I suppose it doesn't have a name I could pronounce." "No." "Is it like Earth?" "In some ways. The land masses

are smaller, and we have more islands. It has a low axial tilt, so the seasons aren't as extreme. But it is on average a little warmer, so the weather can be violent, anyway." "You have trees?" "Yes, abundant vegetation. And there are sapient creatures swimming our oceans, as you have here." "Do they resemble our whales?" "They are smaller, but yes, in a way." "When you sit here, does it feel like home?" "The space station has been my home for a long time. It is home now. But I know what you are asking." She

looked around. "Yes, in some ways. Looking out over the ocean while sitting on the beach, this could be anywhere from our home. But if I turn around, it is different. We have some green plants. And you have some purple and red plants. But yours are primarily green, and ours are not." Then we sat, but I moved closer to her until we were touching. She leaned against me, laying her head against my shoulder. "Are we being watched?" "Yes, but the cameras will leave at sunset. There's something we should do before they leave." Then she shifted, climbing onto my legs to straddle me. She released the

ring at my wrists, letting me spread my hands apart. And then she moved closer and leaned in. We kissed, gently at first, then she began to tease me with her tongue. I wasn't sure how I felt about doing this for the cameras, but I wrapped my arms around her and decided to enjoy it. She teased, and then she pressed further, and I let her press me backwards until I was lying in the sand with a warm, passionate Kitsune perched over me. She pulled away and looked at me. "I want you, Andromeda." She looked over her shoulder, then back to me. "The sun touches the horizon." "I guess we have five minutes

more of kissing," I said. I reached up, very gently pinched her ears, and used them to guide her mouth back to me. But she squeaked instead of kissing. I released her instantly. "I'm sorry. Did I hurt you?" "No," she said, still squeaking a little. "No one has ever done something like that to me before. I haven't decided if I like it." I reached my fingers up, teasing the tufts. "Maybe I should keep doing it until you decide." "Maybe I should make you stop talking." And so she did. We kissed, and then she began moving above me, and still we kissed. The world turned red, and I could feel

her pressing against me, sliding against me. I knew she was teasing herself. I tried to reach for her, to help tease, but I couldn't reach. However, she figured out what I was doing and pulled away. "No, no," she said. "I am the one in control, Andromeda." "You haven't won any challenges, Charo." "I tricked you," she said. "I captured your wrists. Perhaps that was our challenge." Her ears twitched. "I should take you to the pillar and command it to swallow your hands." "You don't really think we're going to make love here on the beach do you?"

"Well, not here, here," she said. Then she began licking again. I liked the licking, but now she had me nervous. I did not want sand everywhere she was going to be pushing sand if we tried to do this. I wasn't that thrilled it was probably already in my hair, and I began to worry about bugs, and... and... I pushed her away. "Stop!" "Why?" "Because we're on the beach." She looked over her shoulder. The sun was down. "Jasmine Brighteyes promised the cameras would leave at sunset." "Did she also promise there aren't any sand fleas? Is this magic sand that isn't at all like normal sand?"

"What are you talking about?" "Sand gets everywhere, Charo. Do you get what I'm saying? It's already in my hair, and that means I'm going to have a devil of a time washing later." She flicked her ears and began climbing off me. Then she used the chain to pull me to my feet. She collected my arm and turned me the way we had come. We walked for a while, as it grew darker. "I'm sorry," I said a few minutes later. "It's just..." "That you don't trust me." "Of course I trust you." I could see the jumper ahead of

us now. "You don't believe I thought of these things." I didn't say anything. I couldn't judge her mood. I couldn't tell if she was teasing me or if she really was upset. But my head itched. Damned sand. She led me to the jumper. "We could walk longer, Charo," I said quietly. "We're going to," she said. She turned me to face her as we stood in the aisle of the craft. "I want you to promise to obey me." "Charo." "I want this, Andromeda. Please,

will you give me this promise?" I thought about it. I decided this was a test but it was a test for both of us. "I'll obey you." And I quietly made a vow that no matter what she ordered, I would do it, without question or complaint. I also decided if she abused my trust, I wouldn't see her again. Her ears twitched. Then she freed my wrists. "Put your hands on your head." I did, and she walked around me, releasing my clothing. I stood still, but I watched her. She loosened the clothing, pulling it from me until I stood naked before her. Then she circled me again, touching me, brushing against me, and teasing me a little.

Then she collected my wrists and wrapped the shackles around them. She did it slowly, watching my face. When she was done, her ears twitched. Then she turned away, trailing the chain behind her. When she turned back, she held some sort of black ring, perhaps six inches in diameter. It looked like it was made from the same material as the restraints. I was sure it wasn't plastic, and I knew the restraints were incredibly secure, but it looked like plastic. "You may say 'No' for this part," she told me. "I want to see your eyes, but Jasmine Brighteyes will not allow me to remove your visor unless I take other precautions." "That is the precaution?" I asked.

"It goes around my neck, doesn't it?" "Yes." "Do I want to know what it is?" "It is an unnecessary precaution." I stared at it in her hands. "Is it produced by a species that keeps slaves?" "Yes." I sighed and nodded. She stepped closer, looked at the black ring, and it hinged open. Then she slipped it around my neck. It closed and tightened, just to the point of being snug. "Can you stand it, Andromeda?" "It's fine, Charoite," I said. I smiled. I think it was a little ragged, but I smiled.

The visor went dim, and then she removed it. She had the case for it, and she set it aside. Then she collected the chain. She stepped up to me, looking into my eyes. "As much as possible, you will look into my eyes. No matter what I do, if you are able, you will look into my eyes." "Yes, Charo." "Come, Prisoner." Then she tugged on the chain, walking backwards down the ramp. But at the bottom, she turned my back to the water, and instead of tugging, she walked forward. I walked backwards, staring into her eyes, trusting her to lead me. Trusting her the cameras were gone. Trusting the Kitsune.

I stared into her eyes in the twilight. They really were quite beautiful. She was quite beautiful, alien, exotic, mysterious. She walked me backwards almost to the water. And then we turned left, opposite of our path earlier, and we walked along the beach. I stared into her eyes; I stared the entire time. Her ears twitched; they twitched frequently. And then we turned once more, took a few steps up the beach, and she said, "There is a series of steps behind you. One meter. Do not look away from me, but walk backwards carefully then up the stairs. Take small steps and feel with your heel." I took a step. Another. It was

uphill. Then my heel encountered something. "That's the step," she said. So I worked my foot and stepped up. After that, even without looking, it was easy to climb the stairs. There were only three, and then she said, "Now a flat landing." She walked me backwards further across a flat surface. "Kiss me." She pulled me to her, and I bent my head. We kiss-licked, and kisslicked. She touched, stroked, teased my skin, then pushed me back. "You may turn around and climb in, and then you will watch my eyes again." I turned, and there was a pool.

Oh, it was a small pool, but a pool nevertheless. I smiled and didn't hesitate. I stepped forward. There were stairs and a railing, and I descended. The middle was actually quite deep, although there were raised portions. The water was warm and felt good. I turned. Charo was waiting, and when she had again captured my eyes in hers, she began removing her own clothing. I kept my gaze on her eyes, but I found myself smiling. And I felt my body beginning to respond to her, responding in anticipation. She set her clothing aside and then moved forward. I waited, my hands still bound. She reeled the chain in as

she approached. She came to me and then she pushed backwards. My feet encountered something solid, and I tripped backwards. She pushed, and I sat, splashing, the water up to my chest now. Charo climbed up on top of me, lifting my hands over my head as she did so. She climbed over me, pressing against me, and then she secured the chain somewhere behind me, my hands tipped backwards behind me. "Oh, now you're cheating," I said. "You haven't won a challenge." "I tricked you and captured your hands earlier," she said. "And you will let me do what I want." She climbed back down until I could look into her

eyes. "Won't you, Andromeda?" "Yes," I whispered. She pressed closer, now caressing my face. "Do not close your eyes." "I won't," I whispered. And then she touched, she stroked, she kiss-licked, and it took little time before I was panting. It took little time before I was squirming and moaning. Her ears twitched, and from time to time she squeaked her own pleasure. Finally her hand slipped lower. She parted me, and then her fingers slipped inside. She stroked. She teased. And she whispered, "This is

what it is like to belong to me, Andromeda." And later, it was simply, "Mine." Then she asked me, "You're getting close, aren't you?" "Yes," I whispered. "You feel so good." "Yes," she said. "Ask me if you may come, Andromeda. Ask permission." "Please, Charoite, may I come?" "Yes, Andromeda. Come for me. Let me feel you come." That was the rest of what I needed, and I practically exploded with the orgasm, crying out her name, screaming her name while I stared into

her eyes. She slowed and stilled, there in the water, her fingers still inside me. Her other hand reached up and caressed wayward hair from my face. She ran a thumb over my lips, still holding my gaze as I panted, my heart still racing. "You may look away now, for a while," she said. She climbed over me and freed my arms, and then we cuddled in the water. "How did you arrange this?" I asked. "I will tell you tomorrow," she replied. "Tonight, I want you thinking about one thing, and only one thing." "Oh?"

"I want you to think about how good it feels to belong to me, Andromeda." And then, soon, she was taking me again, whispering into my ear, "I have very delicate hands." And then she showed me how small and delicate they were as she slid inside of me, deep, deep inside me. In my bliss, I screamed her name, over and over.

Onward I opened my eyes. We hadn't gone home. There was a bed here for us, and covers, and we'd stayed here, wrapped in each other, waking with the sounds of the jungle. I rolled to face Charo. "I have one more command for you, my lovely human. Pleasure me." And so I did. **** It was early when we landed. Charoite squeaked at me once more then told me, "I'll see you at work. You are mine again this evening. We have a challenge, and then a date, but I will save my challenge winnings for another

night." "You said you would tell me how you did all of that." "I didn't," she said. "Jasmine Brighteyes did it while we were at dinner." Her ears twitched. "She asked me to tell you that she will never let anyone hurt you." "Oh," I said. I should have known, perhaps. **** "Jasmine." She looked up and smiled. "Did you have a nice date?" "Yes. Thank you. I'm sorry." She stepped down from the dais, and I stepped into the waiting hug.

"Do not apologize," she whispered. "That fight was both inevitable and necessary." **** It was hours later that we sat at the conference table. I'd returned to my cell, changed into my mating candidate uniform of undies and camisole, and was delivered by the guards. "Really," said Piper. "You could pick one so we could be done with this nonsense." "None have made a permanent offer," I replied. "When are you throwing your hat into the ring?" "I think my husband might have something to say about that."

"Your husband," said Dilly, "would be just fine with it, as long as he got to watch." But they delivered me, and I was locked into place before the visor brightened. Charoite was seated across from me, of course, and Jasmine to my right. I turned to her. "You know, this is really quite silly. I could have walked here with the two of you, and you don't need to make the guards deliver me." "It puts you in an appropriately submissive mood," she said. "You're always so bossy when you're helping to run an event." "I'm never bossy." Charoite squeaked and muttered something in Kitsune. I presume it was

Kitsune, anyway. "Well," said Jasmine. "I do not believe I have ever run a challenge for a Kitsune before." "She told me she wanted me to hunt her," I said. "I am fairly sure those weren't quite her words," Jasmine replied. "I do not have a grid prepared." "I told her I didn't care what we do as long as it's fun and not completely lopsided." "So you will let us decide, as long as we do our best to fit in your goals?" "Yes." "I could readily make an

intellectual challenge that fit Kitsune skills," Jasmine said. "Andromeda, I do not believe I can create a physical challenge that isn't decidedly in your favor unless I handicap you." "Laser tag is pretty even regardless of the athleticism of the participants." "I do not wish this challenge," Charoite said. "I want something a little more direct. I wish to hunt you, to catch you." "I thought you weren't at all interested." "I told you that chasing and catching you would be quite fun," she replied. "But Kitsune do not run fast. Instead we are stealthy."

I turned back to Jasmine. "We've used weight to handicap people before, but I'd rather you did something else." "You'll let me define our challenge?" "Yes." "Good, because I've had Bay thinking about this for a while." I groaned. "Just listen. I think you'll like this. We set up the smallest of our jungle arenas." She explained the event. Charoite's ears began twitching, and I could see her pleasure. **** Jasmine delivered me to the start herself. I had two simple handicaps. I was wearing one of the skin tight jungle suits. And slippers. Not boots. Slippers.

Next, the arena was heavily trapped. If I moved slowly, the traps would warn me off. If I ran, I would undoubtedly trigger them. And Bay had devised all of them. Jasmine latched my arms to the pillar and then brightened my visor. "I'm going to enjoy watching this one," she said. "Andromeda, I won't let Bay cheat you, but he is really looking forward to making you scream." "Oh, god," I said. "Some of the traps themselves are designed to do that. Others have a punishment associated if you want to be released, and other punishments if it takes too long to free yourself. None of them will hurt you, but he really wants a

lot of screaming." I sighed. "In other words, avoid the traps." "Yes. Avoid the traps. I suspect you'll get caught at least once or twice, but don't be foolhardy." "Got it." "One more thing. You can't hole up. You must actively seek to complete your goal. You must keep moving." "Or more punishment?" "Yes, and those are particularly nasty." "Tell me why I agreed to this." She smiled. "I might be a voyeur, but you're a masochist. Or maybe you just like being hunted."

"Maybe I like being caught." "Adrenalin junkie." "That might be," I admitted. "I've never cared for team sports, but I like individual competitive sports." I smiled. "Is she going to catch me?" "I have no doubt, but I think this is a good challenge." "So do I." "Have fun," Jasmine said. "Yeah, I think this is the last challenge I'm accepting. I asked for fun, and instead I'm going to be screaming." She patted my cheek. "That's a great attitude," she said brightly before stepping away." ****

I moved slowly through the jungle, very, very slowly. My visor had a complete map of the zone. It wasn't even a kilometer square, but it was thick jungle with a number of trails. There were plenty of places to hide. My goal was fairly simple. I needed to collect four tokens and then return to my starting point. Charo knew I had to collect the tokens and then proceed to a particular point, but she didn't know where the tokens were nor where I had to go after I had them. She couldn't lie in wait. She had to actively search for me. But she would be given periodic hints. Jasmine wouldn't tell me what sort of hints. But she also said the longer I

took, the more frequent the hints. Also, she could readily see the traps; I couldn't. I'd already bypassed two. If I moved slowly enough, I could hear them. They hummed. If I came to a complete stop within five feet, after a few seconds, they came visible to me, and so I could easily step around them. But the humming wasn't loud, and so if I wasn't very cautious, I was going to get caught by one. I really didn't want to discover what Bay had cooked up. The traps weren't designed to hold me, just punish me for encountering them, although Jasmine did say, "I imagine Charo will hear any screaming you do." I was sweating. My heart was

pounding. All my senses were on high alert. I felt alive. Oh, I was also terrified. But I felt alive. Who ever thinks she's going to be slinking through a jungle, pursued by a beautiful alien princess? Hey, okay, I was feeling a little romantic. She wasn't a princess, but in a way, she was, the daughter of a powerful woman. So if I wanted to see it as being pursued by a princess, I was going to. A princess who wanted me, who wanted to catch me, to keep me, to do delicious, delicious things to me. But who would probably happily stand back and let me wander into one of Bay's traps if I grew too distracted.

I still felt pretty darned good from last night, in spite of how it started. I couldn't imagine this was how she'd treat me forever, but I certainly wasn't going to complain while it lasted. Charo's attention was intoxicating. She was brilliant and beautiful and witty, all features I enjoyed. What would a life be like with her? I didn't know. Would she pay half as much focused attention on me once she'd permanently wooed me? Would we run out of things to talk about? Would she grow bored? Would she treat me like property or a partner? Last night I was property, and it had been fun, but I wouldn't want to be treated like that permanently. No, I

wouldn't want that at all. But if I went away with her, the only power I would have would be what she granted me. So many questions. So many. And I really should have been paying just a little more attention. Something hummed, and I didn't even see the spider's web strung across the trail. A part of me knew it wasn't a spider's web; it was one of Bay's traps, and of course I hadn't seen it. The visor wouldn't have let me. But I walked right into it. Not so bad, right? This wasn't a feeble Minnesota spider's web. This was a wicked little Loris spider web. It broke off from where it was strung between the brush on either side of the trail and wrapped around me. Except it

didn't entirely break loose. There was a piece, a strand, that stayed attached to... somewhere. And that didn't break, and the web didn't break. It wrapped around my face and my head and my shoulders. And then like a rubber band, the strand contracted to the side, yanking me from my feet and then dragging me backwards through the brush, faster and faster. I yelled out a single yelp of surprise, but that's all I had time to do before the strand pulled me into the air. I came to a landing in a new web. A very sturdy web. A very, very sticky web. I flailed as I hit it, and I was stuck, my back to the web, my left arm flailed upwards and also trapped, my right

straight out from my side. It was jarring to come to a stop, although the web swayed a little as I hit it. So it didn't hurt, but I yelped again, and then gave a small scream as the web swayed back and forth a few times before coming to a stop, bowed just slightly underneath my weight, holding me several feet in the air. The surprise had given me a burst of adrenalin, so my heart was pounding even harder, and I was breathing heavily. But when nothing else happened, I tried to calm down. I tried moving. I could squirm, but I was stuck, flat against my back. But I looked around, turning my head carefully. But every time I moved, I

could feel more of my hair getting stuck. The web's strands weren't all the same thickness. Of course, it wasn't a normal spider web. It was a Loris web, really. I knew that. There were thick strands. Oh, they weren't ropes, but they were thick and strong. Spider silk was some of the strongest material on earth, and clearly the aliens could make it in sizes never before seen on earth. The thick strands were the supporting structure, and they were clearly supporting my weight. They were perhaps a hand width apart, spun in a circular pattern, attached to other strands that radiated from the center, somewhere almost directly behind me. The Loris had good aim, I

decided. "I'm going to get you, Bay!" I heard Loris squeak-laughing, distinct from the squeaking of a Kitsune. Between the thicker strands were far more thin strands, and these were spread about as far apart as one might expect from a spider web in Minnesota. It was as if a very large spider had built one web, and then an army of normal size spiders had built webs inside the web. But those strands were also strong, and exceedingly sticky. My right hand had gotten stuck right in the middle of one of those, portions of the web stuck to my wrist, the back of my hand, and my knuckles. My hand wasn't pulled absolutely

straight, and the very ends of my fingers hadn't touched the web yet, so I could partially curl my hand. But when I tried to pull away, the strands clung tenaciously, and they didn't break. I squirmed, and I struggled. I tried to kick, but my legs were stuck. The web swayed, but it didn't break, and it certainly didn't release me. I was firmly stuck, but that didn't stop me from trying to get free. I should have conserved my strength. Bay let me struggle for a while before triggering the next part of his trap. I should have seen it coming. I should have known, the little shit. Where there's a spider web,

there's a spider. Or in this case, a lot of spiders. I heard noise, skittering. "No. Bay, no." There was more skittering, and when I turned my head, I saw spiders crawling from the bushes onto the web. "Bay! Don't do it!" There were a lot of spiders. Some were small. Small is a relative term. They were the size of spiders you might see in Minnesota. Well, big versions of spiders you might see in Minnesota, but still, not anywhere near as large as spiders one might find in other places. Others, of course, were larger.

All were of a size I was fairly certain could be found on Earth. I'd see photos of camel spiders. Those things were huge. I knew they weren't real spiders. I knew they were some of Bay's robots. That didn't matter. They looked like real spiders. They moved like real spiders. And they chittered like movie spiders. "Please don't, Bay! Please don't." The spiders moved closer, now coming from around me, and I began to scream. "Please don't! Please don't!" They began crawling on me, and I entirely lost it. They began wrapping me in more of the silk. I thrashed and thrashed, but they clung to me and wrapped me in the silk from my hands to

my neck, and more across my head and into my hair, and if I were stuck before, now I was completely, utterly stuck. I didn't have enough brain power left to decide this was how Charo would find me. I did wonder when they would bite, and I wondered when the big spider was going to show up. They wrapped me, not quite entirely. My face was clear, and I didn't think that was kindness on Bay's part. I think that was so the cameras could catch me screaming. And then, without biting, they withdrew, skittering away, leaving me there, spun tightly in the web. I don't know how long I

screamed, but finally it faded away. I don't know how long I struggled, but finally I lay limply, surrendering to whatever was happening next. The thought the big spider was coming was not pleasant. But maybe the spiders left me here for Charo, and right about then, I would have agreed to almost anything if she could cut me down. But then the web began to sag, lowering me to the ground, and then, as soon as I was safe on terra firma, it dissolved, leaving me free. I jumped to my feet and began brushing at myself, brushing through my hair, shaking, dislodging any remaining spiders. There weren't any, but I did

have forest detritus here and there. "Perhaps," said Jasmine gently, "you should take more care, Andromeda. That was not the worst trap." I didn't say a word, not one word. But if Charo appeared then, I'd have surrendered to her. "I know what you're thinking, Andromeda. There are creatures in these woods hunting you. They are not the sort to lie in wait, and they do not move quickly, but if you do not keep moving, they will find you. If you do not look like you are playing to win, they will find you. And they will find you before Charo does. Play to win, and they won't find you." "I hate you."

"I know." "But I really, really hate Bay." "I know. It's safe out to the trail. Your visor has the path. Pull yourself together and get moving." "She had to have heard me," I said. "She did, but we misdirected her. The traps are punishments for you, not a means of her to find you. If you move slowly, you'll detect them, but I think he's going to catch you once or twice more. They're not all this bad. Some are actually just funny, although you may not be in the mood to appreciate them." "This is supposed to be fun, Jasmine. Did you forget that part?"

"Charo is having fun." "She enjoys hearing me scream? I imagine you do." "Actually, neither of us does. Bay does. He's a sick little bastard, isn't he?" "Jasmine..." "I admit I enjoyed watching you get caught. That was funny. Even you're going to think it's funny when you calm down. But if that were all we did, how hard would you work to avoid the traps? You're the one who wanted a challenge, Andromeda, and you had to know it would be this sort of handicap. You aren't going to get caught by them if you move slowly and pay attention." She let me think about that, then

she said, "You were distracted. You'd been so careful, but you walked right into it, Andromeda. What were you thinking about?" "Nothing in particular." "Tell me truthfully, and maybe I'll help you avoid a trap or two." I considered. "Fine. I was thinking that I was being stalked around the jungle by a Kitsune princess, and I was wondering whether she'd pay such intense attention to me once she got me home. And I was wondering when she'd grow bored of me." Jasmine was quiet for a few seconds. "She wouldn't grow bored, Andromeda. We can talk about the rest some other time. Thank you for

answering. The traps will be a little easier to detect. Not a lot, but a little. It is clear to the path, but no promises after that." I nodded, let the visor guide me, and moved quickly straight to the path. And then I returned to creeping through the jungle, far more focused. **** There were two more traps on the way to my first token and a fairly significant number immediately around it. It took me ten minutes to travel forty yards, but then I had the token. "I would suppose I could trigger them safely?" I asked. "Instead of taking another ten minutes to get out of this field."

"You could risk it," said Jasmine. "Without knowing if it's safe or not, but knowing Bay, do you think it's safe?" "No, but I was hoping you might be more informative." "Of course. Charoite is closer than two hundred yards distant." "Oh shit." "She is moving silently, and when a Kitsune is being stealthy, she is being exceedingly stealthy. Are you going to let her catch you, Andromeda?" "That might be better than one of Bay's traps." "I wonder how she'll catch you. She's going to see you in this field soon. She's going to see all the traps. All she

has to do is throw something, and she's not the one who gets caught, Andromeda." "Shit." "I will say this. If you are caught because you miscalculate a shortcut, Bay is going to be especially mean." "Shit." Then I turned north, moving slowly. I made it from the field. **** The Kitsune didn't catch me there. I made it to the edge of the next clearing. I stopped, looked, listened. I didn't hear any buzzing. I didn't see any traps. I parted the vegetation, stepped out, and my foot landed in a depression.

I didn't even see it, but I pitched forward. I heard the buzzing, but it was far too late. I fell right into it. "No!" I yelled. "I tripped." And it was another of those damned spider webs. I was screaming even before I was being dragged, and then lifted until I slammed into the web, strung between several sturdy trees. This time I landed face first, my hands out to ward it off, and I became even more stuck than I did the first time. Even my face was stuck, tipped sideways a little, the webs stuck to my nose and one half of my face. "I tripped. I tripped. I was being careful, but I tripped! Please Bay, show

a little mercy." I'm not sure he knew the word. I squirmed in the web, but even my face was stuck. He didn't send little spiders though. Instead, he sent Momma. I heard her before I saw her, and I was pleading with Bay. I heard her, and I felt her on the web. She circled all the way around me before coming to a stop in my field of view. I screamed. She was huge. Her body was two feet across, and I don't know what her leg span was. She had those eyes, those creepy spider eyes, and she looked at me.

Something was dripping from four-inch fangs, or whatever it is spiders have. She looked at me for a minute or two, then she moved towards me, and I began screaming again. She moved closer, and then she stepped over me, straddling me. I could see her legs, and I could feel as she began wrapping me tighter and tighter in the web, holding me with her legs as she encased me. She covered my entire back; I could feel that. And she tightened my face against the net. I didn't stop screaming. Then she moved away. I felt her moving away, and I thought Bay was about to let me go. No such luck. He

wasn't done. She didn't move away. She moved to the other side, the under side of the web, and then she moved back across it. She stopped, her fangs in front of my face as I gibbered in my fear. Then she moved down lower, her head over my stomach. She reared back, and then she struck! Her fangs buried themselves in my stomach. And if I hadn't been screaming before, I was screaming then. And then she sucked. I could see her sucking, and I thought I was about to die right there, eaten by a huge alien spider. Then... she was gone. From one moment to the next, she was gone.

And I realized -- it hadn't hurt. Of course it hurt. It hadn't hurt. Illusion delivered by the visor. Then, gently, the web lowered me to the ground and dispersed. I curled into a ball and tried very hard not to cry. "I'm not having fun," I muttered. "I'm not doing this again." "Yes, you are," Jasmine said. "Only if you want a really big fight." "We'll see." "How close is she?" "The animals stalking you are closer." I sighed and rolled onto hands and knees then slowly climbed to my

feet. "I presume this field is trapped as heavily as the last." "I recommend you move slowly. "So the animals can catch me." "Andromeda, as long as you're working towards your goal, they won't catch you, even if you're moving very slowly." This had stopped being about avoiding Charo and entirely about avoiding traps and the animals. At this point, I would have welcomed the Kitsune. I hoped she rescued me from this soon. I wondered if that attitude was the entire idea, as far as Jasmine was concerned.

I stood and began moving slowly, even more slowly than I had been. I avoided most of the traps, but as I was leaving the field with my second token, I triggered another one. I'd been moving slowly, but there were two close together, and I didn't realize it. I avoided one and triggered the other. "No!" I screamed as soon as I realized what I had done. "Stand still or you'll fall into a worse trap," Jasmine said. "Trust me Andromeda." This trap wasn't bad. I listened to what she said and froze. And then from the trees, a line of birds appeared, heading for me.

"Bow your head and protect your face, but if you try to protect more, this will be worse." I looked down and covered my face in my arms. And so I heard and felt what happened rather than saw it. The birds dive-bombed me. Everyone has seen what pigeons do to statues. Well, I was the statue. They weren't pigeons, though. I don't know what they were, but whatever they were dropping landed in my hair. Plop, plop, plop. Ten or twelve in all before they flew away. Then it was still. "Was that round one?" I asked. "That was it," Jasmine said. "I don't recommend touching your hair."

"Oh god. Is it that robot food?" "It might be. Or it might be eating your hair. Or coloring it. Or maybe it's just gross and disgusting and so sticky if you touch it, your hand will get stuck. I admit a certain amount of humor from that thought, but I think you'd get angry." I sighed and worked my way from the field. I successfully avoided all but one more trap, and that one wasn't my fault. I worked my way around several more as I moved towards the third marker. I didn't see the Kitsune. I didn't see anything chasing me at all. Then I came to one more trap. It was another of the damned spider webs. "You're repeating yourself, Bay."

I took two steps to the side to move away from it, and then there was motion from the side of my eye. A thick stick flew past me, landing dead center of the trap trigger. Triggering it. "No!" I screamed, trying to dive away. But another web appeared, and I fell right into it. And then I was lifted into the air and tossed a short distance into another of the god damned webs. It swayed and bounced, catching me, and of course, I was firmly stuck, face down again. "No! I didn't trigger that one. Bay!" Then I heard Kitsune squeaking, and Charo appeared underneath me,

looking up at me. "I caught you." "No," I said. "Bay caught me. Oh god. What's he going to do to me this time?" "No, I caught you. I've been five yards behind you for at least ten minutes, waiting for you to get close to just the right one. I win." "You won. Just get me down before the spiders come. Please, Charo." "No spiders," she said. "Just one Kitsune. Mine?" "Yours," I said. "Good." And the web lowered me, but it didn't release me until Charo bound my arms behind me. Then the web

disintegrated, and she helped me sit up. "I'd hug you, but you're a mess." I looked down. "Please get me out of here," I said quietly. "You can do whatever you want to me, but please get me out of here." "Of course, my prisoner." **** I was very subdued as the Kitsune led me to an open field. A jumper was waiting, but she brought me to a stop and said, "Wait here." "Please don't leave me." "It's safe, and I'll only be a moment." "Please don't go." She went, but she really was

serious. She was only a minute, and when she returned, she had a spray bottle and a towel. "This is a solvent for the stuff in your hair. Kneel for me." I knelt slowly, then waited patiently while she cleaned my hair, spraying it with the solvent then using the towel to clean it out. And I wouldn't say it got clean, but I thought she got most of the stuff out, including a good number of sticks, leaves, and who knows what else. "There," she said. "Better." Then she hugged me. I pressed against her. "Thank you for saving me," I whispered. "We're not doing this again." "We are, but I won't let them do it this way again. Will you trust me,

Andromeda?" For now, I decided not to argue with her. "Just get me out of here, Charo. Please." And so she did. She took me to her apartment, freed my hands, and stripped my clothes from me. Two moments later, we were both in the tub. We spent a long time bathing each other. Then we cuddled in the tub, kissing a little, touching a great deal, but no more than that. I remained subdued. "Dinner will be here soon," she said. "I'm leaving tonight, Andromeda. I will collect my winnings from you win I get back."

"You're leaving?" I clutched at her. "Do you have to?" "I'll be gone a few weeks, two or three. I have to go to NASA and talk to the engineers there. But I'm coming back." She kiss-licked me deeply as I clutched at her. "Please don't leave me, Charo," I whispered when next I could talk. "Please don't leave me here." "I'm sorry," she said. "While I am here, you are exclusively mine, but Jasmine Brighteyes demanded an agreement. She has others she wants you to meet." "I don't want to meet them." "Yes, you do," she said. "I know some of them. They are good women.

You're going to like them. You're going to give them fair opportunity. I am not convinced I want you, and you are not convinced you want to go away with me. You are human and need choices." "I'd go tonight." "I know, but could you really, really commit? We've only known each other a few days, and I know you have questions. We'll talk about some of them over a meal, but then I must go. I'm sorry, Andromeda. I would rather stay here with you." She paused. "Did you hate the event? Jasmine let me hear what you said to her." "About a Kitsune princess?" She squeaked and her ears twitched. "Yes."

"That part was pretty damned sexy," I said. "Wondering if you could catch me. Wondering how you would catch me. Wondering what you would do afterwards." "And I must disappoint you for a time," she said. "Anticipation, then." "Yes. Come on. Let's dry off. I have clothing for you. It is exceedingly revealing, and you would never agree to wear it in public, but you will wear it for me." She was right, the clothes were revealing. They were in the household colors and diaphanous. Even though places were covered, they were still visible. And there was a great deal of

exposed skin besides. "You look very sexy, Andromeda. Are you upset I have this for you?" "No, Charo." We ate, and I was starving. So was she. But she spent the entire time touching me, and by the end of the meal, I was so hungry for her, even though I knew she was leaving. "I might be falling in love," I said. "You must be careful, Andromeda. I like you a great deal, and I could also fall in love. But I haven't yet. I want you, but you're not quite ready. And you must leave room for others. You must give them a proper chance."

"Won't you be jealous?" "Of course, but I am being careful with my emotions. Maybe that is why I am not yet in love." I lowered my eyes. "All right." "Jasmine told me the questions you were considering. They are good questions. Of course, our lives wouldn't be like this. Oh, for a while, I imagine we would be very intense. That is the nature of both our species, to fall insanely in love and be joined together constantly, unable to stop touching each other. But then it settles down and becomes a good, deep love. We can bear to be apart for a time. We can actually go out in public and not maul each other the entire time. But this is my nature. When

something is worth my attention, I am always very intense about it. You will always be worth my attention, and so it will be intense. When we are together, you will have no doubt of it. Even my parents, who only come together occasionally, are exceedingly intense when they are together." "Would you grow bored?" "Is it your nature to grow stagnant?" "No." "Then I do not believe I would grow bored. I can't promise, but no one could promise that." "But you're so much smarter than I am."

"I am smarter in some ways but we are both very intelligent. We have good conversations, and they would continue. And I would insist you find interests apart from me, because then we get a break and when we come back together, we have things to share." "I shouldn't worry about these things." "No, I don't believe you should. I am not worried about them. I do not worry you will grow bored. I do not worry I will." Her ears twitched. "We both are creative people and enjoy the creativity of the other. Our lives will be varied. Our sex lives will be varied. I will dream of ways to take you and to let you have me."

"Oh, you will take, but then you gift yourself to me." "Yes, but you are gifting yourself already, are you not?" "I suppose I am." I reached out a hand for her. "When do you need to leave?" "Very soon. Come. Let us cuddle for a few minutes." She led me from the table to her living room. We sat down together with her curled into me. She teased me a little, but then she moved her hands to safer places. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't do that. It isn't fair to us." We sat like that, cuddled together, for a while. It wasn't long enough, but it was a while. Then she

spoke softly. "I need you to do some things for me." "Anything." "Don't make promises like that. You couldn't possibly keep it." "What do you need?" "I need you to forgive the little Loris." "I don't think so. There's not a thing I can do to get him back, but I'm done treating him like a friend." "He didn't hurt you, Andromeda." "I'm going to have nightmares, Charoite, probably for years. Decades. I was already afraid of spiders. What do you think that did to me?" "Jasmine Brighteyes can help

with that," she said. "If you ask." "She'll charge me something for it." "Yes. She'll make you forgive the Loris, and she'll make you do my next request." I sighed. "I'm not forgiving the Loris. I'm not forgiving someone who isn't sorry, and I know he's not sorry. And I'm not taking more challenges, either." She kiss-licked me briefly before continuing. "I need you to give these other women the same opportunities you have given me." "I don't want to." "While I appreciate that, this is a

portion of my agreement with Jasmine Brighteyes. It is important to her experiment. That means it is important to the women who come after you. It is important to her. Because she is my mother's ally, it is important to my mother. And if and when you become mine, I want to know you had other choices. I want to know you aren't mine to avoid something horrible instead." I sighed again. "I'll try. That's the best I can offer." "You will let them touch. You will accept challenges, if they are offered." "I don't think so." "You will let Jasmine Brighteyes talk to you about the Loris, and if she

asks you to accept the challenges, you will do so, and you will do your best, even if your best isn't very good." "I always do my best, but I'm done with the challenges." "Well, you agreed to actively participate in this experiment. Which means doing your best to give these other women a chance." "You can't possibly want this. You want me to refuse. I'd want you to refuse." "I think I'm winning, Andromeda." "You are," I whispered. "I am confident. But you need choice. I do not want you to be trapped

into accepting a life with me. Right now, if you had to choose, you would pick me, but you would always resent having little choice. I do not want to be resented." "I wouldn't." "I'm not sure either of us really believes that, Andromeda. On these two things, I need you to do what I'm asking." I thought about it. "I'll give the women a chance. But several times I have asked the events be fun, and I have severely regretted playing." She pulled my lips to her and kiss-licked me. It was sweet, but not full of our usual passion. "Will you shackle me again and take me to my cell."

"No. You know how to find your cell." "You're going to make me go dressed like this, aren't you?" "Yes, yes I am. And then you have a choice." "Oh?" "If you continue to wear these clothes, you will be livestreamed all night." "Oh god." "And I will get to watch you." "So will everyone else." "True. I have a long flight. I wonder if you'll give me something to watch. I wonder if you'll do this to please me."

I did.

Discussion She left. Two weeks later, Dark Skies was taken from me. In between, I accepted any dates offered but told Jasmine there would be no further challenges. For once, she didn't argue with me, but that would change. I met a Hobble named Evergreen. Hobbles weren't green, and she didn't explain her name. She invited me to a meal in town, and we stayed late, talking. She was smart and funny, and I had a good time. It grew late, and she asked me, "Could you see us together?" I looked her up and down. We'd been doing some touching. Well, I'd let

her touch me. She'd been tentative about it, but it had felt nice nevertheless. "We just met." "So that is a diplomatic way of saying 'No'." "No. It means we just met, and I would prefer to get to know you better before answering that." "You can't answer now?" "Is there a rush?" "My time is precious. If you cannot see us together, I do not wish to waste it." "I'm not sure what to tell you. I have had a nice time tonight. I believe I would enjoy spending more time with you. I hoped you felt the same way." I

looked her up and down again. "And while I don't typically go too far on a first date, I wouldn't mind if you were a little more forward, but perhaps your species is as reserved about that as mine." "I don't know what you mean." "Well, I'm not talking about sex on the first date. Does your species kiss? How do you express physical affection, short of sex?" "You want sex with me?" Her voice rose. "Well, like I said, not tonight. But if we were going to build a life together, of course I do." "But that's just..." She shut up.

"I see," I said after a moment. "Yes, I can answer your question. If that is your reaction, then no, we would not be compatible. Thank you for the lovely evening, Evergreen." She left me sitting there on her sofa, and ten minutes later, the guards were there for me. Jasmine's phone call arrived seconds after they left me in my cell. She was laughing. "You're not supposed to be watching!" "She contacted me, appalled. Apparently humans are disgusting creatures who demand sex." "Laugh it up. I didn't demand a thing. Is her entire species like her?" "No. About half. The other are

voracious things. Not a moment of sleep." "Well, if you introduce me to any more, make it that kind." "I was under the impression you weren't interested in sex with any aliens." "Funny," I said. "Very funny. It's the male aliens in whom I have no interest. Tell me. Are Catseye prudes, too?" "No, we are not. But you couldn't handle a Catseye. Our tentacles go everywhere. Good night, Andromeda." And so to demonstrate, my very next date was with a Catseye named Lotus Redglow. Yes, her eyes were red orbs. It was quite an uncanny color, but I

decided I liked it. And I liked her. She liked that I knew and accepted Catseye hugs. We met when Jasmine invited me to lunch in her apartment. Shortly after arriving, Lotus and Clover joined us. At first, I thought it was Peony, and I was ready to be ecstatic that she had come to visit. I was quite disappointed when I learned otherwise. "You are not happy to meet me?" asked Lotus. "It's not that," I said. "I thought you were Clover's wife. I was happy for her, thinking she had come to visit. I apologize. Yes, I am happy to meet you." "Well, I shall not be offended you wished for your friend to be free to

enjoy her wife's touch. Will it offend you if I touch you?" "No." For the meal, we sat on two sides of the table, Jasmine across from me and Lotus beside me. She kept the two nearest tentacles on me the entire time. Partway through the meal she asked if I were as comfortable as I appeared. "Are you marking my back?" She leaned over to look. "Perhaps. I should stop." "Only if you don't like how I taste," I said. "You haven't said. Are you here for a mating candidate?" "Possibly. I am here to get to

know you." Jasmine hadn't mentioned that, but her tentacles were quivering when I looked at her. "I see," I said. "I'd like that." At that, one of her tentacles wrapped around my arm and squeezed tightly, holding me firmly. "I am glad." I spent the rest of the meal with that tentacle there, the other on my back with the tip thrown over my shoulder. But it was not a leisurely meal. We had more events to run, after all. But as we were leaving, Lotus said, "I want to see more of you." "I'd like that. This afternoon will be long, and I will be tired afterwards. But I will swim and then need a meal."

"Swim? In water?" "Yes. You could join me." "Catseye don't swim." "Some Catseye wade in the shallow water. It is only to here." I touched my waist. "Others sit at the edge and dangle their feet in the water. I've been offering to teach Jasmine Brighteyes to swim, but she hasn't summoned the bravery to trust me. Even when I trust her with far more than a little swimming." I smiled. "How brave are you, Lotus?" It turns out she wasn't very brave. She wasn't at all brave, in fact, and she not only didn't arrive for swimming, she didn't show up for our dinner afterwards.

"So," I said to Jasmine. "She really, really didn't like what she saw." "Maybe you'll stop trying to get Catseye to swim." "You are all hypocrites. You do what you do to us, but you're afraid to get your feet wet, and just the thought sends you running for the hills?" "Yes," she confirmed. I sighed. "I'll stop. But god damn it, Jasmine. I love to swim. I love to water ski. I love to boat. I'm willing to try just about anything. I'm not foolhardy. I don't take stupid risks." "You downhill ski." "Millions of people downhill ski," I said. "Haven't you ever tried it?"

"I have, actually. I enjoyed it quite a bit." "Well, then don't use that as an example of foolhardy behavior." I shook my head. "If all of you are such frightened babies you won't just try something, don't introduce me to any more Catseye." "I'll keep that in mind, Andromeda. Do you have plans for the evening?" "Well, I thought I did, but apparently not. Jasmine Brighteyes, you risk being in default of our agreement." "I have time," she said. "I think you're doing this on purpose."

"Why would I do that? Enjoy your evening." **** In the morning, when I went for my swim, I found Jasmine waiting for me near my locker. Her tentacles were out, and they were quivering. "Is something wrong?" I asked. "You could have messaged me." "Nothing's wrong," she said. "I wanted to prove something to you." "What's that?" "We're not all frightened babies." I stared at her for a minute then said quietly, "You don't have to do this, Jasmine." "Yes, I think I do."

"All right," I said. "Let me change." "I want to ask you something. I have heard humans can carry things from the bottom of the ocean." "Like what?" "Maybe five kilograms." I thought about it. "Yes, we could." "I'll make a deal with you. There is no one else here. Just us. Skip the suit, and I'll let you take me into the deep water, but I'll sink if you don't help me." I stepped closer. Her entire body was trembling. "Jasmine, you're scared out of your mind, aren't you?" Slowly she nodded. "Will you

help me? I want to do this, but I'm going to need help." "We'll go slowly," I said. I moved to my locker, stripped off my clothes, then took her hand. We started in the shallow end. I took both her hands and walked backwards down the stairs. She stepped onto the first step, and that wasn't so bad. She looked around nervously. "Jasmine," I said. "Look at me. Let me take the visor off, and you can look into my eyes." She turned to me, then nodded. The visor deactivated and I stepped to the side, setting the visor down at the edge of the pool. Then I stepped back in front of her. "Wrap your tentacles around my

arms if you want." I stepped a little closer, and she did, one around each. "Look into my eyes, or if it helps, you can stare a little lower." She snorted at that, although her eyes did peek down for a moment. "Maybe you'd let me hold those." "Yeah, no, I don't think so." But then I stepped backwards, and she followed. Her tentacles quivered, but she made it all the way into the pool. It wasn't actually the first time she'd been there, but she seemed far more nervous than before. "Why are you so frightened? You've done this before." Her eyes flicked to the deep end.

"We don't have to go there," I said. "I want to," she said. "Will you help?" "Of course. Let's just walk for a little bit. I like to sink down, but for me, keeping my head above water is the important part." She surprised me. She had two more tentacles, and she wrapped them across her own shoulders then, together, we sank down into the water. Then we just walked around a little, walking in circles, and I slowly took her deeper with each circle. Then I said, "Are you ready to try this?" She didn't say anything, but she nodded. "Okay, stand up," I said. I stood.

She stood. "You can pick which ones you use to breathe, right?" "Yes." "If they get partially wet, it's okay?" "Yes." "Okay, then what I want you to do is bend over a little. Put two tentacles up my arms and across my upper chest here." I patted the top of my chest. "Put the rest across the back of your shoulders." She cocked her head, but she moved her tentacles. "Now, give me your hands. If you need to, you can grip the side of the pool." I looked over. "It's right there. If

you begin to panic, push off me and grab the edge if you have to. If you push me under, I'll be fine. Trust me." Then I sank down. "Come closer. I'm going to swim on my back and help support you. I'll probably bob a lot, so be careful breathing." "Are you sure, Andromeda?" "Come on." The extra weight of her tentacles meant I had to work, but I did what I could to keep her tentacles out of the water. She went a little wild in her eyes as the water grew deeper, but I said, "If you go under, I'll have you to the edge in seconds. Trust me." So she nodded. But them she whimpered.

"Try to let your legs float." "I can't. I'll sink." "Put a little weight on me. I'm on my tippy toes. I can take a little weight. Let your body sink as low as you can and still breathe. I've got you." Then I waited, and slowly she gave me just a little of her weight. "Good. Lean forward. Let your chin get wet. You can let more get wet or even put your face in the water. That will automatically lift your back, keeping your tentacles out." Then she was floating, supported heavily by me, but her feet were off the bottom. I held her that way. "Okay, Jasmine. I'm going to do

something. I'm going to do it twice. You'll be fine, but let me know if this is too much." Then I bobbed a few times, like I would once I was swimming. Then I stood again. "That's what's going to happen when I swim. Can you handle it?" She nodded, so I pulled off the bottom and began swimming on my back, most of my body underneath hers, helping her to swim, kicking with my feet. I bobbed a lot, and it was a little difficult, but soon we were in the deep end. "How are you doing, Jasmine?" "You're doing all the work." "You can help. See how my feet are kicking? I scissors them together.

You can do the same thing. It will help. But do it gently at first so you get used to it." And so we were both kicking. We got to the end and I turned us sideways. We made a slow half circle of the pool until we could stand again. Once we could, she pulled me to her and hugged tightly. "Are you all right?" "Yes. Can we do it again?" So we turned around and retraced our path. "How are you doing this?" she asked at the end. "We aren't we sinking?" "Because I'm kicking," I said. "If I stopped, we'd sink. How long can you

hold your breath?" "Several minutes." "Will you choke if the tentacles get wet?" "If I try to breathe." "But you could dip into the water and then get back out?" "I take baths," she said. "So yes." "I want to show you something," I said. I led her to the shallow end. "Okay, let me go. You can stand here." I set her to the side, then I ducked under and swam from one side to the other, popped up for air, then swam back to her under the water, surfacing immediately in front of her. "I think you should try it."

"I couldn't." "I bet you can." She looked at me uncertainly. "You can stand up any time you want. I'll swim along with you, and if you have any trouble, I'll help you." "What do I do?" "Well, remember how we kicked before? You kick the same way. Take a big breath, then sink down and push off against the wall. Do it gently. Then you kick your feet and you sort of cup the water with your hands and push the water behind you. And you can do the same thing with your tentacles, if you want. Just don't scrape against the bottom or it kind of hurts. You can do this, Jasmine." She looked at me and nodded.

"You'll be right here." "Swimming beside you," I said. "Unless those tentacles give you a big advantage, and you leave me behind." I watched her take a big breath and sink. I sank with her and watched. We kicked off together, then I swam beside her. She swam. She was slow, and she flailed at the water, but she swam. I had to pop up for air halfway there, but she stayed at the bottom, and I swam back down. We made it to the end, and she stood, lifting her tentacles out of the water and breathing heavily, but then she almost jumped me, surprising me, but wrapping around me and hanging on

tightly. "Thank you," she whispered. "You're welcome. Are you done, or did you want to try a little more." "A little more," she said, releasing me. "With those tentacles, you should be able to swim faster than that. I want you to sink down, but keep your feet under you, and try to find a motion that seems to push against the water." I sank down to show her what I meant. Soon, she was doing the same thing. "You can lift a tentacle clear for a breath when you need one," I said, "similar to how humans turn sideway to breath when swimming." She worked on it for a while then turned to me. "Maybe that works."

"Maybe. So I want you to swim along the surface this time. The only difference is that you aim slightly up so that you are moving forward and up at the same time." "I'll try." "You can stand up if you want." She didn't do very well, and she stood up a couple of times. But she made it to the far end. "Come here now," I said. I pulled her to me. "Wrap around me. Legs too." She enveloped me. "I'm going to sink, so put your tentacles where you need to. But if you end up pushing me down a lot, I'm going

to push you towards the edge, and you have to grab on and let me go. Okay?" "Okay." I sank down, waited for her to adjust her grip, then began swimming, forward this time. Soon we were in over our heads, but I was able to hold us up. I swam us down and back, and then we were back in shallow water. "Okay, I'm kind of pooped," I said. "That's a lot of work." She continued to hold me tightly, but then slowly relaxed, setting her feet down then unwrapping from around me. "Thank you, Andromeda. Can we do it again sometime?" "Whenever you want," I said. "I'm proud of you, Jasmine. If you do this

enough, you'll become a natural." **** Two days later, Dark Skies was gone. And late in the evening two days later, Charoite slipped into my cell, climbed into bed with me, and wrapped me in her arms. "I heard about your friend. I'm sorry." "What are you doing here?" "Jasmine called me." "You didn't have to come," I said. "I'm fine." "Take your visor off, Andromeda." I did, and she took it from me, setting it aside, then lay back down, nose to, well, she didn't have a nose, but

imagine if she did. "Is it fine?" she asked. "No," I whispered. And then I started crying. "No, it's not fine! It really sucks." The Kitsune held me while I cried on her shoulder. She said little, but it meant so much that she came when I hurt. "Do Kitsune cry?" I asked. "No. We have other expressions of grief. Crying in this fashion is strictly a human response. Keening is quite common, however. It sounds different between different species, of course. I understand grief, and you give your friend honor to mourn her." "She's not dead."

"No, but she is no longer in your life, and she was very important to you." "She's still my friend." "Yes, she is. She'll always be your friend." "I'd like to kill that bitch," I said. "No, Andromeda," Charo said. "I wouldn't, but I want to hurt her. I'm not a vindictive person. I'm really not." "In spite of your performance with a certain Implac." "I couldn't ignore what she did." "No, you couldn't, and I wasn't faulting you." I rolled onto my back. The ceiling was smoky instead of clear. I

sighed. "It won't do that for me." She looked up to see what I meant. "This is your private grief," Charo said. I lay for a minute or two, Charo on her side facing me, arms around me. "Charo, could you hurt her?" She grew still. "The Octal queen." "Yes." "Andromeda, this is their basic biology. What humans do to other humans is so much worse. Do you want us to hurt those people, too?" "Yes." "Do you really?" "We're talking about the men who

hurt women, aren't we?" "Yes, although it's not always men that do it." "I don't know why you don't put a stop to it." "I don't know why your government doesn't." "Yes you do. It would take war." "It would be if war if we did it, too." "Yeah, but you could win without getting a bunch of innocent people killed." "I'm not sure that's true," she replied. "But even if it were, we are not here as the policemen of your world. We are here to guide, but except for a few

things that could have devastating worldwide effects, we don't interfere. And we don't interfere in the mating habits of the other species. The Octal queen did nothing wrong, Andromeda." "She ambushed my friend! She stole my friend!" "If Dark Skies could have done it to her, are you so sure she wouldn't have?" "Of course she wouldn't. She wouldn't ambush her." "Wouldn't she. Was Dark Skies practicing?" "What do you mean, practicing?" "Young Octals spar," she explained. "They practice on each other.

It breaks off before either is captured. If one gets the upper hand, the other one flees, although many a two occurred when someone didn't flee soon enough. But they practice. Was Dark Skies practicing on you? Did she make you succumb without you realizing she was doing it? Did she catch you in the hallway or fill your cell with her scent?" I rolled away from her. "Someone told you." "No one had to tell me, Andromeda. They practice in preparation for the real battle." She moved closer, setting a hand on my shoulder. "I know it hurts. I know that at some level you understand. I know at another level, you don't. I don't, either.

But this is what it means to be an Octal. Would you take revenge on a lion who ate a zebra you had befriended?" "I don't know." "Would you blame him for being a lion?" "No." "I could hurt her, Andromeda. But I can't hurt her without hurting her family. I can't hurt the queen without hurting Dark Skies. Oh, I could hire someone to catch her, perhaps alone, and physically hurt her. I could have her beaten. It might not even be traced back to me. I know Mother could do it. But if I kill her, Dark Skies and the rest of the family will die." "The bond is so strong?"

"They will commit suicide in their grief," Charo said. "If I only hurt the queen, they will suffer with her. It is not very different than if I were to hurt your mother, but even more intense. Dark Skies wouldn't want you to look for revenge. Even before she was taken, she would have told you, if she ever loses a battle of wills, then you must be happy for her. She now has a family, and she is very happy. Weren't you happy when you were with her?" "It's not fair. She didn't want this!" "Imagine Dark Skies had kept you. You would have been happy, even if it wasn't really the path you wanted. And you wouldn't have wanted her hurt."

Again I said nothing. "I know it hurts. I know you want the queen to feel a portion of your pain. But you can't let this eat at you, Andromeda. You have to find a way to let go of it." "How am I supposed to do that?" "Be happy for her. She has a family. She loves her queen, and her queen loves her. She will have a good life. Only one out of seven females can be queen." "I know," I whispered. **** "Good morning, Andromeda." "You stayed here all night."

"I did. Will you swim this morning?" "Yes, then breakfast and we have an early event. We're short handed again." "I can help for a few days." "I'm running events. Are you sure you can take orders from me?" "Of course I can. I am here just a few days. Are you mine while I am here?" "Yes," I said. "So I may collect my winnings tonight." I smiled. "Yes." Her ears twitched. "You are going to be completely mine."

"Good," I said. "Thank you for coming. I think I needed you." "I'm glad I could be here for you. I wish I'd come sooner, but I think you needed a little time without me first." "I think so, too." **** My visor dimmed the moment I stepped into her apartment that evening. I came to a sudden stop, my hands out, feeling for any obstacles. She squeaked her pleasure. "Andromeda," Charo said. "Do you have any idea what I want to do with you?" "I might have an idea or two." "I would never do any of this

without your permission." "Are you going to hurt me?" "No. But I'm going to do a great deal to you, and there may be a few things you wish I wouldn't. I'm going to do them anyway, if I want to, and if you complain, I might make it impossible for you to do so." "What things?" "I don't know. I won't hurt you. There are no recordings or other witnesses. You must decide." "Yes." "Are you sure?" "Yes." "Remove your clothes. You have one minute."

I hurried to obey, actually falling down onto the floor as I struggled with the shoes and skirt. As my time drew close, she began counting down the seconds, and I barely flung the bra from me as she reached zero. She spent most of the time squeaking her laughter. "Stand up, my human pet," she ordered. "Leave your clothing there." I stood, and I heard her walking around me. Even blinded I tried to follow her, but she said, "Stare straight ahead!" And so I took a position and let Charo circle me. "I like looking at your body, Andromeda. I really like looking at you like this." It was a little embarrassing, but

it felt good, too. "I'm glad," I said. "I like looking at you, too." She squeaked. "And yet, you will remain blinded until I decide to let you see again. I am going to tell you a secret. Come with me." She took my hands and let me forward. I knew her apartment well enough to recognize the path to the bedroom. "Oh?" "What Jasmine Brighteyes does to you the nights you hold your receptions is not something we can do just anywhere." "It's not?" "Nor when you are bound to a

chair or a table. We do not alter matter so indiscriminately." "Oh?" "Jasmine Brighteyes must plan ahead to encase you in that wall where we first met." "Are you telling me I won't receive similar treatment tonight?" I knew we had arrived in the bedroom, I thought just inside the doorway. "Hands by your side, my pet." I lowered my hands. "No, that is not what I am telling you." Then I felt something at my feet, and in an instant, they were encased, as if in concrete.

"Oh god!" Charo squeaked. The encasing moved up my legs, trapping me. I struggled very briefly, then grew still. "I always plan ahead," Charo said, still squeaking. "Surely you've learned that by now." It reached my waist, grabbing my hands, then up, and up. And then I knew I was standing in a pillar, there in the middle of the room, with only my face exposed. "You can't do much to me like this," I said. "It's transparent," she said. "I could enjoy looking at you." I tried squirming briefly, but I

was entirely immobile. "I could have friends over," she added. "You could be a piece of the art." "You could," I said. "It would be the end of our relationship, of course, but maybe it would be worth it for you." She squeaked. "No, it wouldn't be worth it," she said. She moved closer. "But you are so beautiful, Andromeda." I didn't think I was, but it was nice of her to say so. "I love looking at you like this. Is that terrible?" "No," I said gently. "It's not terrible. It's nice. I'm glad you like looking at me. I think I'd enjoy swapping places." "I imagine you would. You know I won't ever let you do this to me. Does

that frustrate you?" "No." I thought she walked around me, and I heard tapping against the enclosing pillar, although I didn't feel it. "If ever you wish to offer a gift to me, you could offer to be my human art for a while." "For you and your friends to enjoy?" "Oh, no. I wouldn't share you, Andromeda. I might tease you as if I wanted to share you. But I wouldn't sully this. You are for my eyes and only my eyes." She walked around me again, then came to a stop in front of me. She caressed my face. "I could look at you like this for hours."

"I guarantee you wouldn't like my mood by the end. You know that, right?" "I know. I'll just have to do something to keep you occupied. Soon." Her hand disappeared, but then she asked, "Can you feel me caressing you?" "No." "This is such an amazing material. I don't control it directly, of course. There is a very powerful computer involved. But I programmed in the things I wanted to be able to do." "Like what?" I whispered. "Well, the material can be much thinner and pliable. Like rubber." And a moment later I could feel her hands massaging my breasts. It was through the material that was holding me, but she

massaged, and the material grew thinner still. She teased both nipples, and I wanted to squirm, but I couldn't. "I do enjoy these," she said. "And you seem to enjoy my enjoyment. But I have noticed something." "What's that?" "The nipples are the most sensitive." Then I felt just a little cold air on them, and her fingers were brushing the nipples directly. "Oh, they like that!" she said. I could feel my body responding to the touch. Then I felt a tongue on one, and I gasped. Teeth, lips, tongue. "Oh, Charo," I whispered. "Oh god, you're going to drive me insane."

"I know," she said, then moved to the other one. "You're really going to enjoy this next part." She teased and teased, and then I felt the material close over, but it closed with a ring over my nipples, squeezing just a little bit. "Oh god. Oh god!" "Are you so sure I can't do anything to you like this?" **** She teased me for a very, very, very long time. She teased me and she took me. She moved me into different positions from time to time, never fully releasing me. Some of them were quite exposing, but she had me so hungry for everything she did, I could barely think, much less complain.

She took me, and she took her own pleasures, and then finally she led me to the bed, and we slept. She stayed for three nights. We didn't do any more challenges; I said 'no' when she asked. But I dressed the way she wanted, and I grew to enjoy it. I loved her touch. I loved talking to her. I loved spending time with her. She took me to dinner the next night, and another walk on the beach, but then she brought me back to her apartment. "Will you let me do it again, Andromeda?" "Yes," I whispered. Hours later, as she held my trembling body, I told her, "I'm falling in love, Charo. If you don't think you can

love me, you have to tell me." "I think I could love you, but I am holding myself back, just enough. You are not fully mine yet." And a short while later, she led me to my cell, as she had to leave. We kiss-licked passionately. "I'll be back," she promised. "But everything I said the last time I left applies." "I don't want it to apply." "I won't be back until you have given at least one other woman a chance." "Don't say that! It's not my fault if Jasmine can't introduce me to anyone else." "Nevertheless. And I would

prefer if you give three more the chance to know you. Do you understand?" "I understand."

Whiteblack Jasmine did come swimming again, the morning after Charo left. Again, the pool was empty, and again she asked if I would swim without the suit. "Voyeur." "It helps my bravery," she said. "Please." And so I gave her what she wanted. She grew stronger as a swimmer. She couldn't swim and breathe. She just couldn't time it. But she could do something I couldn't. She could sit on the bottom of the pool with a tentacle raised out of the water, breathing only from the top eighteen inches, like a snorkel. It was

quite clever. After that, she met me for swimming once or twice a week. She grew better. She grew braver. The day she swam from the shallow to the deep end, all on the surface without a stop was a major accomplishment, and that night she invited me to dinner to celebrate. We weren't alone. Clover arrived with another Catseye, and from the way they held each other, I knew who it was. "Peony!" I said. "Right? This is Peony?" "And this is the human who sends my wife to me," she said. She stepped forward and pulled me into a tight, tight hug. She wrapped around me

completely, and when she offered a tentacle, I kissed it. "How long are you staying?" I asked, once she released me. "Almost a week," she said. "And I am here to help." "Oh, we could use it." "Peony will help teach you to run your events," Jasmine said. "One at a time for now." "She's better than I am," Clover said. "She could run three at once." "Do we even have the staff for that?" "We spent less effort on cameras," Jasmine said. "We largely put them on auto, and she would select the

livestream herself. It just takes one or two techs for three events." "Unless they were complicated," Peony said. "If they were filled with Bay's little tricks, then I might only do one or sometimes too." "Andromeda knows all about Bay's tricks," Clover said. "She still hasn't forgiven him for her most recent challenge." "That's right. You are also a mating candidate," Peony said. "I guess I knew that. I've watched a few of your challenges. Was the one with the spiders most recent?" "Yes," I said. "I'm never forgiving that little shit." She snuffle-laughed. "I don't

blame you. Nasty little Loris." **** We had a lovely meal. Afterwards we played Boardwalk. Peony and Clover fought over making me their vassal. I dug in, holding out as long as I could. But I couldn't defend against all three of them, and it was Jasmine who captured me. The two wives refused to make an agreement, and so they both fell, one after another. Afterwards, Clover told me I was getting better. "Not that you'll ever be as good as even a weak Catseye, but you play better than any human I've ever seen play." "How many is that?" Jasmine asked, and I swear she was smirking.

"I'm sure there have been others," Clover said. A short while later, Peony said she had things to do with her wife, and so they excused themselves. Jasmine invited me to stay for ice cream, which we enjoyed on the sofa, half her tentacles wrapped around me while we ate. Then she took the bowl from me and set both down on the coffee table. "You wanted something, didn't you?" "A few things. First, I'm under a little stress. Will you be offended if I hold you more completely?" "No, Jasmine." I let her reel me in, soon sitting against her, well wrapped in tentacles. I knew she was

tasting, but not heavily. "Does this help?" "It does. Thank you." "This is so strange. You know that, don't you?" "I suppose it is. I want you to find a way to forgive Bay." "Sure. Let me come up with dirty tricks and spend a couple of hours tormenting him." "You wouldn't know how, and he's not afraid of the spiders. Is that really what it would take?" "Every time he sees me, he laughs about it and then mutters vague threats about plans for future opportunities. There won't be any more

opportunities." "Sometimes we get a woman who makes me angry," Jasmine said. "Typically this involves actively trying to kill her challenger during one of the challenges." "Put me in with a man and see what happens." "They've been nice men," she said. "And the women in question haven't had your excuse." "It doesn't matter. I'm sorry, Jasmine, but if you're about to tell me you abuse her for it, you can unwrap your tentacles first." "I don't abuse her." "What Bay did to me is abuse, as

far as I'm concerned. I think I should go." I squirmed, but she didn't relax. "Please don't, Andromeda." "Jasmine-" "I'm under a lot of stress." "We're all under a lot of stress." "I'm under a lot of pressure. No one was happy when I said we were switching to a longer cycle to process the candidates. Please let me hold you." I closed my eyes, took several breaths, then relaxed. I nodded. "I need you to find a way to forgive Bay. I need you to be able to work with him." "You need me to do a lot for you," I said. "Did you tell him to shut the

fuck up?" "No. I didn't know he was taunting you. I'll talk to him." "If he shuts up. If he tries to be sweet. If you promise I'll never be treated like that again. Then I'll try. But if anything remotely like that ever happens to me again, I'm not forgiving anyone involved. That includes you." "So you're done accepting challenges?" "It was supposed to be fun, Jasmine. I had two criteria. Fun and fair. Instead, you used it as an opportunity to make me grateful when she caught me. Everyone had fun but me." I tried pushing away from her again. "Every time I give you a little, you take more.

Let me go." "You two came to me asking for a challenge, Andromeda. It wasn't my idea." "Fine. It wasn't fun. It was the opposite of fun. So I don't see why I'd ask you to do it again. And if you make me, you can expect an appropriate reaction." "I understand. You'll try to forgive Bay. You'll agree to work with him." "If he shuts up. Are you making the promise I asked for?" "I will not force you into any challenges that have tricks like that. If you come to me and ask for a challenge that requires handicapping you, then it's

your own fault." "Fine," I said. I closed my eyes and turned my face away. We sat quietly for a while. Then I asked, "Am I part of your stress?" "Some," she said. "Don't worry about that." "Is the way I've asked you to work with the women a problem?" "Yes, but we're not going to stop just because I'm getting pressure for it. But we can't implement any further changes for a while. We have to do this in stages." "All right." "I'm getting pressure from the Implacs."

"I can't believe you want to give any of our women to them." "They don't get very many. I try to beat them in the arena, and I've had a lot of luck there. But it hasn't been perfect, as you saw." She snuffled. "The thing is, their females don't operate independently. Yours was operating on orders. I don't know whose. So until they discover who did it, I can hold them off. But it won't be forever." "I don't know how I'm going to feel if I have to work with any." "I'll keep you away from them at first. For now, I just wanted you to know what was going on." "Thank you."

"We get a new batch in two days." "Yes. We're ready. This is the start of the slower cycle. I think that will help us make better matches." "On average, we'll be pickier in selecting who we take, too," she said. "That will be good, I suppose." Those poor women, but I didn't say anything about that. "I'll need you to swim." "I figured." "And forgive me." "Oh hell. Now what?" "I'm going to leave you in the wall again." "God damn it, Jasmine."

"I'll let you have your visor from the moment the last woman is freed, but you'll need to set up a proximity sensor." "Why?" "Someone special is coming." I sighed. "Do I have to be charming?" "I think you should give her a chance." "She asked you to leave me like that for a while, but I'm supposed to give her a chance?" "Charoite asked me to do that to you, and you seem to be getting along with her." I thought about it. "Fine," I said. "As long as I'm warned, and you let me

have the visor. Is there anything you can do so I don't get so stiff?" "I can support you better, but you'd have to lean backwards into it." "That can be tough on my feet, leaning back on my heels." "Leave that to me." "I bet there's a price." "Let them touch you." I sighed. "How." "It won't be a sex show, but it will be very possessive." "What. Them. Let THEM touch me? Is this an Octal family?" "No. Humans call them Whiteblacks. It's not a very creative name."

"We haven't had any." "Not once," she said. "They form complicated relationships. There is a pair coming." "Jasmine." "Give them a chance." "Tell me it's two females." "It is, and they want a third." "A Third?" "Oh, not a Tutor third. They want to be a triangle. They are fond of geometric relationships. Right now they are a segment." "A segment?" "A line segment. Two points connected by a line. A segment." "I see. Why are they called

Whiteblacks?" "They come in two distinct colors. I think you're going to like them, although a conversation can be disconcerting." "Why?" "They develop what appears to be a telepathic connection with each other. While there are two voices, they talk as if they are one person. So you'll get a portion of a sentence from one, but it will likely be finished by the other." "Why would they want a human?" "You would be another experiment." "They want to see if they can

extend the link to me?" "Yes. It takes time. It may be that you are too bound to Charo to accept. If so, I'll ask them to consider someone else. But they are, well... They are a little arrogant." "I'm not fond of arrogance." "Well, that might not be the right word. Would you be happier if I suggested they were picky and only want the best?" "I'm not the best." "You're currently the most famous, and with some cause. I might be able to convince them to look at someone else, if this doesn't work with you. But I would really, really appreciate it if you gave it a full

chance." "Does Charoite know about this?" "Yes. Andromeda, they're going to be very possessive. You're not going to know what hit you." "No means no, Jasmine." "No means ask again." "If I tell them to get their hands off me, what will they do?" "They aren't going to rape you, Andromeda." "If they do, our agreement is off. I go home. If I decide I want a relationship with Charoite, I'll pursue one. And you owe me the visor in reparations."

"Seeing as how they won't, I agree to your terms." "They don't use the Octal approach, do they? Maybe with their psychic link?" "Not that anyone knows." "All right. I'll give them a chance." "One more thing." "With you, it's always one more thing, or a price, or another surprise, or can you please do this for me... What?" "They want challenges. They aren't required for mating, but they want to hunt you." "Please tell me they aren't the size of gerbils and Bay is going to

handicap me." "Oh, no. If I were going to apply a handicap, it will be to them. They want no handicaps. None. You get plopped down. They get plopped down. No tricks. No traps. And they're going to win. They're playing for the joy. What do you want to do your best, even knowing you're going to lose?" "Seriously?" "Seriously." "I told you no more challenges, Jasmine." She tightened her tentacles just a moment. "But you'll do your best, because that's what I need from you." "No."

"They'll be simple challenges, Andromeda," she countered. "Running around in the jungle. They like jungles. I might give you a task, just to keep you from heading straight for the exit." "And I don't suppose I could catch them." "We've tried that in the past. It tends to get people hurt. So now we don't do that. I can't promise fun, but I can promise no nasty tricks. Please, Andromeda." "All right," I said. "Fine. Dinner out with you." "I can't." "Why not?" I demanded. "How am I supposed to eat? Yes,

I'm letting some of the women see us like this now, but not the entire town." "Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't think of that." I paused. "I think you should stop hiding. I'd love to see you walking around with your tentacles free. If anyone can't handle it, screw them." "It makes some of the guards nervous. If I hide them, they're okay. But the employees aren't screened as well as the mating candidates. We look for different attributes. Xenophobia is higher." "They'll get over it." "I don't think so." "Ask them. That's what I want. You ask the guards that get most nervous. See what they say. Then decide."

She paused. "All right. There might be more than one challenge with them." "Dinner out." "I still can't, even if I start going more exposed here. The guards do not represent the entire town." "Fine. They can take me out. Someplace nice. I want lobster." She smiled. "This is between you and me. They'll probably take you out anyway. What do you want from me?" "I wouldn't suppose you'd let me wear more clothing in my cell." "No." "How about more variety?" "That's what you want?"

"You're not going to give me the things I really want, Jasmine. You're not going to let me go home. You're not going to give me any more freedom than I currently have. You're going to make me go shackled whenever I'm acting as a mating candidate, because it amuses you. I already have every privilege on the list. I don't know what to ask for. I'd love my own apartment, but if you aren't going to let me pick my own clothes, you're certainly not going to let me have my own apartment." She didn't say anything. "Do you want your apartment for the privacy or the space?" "I'd like a space that really felt like my own. I'd like the clothing you do

let me have right there instead of somewhere else. I'd like my own shower. I'd like a refrigerator with food for when I get the munchies. Heck, I'd like a bigger bed. I have a queen size at home. I like to sprawl. And yes, I'd like sheets and blankets. And I wouldn't mind if I never felt eyes on me. Some of the aliens watch me while I sleep. I don't really like it." "You're asleep." "Why do they watch me sleep?" "You're just that fascinating." "Bullshit." "What if I gave you most of that? Your own apartment, but it would be in the cell block."

I thought about it then nodded. "I'd love it, Jasmine. I bet you can give me transparent sheets that feel like real sheets." "You give these women every chance, and you do your best in the challenges they ask. You be charming. You don't get mad if they are a little forward. Are we agreed?" "We're agreed." "Thank you." **** Peony was delightful to work for, and she seemed to enjoy being back in a control room. We only had a few challenges left before the new batch, but with her looking over my shoulder, they were the best I'd run yet.

She was surprised by the changes to the process. Clover had said there were changes, but they really hadn't talked about them. But she admitted, "It's about time." And I could see she was popular with the other humans. Sal took a hug, although there were no tentacles involved. And that was when I realized the tentacles didn't appear if there were other humans in the control room. Then the new batch arrived. Peony monitored my meetings with them. We all had lunch together, and she expressed amazement. "Is she always like this?" she asked everyone, gesturing to me. "Yes," said Cedar. "She's

amazing. Bay and I have begged Jasmine to put her on permanent staff instead of mating her away, but so far, we've made no progress." "Perhaps she will lure someone to be her mate under the condition they both remain here," Peony said. "Then we would solve several staffing problems at once." "I'd have let Dark Skies keep me," I said, feeling a moment of pain. "Oh, Dark Skies," said Peony. "I hope she's happy." She tangled tentacles with Clover. "She gave us a gift one day." I laughed. "I can imagine the nature of the gift." "I have never been more

insatiable," Peony said. I did my interviews. I had my usual luck with willing candidates and a higher than average number of women who were willing only if it was another woman, even a few we were sure were straight. But then Jasmine told me we had to reverse the order of the two receptions. And so we held the reception for the women willing to be mated to a male the first night, and the ones who would accept a female the second night. **** I was nervous. Jasmine had traded out my usual "let's embarrass the crap out of the mating candidates" clothing for "Andromeda doesn't mind putting it all on display" clothing. Except

Andromeda certainly did mind putting it on display, and right about then, I wanted nothing more than a hoodie and a pair of sweatpants. I was nervous. Dilly and Piper came for me. They'd told me their real names long ago, but they seemed amused to be called Dilly and Piper, so that's who they were to me. They stopped inside the cell. "Well. Let's just hang 'em out there, shall we?" Piper said. "I didn't pick this outfit," I said. "Tell me, does this see-through kimono make my butt look fat?" I turned around and let them look. "Honey," said Dilly. "Your butt will never look fat. Damn, you look

good." "Thanks, Dilly," I said. "Does Jasmine Brighteyes have any special treats for me tonight? Going to dangle me from the ceiling or something?" They exchanged looks. "I don't want to know, do I?" "How did you know we had special directions?" "Because it's Jasmine Brighteyes, and she put me in this outfit, and she already told me someone special is coming to fondle me in ways that will make me squeak." "I thought you were leaving with the Kitsune." "Yeah, well. Jasmine seems to

want me to test drive a few more options. And the Kitsune hasn't committed yet." "They usually pick so fast." "I know. But they get a taste of me and get cold feet," I said. "Will you warn me what you're supposed to do?" "Sorry," said Piper. "We weren't told not to." "Right. I don't want you to get into trouble. I'll try not to hold it against you, but if you get stuck hauling all the bitchy women, it's an accident. I promise." They both snorted. "Hands out, please, Andromeda." ****

I could neither see nor hear. That was typical. But the walk was familiar by now. They led me into place, and that was when things became different. Normally the wall reached forward for me. But this time it locked my ankles in place. Then I could hear a voice in my ears. "Do not be startled." I didn't recognize the voice. It wasn't Dilly, Piper, or any of the aliens I knew. I didn't bother asking. A moment later, the wall grabbed my ankles. Normally it grabbed most of me at once. But it grabbed my ankles. Then Dilly and Piper pulled me backwards, off balance, and if they hadn't supported me, I would have fallen. The wall grabbed more of me: my

legs, then my shoulders. It supported me at an angle, and then the floor adjusted under my feet, lifting my toes to match the angle I was leaning. Piper and Dilly released my hands, and the wall took control. It finished encasing me, and it felt like I was held completely. I was well supported in back, but I felt it pressing against me, around me. My face was free, but it even held my head tightly. It was comfortable, but a little disconcerting. "There are rules," said the voice. "Until you are released, you may speak only to someone who initiates the conversation." I didn't say anything, as I

hadn't been asked a question. I had long learned not to violate rules. Yes, in that way, I was completely cowed. It hadn't even taken that long. I could get mad, but when Jasmine set a rule, I knew breaking it meant punishment. Most of the time, the punishment was far harsher than I was willing to pay. And so I followed the rules. I was cowed, and I knew it, and I was bitter about it, but I tried not to let it control my moods. "I am authorized to play music of your choice. I will display your playlists, and you may pick one." A moment later, my music playlist appeared in front of me, and I picked

Upbeat Instrumental. I was kept that way for what seemed like a long time. I didn't count songs. I simply closed my eyes and listened to the music. What else could I do? But eventually the visor brightened. I opened my eyes. I was near the center of the room, facing back towards the other women. I was supported in a pillar similar to how Charoite had kept me. I was inclined at a slight backwards angle, enough the material could support me a little. And, of course, the material was transparent. The other women were all still hugged by the wall, and it was clear they had just been given their own vision.

They were looking around, several of them turning their heads to look at me before moving on. I couldn't do as much. My head was held firmly, and it felt like the material was even holding my hair. But I looked around as much as I could, which wasn't much. The room was full of aliens, all of them female, as far as I could tell. I didn't see any species I hadn't dealt with before, but they could be behind me. I closed my eyes and tried to relax. I was sure I would receive attention. I usually did, although it didn't necessarily result in being freed from the wall. And I was pretty sure this time I was reserved for the Whiteblacks. I

hoped they didn't make me wait forever. It was some time later that I felt more light on my eyes. I opened, and the visor said, "Visor Control Activated." I looked, and the last of the women was being led from the wall by -- of all people -- Lotus, the Catseye who wouldn't go swimming with me. She didn't give me a glance, which didn't bother me in the slightest. I still didn't see any new species. I closed my eyes and zoned out. It was some time later -- I wasn't watching the time -- when I heard Jasmine's voice. "They're here. You're going to want to watch." "Fashionably late, hmm?" I asked.

"Comfortable?" "Not bad, actually, even if you have me quite on display." "Like you noticed whether anyone checked you out." "I know they did. I ignored them doing it. What I don't know is if you did." "Of course I did. So did Peony and Clover." "Are they discussing an adjustment to their household?" She laughed. "I think they were each teasing the other one. That would be unusual for Catseye. But I won't let them have you. They don't need you, and there are too many women who do."

"Got it," I said. I looked around. "I don't see any new species." "They're behind you. They know you can't move. Enjoy yourself, Andromeda." "Yeah, because I love when you do this to me." She chuckled in my ear for a moment then it was quiet. And so I watched while I waited, looking around as best I could, which wasn't very good at all. I saw other aliens watching me, or perhaps watching things behind me, but no one approached. But then from behind me, from very close behind me, I heard a voice. "Hello, Human."

And a second voice said, "We find you very-" The first one finished the sentence. "Intriguing." And that was how they spoke. They didn't alternate words, but it would be odd that one would speak an entire sentence. It would take getting used to. One should assume this style of speaking for all future conversations. "Do I get to see you?" They moved around me, one passing on either side, coming to a stop side-by-side in front of me. And they were... stunning. I'm sure I've used that word before, but for them, it absolutely fit. One was as black as I've ever

seen; the other was equally as white. But they were clearly of the same species, with similar facial features and physiques. "Oh. My. God." "Is that an expression of appreciation?" "It is this time," I said. They were both... built. Perfect. They had similar bodies, the sort you expect from a basketball player, although not as tall. And they knew how to display it, dressed in leather, but with bare shoulders and arms and tight waists. The pale one wore black, and the black one wore red. Somehow it worked. They had hair, and this was

where they switched colors. The white woman's hair was as black as night, and the black woman's hair was pure white. Both wore their hair long, very long, and it was stunning. I would learn in the future they liked to braid it, but tonight it tumbled over their shoulders and down their backs. Individually, they were everything I found amazing. "Will you introduce yourselves?" I asked. "I am called Jaguar," said the black woman. "And I am called Harp," said the other. "Harp?"

"It is from," said Jaguar. "A type of," explained Harp. "Seal," finished Jaguar. And no, I'm not going to write it like that anymore. I'll pick one or the other, whoever began speaking first, most likely. "I am pleased to meet you, Jaguar and Harp. I am Andromeda Hayes. I hope you will call me Andromeda." "Yes," said Harp. "We do not have much experience with humans," Jaguar said. "We wish to learn about you." "We will make mistakes," Harp said. "Will you forgive us?"

"I can forgive much," I said. "There are things I cannot forgive. I will not forgive betrayal or violence against me." "We would never hurt you," Jaguar said. "You are small. Are you as delicate as you appear?" "I'm tough for my size," I said. "For a human woman, I am athletic. I am not a fragile egg. But I do not like being treated roughly." "We will not," said Harp. "You will guide us." "We wish to touch you. We know human women do not like being touched without permission. May we touch you?" "That is more complicated than it sounds. Touch has... a progression," I

explained. "A brief touch upon the arm is unlikely to offend any human, with or without permission. Grabbing my chest in public will make me angry regardless of what I might allow in private." "We understand," said Harp. "We wish more than a touch upon your arm." I smiled. "Right now, about all you can touch is my face." "May we touch you?" "You may," I said. "Thank you," said Jaguar. They both stepped closer, and then Harp caressed my face with two fingers. Her touch was gentle, perhaps hesitant. Jaguar added her touch, also a caress across my opposite cheek, and then my nose, and then across my lips.

"That is intimate," I said. "This?" She did it again. "Yes. I must know you better before I am comfortable with intimate touches." "I am sorry." "You are learning," I said. "I am teaching." "And you will learn," said Harp. "We will teach. For now, we touch." And then the strangest thing happened. All right. It was all strange, so that was probably hyperbolic. But Harp stroked some of the containing material near my face, and it retreated from her touch. She didn't release my head, but she was able to reach my ear.

On the other side, Jaguar did the same thing. And then they were each touching my ears, and my cheeks, and much of the rest of my face. "Do you like this touch?" Jaguar asked. "It feels nice," I said. "But it is also surreal." "We do not know that word," said Harp. "I am imprisoned here and unable to move. Two aliens are standing here, touching me as if they wish to be lovers. Other people are watching while pretending not to. It is a strange experience." "You will not understand," said Jaguar.

"We must do this," said Harp. "We must learn you." "To claim you," said Jaguar. "Hold on," I said firmly. "No one is claiming me three minutes after meeting me." "We claim you for now," Jaguar clarified. But they stopped touching. I thought about it. "For now. Because letting you touch me is not a promise of forever." "For now," said Harp. "We are two. We wish to be three." "But we do not know if we wish you to be our third, to form our triangle." "You do not know if you wish to help us form our triangle," added Harp.

"But we hope, and we are decisive," said Jaguar. "We will act as if this is what we all want. It is the best path to mutual happiness." "But we know humans take time to decide. You can be impulsive, but you consider permanent choices carefully. We are not as impulsive, but we also require less time. But we three need time. Will you give us this time?" I looked back and forth between them. I smiled. "You may touch. You may claim me for now. But you understand you share me." "We do not share." "I have duties," I said. "You share me with my duties. And I have friends here. Not many, but friends. You

share me in that way as well." "In this way, we share," Jaguar said. "We have duties, although they are suspended as we decide. And we have friends." "Jaguar does not like my best friend," Harp said. "He is difficult to like. I do not blame her. Who are your friends?" "Jasmine Brighteyes," I said. "And the other people I work with. I have human friends as well, but I am not allowed to see or contact them." "We will share in this fashion, but you will give us time to learn and to decide," said Jaguar. "May we touch? May we claim you?" "You may touch, and you may

claim me for now." "For now," Harp said. They raised hands and began again to caress. "We know this is not a human way." "But it is our way." "It is not so far from a human way that I can't understand," I said. "Do I not touch you?" "We are two," said Harp. "We claim you to make our segment into a triangle. You do not make your point into a triangle." And then she pushed away the material binding most of my arm, but she kept my shoulders and wrists restrained. Jaguar did the same. And then they were touching my arms. Harp stroked my fingers and my palm, and then she used

two hands, one on my face, one on my arm. Jaguar did the same, but then she exposed much of my back, leaving only enough of the containing pillar to continue to support me. She stroked me from the top of my ass all the way to my shoulder, pushing away more of the material. Harp saw that and did the same on her side. They had to reach underneath my clothing to do so. Then they both knelt, and they freed most of my legs, stroking them. I stiffened as they reached high on the inside, but they stopped just before I was about to complain. Then they addressed the tops of my feet. They exposed as much of me as they could without actually releasing me,

and they spent time, quite a bit of time, touching what they had exposed. I eventually closed my eyes and enjoyed it. It felt nice, even if I was socially uncomfortable to basically be getting pawed by two aliens I had just met while a room full of people looked on. Then they stood, their hands still on my arm, each holding one hand. I opened my eyes and looked between them. "This is not sufficient to fully claim you," Jaguar said. "But we know if we do all we want, it will anger you." "We cannot spend months claiming you," Harp said. "But to claim all of you, we must touch all of you." "Well, you aren't doing that in

public, and you aren't doing that tonight." I thought about it. "I will allow a little more in private than you have done. Have you claimed enough for now?" "For now. We will claim more in private," Jaguar said. "You must invest," Harp said. "You must accept our claim. We act as if you will join our triangle. You must also act as if you will join our triangle." "I will need some time for that, or it will feel like I am lying to you." "You must not lie," said Jaguar. "How much time?" "Acting as if I will join your triangle is not the same as promising, is it?"

"No," said Harp. "It is simply being optimistic." "It is an expression of desire to consider the choice and to believe it is possible." "That much I could do over the next few days," I said. "Is that too long?" They exchanged looks. "It is longer than we wish," said Harp. "But we know this is unusual for you." "But we have claimed much of you," Jaguar said. "You are now of us, for now. You must not share yourself this way with others." I nodded. "Are you going to release me? But I'll fall if you don't help support me."

They adjusted their grip, one on each side. And then the pillar withdrew from me. I would have staggered, but Harp and Jaguar supported me easily, straightening me on my feet. "There is a human custom. Do Whiteblack hug?" "We touch in all ways," Jaguar said. "I do not wish to offend by hugging one first, then the other." "Why would this offend us?" Harp asked. "We are two, but we are one. What you do with one, you do with both. When you hug Jaguar, you are hugging me. And when you hug me, you are hugging Jaguar as well." "Well then." I turned to Jaguar,

and as soon as I did, she pulled me into her arms. She was so much bigger than I was, tall, lanky, and powerful. I could feel the strength of her muscles as she drew me in. But she barely held me. "I am not so fragile," I said. "I prefer being held more tightly. Do you mind?" "I do not wish to hurt you." "Some human males do not know their own strength. If you cannot distinguish between barely holding me, and holding me too tightly, I understand. But you can hold more tightly." And so she tightened. "This is nice," I said. "More is nice, too." And so she tightened just a little more, and I smiled. "This is perfect."

But then Harp stepped behind us, pressing against me from behind, and I was the meat in the sandwich. And I decided I liked that, too. Then Jaguar's hand, which had been in the small of my back, moved down to cup my ass. "Jaguar, if a human girlfriend did that to me in public, I would be angry." "We require more touch," she said. "In private." "No one can see," Harp said. "In private," I repeated. The hand moved. "Thank you. It felt nice, but not in public."

"We do not completely understand," Harp said, "but we do not wish to offend you." "Thank you," I said. Then I rotated, and I was hugging Harp with Jaguar pressing from behind. But then Jaguar pushed the limits again. She lowered her head until her lips were near my ear. "You said you would allow more touch than you had. You will allow this touch." Then she was lipping at my ear. I felt teeth, but just a brushing. A moment later, Harp was doing the same thing to the other ear. And my libido began to notice. I clutched at Harp, and I let them do it, but then I said, "Okay. Okay.

You're driving me a little crazy. Is that enough for now?" "For now," Harp said into my ear. They pulled away, but then they each took possession of an arm. "I have duties," I said. "And I need refreshment." "You have accepted our claim," Harp said. "We will attend your duties with you." "Refreshments first," I said. "There." And so they led me to the table we had set up. Everything was labeled, of course. We had pure water for all species, but it came in different

temperatures, as not all species preferred their water cold. "What is that?" Harp asked, pointing. "Water," I said. "It is so cold it has formed into ice?" "Ice is added to make it colder," I said. "I find that to be too cold. Um. I need my arms." I was sure it was done reluctantly, but they released me. In compensation, there was immediately one hand at the back of my neck, just touching, and another at my lower back, slipping underneath the sparse clothing to touch my skin.

They were as bad as a Catseye. I poured a half glass of ice water then added a little more from one of the cold, but not ice cold pitchers. "Most humans like cold water," I said. "But how cold can vary. We also have other beverages. I have no experience with Whiteblack and do not know what you can take." "We require nothing at this time," said Harp. "All right, then." I offered her an arm. Jaguar was forced to be happy touching my neck. "I must see to my duties, and then we will tell each other more of ourselves." We worked the room for a few minutes, moving from group to group,

intruding on conversations wherever I wished. I had established signals for the women to use. The most common was to use my entire name. It simply meant she wished to speak to me privately. When that happened, sometimes it was a request to be rescued; she had no interest in an alien who was monopolizing her. The aliens could be, after all, quite insistent and intimidating besides. This happened on average once or twice per batch of women, but that was just an average. I could also encounter the reverse. "I really like her. What do I do?" This happened less often than requiring a rescue, but it happened.

And the rest just wanted reassurance or to ask a question. It was during the third group that the woman looked at me in clear relief and said, "Andromeda Hayes, how are you tonight?" "I am good, Charlotte. Actually, I need to speak privately with you for a moment." She had been in conversation with Lotus, the Catseye, and I'd noticed Lotus was being very physically forward, with one tentacle wrapped around Charlotte's arm, another around her back, and a third reaching around in front of her to clasp her hand. I turned to Jaguar. "I need to speak alone with her. Will you and Harp stay with Lotus? Charlotte and I will just

be over in the corner." I didn't wait. "Lotus, can you unwrap from her for a moment, please?" Lotus didn't want to unwrap, and she actually tightened for a moment before reluctantly letting go. And my aliens weren't any better about it. But soon I was able to take Charlotte's arm and lead her away. "How are you doing?" I asked her. "I don't know," she replied. "You know the Catseye?" "We've met. She decided I scared her. I'm surprised she's back so soon." "You didn't like her?" "I was disappointed she ran away from me. Yes, I guess I liked her. I

like Catseye. But how do you feel?" "I think I like her, but she won't stop touching me. She wraps around me. I've been pulling away, but I don't want to be rude." "I understand," I said. "You're not a toucher, are you?" "No." "Catseye are. How have you been with girlfriends?" "In private is one thing. But out here, everyone is watching." "No, everyone is watching me with the Whiteblacks," I said. She laughed at that. "They're pretty forward, too. Were they biting your ears?"

"A little, yeah." I think I blushed. In fact, I know I did, because Charlotte laughed. "They're pretty amazing, aren't they?" "Yeah. A little odd. But let's talk about you. So, first question. Do you like her?" "I don't know. Maybe." "So you don't want me to hand you off to someone else?" "No, not yet." "Well, Catseye touch. If you can't stand it, then it's a bad fit. I might be able to get her to tone it down, but on this one thing, I think if you want to consider a relationship, you're the one

who has to compromise." "She said I taste good." "They taste through their tentacles," I said. "And don't freak out, but if she was able to taste you, she'll have left little marks." "Oh my god! I've got tentacle hickies?" "Probably. I have some on my back. They don't hurt. Okay, do you want to know the good parts of the Catseye?" "Yes." "Best hugs on the planet and nearby space. Wookies give good hugs, too, but Catseye hugs are better. They're smart, and they seem to care that you are, too. They can eat our food, which will

make things a lot easier. They give amazing foot massages, and they seem to enjoy doing it, although I don't know if Lotus does." I smiled. "They're rich. All the aliens are rich. Assuming this particular Catseye is as nice as the others I know, you would have a good life." "That's not bad." "I don't know from personal experience, but I bet the sex is amazing." "I keep thinking of those tentacles. Oh. Em. Gee." I laughed. "Yeah, I've thought about that, too. And they are selflubricating, when they want." "Oh. Em. Gee," she said again.

"So, if you like Lotus, and you can learn to enjoy the touch, you can't do better. But you would have to be able to not just tolerate the touch, but enjoy it, because she'll be touching you constantly. And not just her, but any other Catseye you call friends. They don't touch business acquaintances the same way, but if she has friends over, for instance, they're going to want to touch." "All right," she said slowly. "Good foot massages, huh?" "The best. Want me to get one for you?" "Sure." "I might scare her off, Charlotte. She ran from me when I tried to get her to go swimming. Catseye can't swim."

"If she runs..." she looked around the room. "There are other Catseye here." I followed her gaze. "Those two are mated," I said. "That's Clover and Peony. They're good friends. Let's talk to them first." I grabbed her arm and pulled her over. Then I asked for a hug, but Clover took a half step back and waved a tentacle. "No way. The Whiteblacks are watching you, and they're possessive." "Oh. Sorry. Clover, Peony, this is Charlotte. We have about fifteen seconds for you to tell her if Lotus is a nice person." "We don't know her that well, but she has a good reputation," Clover said.

"I've been dealing with her a little," Peony said. "She's professional and competent." "That's not a rousing endorsement for someone who wants to be loved." "Oh. Oh, you don't have to worry about that," Clover said. "If she wants to mate, you'll be loved, Charlotte. And I'm sure she'd treat you well." I turned to Charlotte. "So, they didn't tell you to run away, but they don't know her well enough to tell you what she's really like." "I want to give her a chance," Charlotte said. So I took her arm and led her back. Lotus was ready to reach for her,

and Jaguar wanted to take me back, but I said, "Just a minute, Lotus. I'm going to be blunt. Not all humans are comfortable being touched as much as a Catseye likes to touch. It takes time for some of us to warm up. If you want to help Charlotte warm up, I know what you can do." Lotus looked at me then at Charlotte. "If you tell me I have to go swimming..." "I'm not going to tell you that," I said. "But you could take her over to one of the chairs and show her what it feels like to receive a Catseye foot massage. If you're as good at that as the other Catseye I know, she'll become putty in your hands." "She's not rejecting me."

"No," I said. "She's just a little intimidated." "My tentacles do not frighten her?" "No. On the contrary." She looked at Charlotte. "Catseye touch." "I understand. I just need a little help." "I understand." She held out one tentacle as if it were a hand. "Take it gently," I said. "Like a child's hand." And so Charlotte did, letting herself be drawn away. When I looked later, she had her eyes closed and an expression of deep bliss.

Harp and Jaguar stepped to my sides. "Ours again." "I never stopped," I replied. "But my duties are not over. Do you understand what I am doing here?" "You are the diplomat. She signaled you somehow." "She used my whole name," I said. "Thank you for understanding." "What happens here is important. Segments take time to form, and a bad segment can be very painful. You help to make good segments." "Yes." I looked around the room. "And I believe I am about to prevent a bad one. Come." I led them across the room. Dana

was backed into a corner, a Luxan and a Hobble hemming her in. We got halfway there, and I said, "I'm going to have to be physically forward here. You'll need to give me up just before we arrive." "You are going to drive the Luxan and Hobble off?" "I'm going to wedge between them and pull the human from the corner. Will you engage the Luxan and Hobble while I talk to the human?" "We will help you." "Thank you." And so that's what we did. I actually slipped my hands between the Luxan and Hobble and pushed aside. "Good evening, Ladies." They didn't want to let me in, but everyone knew

who I was, so when they looked down, they parted slightly. "Hello, Dana." "Andromeda Hayes," she said. "You have been freed from your pillar." "I need to speak with you, Dana." I grabbed her wrist and pulled her right out of the corner. The Luxan and Hobble tried to stop me, but she ducked underneath them. And then Jaguar and Harp were both there, blocking the Luxan and Hobble, and I was able to pull Dana to safety. I wrapped her arm in mine. "Were you as scared as you looked?" "They're fighting over me," she said. "I was talking to the Luxan, and she seemed nice. But then the Hobble came over."

"Brave Hobble," I said. "I wouldn't want to piss off a Luxan. Did you like either of them?" "The Luxan kept stepping closer. I kept backing up. That's how we ended in the corner." "Do you like her?" "Yeah, but she stood so close, and she's so big." "Do you want me to give you back to her and chase the Hobble away?" She looked over her shoulder. "Can you get her to give me just a little more room?" "I can try, but frankly, probably not. Can you handle it? Maybe it would

be easier if you sat, but she's going to want to be close. Maybe you want to dance." "There's no music." "I can fix that." "Yeah, I might like to dance." "She's going to want to touch you. They aren't as grabby as some of the species, but her body language is pretty possessive already." I shook my head. "I don't know what the Hobble was thinking. So, can you take it?" "Sure, I guess. I kind of like her. But she said there would be challenges. I thought if we were willing there weren't challenges." "She needs them, and you have to

do your best. You know you'll lose, so it's as good as being willing. But she needs to catch you, and she needs to believe either you were trying to catch her or you were trying to get away. Can you do that?" "I can do that," she said. "She wouldn't hurt me, would she?" "Gentle as a lamb." "All right. Yes. I want to give her a chance. If I have to do it with anyone, she seems nice. Smart. I liked the things she said before the Hobble showed up." "Excellent. Come on." I steered over to Clover and Peony. I didn't bother with introductions. "Dana likes the Luxan. I need you to help me get rid of the Hobble. You know, before the Luxan

decides to handle it herself." "Right," said Clover. "Come on, Peony. I know how much you love Hobbles." "Hobbles. Why did it have to be Hobbles?' We approached the group. Both the Luxan and Hobble looked annoyed. Jaguar and Harp climbed several points in the way they were handling things. I stepped between the two Whiteblack, pulling Dana behind me, then put a hand on the Luxan. In the meantime, Clover and Peony surrounded the Hobble. "There's someone we want you to meet," Clover said. And then they just didn't take "no" for an answer and led her away.

The other three aliens watched this, and then the Luxan stood straighter. I turned to her. "I am Andromeda." I held out my hand, and she clasped for a moment. "We haven't met." "I am Jules Star Cluster," she replied. She glanced past me for a minute, then returned her gaze to me. "I am pleased to meet you, Jules Star Cluster. I am going to be blunt. You are Luxan. I believe you can handle a blunt human." She inclined her head. "Dana likes you. Do you like her?" "I do." "But you're scaring her a little. You're a big Luxan, and she's an average size female human. You're a lot bigger

than she is, and a little intimidating." "I can't become smaller." "No, but you could be a little sensitive to it. You kept crowding her, backing her into the corner. That's a very defensive position, and then when the Hobble arrived, she couldn't escape." "Oh," she said. "Oh. Dana, I am sorry." "She knows you weren't trying to scare her. She wants to give you a chance. I suggested you sit instead of stand. She doesn't mind if you're close. She just doesn't want you to loom over her. You could also dance with her." "I will loom if we dance." "She'll close her eyes, and you

will hold her. I will put music on in a few minutes." She offered a Luxan smile, which was actually a little similar to a human smile. "She is a little nervous about the challenges, but understands they are necessary for you," I added. I accessed the visor, checked Dana's record, and saw she was assigned to Bay. "Dana, don't worry about the Challenges. I'll take care of you." "If you're sure." "I'm sure," I said. "Now. Did you see how blunt I was with the Luxan?" "Yes." "She isn't looming over you to

intimidate you. But she's not human. She's going to make mistakes a human might not. It's your job to tell her. She would rather you tell her you don't like something than to pull away. You're going to need to be that brave. I promise, she won't hurt you for it." She looked hesitant. I skimmed her bio and turned back to the Luxan. "She's been hurt before. It's going to take her time to learn you won't hurt her." "I couldn't!" "Well, she sees your size. She needs to learn. If she is backing from you, give her a little space and remind her you are her protection. She'll learn." She nodded. "Dana, would you like to sit for a while? May I hold your

hand?" Dana looked at the big woman, then nodded slowly and held out her hand. As soon as they walked way, Jaguar and Harp moved to my sides. "Just a moment," I said. I held up a hand. Then I used the visor to compose a quick draft. "Move Dana Willis to someone else. She needs a delicate touch to deal with the Luxan and the challenges." Then I smiled. "As soon as I start the music, I am all yours." I used the visor, found the playlist I wanted, and started the music. It would last for hours and loop if necessary. I smiled again and held out my

arms. "All yours." They each commandeered an arm, and then Harp said, "We have watched you dance. We have a similar dance style. Will you allow us to show you?" "I'd love that." Similar indeed. They danced as a sandwich. It began with Harp leading me, and the stance wasn't that different from what I knew. But Jaguar stepped in behind me, pressed against my back. Let me just say. Oh. Em. Gee. We danced for an hour, and then I told them, "I must do rounds. Then I'd like us to talk. We can stay here or you may take me somewhere else. But it is to talk."

"And touch," said Harp. "You will allow this, Andromeda." "And touch," I agreed. "But not sex. Not the first night." "But touch. More touch than you allow in public." I smiled. "More than I allow in public," I agreed. And so we worked the room. Some of the combinations had changed, but everyone was doing all right. Dana and the Luxan were deep in conversation. Dana laughed at something the Luxan said, and so we left them alone. Lotus and Charlotte were also talking, seated side-by-side, Charlotte

draped in tentacles. We approached from behind, and I pulled more chairs over so the three of us could sit. "Andromeda," Charlotte said. "I like her." "You seem to be more comfortable." "I'm not used to this much PDA, but after that foot massage, I'd let her do almost anything to me?" I laughed. "Good. Are you listening, Lotus?" "I am listening, Andromeda Hayes. But I wish to speak privately with you." Inwardly I swore. I stood and stepped away, Lotus following me and

then catching up. "You won't want to touch me. The Whiteblacks are staking a claim." "I want to apologize for the way I treated you." "It's fine, Lotus. I believe Charlotte can be a better fit for you. How do you feel about that?" "Thank you for your help earlier. I believe Charlotte was about to run from me much like I ran from you." "She's not running now, but you're going to have to be careful. You're far more comfortable with touching in public than she is." "She told me if I bribe her with foot rubs, I may touch and taste all I want."

I laughed. "Has she kissed a tentacle yet?" "I haven't offered." "Do you need me to help?" "No. We're both adults. We'll talk about it." "I wouldn't wait." "I want to do it in private tonight." "Not her cell." "I was going to invite her to my apartment." "Hmm. That has to be done carefully. She's going to think you're inviting her for sex. She may be ready for that, but humans are a little weird about that. Are you inviting her for sex?"

"More touch and more talk, talk we can't do in public." "What if she wants sex?" "She must let me control the pace of our relationship." "All right. Did you have more you wanted to say?" "No." "All right. Let's go back before Jaguar and Harp decide you've had enough of my attention." Together we returned to the table. Twice Lotus reached her tentacles for me, but I shied away. "The Whiteblacks will eat you alive, Lotus." And so we sat, and it took seconds before Charlotte was partially

curled into Lotus and heavily wrapped in tentacles again. "Did you talk about me?" "Of course we did," I said. "Charlotte, Lotus likes you." "I thought that's what this meant." She brushed a tentacle. "She's about to invite you to her apartment. She wants to talk more and show you something. I don't think she's inviting you for sex, so I hope you won't be disappointed." "I don't sleep with someone on the first date." "If she gives you a backrub, you won't be able to say 'no' to anything she wants."

She laughed. "I'll keep that in mind." "All right," I said. "I am going to register this as a tentative relationship. Lotus, you should keep Jasmine Brighteyes up to date." "I will." "All right then." **** Five minutes later, I told the Whiteblacks, "I'm all yours. My duties are complete until morning." A moment later we were headed for the exit. They brought me to their apartment. They didn't blind my visor or shackle me, and I would hear about that tomorrow from Jasmine. But they each

held an arm, and I couldn't have gotten away from them if I had wanted to. Not that I wanted to. The moment we were in the apartment with the door closed, Jaguar pushed me into Harp. Harp grabbed both my arms and held firmly, but not roughly. Then Jaguar stepped closer, and I was looking up into her eyes. My heart began pounding, wondering if I was about to learn Jasmine had been wrong when she said no one would hurt me. But then Jaguar caressed my cheek very tenderly. "We know you don't understand." "We wish to claim more of you," Harp said. "Almost all." "And claim more completely,"

Jaguar said. "If you were Whiteblack, you would understand, and if you did not desire this, you would not have come with us. And so we would not discuss this. We would only do this." "We won't hurt you," Harp said. "We want you to struggle." "We won't hurt you," Jaguar said again. "And if you tell us you do not want this, we will let you go." "Are you asking me if I want to be raped?" I asked. "No! We know humans struggle when they are tickled, but they also laugh." "We will not tickle," said Harp. "But we would treat you as a human we're going to tickle."

"We wish to claim more of you. Almost all. But not all," explained Jaguar. "We do not ask for sex tonight. We will not touch you there." "Tonight," Harp clarified. "But we'll touch you everywhere else." "For a long time," Jaguar added. "We require this. It is a portion of our biology. It is required to help you join our triangle." "We haven't decided if I am going to join." "It is required to see if you are even able to join our triangle," Harp said. "Everything we wish to do tonight and in the days to come are to see if you are able to join." "I don't understand."

"We know," said Jaguar. "But you will, if you are able." "We must do this," Harp said. "Or we must release you. We don't want to release you. We like you." "We want you," Jaguar said. "You won't hurt me," I said. "And you won't stop me from speaking. If I say the words 'Stop. I am serious.' You will stop. If I say something hurts, you will stop. If I say I can't breathe, you will stop. If I stop making noise, you will see if I am in distress and ensure I can breathe." "Yes," Jaguar said. "We will not hurt you, Andromeda. Will you allow this?" "Do Whiteblack kiss?"

"Yes. And lick. And that will be part of what we do, once you stop struggling." "You must decide now," Harp said. "Ask us to release you, and we let you go. If you wish to stay, we wish to remove the visor." "You have to lock the door," I said. "I'm not allowed to take it off unless I am locked in a room. And I can't take it off. You have to." Jaguar nodded, and then the visor went blank. She pulled it from my face and set it aside. Then she said, "If you accept this, begin to struggle, and we will begin to claim you." I smiled and burst into action. It didn't do me one ounce of good. Harp

made a sound of pleasure, and then Jaguar bent down and collected my squirming legs. She took a moment to pull my panties from me. I made a squeal of outrage, but I guess I knew they intended to get me naked. If they'd asked for sex, I probably would have said "yes", after all. Then Jaguar picked up my legs. Harp held me by the arms. And together they carried me, squirming and laughing, to their bedroom. I'll say now, everything they did was done very gently. They were strong and controlled me completely, but not once did they hurt me, not so much as an inadvertent bump.

They set me on the bed. It took them a minute, but they removed my kimono and top before pressing me backwards into the bed. I couldn't stop laughing. I squirmed, in spurts, but at no point did their grip falter. Then they began touching me. At first, it was similar to the touches they'd been doing all night, reclaiming the places they had already claimed. But they had full access now, and they began to take advantage of it. They didn't go straight to my breasts, which actually surprised me. Instead, they teased my entire body, holding me pinned to the bed, touching generously. Then they rolled me over.

Harp sat on my legs, pinning them, and Jaguar collected my hands together, holding them in one of hers in the small of my back. Then they each began to caress my bottom. I stilled, and then whispered, "Yes." Jaguar leaned down. "Do not surrender too soon. Your struggles are part of the process." "The process takes time," Harp said. "It takes time when you are a Whiteblack. You are human, and it will take longer." "You must struggle during the challenges." "And struggle when we catch you."

"When you cannot struggle is when we know the triangle is forming," Jaguar said. "I can't struggle now!" "You can," Harp said. "It does you no good, and maybe you don't want to. But you can." And so, from time to time, I attempted to struggle, but I was past wanting to, and they were token struggles at best. They stroked me. They touched me. Then they rolled me back over. "Her struggles are weak," said Jaguar. "We should tickle." "We don't want to tickle her," Harp said. "We want to kiss her." She leaned over, and I had my eyes closed

before she reached me. Being kissed by a Whiteblack is very similar to being kissed by a Kitsune. It starts with a kiss, but then there is a tongue. Kiss, tongue, kiss, tongue. I liked it a great deal. And then Jaguar kiss-licked, almost exactly the same, but from the other side. And that was when they finally went to my breasts, but it was with their lips, not their hands. And as soon as they did, I arched my back and hissed. They both reared away. "Did we hurt you?" "God, don't stop now!" I said,

opening my eyes. "No, you didn't hurt me. Don't stop." And so they didn't. **** They touched me almost everywhere. Almost. They inflamed my passions, but they only carried it so far. Eventually we lay together. They were still clothed, which I found annoying, and they kept control of my hands, which I also found annoying. But we lay together. I was cuddled by both of them, and I felt really good. "I don't want you doing that to me in public," I said. "But you don't have to ask anymore." "We won't ask," Jaguar said. "And we won't hurt you."

"Am I spending the night?" "We considered this," said Harp. "If you were Whiteblack, you would. But we think we should return you to your own room." "I'm not sure I want to go." "We don't want you to, but it is better." "All right." "We have your schedule," said Jaguar. "We have a challenge tomorrow afternoon. You will lose. I laughed. "I rather thought so." "You must try to win," Harp said. "It is important. You must struggle to remain free." "I'll do my best," I said. I sighed.

"You two are warm, and you smell good." They said nothing for a moment, but then Harp caressed my face. "How good, Andromeda?" "Well, not like an Octal," I said. "But really good." They said nothing, but they cuddled me more tightly for a minute before we sat up. Jaguar left the room and returned with my things. I let them dress me. "Are you escorting me?" "No," said Harp. "Jasmine Brighteyes tells us you know the way." **** Peony ran our event, delivering me to my starting point. The visor

brightened, and she was looking at me. "You get one hour to hide." I will drop your challengers off here. They will attempt to find and capture you. You will engage in no combat and make no traps." "Right." "Once they begin looking for you, for every hour you evade them, they owe you a gift." "Really?" "And the gifts they owe increase in size. It might start small, but they turn significant as time passes. Also, if they do catch you, but you get away, that's a very large gift. It's not going to happen, but those are the rules." "All right."

"Jasmine told me to be clear. Play for gifts. She said you have an agreement, and if you want it, you'll do your damned best." "I will." "Jaguar and Harp will receive hints as to your location." "What form?" "They receive constant updates as to your distance from them, and it is accurate to a meter." "Oh hell. They can triangulate." "This will be the same event for all your challenges with them," Peony said. "But next time, it is accurate to ten meters. Then a hundred, then a thousand."

"I'm athletic, and I've been getting better at running, but I'm not remotely in their league. I won't win anything today, but I will by the time we get to a thousand." "Probably," she replied. "Andromeda, are you still angry about all this? I know you were very angry when you arrived." "I stopped being angry some time ago, I think. Except at that little shit Loris. Jasmine asked me to forgive him, but he's a shit." "Yeah, I think so, too, but Cedar loves him, and he's very good at the same time. For a little shit Loris." I laughed. "Andromeda, I'm sorry, but I

have to leave tomorrow morning." "I'm glad you had this time with Clover," I said. "And I'm glad we finally met." "We'll meet again," she said. "Thank you for what you're doing for us." "I don't know if I'll be around long enough to do much more," I said. "We appreciate the time you've given us to be together. Have a good event." "I will. You know, if they have distance to me, I should have distance to them." She laughed. "It won't do you any good. But I think I agree."

And a moment later, on my visor, it said 28.174 kilometers to each of them, with the numbers steady. "Were you supposed to tell me how far we are from the facility?" I asked. She caressed my cheek. "Like that information would do you any good at all. Besides, you don't want to get away." "I might," I said, "If that damned Loris is involved in any more of my challenges." She laughed as she turned and walked back to the jumper. She was barely in the air before the stone released me. I grabbed the backpack, checked the map on the visor,

and began jogging. I had an hour. I knew hiding wasn't a good strategy. It would take them minutes to find me. Later, hiding could be a very good strategy, but with one-meter accuracy, if I tried to hide, they could walk straight to me. So I jogged, a ground-eating jog designed to put as much distance between me and the start as I could. I'd been in this arena before. It was the first I'd overseen, the one where I'd told Emma to jump, the one where I had jumped. I wasn't going to jump today. I didn't know what the punishment would be for relying on them to catch me, but that was just tempting them to call Bay in.

So I cut to the right, following a path, then when I could, turned west. In my visor, the numbers began to diminish, finally settling down on just over three kilometers. Then they grew for a while as I continued to move further away. The one-hour timer reached zero, and in seconds, the numbers began to decrease. I put on a burst of speed, running instead of jogging. I hit the low point, stepping through the stream, and then had to slow down as the ground turned uphill. When I could, I turned south. The numbers began to increase again, and I thought they increased more

than I expected them to. I reached relatively flat ground, and I began running faster. **** I led them in circles around the gorge three times. It was during the third trip around that Peony said, "Congratulations, Andromeda. You won your first gift. No one expected it." I bent over to catch my breath, panting heavily. "I can't keep this up much longer," I panted out. "What are they saying to each other?" "They don't talk much," she said. "And if they did, I don't speak Whiteblack, so I wouldn't understand." "Oh. So, what's the penalty if I jump?"

"I promise you won't want to do it twice." "How bad is it?" "The net is a spider web." "Someone told Bay I was going to be in this arena?" "No. I put it there. Don't make me do it, Andromeda. I'm serious." "Fine, fine," I said. I grabbed water, drank, put it back, and began running. They had to be figuring out what I was doing, so when I reached the bottom again, instead of continuing up the other side, I turned north. Ten seconds later, Peony was laughing. "What?"

"They had turned around and were going to catch you on the other side. It's going to take them several minutes to realize what you did." "I won't make a second hour," I said, panting. "But I damned well intend to try." I ran until the first new path west. The numbers had been going down for a while, so I cut west and when I could, south again. The numbers continued to decrease, then went up for a little bit, and then they held steady. "I wouldn't suppose you would tell me what they're doing." "Running back south to cut you off." "That's what I thought." I

stopped, turned around, and began running north again. The numbers began increasing, but that didn't last. Then I cut south again and went into a full out run. "Give me a hint, Peony," I said as I came to the path we'd been running on all afternoon. "Turn." I cut east. The numbers held steady for a minute, then began dwindling rapidly. "Shit." I cut into the woods and turned southwest, moving as quickly as I could. A hundred yards off the trail, I turned back west, then northwest. They ran past me but then I heard them dive into the jungle. I made the trail seconds later, turned west, and ran as hard as I

could. But when I looked behind me, they were right there, forty yards back, running side by side, and they were fast! Fast. I squeaked, but I didn't have anything else left. So I ran, and I didn't bother looking back. I watched my step, and I ran. They split as they got to me, Harp on the left, Jaguar on the right. They grabbed my arms and lifted me. I squealed and struggled, but they brought me to a stop, then, gently, set me face down on the ground. I struggled with them, but there was no way I was getting away. They moved my hands behind my back and

crossed my wrists. Then they grabbed my flailing feet, crossed them at the ankles, and pressed them together towards my butt. I struggled a moment longer, but then I went limp, breathing heavily. I could hear them panting as well. "Andromeda," said Peony into my ear. "They haven't won yet. They have to get you back to the start. If you get an opportunity to gain your freedom, you must take it. They're going to do something that might piss you off, but don't worry about the cameras. Trust me." They held me while we all caught our breaths. Finally I said, "You caught me."

"You were clever," Jaguar said. "You evaded us a long time." "Did you have fun chasing me?" "Yes, but it is not over." "I know." "Do not grow angry. We must claim you, Andromeda." And then, while holding me pinned, they began to caress me. I didn't mind that at all. They held me pinned on my stomach, but they each only needed one hand each and a little of their weight. So they each had a hand free, and they made use. They ran fingers through my hair, caressed my cheek. My hands were touched, and then they began stroking me through the jumpsuit.

But then Jaguar shifted her grip, holding me tightly. Harp moved to my feet and began removing my boots. "What are you doing?" "Claiming you," Harp explained, for whatever that explanation was worth. I squirmed and struggled at that, but of course, it barely slowed her down. She stripped the boots and socks from me, and then they shifted, and my feet were added to the touching attention I was receiving. I grew still after a moment. But then they rolled me over into Jaguar's arms. She held my arms pinned behind me but sat me up. Harp moved to sit on my legs, and they stroked my face and my neck. They touched my body,

again through the jumpsuit, and again I grew still, closing my eyes. But then her hands moved to the jumper, and she began opening it. My eyes snapped open. "What are you doing?" "Claiming you, Andromeda," she said. "Not out here!" "Yes, out here," she said. I put up a fight, but I didn't tell them, "No, and I'm serious." It took her a few minutes, but she pulled the jumper from me. And they went back to touching me. I spent the entire time struggling to be free, but they were strong, and I was

not. My struggles grew increasingly weak, but they continued to touch. Then they began talking to me. "We want you," Jaguar said. "We will claim you," Harp continued. "You will become our triangle." And they touched, and they teased, and a few times they licked and nipped, and I arched and squirmed under them. And then they picked me up, and my things besides, and they began to carry me. They didn't stop touching me. They held me tightly all the way

back to the jumper, waiting for us. And they touched me the entire time, too, driving me insane. It was in the jumper that I got my next break. Harp released my legs to stow my clothes. Jaguar tried to put me into a chair by herself, but I broke free. I'm not sure which of us was more surprised, but I ducked under her lunge to grab me and ran out, right past Harp, and was twenty yards from the jumper, running in my birthday suit, before they caught me. They lowered me to the grass, pinned me. And started over with their touches. "Seriously?" I asked, laughing.

"Did you let me do that, Jaguar?" "No, but we won't let it happen again." Together they touched, and I squirmed, because it felt good, and I decided in that moment one simple fact. Charoite had some serious competition. **** They took me to their apartment, not letting me go. I insisted they cover me during the walk through the facility, so they used my jumper like a blanket, wrapping it around me to preserve some of my modesty. But once we arrived, they held me carefully as they unwrapped me.

Then they carried me to their bed, and they touched, and they touched. I grew still, my eyes closed, and let them do whatever they wanted. "You're supposed to struggle." "I'm struggled out," I said. "The claim will be weak if we do not have to work for it," Harp said. "You must make us work." I didn't understand, but I did what I could to give them what they wanted. I tried to struggle. I tried to break free. Really, I did. Eventually, like we had last night, we lay together. I was cradled between them, an arm from each as my pillow, my own arms pinned underneath

them, but they kept their weight off me. And they each held a leg over mine, fully pinning me to the bed. But I didn't mind. I'd gotten so much touch I felt like I was high. "I need food," I told them. "I bet you do as well." "Yes," they agreed. "We have a present for you." "Two presents," Harp clarified. "First we have a robe for you to wear while you are here." She climbed from the bed, visited the closet, and then returned, holding a robe open. It was not, shall we say, big and fluffy, but I thanked them and let them slip me into it. It kept me far more exposed than I preferred, but it was better than

wandering around naked. "This is not your gift. Well, it is yours, but it is just a robe. Come." They led me into the living room and set me down in the center of the sofa, Harp beside me. "This first gift I made," Jaguar said. "I obtained the raw materials, processed them, and produced this. I will say more when you see it." She stepped away and returned with a flat box, black, about ten inches square and an inch and a half thick. Jaguar sat down beside me and set the box in my lap. "Is there a custom in your culture for how to open this?" "No." I couldn't tell what the box was

made from. It had a latch, which took me a moment to work out, and was hinged with invisible hinges. When I opened it, the inside was black, and there was cloth obscuring the contents. I folded back the cloth and stared. Nestled inside was a necklace. I found myself staring at it. It was a choker with a band that would go all the way around my neck, growing more ornate at the front. It appeared to be made of white gold and was festooned with red gemstones I thought were rubies alternating with diamonds. "This is beautiful," I managed to say. And priceless. They barely knew me, and they were giving this to me?

"It is platinum," Jaguar said. "I grew the gemstones." "You grew them?" "Yes. Humans have known how to make artificial diamonds and rubies for a while. I grew these myself. This necklace is not about the rarity of the gemstones but their beauty and presentation. The platinum is from an asteroid we mined." "Wait. When you said you made this, you mean you mined the metal, smelted it, or whatever you do, cast it, grew the gemstones, cut and polished them, then arranged them like this." "I come from a long line of jewelry makers," Jaguar said. "This is how she spends the dark

nights," Harp added. "The diamonds represent Harp, but normally I wear them." "And the rubies represent Jaguar. I wear them." I stared at it, stunned, not knowing what to say. "We cannot tell what your reaction means, Andromeda," said Jaguar. "It is the most stunning piece of jewelry I have ever seen," I said. I turned to look at her. "You barely know me." "Oh, I see," she said. She caressed my arm. "We may become a triangle. We may not. In one of your

jewelry stores, this would be very expensive. You worry this is too large a gift." "I love it, but yes." "We want you to have it," Harp said. "There are several paths the three of us could take." "We may discover we cannot form a triangle with a human. To learn this is a bittersweet gift. It is knowledge, and knowledge has value. You are giving us your time to help us learn this." "We may discover," said Harp, "that we can form a triangle, but perhaps not with you. This is also knowledge." "We may discover," said Jaguar, "that we can form a triangle, but that we are not a compatible triangle. This is

sad, but possible." "Or we may discover," said Harp, "that we will become a triangle." "In all such cases, we want you to have this," said Jaguar. "When you wear it, you will think of us." "What you do for us, even if we do not form a triangle, is precious to us, Andromeda. Please, will you wear it?" I nodded. "Yes," I whispered. It was Jaguar that put it in place. "There is a little nanotechnology in the clasp," she said. "And in the making. It is very strong. You can open and close the clasp with your visor, but there is a secret if you do not have your visor. We will show you."

"Thank you," I said. I hugged first Jaguar and then Harp. "It is not something you would wear every day," said Jaguar. "But we want you to wear it tonight. Tomorrow, after we capture you again, we want to take you on a date, and you will wear it then." "It is... do you have a mirror?" "Yes." They helped me from the sofa and together led me to the bathroom. There I stood in front of the mirror. I glittered. It was absolutely stunning. Yes, it was quite out of place. I was wearing no makeup, my hair was mussed, and I was in a bathrobe. But my neck glittered. I turned to them. "Thank you."

"This is a gift with no expectations," said Jaguar. "We understand it seems unbelievably precious, but it represents time, not treasure. I made this while we were coming here from materials I had. I made it for you." "Oh, Jaguar," I said. I closed the distance and hugged her again. She held me for a minute, but then we moved to the dining room. "We will give you your second gift after dinner. The food has arrived." They helped me to sit, and then they took trips to the kitchen, returning with all the features of a fine dinner. "We cannot eat your food," said Jaguar. "If we become a triangle, we

will teach your body to eat ours." And so I had my meal, and they had theirs. I was so stunned, both from the way they were treating me, and for a gift that I thought meant a lot more to all of us than they were letting on. "She is quiet," Harp said eventually. "Have we overwhelmed you?" "Yes, actually." "She makes such gifts for me," Harp said. "They are lovely, but she has made so many I have told her to stop. She was ecstatic to have a fresh opportunity." "I have kilograms and kilograms

of platinum and gold," Jaguar said. "They can be used for other things, but what is the good of having such supplies if I don't use it to make the things I love to make?" "I want to know something. If I come with you, what will I do to make a living?" "We do not understand the question." "A job," I said. "Employment. Here, I help Jasmine Brighteyes." "Oh," said Jaguar. "We understand now. Anything you want. You do not work for money. Money is irrelevant. You live your life to be fulfilled." "Some human mates are satisfied

with the roles of a mate, to make a home, to love their mates, to raise the children." "We do not believe this would satisfy you, but it is one path. You would spend some time learning. Some humans spend the rest of their lives learning." "Others become poets, writers, or artists," said Harp. "But there are many jobs, some you could do now, and some you could learn to do." "You should ask yourself what you want to do," said Harp. "If you could do anything at all." "I want to be fulfilled. To me, I must feel useful. I must feel I contribute meaningfully both to the family and to

society." "There are so many choices," said Harp. "Humans are forced into their decisions. If you were rich and didn't need to work, would you have held your old job?" "No." "What would you have done?" "I don't know." "Well, you have to decide. We can help you, but you have to decide. But you can do almost anything, if you have or can learn the skills." "There are things you must learn," said Jaguar. "You must learn to live safely in space. We do not live on Earth. You could, if you want, learn to

pilot our ships. You would not have to, but we would encourage you to." "I could fly the jumper?" "Well, yes, but we meant the space ships. The jumpers do not go into space." "We would want you to learn how to navigate," said Harp. "And how the systems on the ship work." "We hope you will learn our language," added Jaguar. "Human throats can speak our words, but with a heavy accent." "Some humans learn many languages," added Harp. "That is your choice." "Some humans also learn other

skills," said Jaguar. "If there is a musical instrument you wish to learn, you should make sure we know so we bring one when we go." "Some humans spend hours a day trying to master Boardwalk, but they never can beat a Catseye." I laughed. "I play Boardwalk about as good as I feel I ever will." "We have other games we would teach you. Some you could play very well, with effort." "So it is not what would you do. It is what do you want to do." "What about children?" "We are first focused on becoming a triangle," Harp explained.

"We want children someday, but we will decide as a triangle. We will agree." "The two of you must have an idea what you want." "We will live a very long time, and space is vast," Jaguar said. "We will have children. They will be Whiteblack, not human. But you will be a mother equally with us." "Will I carry them?" "We will all carry them," Harp said. "We want more than one. We may have several close together like a human family, or we may spread them out, a decade or two in between." "Or several at once, then two decades later, several more," suggested Jaguar.

"You will be called Mama Andromeda," Harp said. "I am Mama Harp. Do you see?" "I see," I said. I smiled. "We can combine our DNA," Jaguar said. "The three of us combined into one new child. Your body would be altered to carry our children, so you will grow fat and waddle. It is safe. We will all waddle in our turn." "We will take very good care while you are with child," Harp added. It all sounded amazing. We finished the meal and cleaned up. And then they led us back to the living room. This time it was Harp that set a box in my lap. It was a cube of about eight inches in a similar box to the

necklace. "I made this for you," Harp said. I opened it, and nestled inside was a glass globe, and inside the globe was a slowly rotating Earth. I took it out and set it on the coffee table, leaning forward to stare at it. "It is beautiful," I said. There were clouds, and night and day. I looked for Minnesota, and there was a storm centered over the Dakotas. It looked like it might be spilling snow at home, or just about to. "While we are nearby, it knows the weather and displays it," Harp said. "If we were too far to know, then it guesses based on weather models."

"You made this." "I thought no matter what happens, you will become mated to one of the aliens. Perhaps it will be one who lives here on Earth, but most of us are not here. And so you should take Earth wherever you went." I started crying then turned to her and pulled her into my arms. "Thank you," I said. I hated crying, but maybe just this once. They let me cry, Jaguar at my back, but then I pulled away. "We do not understand why you cry," she said. "I am overwhelmed," I said.

"Your gifts are so thoughtful. They are both so beautiful, and you made them for me. You didn't even know me when you made them." "We told you. We act as if what we wish to be will be. To act in another way is to ensure the other way occurs." Harp set her hand on my arm. "When you look at it, you will think of home. You will also think of us." **** I stayed for a couple more hours. We cuddled, touched, and talked quietly. "Am I staying the night?" "No," said Harp. "We must send you on your way." I asked for a little more kissing,

a little more hugging, a little more touching. And then wearing nothing but the bathrobe, visor, and new necklace, and carrying the globe, I stepped from their apartment. Immediately words appeared on my visor. Come see me. Jasmine. The visor led me to her apartment, which was near. The door opened as I approached, and Jasmine appeared from deeper inside a moment later. She came to a stop. "Stunning," she said. "She made it," I said, the awe in my voice. "Jasmine, it's too much." "No, it's not. Come. Let's sit a

minute." She led me into her living room, giving me a hug before we sat. "I want to see that, too." So I pulled out the globe and set it on the table. "Lovely," she said. "You fear there are expectations." "Yes." "Only that you give them a fair chance." "What about Charoite." "She isn't done wooing you, either. Tell me, Andromeda, do you still feel I am at risk of being in default of our agreement?" "No." "Good."

"God, Jasmine," I said. "I don't know what to do." "I know. Let this progress and see how you feel." "I was falling in love with Charoite, but I really enjoy Harp and Jaguar, too. They are a little harder to understand." "They have spent far less time with humanity, and Whiteblacks are considered an oddity even amongst all the other species. But they are good people, and you would be happy. I am sure of it." "They told me I could do anything I want," I said. "Almost everyone you might pick will tell you that. How do you feel about

that?" "I don't know. It's overwhelming, but what about this isn't overwhelming?" "Well then, you'll like this." She helped me pack up the globe, and then we stood. Once in the hallway, she wrapped tentacles around me and led me through the facility. She didn't take me to my cell. Instead, we entered one of the occupied cellblocks. "There is a back route," she said. "I am leading you by the shortest route." And so we stepped through the rows of cells, each with a woman inside. Most slept. A few stared into space. Most of those wore visors, so I knew they were occupied. A few turned to watch Jasmine and I step past them.

"You are letting everyone see your tentacles." "I have decided to take your advice. I talked to some of the guards." "Oh Jasmine, that's wonderful!" I said. "Good. This is better." "It feels so good," she said. "I can breathe. One of the guards asked if she could touch." "Which one?" "The one you call Piper." "How was she about it?" "Nervous. She's not ready for hugs, and I don't have the sort of relationship with her I have with the humans I hug." We reached the end of the

cellblock, turned left, and then came to a stop, turning right. "This is yours," she said. "It cannot be seen by the other women; we never bring them here, and we dimmed the front where they could see." Then she led me forward, and the door opened. The entrance was a living room. It was small and wouldn't host more than four or five, but it was definitely a living room. In one direction was a bedroom. There was a closet and a bathroom. The bathroom had both a shower and a tub. In the other direction was a kitchen with a small table, big enough for four to share an informal meal. The kitchen was equipped; Jasmine showed me the controls. "The visor can give you

a full tutorial and also has cookbooks and can even give you lessons." There was a refrigerator. It was stocked with basics. I turned to her. "It's amazing." She led me back to the bedroom. All the different clothing I'd been wearing was there. And there were sheets, pillows, and blankets on the bed, although the sheets and blankets were transparent. That caused me to look up, and the ceiling was also transparent. "There is privacy when you are using the toilet," Jasmine said. "Otherwise all spaces here can be viewed from above. Directly above, they would need to lean over the railing,

and you might be hard to see from some places. You will be watched more here, Andromeda, but I believe the extra facilities will be worth it to you." "Thank you, Jasmine," I said. Again that day I was overwhelmed. I pulled her into a hug. "Thank you." "You have the same rules you have always had," she said, "plus one more. You will not use anything I am giving you to hide. You will not wear any more clothing inside here than I have been giving you in your cell. You will not use any as makeshift blankets or to hide from anyone up on the veranda above. You may do what you have always been able to do: turn your back. Am I clear?"

"Yes, Jasmine. I won't abuse that rule." "You may change for work in here, of course, but you will not linger in here dressed for work. If you will be here for a while, you may take everything off and sit in undies. And the robe for the hallways is not to be worn in here, either. You may wear the kimonos, however." "I understand." "If anyone wants to look, you will let them look." "I got it. I got it." She smiled at me. **** Our second challenge began

much like our first, but the distance meter was accurate to ten meters instead of one meter. I decided to use the topology against them. As fast as I could, I ran from the starting point, went around the gorge, and then backtracked as close to it as I could, right at the bottom of the cliff. Then I sat down, had a bite to eat and a drink of water, and waited. Fifteen minutes later and the aliens were running. From what I could tell, they had figured out where I was, but not exactly. The distance closed quickly until it stopped at forty meters. Then it varied from forty to sixty for a good twenty minutes. I could envision them at the top of the cliff, trying to figure out where I

was. Then, of course, they finally realized I was at the bottom. They began moving away, quickly. I decided they were circling around to the east, so I took off. They had a long path to go, so I hoped I could get far enough in time. I did my own circle, ending at the top of the cliff. Again they searched for me, this time at the bottom. That didn't last as long before they began running again. But Harp's distance was increasing faster than Jaguar's. "They split up!" And that only meant they were going opposite directions. Whichever way I ran, I'd run into them. I took off, heading south, back towards the starting point.

Their jumper was there, the ramp down. I eyed it for just a moment. Then I kept going, running south another half kilometer. Then I waited. I couldn't tell exactly what was happening based on their numbers. Their distance shrank, then slowly converged to the same number, almost two kilometers away. Then the numbers began shrinking rapidly. When it reached a half kilometer I dashed into the woods a hundred meters then began running north again. The numbers shrank, then grew, and I immediately cut towards the left. They were still a hundred meters behind me as I squirmed my way underneath the lander. I wondered how long before they

would look for me. The grasses were tall, after all, and hid me from a casual look. The edges of the lander were crushing the grass, but it was open in front and back, underneath the ramp. I thought about hiding under the ramp itself, but in the end I wormed my way over to one edge. I touched the metal. It was cool. So I pressed up against it and lay still. The numbers reached thirty meters, then varied from under ten meters to thirty meters as they split up, trying to find me. They searched the inside of the lander. From the sound of it, they even climbed on top. They may have looked

underneath, but if they did, it wasn't very thorough. "That is a better hiding place than I imagined it would be," said Cedar into my ears. "They seem quite puzzled, but if they look like they're going to move the jumper, I have to stop them. You would get hurt there." "It was kind of a tight fit," I whispered very quietly. "I'm not sure they can crawl under here." Eventually they came to a stop. I thought they were standing on the ramp. And then I heard the ramp lifting. When I looked, Harp was lying flat on the ground looking directly at me. A moment later, Jaguar joined her. Harp tried to climb in after me, but it really was quite

snug. Jaguar moved to the other end and made her own attempt. From both sides, they tried to reach far enough to grab me. Harp was able to just brush my foot, so I pulled it up tighter. Jaguar wasn't even close. "You can start digging," I said with a grin. "It would be dangerous to move the lander with you here," she replied. "You could come out." "I don't think so. It was impressed upon me I should play to win." A moment later, they both sat back. And nothing happened for a while. I thought about trying to slip out. I wondered if they would notice. The

urge to sneak out grew and grew. But I hunkered down and stayed where I was. Then Jaguar moved away. She was gone perhaps five minutes, up to a hundred meters away before she grew closer again. I heard noises, but I couldn't tell what they were doing. Then both heads appeared at the front end of the ship, Harp across from me, Jaguar along the nearest edge. And Jaguar had a long stick. She let me see it was sharpened. "You wouldn't," I said. She began poking at me with the stick. I shied away from it. "Seriously? All your high tech, and you're going to poke me with a stick?"

"I could use a power staff if you want," she said. "No way! You promised you wouldn't hurt me, and those things hurt. Besides, they are too short." "My stick is not," she said. And she poked at me. I caught it and tried to pull it away from her, but all that happened was she pulled me forward two feet before I let go again. She immediately poked at me, and I scrambled back further. Then I felt something wrap around my ankle and draw tight. Harp was no longer at the front. I hadn't even heard her. She began tugging on me, and I struggled to stay where I was. I rolled over onto my back,

trying to squirm my ankle from her grip, but she wasn't holding me with a hand. She had looped my ankle with a rope. "No way!" I said. She tugged, and I slid. So I scrambled, one foot held tightly. I looked for things to hang onto, but all I could do was drag at the grass and dirt. Slowly she pulled me out from underneath the jumper, dragging a fair mount of pulled up grasses with me. Once she could reach, she grabbed my ankle with her hand, and when I tried kicking at her, she got the other one. It was only a few seconds later before she firmly but slowly and carefully pulled me into the sunlight. Jaguar was already waiting. She

took one leg from Harp, and the two dragged me on my back a short distance from the lander. Then they began touching. I'd won another gift by hiding under the jumper. They brought me back to their apartment and we showered together, the three of us, taking turns to wash each other. And then they said, "We wish to take you out to dinner." The clothing they had for me was a leather outfit similar to theirs, but it was in black, red, and white. I absolutely loved it. I was expecting shackles and even asked about it, but they said, "You would not walk away from us now, would you?"

"No." **** For the third challenge, the sensitivity was now a hundred meters. I ran them around for a while, but then once they were within two hundred meters, I dived into the woods and hid. They passed me and came to a stop. It took them a minute or two before they began searching the woods. I expected it to take them time to find me. It was about three minutes. They looked so pleased when they found me. I struggled with them, of course, but they pulled me back to the trail and began touching. I didn't win a gift that day, but I didn't mind.

**** We lay together in bed. They spent hours driving me crazy. I'd tried to encourage them to claim the rest. I really, really wanted them to finish what they had started, as I was insane with need. But they wouldn't let me touch back, and they seemed oblivious to my hints. Finally I managed to wrest one hand from Harp. I grabbed Jaguar's hand and shoved it between my legs, pressing her where I wanted her. They both stilled. "No, Andromeda," Jaguar said. "Not yet." "Yes, yet!" I said. "You're driving me crazy!"

Harp shifted forward, grabbed my hand, and pulled it back over my head. And then Jaguar withdrew her hand from where I'd put it. I stared at her. I looked up at Harp. "Let me go," I said. "I'm serious." "Andromeda," she said gently. "Let me go!" I screamed. "I mean it. Let me go." She released me, and I sat up, moving to the edge of the bed, bowing my head. "I thought you wanted me." They moved to sit beside me, but when they touched, I pushed them away. It was like pushing a mountain, but they

stopped trying to touch. "We cannot," Jaguar said. "You cannot?" "It is wrong." I jumped to my feet. "It's what?" "It is wrong." "It's wrong? It's wrong?" My voice rose. "I suppose you're going to tell me it's unnatural. I suppose you're going to say women don't touch that way, or that you couldn't possibly touch a human that way." I spun away, looking for my clothes. I began gathering them, but then they were both there, catching me, catching my hands. "No!" I screamed. "I thought you

wanted me. I thought that was part of it. But it's wrong? Let me go!" "You do not understand." "I understand you said you wanted me, but you don't." "You do not understand," Jaguar repeated. "We do want you. We want you that way and every other way." "But it's wrong." "It's wrong for now," Harp said. "Andromeda, a triangle is forming. Maybe you can't feel it yet. But we can feel it forming." "If we touch that way, then the triangle that forms is only about that. We want it to be about everything. And so that comes later, after."

I let them pull me back to the bed. We sat, one on either side, holding my arms. "Soon," Jaguar said. "If you want us. Soon." "But not yet," Harp added. "The triangle will not be healthy." "I don't know what you're talking about." "We know," Jaguar said. "You have to trust us. We know what we're talking about." I sat quietly, not fighting them anymore. "How long?" I half-whispered. "The triangle must form. It is forming. If we touch like that, if we taste like that, then it is to consummate the

triangle." "How long? Days? Weeks? Months?" "Not months. A few weeks, perhaps, if we stay here the entire time. But Jasmine Brighteyes tells us you have one other suitor, and we must give her one final chance. You must have choice. We are not happy about this, but she left so we could meet you, and now we must let her remind you that you have choice." "All right," I said quietly. "When are you leaving?" "A few more days." Then Jaguar turned my face to her. "We want you to know. The triangle is forming. We are convinced it will form. That means our kind can form a triangle with humans."

"We weren't sure," Harp added. "You have given us such a gift for the future." "I still don't understand." "You will," they said together. And I would, and sooner than we realized. **** We had to skip a night, as I had long events to run. I missed them terribly. But then our next challenge had the distance indicators set to one kilometer. I didn't think they could possibly find me. I did the same trick at the bottom of the cliff, and at first they fell for it, but then, somehow, I was sure

they were moving away, each going in opposite directions. I ran north. The distance to each grew to under one kilometer, and I was north of the eastwest trail they would be on. I waited briefly then began running again. I thought they would head to the base of the cliff, or get awfully close to it, and I could then head far to the north. With such poor sensitivity, I didn't think they could possibly find me. But the distance stayed under one kilometer, and finally I dashed into the woods and found an easy hiding place, tucked in underneath a tree with thick vegetation surrounding me. They wouldn't possibly find me. Fifteen minutes later, the brush

parted, and they were both looking down at me. "Clover! Did you cheat?" They grabbed me and pulled me to the trail. "No," she said. "I don't know how they did that. They shouldn't have found you." The next night was nearly the same, but they found me even faster. But the night after that was truly unexpected.

Triangles The event began like the others. I decided to just put distance between us. And so I jogged. By the start time, I was well hidden a half kilometer from the starting position. They couldn't possibly locate me. And they didn't. The event started, and after only a few minutes, I had the incredible urge to leave my hiding place. A few minutes after that, I stood up and began walking, then jogging, then running back to the start. I couldn't have explained it. "What are you doing?" Jasmine asked.

"I don't know." "You promised to play to win." I ignored her. I had to find Harp and Jaguar. I had to find them. I had to. I burst into the starting clearing. They were seated in the grass near the lander. I ran to them, walking the last few steps, and sat down at the apex of a triangle. They both looked at me. They were holding hands, and when they reached out, I set my hands in theirs. "The triangle is formed," said Jaguar. "It is fragile, but it is formed." I couldn't have explained it, but I was filled with such deep joy, such joy it couldn't possibly all be mine.

"You are in trouble," Jasmine whispered into my ears. But I didn't care. They didn't strip me, although they did touch, and then we rose together. We moved onto the ship together. I took my seat, and was filled with such joy. But Jasmine was waiting for us, and she was angry. I could see it in her tentacles. Together we walked to her. "Our triangle forms," Harp said. "Tonight we share, and tomorrow. Then Jaguar and I will leave, to give our competition one last chance. But we will come back to finish what we have started. Andromeda will be the third point of our triangle."

"Well, Andromeda and I have something to discuss," Jasmine said. "If she has any skin left when I am done with her, you may have her back. But I do not believe she will have any privileges, and if you wish to visit with her before you go, it will be in her cell." Somehow, I didn't care. She didn't wait. A tentacle snacked out, grabbed my wrist, and practically yanked me from them. That I cared about. I protested, but Jasmine told me to shut up, and she practically dragged me through the facility. She brought me to one of the conference rooms, shoved me into a chair, and had it swallow me. Then she

stepped forward and forced my hands to the table, and they were swallowed. "Why are you doing this? What did I do?" She didn't answer. Instead, she stormed around the room, speaking rapid Catseye. I kept asking what I had done and asking permission to go to Jaguar and Harp. Finally she spun to me, leaning on the table. "You made promises to me! I have been very generous with you because of those promises. And you broke them!" "I don't understand. I don't!" She yelled for a while. She told me every privilege I had earned was gone. She deactivated the visor and

yanked it from my face. "No more swimming. No more leaving your cell. And we do not need your continued assistance. You will sit in your cell and rot, for all I care!" "What did I do?" And then Jaguar and Harp were there. They rushed into the room, then moved to my side, putting arms around me. "What are you doing?" Harp asked. "Why are you hurting Andromeda?" "I haven't touched her since I put her in the chair," Jasmine said. "She broke her promises to me." "I didn't! What promises?"

"You promised to do your best for each challenge. And instead, you decided you couldn't win, so you left your hiding spot, found them, and sat down. Why?" She screamed the last word. "We called her," said Jaguar. "We didn't know if it would work yet. If she were stronger, she might be able to resist one of us, but no point on the triangle can resist when the other two points call to her. We called, and she came." "Stop hurting her," Harp said. "This is a good day! Do you know what this means? We can make triangles with humans. We have one with Andromeda. It is weak, but it was strong enough to

call her. It was strong enough she came to us." And then they both turned inward to me, murmuring quietly, surrounding me with their... love. They loved me. I could feel it. "They love me," I whispered. "Yes," said Jaguar. "And you love us." "You called her," Jasmine said, her voice flat. "Yes. She tried to resist, but we were two, and she was one. When we return, we will strengthen the triangle." "Please release her," Harp said. "Let us celebrate." Jasmine stared then said quietly,

"My apologies, Andromeda." "Please may I go?" She paused, collected my visor, and handed it to Jaguar. Then the table and chair released me. **** We didn't make love. They told me we must wait. But we showered together again, touching, all of us touching. They let me touch them, and they touched me and each other. And then they drew me to bed, and together, we slept. **** In the morning, we touched some more, but I had duties. "I wish I didn't have to. Do you

have to go?" "Yes. We can feel your affection for the Kitsune. She deserves one chance more." "I'll never have this with her," I said. "Please stay." "We cannot. We promised to Jasmine Brighteyes. But it will not be long." "When are you leaving?" "Late tonight." "Are you going back to the space station?" "No. We will stay on earth. The space station is too far." "Is there a challenge tonight?" "Dinner and touch," Jaguar said.

**** It was the longest day of my life, or so it seemed, and I was distracted besides. But finally Jasmine said, "Go to them. You're going to be worthless, anyway." I didn't stay to argue with her. They were waiting for me, and I threw myself into their waiting arms. We touched. We kissed. And I could feel them both. It was glorious. They had clothing for me, so we dressed and went out. It felt so odd to be unshackled, although it was now the second time. We had a lovely dinner. I don't remember what we talked about. I just felt so amazingly good.

Then we returned to their apartment. "We have two hours," Harp said. "Let us sit." They pulled me to the sofa, and we sat together, touching. "The bed is better." "If we take you to bed, then we won't talk," Jaguar said. "Talking is overrated." "Before we return, you must think about what you want to bring from Earth. We cannot return if you forget something." "I suppose you don't visit very often. The station is so far." "We don't live on the station," Harp said. "We live somewhat further."

"Further? Saturn is pretty darned far already. Well, I suppose if I need something, we can get a shuttle to bring it, but that has to be expensive." The two exchanged a look. "You should make sure you think of everything," Jaguar said. "We know you are close to your parents," Harp added. "We'll take you to say goodbye." "Goodbye? But we'll come to visit sometime, won't we?" That was another look. "But... I'll be able to talk to them, right? Jasmine told me she could talk to the people on the space station. "So I'll be able to talk to them, right?"

"We don't live on the space station," Harp said again. "It is further." "Further. How often will we come back to visit?" "We don't know," Jaguar said. "It will be difficult." "But... you came here. You said you were harvesting asteroids. That is how you made the metal for my necklace. The asteroids are between Mars and Jupiter. That's closer than Saturn." "We weren't harvesting those asteroids," Harp said. "We'll explain everything when we come to take you home with us," Jaguar said.

"Wait. Just wait. Where is home?" "We can't tell you." "What do you mean, you can't tell me?" "We can tell you once we leave human space," Harp said. "What?" I screamed. "Leave human space? Do you live back on the Whiteblack homeworld?" "No, no, that is much too far." "Where? Tell me where!" "It is another star. It is near, but traveling between the stars is difficult. We harvest the asteroids for fuel so we could come back. When we got here, we heard about you."

I looked back and forth between them. "How far?" I asked in a cold voice. "We're talking another star. That means light years. I did research. The nearest star is over four light years away, and you said it's not that one. Saturn is a billion kilometers, and that's an incomprehensible distance to me. But you're taking me a thousand times as far. Ten thousand, twenty thousand, fifty thousand times as far." I jumped to my feet, pulling away from them. "Do you go into some sort of cryosleep?" I asked. "It takes years. Decades." "No. Not that long," Jaguar said. "But it is difficult, so we cannot come back soon."

"How soon? Next year? Five years? Five decades?" They stared and didn't answer. "That means never! Never! I'll never see my parents again. They'll never see me. It will be like we're dead to each other. How can you do this to me? I told you that first night how close I was with my parents. The space station. Okay. The space station is bad, but I could talk to them, and I could get promises to be allowed to come home. Jasmine told me that once. Not often, maybe not even every year. But not never!" "We left our parents," they said quietly. "To come here. We left our families and our people to come here. To... to do the things that must happen

here. And humans leave their families. It wasn't that long ago when humans would move across America. It would take months. People died during the travel. They certainly didn't expect to ever go back. They left their families." "You're talking two hundred years ago! Chances are their parents were dead. Women died in childbirth all the time. They left to make a better life. Well, I like my life here! And I'm not leaving my parents!" And then I ran for the exit, sobbing, yanking the visor on as I ran, nearly slamming into the door until it opened, the visor now locked to my face. Jaguar and Harp ran after me, but I dashed away from them, sobbing,

running. I didn't even care I wasn't wearing a stitch. I trigged the emergency signal on the visor. Jasmine appeared a half second later. "Where are you?" I cried "Where are you? Where are you?" "Follow the lights, Andromeda," she said calmly. And so I ran, Jaguar and Harp calling after me. Except they weren't chasing me. I could feel them calling. It felt like it had earlier. But this time I ran away from them. Jasmine waited for me in her

apartment, and she had a robe open to me when I burst in. She wrapped me in it, then pulled me into her embrace. "How could you do this to me? How could you?" "Let's sit at the table," she said. "You did this to me. You're making me decide not just between them and Charoite, but between them and my parents!" "They were supposed to tell you at the beginning," Jasmine said. "They told me they would tell you." I pulled away but moved to the table and plopped on a chair and buried my face in my hands. She let me cry, and then I could feel my triangle moving closer. They

were still trying to call to me, but I stayed where I was. And then they were there. Jasmine met them at the door, and when I looked up, her tentacles were waving wildly. "You didn't tell her," she said. "When were you going to tell her? When you were already two light years away? Oh, by the way, you'll never see your parents again." "We don't understand," Jaguar said. "We are a triangle. We are replacing her relationship with all others." "Like hell you are!" I screamed. "We do not understand," Harp said. "We feel the triangle. We feel her grief. We have a triangle. She no longer

has a triangle with her parents." "I don't know what you're talking about, but if you are making me pick between you or my parents, I'm picking my parents. You can just go off to Alpha Whateverthefuck without me." "We do not understand," Jaguar said again. Jasmine said, "Let us talk about it." "There's nothing to talk about," I said. But she led them in. They tried to go around the table to me, but I scrambled out of the chair and kept the table between us. "And you stay away from me, too!" I said, pointing at Jasmine. "This is your fault!"

"You two sit there," Jasmine said. "Andromeda, sit here. Now." She pointed to a chair. "No." "Sit here, now!" She barked. "You keep your tentacles to yourself." "I won't touch you," she said. "Sit." I sat, but I glared at all of them. My heart was breaking, again. I was tired of this. Jasmine stepped away. When she returned, she had paper. I hadn't seen paper since arriving. But she had paper and a variety of pencils. She sat. "Jasmine Brighteyes, we do not

understand," Jaguar said. "The triangle has formed. The bond with her parents should be ending." "It doesn't work that way!" I said. "Of course it does," said Harp. "Perhaps you don't feel it yet. That's all." "Andromeda," said Jasmine. "Let me handle this." She sat down and pushed the paper and pencils across the table. "Draw the triangle that Andromeda shares with her parents." "That triangle is replaced." "Draw the old triangle," Jasmine said. Harp took the paper. She

selected pencils and drew a simple triangle with colored in circles at the vertices. "We do not have symbols." "Use M for Mom," I said, "D for Dad, and A for Andromeda." And so she labeled the vertices. She gave the paper to Jasmine. "Now draw the triangle you intend to share with Andromeda." Harp said nothing. She drew a similar triangle, but she used different colors. She used symbols for her and Jaguar, aliens symbols, but the A for me. Jasmine took it from her. "This is the only triangle either of you would have." "Of course. You can only be part

of one triangle." Jasmine tapped the other triangle. "This is a Whiteblack triangle. Humans do not have the same sort of triangle. But they have their own. This is what you thought she felt." She tapped the other paper. "This is what you believe she feels now, and this old triangle is gone." "There may be a ghost," Jaguar said. "Once we solidify the triangle, the old one is gone." I shook my head. "That is not how human emotions work," Jasmine said. "This is what you are asking Andromeda to do." Then she drew a second triangle tied to the first, and so there were two triangles, one

with me, Jaguar, and Harp, and a second one with me, Mom, and Dad. "No, no," said Harp. "This triangle fades. It should already be gone, but perhaps it lingers. It will fade." "No it won't!" I said. "You think I can stop loving my parents? Are you insane?" "This is Andromeda now," Jasmine said. "She feels both of you. Her triangle with her parents is not like her triangle with you. And so they both exist at the same time. But you are asking her to do this." And then she took the paper and tore it, ripping the portion with my parents away. I saw that, stared, and began sobbing. I hate crying.

"Can't you stay?" I asked. "Please. I'll go to Saturn with you. Or the asteroids here. Or Mars. Or even further, but can't we stay close enough to visit? Can't we stay close enough to talk? Don't make me dead to them. You can't do that! Jasmine, you can't make me go with them. That would be as bad as giving me to a male." "Maybe not as bad, but I understand, Andromeda." "But..." Harp looked at the paper. Jaguar looked at me. And then I felt their grief slamming into me, and I was filled with such deep pain, I doubled over. "One triangle must break," Jaguar said, her voice rough. "How do

we break the other triangle?" "You can't! You're asking me to choose between you. And I choose my parents. Do you hear me? I choose my parents!" Then I doubled again with a new wave of grief. "It hurts," I said. "It hurts! Make it stop hurting." "We must break the triangle," Harp said. "It is fragile. We can break it." She stood, and Jaguar stood, and they moved around the table towards me. I scrambled to my feet, intending to run away, but Jasmine was there, and she caught me. "Let me go! Don't let them touch me." I struggled with her.

"Andromeda," she said firmly. "You must decide." "My parents! I'll go to Saturn, but I'm not going to another star unless they can promise we'll come back every year." "We cannot," Harp said. "We wouldn't be back for a decade at the soonest. Three or four is more likely." "They'll be dead! They're in their fifties. They could have heart attacks next week." "Andromeda," Jasmine said. "I'm sorry." She nodded to Harp and Jaguar. Jaguar stepped forward. "Andromeda, please think about what you are giving up."

"You should have told me," I said. "You should have told me!" She nodded. "Yes. Jasmine Brighteyes told us to tell you. We didn't think you would accept the process if you knew. We weren't sure it would work, but if it was going to work at all, it would be with you. You have given us a gift. We know we can form a triangle with a human. This is a great gift of knowledge." She looked down for a moment. "If you wish to break the triangle, we must deliberately hurt each other." "You already did that part." "We did not deliberately hurt you," said Harp. "We didn't want to hurt you."

I looked down at the floor. "I don't want to hurt you. I just want to stop hurting. Can't you stay?" "We wish we could," said Jaguar. "We really do. We cannot explain. It is not allowed. We are very sorry, Andromeda. You must hurt us. If you do not, the triangle will tighten, and you won't be able to resist the next time we call. And we won't be able to leave you. You must hurt us." "I don't want to hurt you!" "You must," said Harp. She stepped closer. "You must hit me as hard as you can. You must try to hurt me." "I'll break my hand." "Hit me somewhere soft," Harp said. "Here." She pointed to her

stomach. "As hard as you can. You must hurt me. I hid this from you. You must hate me." "I love you!" I screamed. "You made me love you, but you want to take me from my parents." "Hit me, Andromeda. Hit me, or by tomorrow, you will be crawling to us, the pain will be so intense. And we will all leave together. You must decide. Hit me, and then hit Jaguar. And then we must hit you." "You'll kill me." "No, but you will know this time we hurt you deliberately." "There has to be another way. Please. We're all smart people. There has to be another way."

"There isn't." And then she reached out and slapped me. She slapped me so hard my head rocked back. I cried out, and then I wound up and hit her back. Then Jaguar hit me on the other side. And I threw myself at her. Jasmine had to pull me off of Jaguar. And then... I screamed with the pain before collapsing.

Grief I was in and out of consciousness for two days. The world moved on without me, as the world does, but I was oblivious to events around me. But then I woke. I was in bed in my cell. Jasmine was sitting beside me, staring into space. I stirred, and she lowered her gaze to me. "Are you with us now?" "They're gone, aren't they?" I asked. "Yes." "Oh god, Jasmine. I loved them so much. I could feel them. I could feel them! I can't feel them anymore. Oh god. Oh god." I buried my face in my hands

and began shuddering. She moved onto the bed and wrapped around me. She held me while I sobbed. She held me for a long time, wrapped around me as I clutched at her. But slowly I calmed down, staring ahead, feeling dead. "I'm sorry," she said softly. "Andromeda, I didn't think it would work. They wanted you, but even how you felt about Charoite, we had to give them the chance. I can't tell you how sorry I am." "They should have told me everything," I said quietly. "They were duplicitous." "I agree," Jasmine said. "The gifts they gave me," I

started to say. "Were gifts," she said. "They want you to keep them." "Will you take care of them for me?" I asked. "At least for a while. I don't want to look at them." "Of course." I paused a moment then asked, "Does Charo know? I'm not ready to see her." "She knows." "Does she hate me?" "No. She asked to come. I told her to wait." "Tell me Charo doesn't live two stars away." "She's at the space station most

of the time with her mother." I nodded. "I need some time. I can't go from that to her arms. I feel like a big, fat cheater." "You don't control the situation, Andromeda. I do." **** I returned to work the next day. People were gentle with me, but I had events to run. Charo's version of waiting didn't exactly correspond to mine. I needed a week or two. I got two days. She came to me in my cell late that night, sliding into my bed with me. "You're moving up in the world," she said. "Hey," I said quietly.

"Jasmine told me what happened." "I know." "She also told me you feel like you cheated on me." I rolled away from here, staring at the world. "I did," I said quietly. Charo moved against my back, sliding one arm underneath my head, the other around my shoulder before pressing against me tightly, spooning me. "You had no choice in events," she said. "Please don't push me away, Andromeda. I want you." She pulled on my shoulder, and I let her pull me onto my back. Then she pulled on my chin until I was facing her. A moment later the visor went black, and she pulled it from

my face, setting it aside. We looked into each other's eyes. Charo caressed my face. I didn't try pulling her away, but my heart was in my throat. "I want you," she repeated, speaking gently. "I think we would be good together. Unless you send me away, I intend to stay while we each make sure. Will you please let me stay?" I looked into her eyes then captured her hand and kissed the fingers. "I don't even know what to apologize for." "You apologize for nothing. You ask me to kiss you, and we move forward from here." "Please kiss me, Charoite."

And she did. **** We worked together the next day. Afterwards, Jasmine invited us for dinner and Boardwalk. Bay had an event that was running much longer than expected. The mating candidate was doing a good job hiding from her challenger, and Jasmine told him, "If she's doing a good job, let her win. She's got two more to go." Cedar volunteered to stay with him to keep him company, but he told her to go along with the rest of us. So there were five of us: Jasmine, Cedar, Clover, Charoite, and me. We had a nice dinner, but I was surprised how the game went.

Everyone helped me capture the Kitsune. When she realized what they were doing, she squeaked, and it wasn't her amused squeak, either. She wasn't entirely gracious about it when she moved to share my cushion, but then she cuddled in. "This is more like it," I said. "I was wondering what it would take until I had the upper hand with you." "It took a human, two Catseye, and a Loris," she said. "I should be flattered." "We both know it only took two Catseye and a Loris because the human is so incompetent. They could have captured you far more easily, but giving you to me was the hard part."

It took her a few minutes, and I teased her a little. But soon she was flirting up a storm with me and teasing back. And then she began trying to tell me how to play. "Who is the vassal?" "I am only giving you advice," she said. "And I'm not a vassal. That's the Catseye term." "You're in a Catseye household," Jasmine said. "Vassal." Everyone else laughed. "Fine. I'm your vassal. But it is my duty to give you advice." "We are strengthening our position," I said. "That's not how you win."

"It depends on the definition of winning." "There's only one definition." "That's not true. I don't want anyone taking you from me. We are winning or losing together." "Well, we're going to lose together." "Yes. We'll do it together." "But-" She put on a mutinous expression. "Maybe if you kiss me, I won't mind losing." I smiled and took my time about it. Once we were paying attention to the game again, Cedar said, "You two are good together." We did indeed lose together, but

it was together, and when Clover removed us from play, she didn't insist we separate. The warm Kitsune felt good, and it felt even better when I let her take me to her apartment. I spent the night cuddled together with her. She didn't seduce me, but if she'd tried, I would have let her. She did it the next night instead. **** Afterwards, we lay together. "Thank you," I whispered. "That was nice," she said. "Just nice." "Nice is good. They can't always be earthshaking. Nice is good. Nice is how you settle in for the long haul. And

it was together. That makes it special." "Yeah," I said. "I liked that part." We dozed a little bit, but she was restless, so finally I asked if she wanted to get up for a while and play a game or something. "You could tell me what you've been doing the last few weeks." "I'd like that," she said. So we climbed from bed. She gave me a robe, collected one for herself, and we moved to the living room. Then cuddled together, I asked, "So, where did you go?" "I've been talking to more of the team at NASA. I grabbed a group and we went over to Geneva to hang with some of the engineers from the European Space Center. I tried to convince them

what I wanted to do was safe, and then we discussed the other choices." "Can you explain it in terms I might understand without a degree in astrophysics?" "Yes. You know I want to colonize nearby space." "Right." "If humans weren't so populous, and so many of you xenophobic, we would live among you. But we don't think that's going to be safe for a long time." "That's probably true, and even if you could, you're trying to fix the population problem here, not add to it." "Right. So we have choices. We

can just stay on the space station. There's some room there yet, and we could expand for a while. But it's not unlimited, and it's not what I want to do." "So those are choices one and two, but they are problematic." "Right. The next easiest choice is to build on Mars." "All right. But you don't want to do that, either. Why not?" "We could build a dome city. But Mars represents the next big step for humanity. We don't want to steal that step. So we can't do too much with it. We can't build too much, and we certainly can't move it closer to the sun to warm it up or do anything to add an

atmosphere." "So it's a choice, but you can't build a thriving colony." "It's not a bad choice, but I'm thinking bigger." "A lot bigger." "Yes, a lot bigger." "How much bigger?" "I want to add a planet in Earth's L5 point." "An entire planet. Not a space station, but a planet. That seems hard to believe." "It's complicated. I'd have to build it." "You're going to build a planet. You won't try to move Mars there. You'll

build a planet." "I could build a planetoid. I could move a number of asteroids there. It wouldn't need to be the size of even the moon. I could heat it, and gravitational attraction would pull it together. Put a spin on it then heat it more. Then a little explosion in the middle will blow it out into a hollow sphere." "How big a sphere?" "Earth-sized, but nowhere near as massive." "You're going to make a hollow planet." "It's advanced. It's only been done a few times that we know of. But people would live on the inside. It

would still spin." "Like the space station." "Right, only it would be enormous with even more land mass than Earth. Or I could make it smaller. That would work, too." "So you're basically going to move asteroids, a great many asteroids, into a shared orbit with Earth. Won't that disturb Earth's orbit?" "It's complicated," she said. "And you sort of fly them there like a space ship." "Actually, because of the mass involved, we'd use gravity slingshots for a lot of it. We'd fly them past earth." "That sounds like something you

would need permission to do." She squeaked. "Oh, yes. The council told me flat out I need United Nations permission." I grew still. "I think I understand. So that's what you're working on. What we'd work on together." "I'm still doing some of the engineering, and trying to convince the human space agencies it's safe. If I can't convince them, I'm not going to convince the United Nations." "Is it safe?" "Of course. We would be exceedingly careful." **** I thought about it for two days,

and it was over dinner that night that I asked her, "What will you do if you decide humans will never let you build your hollow planet in our orbit? Will you build a city on Mars?" "That decision is years away," Charo replied. "I haven't worked out enough of the details to have a full plan. Most of this is theory. The teams from NASA are skeptical." "Hypothetically speaking. Ten years from now. You have your perfect plan. And you can't convince anyone at NASA to let you do it." "I'm sure I can convince them." "Hypothetically speaking. I want to know what your backup plan is. Do you build on Mars? Do you give up? Do

you make another space station instead? What do you do?" "This is years away, Andromeda," she insisted. "Years? How many?" "I'm not sure exactly." "A decade? Five decades?" "Certainly not five," she said. "If the United Nations walked through that door," I said, pointing, "right now and told you, 'There is no way we're ever going to let you do this', what would you do?" "I don't understand why you're being so defeatist." "Do you have a backup plan? Will you give up and pursue another

venture? Will you put a city on Mars? What?" "I have a backup plan," she said. "I want to know what it is." "Why are you so upset, Andromeda?" "Charoite, you said you want a life with me. And you want me to work on this with you. You don't seem to want to really share the plan with me, so I presume you want me to clean wastebaskets and keep the supply cabinet filled." She stared for a moment. "This is years away, Andromeda." "What is your backup plan, Charo?"

She looked away. "There are other star systems." We both grew still, then I asked, "Hypothetically speaking, ten years from now, fifteen years from now. The UN won't let you do it. You give up on your new planet. You start looking at these other star systems. Would you do it all from here?" "Well, I wouldn't go looking myself. But once we picked one, we would go together." "And does my opinion matter?" "Of course it matters." But she wouldn't look at me. "This is years away, Andromeda." At that she turned back to me, but she didn't meet my eyes. "Years."

"So instead of next week, it will be years that you take me from Earth forever. You'll take me from my parents, from my planet, from almost every other human." "There would be humans." "How about human children? Or are we talking a few dozen mating candidates, all of us altered to carry children that aren't at all human?" She didn't answer that, either. Instead she said, "I'm sure I can convince the teams at NASA." I closed my eyes, trying to calm myself. "You're just like Harp and Jaguar," I said, barely above a whisper. "They wanted to take me away from my parents, and you do, too."

"No, Andromeda! We'll be closer. We'll only be an Earth orbit away." I stood up. "Charoite, you should start working on your backup plan. Maybe you can convince the engineers at NASA this is safe. But you want to throw rocks, a kilometer across, ten kilometers across, at Earth. We all know what killed our dinosaurs, and we have a pretty darned good idea what would happen if one of your rocks got away. Furthermore, your answer to 'what will that do to our orbit' was 'it's complicated'. Which means you don't fully know. Maybe you can work it out, but the average human is never going to understand. All they're going to

understand is you want to throw rocks at us, and if just one of them gets away, you'll murder seven billion people." I pushed away from the table and turned to retrieve my visor. I slipped it on. When I turned, Charoite was at the door, blocking it. "I wouldn't!" she said. "It's safe!" "Here's something humans know. If there's a chance for something to go wrong, and you do it enough times, eventually the law of averages will catch up to you. Charoite, there is absolutely no way the United Nations is ever going to give approval for this. Most of them would never understand the science involved. And they could never convince more than a small

percentage of the people in their countries it's safe. You want to throw rocks at Earth. Not rocks. Mountains. Mountains bigger than Mount Everest. And someone will get on television and talk about how each one that passes us will change our orbit." "It's tiny! Immeasurable!" "Tiny after tiny after tiny adds up to more than tiny. Maybe you could convince individual people it's safe, but you aren't going to convince humans at large. All you're going to do is fuel every single alien conspiracy theory ever devised. You will set back any hopes of ever convincing humans you aren't a threat. It would take decades and decades to undo the damage that could

be caused if humanity at large ever hears about this." "Please, Andromeda, you're blowing this out of proportion." "You have choices. You will not be able to convince me that you can convince humanity. It is unlikely you can convince me we won't go absolutely ape shit crazy. I think of the two of us in this room, one of us is far more likely to understand how the average human will react than the other. So you have choices. You can continue to pursue this. You will fail, and you can move to your backup plan." "You aren't giving me a chance." "What percentage of humans will be able to understand the math, Charo? It

certainly isn't half. Ten percent? One percent? None at all, because this is just too advanced for us? It isn't a question as to whether you can throw those rocks and just miss. It's a question of whether you can convince us. But you don't believe me. Fine. Go talk to someone else about it. Ask Jasmine what she thinks. Ask her if she thinks humans will go insane. Because they will. I promise you, they will go absolutely insane." "Andromeda." "Like I said. You have choices. You can decide I don't know what I'm talking about, and you can spend the next ten or twenty years trying to convince humans to let you do this. I think once word gets out what you want to do,

you'll set back every other effort the rest of the ETs are pursuing, and if anyone asks me, that's what I'm going to say." "You would undermine me?" "Do you want me to shut up if I think you're making about the biggest mistake imaginable? Do you want humans to rise up and kill every alien they can see? Do you have any idea of the level of ignorance on my planet, and those ignorant people all have guns. Do you want the testing centers stormed by crowds of frightened humans, killing every alien there? Do you want some lone gunman watching for Amaryllis outside the UN? Hell, I'm surprised that hasn't already happened." "We catch them."

"Law of averages," I said. "If you do it enough times, something goes wrong." "Andromeda, please, we can talk about this." "You have choices. Continue to pursue this. When you finally realize it won't work, pursue your backup. I've told you what I believe will happen. And I'll be telling Jasmine Brighteyes as well." "No!" she said. "You're going to stir up trouble." "If you want me in your life, you will look for a new vocation. I might be willing to continue this relationship while you come to the same conclusion I have, if you promise you will never take

me away from Earth. But if your backup plan is another star system, and I don't get a vote, well, I'm voting today. I'm not going. Now get out of my way. Come see me if you're willing to promise you'll never try to take me that far from Earth." She stared hard at me, never saying a word. Then she stepped aside. She left two days later. She didn't come to see me. **** "Just let me go, Jasmine." "I'm sorry, Andromeda. I can't. There's too much at stake. If I let you go, then I prove right everyone who wants to go back to the old way."

More Introductions I did what I'd done to get over breakups in the past. I focused on my job. I hyper-focused on my job. I met with the women. I did interviews for their reality television. I coached them for their events. I ran my events. I took more work from Clover so she could spend more time with Peony. I came to an agreement with Bay. If I ever ended up in another challenge, I didn't want him anywhere near it. But I could work with him. He began teaching me everything he could. I studied. I learned. Late at night, when no one else was around, I set up the arena then moved to the control center and

practiced simulated events, becoming more and more capable as a technician. I created a few unique events, then I asked Dilly and Piper if they would be my guinea pigs. They had a blast then asked if I could come up with something with the two of them against their husbands. The women won, but the event coordinator may have cheated a little to make sure. No, she wouldn't have, would she? I avoided Jasmine for a couple of weeks, but then one morning she was waiting to swim with me. I stopped and stared at her for a moment, then opened my arms for a hug. Afterwards I said, "You're going

to make me start dating again, aren't you?" "Unless you can pick someone right now." **** I looked at the Hobble. "I am Andromeda Hayes." "I am Fjord Green," she replied. "Call me Andie," I said. "Do I use both names?" "Call me Fjord." She stepped back and looked me up and down, encased in the clear pillar. "Why does Jasmine Brighteyes treat you differently?" "I'm older and no one wants me. I think she's showcasing me out of

sympathy." "You are one of the most famous mating candidates ever," she said. "Everyone here knows who you are." "And yet, you're the one who decided to talk to me, Fjord." I smiled. "I don't know if that makes you brave or foolish." "Perhaps curious. If I let you out, will you let me touch them?" I could see where she was looking. "Why are all of you so fascinated by a human woman's breasts?" "They look... squishable." "Well, they don't like being squished, but they like other things. Is that all you want? To try squishing

them?" "Not necessarily," she said slowly. "And tell me, do you have places that like being squished, or perhaps other things?" "Perhaps other things." "Maybe you should let me out and take me somewhere private. I don't like squishing with an audience." She looked me up and down once more then released me. Without a backwards glance, I offered her my arm. Let someone else worry about the diplomacy in the room for one night. She took me to her apartment. And while she really liked the idea of

squishing, she decided other touches were just as lovely, and she showed me how she liked to be touched. And then, several hours later, I let myself out. Three days later, Jasmine told me she and Sue Peterson came to an agreement, and they were both gone. **** "There's someone I want you to meet." "All right." "In the arena." I turned to fully face her. "What species?" "Luxan." "Female?" "Of course."

"I'm not changing into a battle suit and going out in the hot sun just so she can pick me up and throw me into a cage." "She wants to win." "Of course she wants to win. Does she know all she is winning is a date?" "Yes." "She could just ask for a date." "And yet, she wants to meet you in the arena, and then take you on a date." I sighed. "Fine. What's the event?" "Laser tag." "That's a lot of work to set up,

Jasmine." "It's already set up." "Wait. She wants to do this now?" "Thirty minutes." "I have an event to run." "I'll run it." "And who is running my little encounter in the arena." "If you can run three, I think I can do two." "Fine." But I activated the visor, switched to the arena view, woke the cameras, and set them aloft. Then I reviewed the setup. "I don't like that configuration. I want changes." I looked around. "You left the construction crew

there." "I'm not stupid, Andromeda. Make your changes, but if I think you're giving yourself too large of an advantage, then I will be responding." "Oh?" "I'll let Bay run it." "Damn it. Fine." Ten minutes later the arena was more to my liking. "Ready, but I want to meet her first." "We'll meet in the middle." "Perfect." She handed me the battle suit. I dropped my clothes right there, Danny happily watching, and pulled it on. I folded my other clothes and set them aside.

And damn, but Jasmine blinded my visor and took my arm. Ten minutes later I was standing in the middle of the arena, Jasmine at my side. A tall Luxan female strode onto the grounds, moving towards us confidently. I looked her up and down as she approached. I'd never really cared for the Luxan. Oh, I liked them as people, but I wasn't physically attracted. I think Jasmine knew it. I didn't ask her about it. She came to a stop, and Jasmine introduced me to Artemis Little Ghost. "How fitting," I said, shaking hands with her. "We are both named after figures from Greek Mythology. But what is Little Ghost?"

"It is the human name for a particular nebula." "Ah, of course. I should have known. I am pleased to meet you, Artemis." I frowned. "Artemis was an archer. Does that tell me something about your ability to shoot?" "It might." I looked at Jasmine, and she smiled sweetly. On the other hand, I'd been getting my own practice in, and I had cheated. I didn't think Jasmine knew. "Tell me, Artemis. Where do you live?" "I operate out of the space station," she said. "But I spend time on Titan as well."

"And is that likely to change any time soon?" "Why would it change?" "Just what I wanted to hear," I said. "Do you know this event?" "I do." She offered a Luxan smile. "If I win, you are my date this evening." "And when I win?" I asked. "I am a very, very good shot, Andromeda." "I've been practicing. What do I win?" "I could be your date tonight." "Oh, it sounds like if that's what I wanted, I could just walk into the cage. If I win, you get your date, but it's at the

restaurant of my choosing." "There aren't many to choose from." "I'll be picking something in Paris." They both froze, then Jasmine said, "You will pick from among the alien-friendly restaurants." "Of course," I said. I smiled and held out my hand. "May the best shot win." "I'm sure she will," said Artemis. We retreated to our sides. I collected my weapons, a laser rifle and a pistol. I would use the rifle on the distant targets but switch to the pistol if the Luxan decided to charge me. Then I

hunkered down. A minute later, Jasmine called begin. I began firing. My shots went wide. I kept firing, and they went wide. "What the fuck!" "Good afternoon, Andromeda," Bay said into my ears. "Bay! What are you doing here?" "Jasmine tells me you were naughty and asked me to ensure you lost. If you promise to be gracious about it, your only penalty are two weapons that won't shoot straight." I hit a few of the targets, but it was largely random. And the Luxan was every bit as good a shot as expected. It took her about two minutes before I was

pushed into the cage. Then she casually, confidently walked to the cage, coming to a stop in front of me. "I was under the impression you were better at this event." I smiled. "Maybe I didn't really want to go to Paris." **** I dressed for dinner, doing what I could to look absolutely stunning. She took me to one of the restaurants in town. I smiled a lot. "You will be mated soon," she said. "Soon," I agreed. "Do you know what you will want to do once mated?"

"I presume I'll be helping to make babies," I said. I smiled. "I expect to be pampered." "I am told you will want a job. Do you know what sort?" "I don't know," I said. "Maybe I'll just go to school. There's so much to learn. What do you do?" We talked for a while. I flirted outrageously. After dinner, she asked if she could take me home. "To my home here or your apartment?" "My apartment." "I'd like that." But I didn't let her hold me. Once we arrived, she turned to

me with a look I'd seen a hundred times before. "I was wondering..." I reached around my back, unzipped the dress, and stepped out of it. It took only a few seconds before I had the rest of the clothes off. Then I turned slowly. "If you want to touch, take me to your bed." She touched. I told her what I liked. She was clumsy, but she learned. It felt good, I suppose. I think she wanted me to return the favor, but I gave her a quick kiss and said, "I had a nice evening. We could do it again some time. Call me." Ten minutes later, I was out the door. **** After the fourth time I let one of

the aliens take me to her bed, I returned to my cell to find Jasmine already waiting for me. "I wasn't expecting to see you." "I want to know what the hell you're doing." "I'm about to undress so I don't get in trouble for wearing the wrong clothing in my cell," I said. "Did you come to watch? I know you like to watch." I had the dress half off before she closed the distance and stopped me. "What are you doing, Andromeda?" "Giving you what you want. Giving all of you what you want." "You agreed to do your best to

make this work, Andromeda." "I don't know what it is you're upset about. You ask me to undress and let everyone look at me; I undress and let them look at me. You ask me to accept challenges; I accept challenges. You ask me to go on dates; I go on dates. You ask me to be charming; I am absolutely charming. My dates ask to see me naked; I undress and let them see me naked. They ask to touch; I let them touch. What exactly have I done wrong, now?" "This isn't you, Andromeda." I pushed away, pulled off the clothing, and pulled on the camisole, then added the translucent kimono. Belting it, I turned to her. She was watching me.

"See?" I smiled. "I knew you liked to watch. Are you here to ask to touch, Jasmine? I'll let you touch. I'll let you do anything you want." She stared then asked quietly, "What are you doing?" "What you want." "This is not what I want." "You should make up your mind," I said. "You don't want to touch? I know you like looking." "I'm not here to be another of your conquests." "My conquests?" I asked. "They ask me. And then I do exactly what they want. They aren't my conquests. I am theirs. But they make me feel good, so I

guess it's a good trade. I give up my soul and absolutely everything I want, but they'll treat me well and give me orgasms and babies, so I should be happy. And hey? My only demand is they let me visit my parents every few years. I'm not very demanding at all." I turned and walked away, heading for the kitchen. "I'm even your kept woman, Jasmine. You put me up in this nice little apartment with the interesting roof. You give me such lovely see-through clothing to wear. But hey! I have ice cream. I'm going to have some. Would you like some?" She reached forward and grabbed my wrist, turning me back to face her. I smiled. "Finally! I knew you

wanted me." I moved to her and tried to press against her, but she grabbed me and held me off. "What are you doing?" she half screamed. "God!" I said. "Make up your mind. You've been watching me naked for months. You make me swim naked with you when you come swimming with me. I'm offering you the rest of what you want, but now you don't want it? Then get your hands off of me." I pulled away. She resisted for a moment then released me. I turned and headed for the kitchen. But she followed after me. "Will you please talk to me, Andromeda?" "I am having ice cream," I said.

"Do you want some? I'm not sure what flavors I have." There was a slight pause before she said, "I'd like some ice cream. Whatever you have is fine." I made two bowls and headed for the living room, the Catseye following me. We took seats, and I focused on my ice cream, eating it slowly, ignoring her. But I knew she was watching me. "I had a girlfriend who once poured little dollops of ice cream on me then licked them off. Are you thinking about doing that, Jasmine?" "Would you stop it, Andromeda?" I looked up. "Isn't this what you

want? A pliant human who lets you do whatever you want?" "If I wanted a pliant human, I wouldn't have picked you for this experiment." "Well, excuse me if your pet lab rat human doesn't know what you want." "I just want you to be yourself, Andromeda. I want your dates to get to know the real you." "No, you don't. The real me thinks for herself. The real me has hopes and aspirations. The real me makes decisions about her life. The real me picks her own damned clothing. The real me doesn't swim naked while twenty or thirty people stare at her. The real me doesn't sleep nearly naked while more

people stare at her. The real me doesn't walk around in her underwear. The real me doesn't get put into a transparent pillar in those same underwear like a piece of living artwork, letting everyone and her sister ogle her. The real me doesn't date a different woman every three days. The real me doesn't nearly fall in love with one woman and then go on dates with two others. The real me made it to 35 years of age without getting married. You don't remotely want the real me. This," and I gestured, "is a hell of a lot closer to what you want. So stop fucking lying to me." I shook my head. "I think I have five more weeks left for my six months. I'm going to reject every single one. And

then you're going to toss me into the arena and let them fight over me. My happiness doesn't matter. All that matters is I let them put babies into me. That's all you care about. So fuck off, Jasmine. Give me to whomever the hell you want, and as long as she doesn't beat me and lets me visit my parents from time to time, I'll spread my legs and dress however she wants and let her do to me whatever the fuck she wants. Now get out." "Do you think that's what I want?" "Yes. Oh, you tried to wrap a pretty bow on it, but in the end, yes, I think that's what you want." "I need the real you back,

Andromeda, and don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about. You're the best I have here, and you're convincing everyone you're a... I don't even know what to call it." "Prima donna pillow princess works," I said. "You're doing it intentionally!" "I'm doing anything you ask. I'm doing anything they ask. If you don't like what you're getting, maybe you shouldn't be asking for it. Would you please leave? I must array myself for the cameras and ... oh, look. There are a few males." "The ceiling is darkened," she said. "No one is looking." "And how long is that going to

last?" I asked. "Answer a question honestly. Do you really not know why I'm here?" I stared for a while, then rotated away, pulling my feet up. I set the bowl aside and said in a small voice, "It hurts too much. I gave my heart, and it hurts. I'm done." "Andromeda," she said gently. "No!" I screamed, turning back. "How many times have you let my heart be broken, all in just under five months? Do you know what humans do after a broken heart? They recover. Usually for months. You typically gave me about two days. Maybe, if they're like this person you seem to hate, they turn into players. They go have sex with anyone who

wants. They spread their legs and take solace in another woman's fingers and tongue. But you won't give me time to recover, and you don't seem to like my other solution. What the fuck do you want from me now? I've given you everything else you've asked for, but that wasn't enough, so what the fuck do you want now?" "I just want you to be yourself." "Don't you get it? This is me. This is me giving up. This is me when I surrender. This is me being charming and agreeable and being done fighting. Lord knows you pushed hard enough to make it happen. But that's not good enough, either. Nothing I do is going to be good enough."

"I'm trying to help you, Andromeda." "I didn't need your help. I was doing just fine. Yes, I got fired, but do you really think it was going to take me that long to find a job?" "That's not what I meant and you know it." "Oh. I see. What you mean is, marry one of these women or I'll let a man rape you for the rest of your life. Oh, and the women who you like are either going to run away, get kidnapped by members of their own species, or intend to take you to a different star system so you can never see your parents again. But let me help you pick between those choices."

"I'm never going to see my mothers again," she said quietly. "And who told you that your choice was to be raped by males or never see your parents again? But hey, at least you aren't threatening to kill me for being a homosexual like some humans do. They are big on raping us, though, so you have that in common with them." Her lips tightened, and she turned away to look out the window again. I glared at her back for a while then turned my back on her, my feet still pulled up. I leaned against the wall and closed my eyes. "There's no solution," I said. "You're not going to let me go. I'm not risking my heart again. I'm doing absolutely everything I agreed to do, but

for some reason you're not satisfied, anyway. If you can be specific what else you want me to change, I'll change it." "What's your end game, Andromeda? What do you think is going to come of this?" "I imagine in another five weeks you'll tell me either I pick someone or you'll give me to a male. I'll pick someone. She'll decline. And you'll throw me in the arena with hopefully eight women who at least might not rape me. Drug me, perhaps, but not all out rape me. One of them will haul me away. Regardless of how I feel about it, I'll never be heard from again. That's what I think is going to happen." "You could try working with

me." "And I told you to tell me what you want me to change." "You could open your heart and your mind instead of your legs." I turned to look at her. She was leaning against the back wall. "You gave me to two women with whom I shared a psychic bond no one thought was possible. But you're telling me I haven't been open-minded enough? Is that really what you're saying?" "Andromeda, I want you, as you humans say, to get up, dust yourself off, and get back up on the horse." "Which I would do when the pain of the last time had faded, a process which doesn't happen quite as fast as you

seem to think it should. I gave you three, and four if you count Dark Skies, in four months. That is more girlfriends than I've otherwise had since college. So excuse me if I'm not flexible enough for you." "You've been out with a lot more than that." "Been out with? Yes. Enough to develop an emotional attachment? No. Now, are you telling me to start saying 'no' when my dates ask to see my boobs? I can do that, if you think that's a better choice. But frankly, at least I'm getting out of this cell, and the sex is sometimes kind of good." "Do you think I'm trying to hurt you?" "I don't think your goal is to hurt

me, but I don't think you really care if you do. You're certainly willing to hurt me emotionally. And you knew how I felt about my parents, but you pushed two different relationships you had to know meant leaving Earth forever. You were willing to give me to a woman who wanted nothing but a portable incubation chamber. You're willing to hurt me in the challenges. You're willing to humiliate me over and over. You're willing to objectify me and make sure everyone knows I'm just the human sex slave. But now you're mad because I stopped fighting you on it. Well congratulations. You won. I'll spread my legs to whomever asks. You've got another incubation chamber. But I'm not

sharing my heart again, and when you give me to someone horrible, make sure you drug the shit out of me, because you're going to have to. Now get out." **** Over the next five weeks, I went on dates with five more women. If they asked to see my boobs, I let them. If they asked to touch, I let them. If they asked to take me to bed, I let them. I didn't bother remembering their names.

Offer Letter Dilly and Piper collected me. I was waiting in my mating candidate costume. They shackled me, blinded me, and took me to one of the conference rooms, where I was secured in place. They didn't talk much. Maybe they knew what was going on. When I could see, Jasmine was seated across the table from me. I looked at her then down at my hands. "Mating Candidate Hayes, it has been six months. Do you feel I have fulfilled my end of our agreement?" "You introduced me to a significant number of females to consider," I said. "I have done

everything anyone asked. I do not consider you in default, if you don't." She nodded once. "I have a list of females who would accept you as their mates. I am sending the list to you now." A moment later, it arrived on my visor. I scanned it and was quite surprised by some of the names. And it was much longer than I expected. "Have I met all of these people?" "Yes." I scanned the list again. "Smooth Seas?" "The Octal queen who took Dark Skies. She repeats her earlier offer. Become hers, and she will allow you

and Dark Skies to share each other as well. You would be happy." "Isn't it a little greedy of an Octal queen to ask for another human? She already has sufficient mates for procreation." "Perhaps, but it is their way, and she is within her rights to ask. You would be happy." "Drugged into oblivion, but I'd be happy. I agree: that is probably true." "Drugged into oblivion as the bonds form, but Octals all have jobs. They have fulfilling lives. You would be honestly happy, Andromeda." "Well, let's keep her in reserve," I said. "Becoming hopelessly devoted to the woman who stole from both you and

me isn't my first choice. I'm surprised to see both Charoite and Harp and Jaguar on this list." "Charoite has a message. She says if it comes down to leaving Earth space, she would offer to roll back your parents' ages and bring them with." "Oh, shit," I said. "Harp and Jaguar make a similar offer, but of course, their offer is more immediate." "Are you serious?" "Yes." "Did you do this?" "Yes." I felt a little bad for being a complete shit to her for most of the last

two months, but only a little. "Could we come back to that?" "Of course." "Cherish is on the list. I thought she was gone for good." "She has her own message. She says, 'Tell her I am sorry I ran. I was afraid. Could I have another chance?' " I studied Jasmine carefully. Her tentacles were out, and I'd been learning to read them. "You're feeling pretty proud of yourself, aren't you?" "Frankly, yes. Going to take back any of the things you said about me?" "Maybe one or two." I scanned the list. Sugilite was also on the list, and used the phrase, "As my third". I wasn't

interested. The others on the list weren't worth discussing, either. "What are my options? What are the terms?" "You will pick from among the names listed." "And if I don't?" "The arena. You will pick four. I will pick four. Harp and Jaguar collectively count as one. Anyone may decline if she wishes. You may veto if you wish. We each get four alternates. If I run out, I will add men." "I'm not facing men when all your choices decline." "If something like that happens, we'll deal with it in good faith."

I considered carefully. "All right. What else?" "Whoever you pick, or whoever wins you in the arena gets you for a year. You will open your heart and give her every chance to win you." "Three months." "A year." "No. I gave you six months of my life already. If she can't convince me in three months, a year isn't going to do it. And she doesn't take me too far from Earth to return me in a timely fashion, either." "A year." "Why do you think she's going to need a year? The Octal will need ten

minutes. Charoite or the Whiteblacks will only need enough time to convince me I'm going to enjoy sharing a household with them. And we both known none of the other names on this list are in contention." "A year." "If I agree to that, then there are things I want." "What?" "I want this in writing. I want this list on paper with our terms. I'll draft them. You'll sign it, and then I'll make my selection. But if after I pick, if she changes her mind again, I go home." "So you'll do something to piss her off?"

"Only by being myself." She studied me carefully. "And unlock me from the damned table. You know I'm not going to turn violent." At that she nodded and released me, then unlocked my wrists. She let me do the ankles, and we set the restraints on the table. "You could have let me dress properly." "You are a mating candidate. This is how they dress." "Fine. Do you agree to my terms or not?" "Yes," she said. "But I don't have a way to print the list."

"Then do it by hand. You need paper and a pen." She huffed. "Fine. Wait here." **** She was gone only a few minutes, returning with a stack of paper and several pens. I leaned back and watched her print out the names. It was a laborious process, and it was clear she had never hand written a note in English in her life. Finally she looked up at me. "Give me that," I said. "I'll finish it." I reached over and took the paper from her. She'd finished the names, so I outlined our basic agreement underneath it. I dictated as I wrote.

Andromeda Hayes will select one name from the names of females on this page. She agrees to become a willing, open, joyous, charming, loving mating candidate to the selected woman for a period of one year. If the chosen person declines her offer, or if at the end of the year, Ms. Hayes wishes to be returned home, she will be allowed to return to her human home with no further ill will or restriction. I looked up at Jasmine. "Agreed?" "Agreed." I made room then added two lines, one on either side of the page. Underneath the one on the left, I printed my name. Under the other, I printed

Jasmine's. Then I slid the paper across to her. "Sign above your name. I'll make my choice and sign it." She took it from me, read it through, then signed it and slid it back. I hid what I was doing and circled one name, then signed in my place, folded the paper once, and handed it back to her. "I circled my choice. I consider this a binding agreement. If the woman in question doesn't agree, I presume I will allowed to go home." "Yes," she said. "That is our agreement." "Excellent." I leaned back and smiled. "Go ahead."

She unfolded the letter then looked up. "You didn't pick anyone." "I certainly did. I picked one of the names on the page. I circled that name." "There are twelve names on this page, and not one is circled." "No, Jasmine. There are fourteen names. And I circled one." It took her a good fifteen seconds to realize what I had done. I had circled her name.

Shock She looked up, staring at me. "What game are you playing?" "No game, Honey," I said, butting sugar into my voice. "When do I move in? I presume I'll be moving in, anyway. Your place is better than mine, although maybe you'll let me redecorate." "You agreed to pick from the list of women who made offers." "I agreed to pick one of the names on that paper. I did so." I leaned forward and tried to take her hand, but she pulled away from me. She glowered. "This isn't funny, Andromeda. Pick one, or you're going into the arena."

"I did pick one," I said. "You set me up! And you think you're going to get away with it? I'm not sending you home." "Of course you're not, but do you think you could buy me some clothes? Now, when we get married, I want a ceremony. It doesn't have to be big. Just our friends and any immediately family in the solar system. I probably won't invite more than ten people, including my parents. I hope you'll provide transportation. We can have a heck of a destination wedding." She slammed her hand on the table. "Stop it! We had an agreement." Then she glared at me. "Jasmine," I said. I gestured to

the paper. "Will you marry me?" She stared. "I'm making a real offer. It's not a game, Jasmine. I don't need a year, but maybe you do. I like the way you hold me. I like the way you respect me and listen to my opinion. Okay, I don't like every way you treat me, but I hope some of that will change. It's a real offer, Jasmine. And maybe it's all been an act, but I believe you like me. I believe you enjoy our time together. I believe you enjoy holding me. I believe you enjoy looking at me. I believe you've thought about a lot more than looking and holding. I know I have." I gestured at the paper again. "You're the one who stuck by me. You

didn't run away. You're not trying to take me from my parents. You aren't lying to me about important things, as best I can tell. And this solves other problems. I don't leave, so you can keep me on staff. I promise, I won't use our relationship to try to get you to enact changes, although I won't stop fighting for the women, and I'm not sure I won't come home mad at you some days." "You're serious. This isn't a game?" "Well, it was sort of a game to get you to agree in writing," I said. "I had to think about that for a while. But no, it's a real offer. I will be your willing, joyous, charming, loving mating candidate."

"Why did you fight about the one year?" "So you'd compromise about having it written." She looked down at the page, and then, slowly, she reached across the table with several tentacles, clasping my hands. I looked down and smiled. "Is this your answer?" She caressed me with the tentacles and then withdrew, and my heart plummeted. "I can't, Andromeda." My smile fell. "It's a serious offer, Jasmine." "I know. I can't." I closed my eyes and just tried to

breathe for a minute. Then I stood up and asked quietly, "I picked a name. She declined. Will you honor our agreement and send me home?" "You picked a name other than the ones I offered," she said. "You knew you were doing so. There was no subterfuge on my part, but there was on yours. I will allow you to choose a different name." "I see. I guess it's the arena, then. Pick whomever you want. I hope you would skip Implacs, Ardents, Luxans, and Hobbles. While I liked the Ardents and Luxans, I wasn't remotely attracted to them. And I flat out didn't care for the Implacs and Hobbles I met. Consider this my resignation from my job. May I

return to my cell?" "Pick another name, Andromeda." "No. I picked a name. I picked the woman who didn't run away from me. I picked the woman who didn't try to deceive me where we'd be living. I picked the woman who didn't ambush my friend and steal her from us. And the rest are laughable choices." "If I fill the arena, Harp and Jaguar will be there." "I wonder if they can form a triangle when I refuse to cooperate. Do what you want," I said. "May I return to my cell?" "Please reconsider."

"You reconsider." I sighed. "Never mind. You don't want me. Why should you be saddled with someone you don't want? I guess that's my fate." "It's not that I don't want to. It's that I can't." "Why not?" "I could take anyone else here," she said. "But I can't take you. The council would string me from the rafters." "But Sugilite could have me as her third? Well, that means they don't give a shit about what the humans want, but we knew that, didn't we? So fuck the council, and if I'm not worth fighting for, fuck you, too." I turned around and walked to the door. She made me wait

for several heartbeats before it opened. **** She didn't send me back to a regular cell, which surprised me. She didn't disable the visor, which also surprised me. She also didn't let me leave the cell, once I arrived. That didn't surprise me, though. Nor did she let me communicate with my parents. That didn't surprise me, either. She let me stew for two days before arriving at my cell. I was lying on the bed, my eyes closed, listening to music. I didn't hear her arrive or realize anyone was there until the music ended suddenly. I didn't bother opening my eyes.

"Did you come to tell me my fate?" "I came to beg you to reconsider." "No." I opened my eyes and turned to face her. She was sitting on a chair that wasn't normally there. "I can have Smooth Seas here in a week. In a week and ten minutes, you'll belong to her." "I do not choose her, and our agreement means I go to the arena. Are you going to violate our agreement?" "As far as I'm concerned, you did." "I have no power here, Jasmine. You'll do whatever you're going to do." "You could be happy with any of

several of these choices. Why won't you pick one?" I rolled over, offering her my back. "When do my potential challengers arrive?" "You're being foolish." "I presume you aren't interested in my offer or you'd be willing to fight for me. Please let me know when my challengers arrive. I'll want to look pretty." She sat there for a while, neither of us speaking. Eventually she asked quietly, "Are you all right?" "Not particularly," I said. "But I really don't want comfort from you right now. If you aren't coming to accept my offer, I'd really rather not see you."

"I've reauthorized your access to the pool." "With or without a swimsuit?" "With." "Will I be punished if I wear a robe in the halls?" "No." "Thank you. Please let me know when I can expect to next see the inside of the arena." She didn't move right away. "Do you want to see the list?" "No." **** I didn't go swimming that day. Instead I waited until the dead of night. The pool was empty when I arrived, and

so I had a nice, private swim. That felt very good. I did the same thing the next night, although I was a little surprised there wasn't anyone being opportunistic about trying to catch me there. And it was on the following day I received a message. Eleven days. The third night, there were a few people when I arrived at the pool. I swam anyway and ignored any efforts to draw me into conversation. There was a particularly pushy Luxan, so I finally turned to her. "I'm coming late at night because I don't want to talk to anyone. It's possible everyone here came in from

America, and so this is a pre-bed swim, but I suspect at least some of you came after watching my pattern for the last two days. Maybe I'm wrong, but if I'm right, it's yet another attempt by you ETs to invade my private life. Well, I can't stop you from swimming, but I don't owe any of you a conversation. Leave me alone." She backed off, and word got around besides. Good. After that, it was hit or miss whether there would be people in the pool, but except for one specific example, they left me alone. With seven days until my arena event, when I arrived for my swim, Clover and Peony were there. Oh, they weren't in the water, but they were

beside the pool, clearly waiting for me. I came to a stop and stared. "Do you hate us?" Clover asked. "No," I said. "It's not too late to change your mind." "I may not have any power, and I can't stop you from forcing me into a life I don't want. But I don't have to actively cooperate in the process. So you're here to browbeat me?" "We're here to remind you that you have friends." "I'm sorry for abandoning you. I tried to make my placement here permanent. I think that's the only reason Jasmine hasn't let you go."

"Is that why you did it? For me?" "No. I wanted to stay here. With her. I guess that's not to be, so it doesn't matter. It won't be any of my choices in the arena. But I only have to go with her for three months. I can last three months." "A year." "No. A year if I picked from the page. Jasmine broke our agreement, so it's three months." "A year. Whoever wins gets you for a year." "Well, it will be the most miserable year she'll ever spend. I consider it self-inflicted." "It could be the Octal."

"Only if everyone else is the size of a Loris. Well, I suppose they don't have to fight. But I can beat the Octal if it's actually a fight like the other arena events. And I won't hold back." "She might come with her entire family." "I'd consider that cheating, but what else is new? That's what Jasmine does, isn't it?" "If you hate her so much, why did you pick her?" "I don't hate her." I shook my head. "I'm going to swim. It was nice to see you both." I stepped around them, and I never asked for a hug.

No one bothered me after that.

Final Challenge Day zero arrived. Piper and Dilly arrived shortly after breakfast. I sat up and looked at them. "I'm to fight like this?" "We don't know about that," Piper said. "We're taking you to the conference room. You may keep the robe." I let them shackle me. Once we were in the conference room, they secured me to the table and chair and left. A minute or so later, the visor brightened. I was alone. When no one appeared immediately, I attempted to access the visor to give myself something to do.

I was locked out. That didn't particularly surprise me. I spent a few more minutes looking around then finally closed my eyes and slouched in the chair. Fine. Let her have her power games. They kept me there for a while, a long while. I zoned out but was startled when a voice asked, "Are you ignoring me again?" My eyes snapped open and I swiveled my head. Sugilite was seated across from me. "You're quiet." "I am Kitsune." I considered my choices. I decided I could be polite, but I wasn't

going to aim for charming. "I was not intentionally ignoring you. My eyes were closed, and I did not hear you." I didn't, however, apologize. "What can I do for you, Sugilite?" "I wanted to talk to you about several things, Andromeda." "Of course." I looked down at my hands, making a point. "I am not sure how I can help you, however." "Let us start with my daughter's project." "Ah." "She told me what you told her." "Good, but I'm sure it wasn't anything you hadn't considered." "It wasn't. It was, however,

something she hadn't considered." "Ah." She waited, perhaps to see if I would say more. When I didn't, she asked, "Is that all you have to say?" "I could offer criticism, but I am sure I don't understand all the factors." I barely held back a snarky comment. "Oh, please do." "Well, it seems like a very, very foolish thing to let her talk to any humans about this project when you are already able to predict the likely reaction if word were to get out." "You're not going to tell anyone." "I was thinking of a leak out of NASA." Then I paused. "Was that a

threat?" "What?" she asked. "Oh. No. A statement in confidence you will be discrete. Most decidedly not a threat." "All right. Thank you." "How sure are you?" "That humans will go absolutely ape-shit crazy if word were to get out? One hundred percent sure. Maybe not all humans, but almost certainly a majority, maybe a crushingly overwhelming majority." She nodded. "Thank you for telling her." "So you didn't have to?" "I didn't realize she was going to start talking to humans about it," Sugilite

replied. "I hoped she would get to know humanity better and would come to the conclusion herself. She hasn't spent much time here. She hasn't seen the xenophobia. She spends time with the scientists she encounters, and she spent time with you. But other than you, she hasn't socialized with humans. She hasn't tried walking the streets of your cities. She hasn't a clue." "It's not a difficult concept." "No, but she hasn't faced the reality yet. I've been sheltering her, I believe. That is what a mother does." "I suppose so." "If she were permanently based on the station, would you have rejected her?"

"No." "She made a good offer for your parents." "It came too late," I replied. "And so you would accept what is about to happen rather than accept her? It's not like she'll be in the arena this afternoon." "What are you doing here?" "I was in the neighborhood and wished to talk to you." "Yeah, that was coincidence. Are you going to tell me the truth?" "Maybe I'm here to reiterate my offer and see if I could sweeten the pot for you, to use a human idiom." "Strike two, although that would

be an intriguing conversation. I don't know how you could sweeten from your earlier offer, but you're far smarter than I am. I bet you even have something in mind." "I could threaten you." "You could. I have no power. There are many things you could do. I can't stop you. Is that what you'll do?" "No. Just making conversation. Why don't you make an offer? What do I have to give you to convince you to pick a name from the original list?" "Excluding Jasmine, I presume, but you aren't going to put me into a fresh panic regarding my parents." "Correct. Youth and beauty? Riches? What would it take?"

"All right. What would it take? Tell humanity what happens here. I'll then accept whomever you pick." She squeaked. "We know that's not going to happen." "Ah well. Then make a counteroffer." "All right. I believe you care about the planet. Pick an extinct animal." "Saber tooth tiger." "Oh, that's a good choice." She cocked her head. "I cannot promise this will work. If not, you may need to make another choice. If we can obtain a DNA sample, we can bring the cat back from extinction." "Oh shit. Seriously?"

"Seriously. As I said, it depends upon if we can find a DNA sample. I know we have some for wooly mammoths. More recent extinctions may be easier. We'll bring back, say, a thousand genetically diverse specimens. After that, it's up to humanity." "Is that a serious offer?" "Yes." "Why? It's ridiculous. You can do anything you want to me or anyone else on the planet. You're offering this if I offer to choose, but you won't do it just because it's the right thing to do?" "Who decides it's the right thing?" she asked. "They are extinct, but it makes room for other species. Species come. Species go. That is the way of

life." "It's still a ridiculous offer." "Perhaps it is. Do you accept?" "I pick a name, and you bring the saber tooth back to life." "If we can obtain a DNA sample. If not, we would pick another species. If we cannot agree on a species, then we will offer to bring back from near extinction five still living." "So now you're talking five thousand genetically diverse animals?" "Yes, but we might have to implement a size limit. I do not know how we would raise a thousand humpback whales before releasing them."

I lowered my eyes and said quietly, "You may choose any name you want." "Oh, no. You have to pick." I looked back up. "This is just a game to you, isn't it? You don't care what happens to me. You don't care what happens to any of us. You're just playing a game." "I need you to pick. I'll bring the saber tooth back, if I can, or another animal, if you prefer. Oh, we won't tell anyone you and I made a deal. No one can know. I need you to pick a name." "I picked a name. I'd happily stand by it." "Pick a name from the original list. Do you need to see it?"

"There is no way I am worth what you're offering," I said. "This is ridiculous. You're not even going to explain what you're doing?" "No. Pick a name, and I'll keep my end of our bargain." "As long as that name is yours?" "Any name on the list." I sighed. "You're playing a game. I don't choose to play. May I be returned to my cell?" "You'll marry Jasmine Brighteyes. Or you'll let me pick for you, if I make this bargain. But you won't pick if that's part of the bargain?" "I picked. May I return to my cell now?"

"I'll make you and your parents twenty-five." "On top of the saber tooth?" "Yes." "I tell you what. Convince Jasmine to accept my proposal, and I'll owe you a favor. I'm sorry, I won't be able to bring extinct animals back to life, and there might be other limits to what I'd do. Perhaps you'd like help finding that third you want, and more help finding someone for Charoite. I'd be in a position to select women who would happily accept without any coercion at all, once I calm them down a little." "You're really turning me down?" she said. "Really?" "Really. But you can choose. I

can't stop you." "But you won't accept, will you? You'll resist her advances and expect to go home." "If you really bring back the animal, I'll find a way of convincing her I'm hopelessly in love." "Will you be?" "I don't know. I guess we'd find out." "I need you to pick," she said. "We seem to be going in circles. Perhaps you would care to explain why." "No, I do not so care." "May I return to my cell, then? Or did you have another topic?" She stood. "Your event is in two

hours. You will attend as you are dressed." Then she blinded my visor. **** Piper and Dilly returned, this time with Hank and Aaron. Yeah, they'd told me their names, too, but I still called them Hank and Aaron. I sighed. "You haven't needed them since the first week I was here." "Orders," Piper said. "Please lie face down on the bed with your hands behind your back." "Seriously?" "Seriously. I'm sorry." "Yeah. Whatever." I rolled over and let them shackle me, the shackles on my wrists quite tight, and my ankles not

much less. Then they helped me to my feet, and I could barely walk. Which was the intention, as it was Hank and Aaron who took my arms, and the first time I tripped, they dragged me. I scrambled to get to my feet, but it was a lost cause, and so I arrived in the arena as if I had resisted. They forced me to my knees, and I felt dirt beneath me, so I knew I was in the arena. The hot sun was a clue, of course. They unshackled my ankles then pushed them into the pillar. Then my hands were bound the same way, behind my back and swallowed by the pillar. "Thanks for the help, guys," I said. "You did a great job helping them

to abuse me at the end." If they replied, I didn't hear. They left me there. I began to hurt almost right away. The sand was rough under my knees. My arms were bent at an uncomfortable angle. And I had to lean on them for balance, so my shoulders quickly began to hurt. But they left me there. And left me there. I bowed my head and tried not to get too upset. I began to burn from the sun. My shoulders were in agony, and my legs weren't any happier. And then I felt a shadow move across me. A moment later, my visor

brightened, and I found myself staring at a pair of Kitsune feet. I looked up to see Sugilite watching me. "Is this your idea or Jasmine's?" "Pick a name and we'll release you. We'll see to your aches and pains." "I presume your earlier offer is off the table." She didn't answer immediately but finally said, "I'll roll back your parents' ages if you stay with your new mate. The rest is off the table." "Well, it wouldn't have mattered. I already picked a name. Was this her idea or yours?" Again, she was slow to answer. "Mine. She's watching but has vowed

not to interfere." "Well, I'm sure you'll break my will eventually. I don't imagine it will even take that long. I'll be burnt to toast in a few hours, and my body is already in agony, so I can't imagine I'll last until nightfall. Congratulations. You've demonstrated both a willingness and ability to torture helpless women. Fuck you, Sugilite, and fuck everything you ever said about the relative maturities of our two species. You're full of shit." Then I bowed my head and closed my eyes. **** Time passed, and tears had long begun to crawl down my face before she returned. The first I knew she was back

was when she used my hair to lift my head towards her. "Pick a name." "Fuck you." She released me, and my head dropped. "I have a new offer for you." "Not interested." "You might be. It is a good idea to listen before rejecting my offers. Do you know what that is?" I opened my eyes again to see. There was a metal container about the size of a large backpack. There was a pump on the top and a metal wand attached to the container by a hose. "No." "The reservoir is filled with liquid. It is pressured by air. And of

course, you can imagine what the rest is for." "Is it a flame thrower?" "Oh, no, nothing like that." She gestured to the side, and when I looked, I saw a very large number of Bay's little ant robots and spider robots. "Fuck," I said. "Go to hell, Sugilite." "Ah, you haven't heard the rest of the offer. I have a question. You will answer. If you do, then I won't go out of my way to squirt you inside your mouth and nose. Oh, I'll be drenching you, and I don't promise to avoid your mouth. But I won't do it intentionally." "Fuck you, too, Bay."

"Other than the guards who placed you here, no one who works here is involved. I brought my own technicians." "Whatever." "Do you agree to my terms?" "You could ask me to pick a name." "Ah. I will ask my question, or perhaps a few closely related questions. If you answer, and I believe you, then we will have an agreement. And for bonus points for completeness and honesty, I won't put this between your legs and fill you as well as I am able." "Fuck you, Sugilite," I said. "Ask your damn questions."

"Did Jasmine Brighteyes put you up to this?" "What?" "You heard me." "You want to know if Jasmine told me to let you put me out here like this?" "I want to know if Jasmine encouraged you to defy the council. I want to know what Jasmine has offered you to accept what is happening." "You think she bribed me somehow?" "I don't know what she has done. You will tell me. If I believe you, then what happens next won't be as horrible as it could be."

I thought about refusing to answer, or about lying. "You know what?" I said. "I'll answer, but I'm not answering because of your threats, so you go ahead and squirt me where ever you want. You know what Jasmine did? She was there when I needed her to be there. She was there when you put me into a panic about my mother. She was there when Cherish left. She gave me a job I enjoy. I enjoy her company. I enjoy her touch. It doesn't hurt that she's based here, so I could see my parents from time to time. But when I told her I wanted her, she was upset. She tried to get me to change my mind. She didn't do a thing to tell me to conspire against you. All she ever did was act

like the woman I want." Sugilite looked down on me for a minute. Finally I asked, "Do you have a follow up question?" "Did she do anything to encourage your affections?" "She was a friend. She offered respect. I know she likes looking at me. I know she likes holding me. She says I taste good, but so does every other Catseye who hugs me. But she doesn't want me, so what does it matter?" She knelt down and lifted my head by the hair again. I could get tired of that. "If your parents suddenly receive alien largesse in any form, do you know what I am going to do?" "I assume it involves poison."

"Probably not. I'll probably have them collected and torture them to death. Whatever agreement she made with you is void." "There is no agreement," I said. "But please make sure she knows your threat. She might actually feel sorry for whatever you do to me and try to apologize through a gift to them. I'd rather she not do so." "If you change your answers and tell me the truth, I'll give you whatever she was going to give you. But you have to pick a name for the rest of this to stop." "I'll make a few more hours. I told you the truth. Believe me or not. I already told you to squirt wherever you

want. But I sure dodged a bullet when I didn't marry your daughter. I wouldn't want a harridan like you as a mother-inlaw. Tell me. Does she know you're doing this to me? Is there video? I wonder what she'll think. She'll probably love you for punishing me. I imagine she's feeling the sting of rejection. Is that why you're doing this? Are you punishing me because I didn't want to leave my planet, and so I dared to say 'no' to your precious daughter?" "You can end this by picking a name." "Well, when you finally do break me, sometime in the next few hours, I won't be mentioning her name or yours. Well, except I suppose I could spend the

year making her miserable, but I imagine you intend to drug me out of my mind the rest of my life, so perhaps that's an empty threat." She stood up, walked to her oversized Super Soaker, gave it a few pumps, and then grabbed the wand. I bowed my head, and she began squirting me down. She was thorough. I tried to hide my face, but she got it, anyway. "Open your mouth." I turned away. "Fuck you." "Open your mouth and I won't squirt lower." "Fuck you." "Open your mouth or I'll squirt

lower then knock your teeth out to squirt your mouth." I lifted my head and opened, and she gave me a good squirt. I wondered if it was bad for me. It sure tasted terrible. I tried to spit it out, but it was oily and clung tenaciously. When the ants and spiders began moving towards me, I began pleading. I avoided screaming until they began crawling inside my mouth. I screamed for a long, long time.

Surrender I knew I wouldn't last forever, but I lasted longer than I expected. She came out twice more with the big squirt bottle. Other than to demand I choose a name, we didn't talk. When I refused to open my mouth, she slipped the wand between my legs instead. Yes, I screamed. **** I hung limply, staring ahead. Feet appeared in front of me. "Pick a name." "Fuck you." "Right now, there is a team outside your parent's home. They are both there. Your father just got home from golfing. Pick a name, or I have

them picked up, brought here, and everything that has happened to you happens to both of them." I stared straight ahead. "The Luxan," I said. "What?" "The Luxan. I don't remember her name. Give me to the Luxan." Sugilite knelt down, interposing her face where I could see her. "As I understood it, you didn't care for the Luxan. Why her?" "You won. I picked a name. So now you have new demands?" "Why the Luxan?" "Because I don't want anyone I once cared for to do to me what's going

to happen next. And in case you were wondering, you are the most evil woman I've ever had the displeasure to meet. But you seem to thrive on that." "There are forces involved you don't understand." "I'm sure there are, but that's because you wouldn't tell me about them, so whose fault is that? And the ends does not justify the means. You got what you want. Now go fuck yourself." She stood and walked away. A minute later the visor dimmed. The stone released me, and I cried out as I toppled onto my face. The world went black. ****

When I next woke, I was in the medical bay, and Sugilite was standing over me. I stared up at her for a minute, my brain barely working. "Come to torture me some more?" "You will meet your challenger in the arena in two hours." "Ah. I'm sure I'll put up a good fight. When do you drug me?" "I guess you'll find out. What would it take to convince you to accept this willingly?" "You're not serious, are you?" "What would it take?" "It would take my original choice, but she's not interested, and you wouldn't let her have me if she were.

You're too vested in beating me, as if I'm that big a challenge to you. What's the matter? Did you lose a PTA election and needed to feel powerful?" My visor dimmed, and she walked away. **** I didn't see who the guards were. I spent the entire time still locked in the chair, the visor dimmed, until I felt hands on me. I was shackled, this time with my hands in front. And my ankles weren't so tight I couldn't walk. Then I was led out onto the sands. The sun was hot. The sand was hot. They locked my hands into the pillar, but at least it was in front of me. Then I stood there a while. But finally

the visor brightened. Sugilite was there. I looked around. There were people in the stands, although they were being quiet. I didn't see the Luxan. I didn't see anyone else in the arena. "Where's my challenger?" "You don't get to see her. Your visor is hiding her from you." "Oh, because the Luxan needs an advantage. Whatever." "You may need some time to recover emotionally from what I have done to you. If after a reasonable period to heal you are then able to fully embrace your new mate, I will find some way to pay reparations for what I did."

"Fuck you and your reparations, too. I don't want anything from you. Oh wait, yes. I'll take a promise that I never have to see or hear from you or your daughter again. I'll take that." "Maybe you'll change your mind." "You torture harmless, innocent women. I'm sure you could have done worse. You didn't actually pull teeth. But that's just a matter of degrees. You're right down there. The only people worse than you are the ones who do it to little girls instead of women. Congratulations. You're as bad as the worst humanity has to offer. I hope you're proud. Fuck off. There's a Luxan around here who is so afraid of me she has to hide. I guess she

saw my challenge with the Implac. I wonder how she feels that you had to torture me to give you her name. What kind of woman would want me after that? That tells me I was right to dislike her in the first place." "Enjoy your challenge. Once the pillar releases you, you may select a weapon. They are all blunt. Your challenger will give you the opportunity to do so before she begins to stalk you. You lose when you land in the cage. There will not be an exit." "Maybe I'll get lucky and manage to kill one of us." She said nothing but walked away. I stayed locked in place until she arrived at Jasmine's usual seat.

Then the pillar released me. I pulled away, looking around. I didn't see anyone in the arena with me, and the crowd was quiet. I tried following gazes to see if they'd give away where the Luxan was, but if anyone was looking at her, I couldn't tell. I moved to one of the weapons racks. I didn't know how to use any of them, and I was sure I wouldn't be holding it very long. But I grabbed one of the staffs. Then I moved back into the center. "Well, I'm here," I called out. "A big strong Luxan shouldn't have any trouble handling me. Or maybe Sugilite did a replacement. Maybe it's really Charoite out here, and that's why you

need a handicap." I spun around with the staff, right at waist level. I did that a few times then stilled, listening. "Come to think of it," I said, "The Luxan wouldn't want such an uneven fight." I spun the staff again. "So if it's you, Charo, just know you're going to have to drug me." Spin. I still didn't connect. I spun again, lower, in case she was ducking. I looked for footprints. Maybe the visor wasn't hiding them. I stopped taunting. I just turned in slow circles and tried to be unpredictable with the staff. And then I did connect on something! It was a meaty thunk, and a

lot more solid than a Kitsune. An instant later, I felt myself wrapped in arms. And tentacles. "It's me," said Jasmine's voice in my ear. She tightened all her tentacles. "It's me, Andromeda." I froze. "Just you?" "Just me." I dropped the staff. I didn't struggle. I didn't struggle when she picked me up. I didn't struggle when she walked me to the cage. I didn't struggle when she tossed me in.

Jasmine She came visible. I stared at her. I think the crowd began making noise, but if they did, I didn't notice. I stared at Jasmine. "I caught you." "You did." "I won this challenge." "You did." "That means until morning, you belong to me." "No." "Oh, I think it does." "Either I belong to you for a lot longer than that, or not at all." "Well, maybe you'll win the next

challenge, and then I'll belong to you," she said. "And in between?" "Perhaps we could discuss belonging to each other." I bowed my head. "Please take me home." She pulled me out of the cage and carried me. **** I was emotionally overwhelmed and numb at the same time. She carried me to her apartment and straight to her bathtub. She set me down, pulled my clothes from me, then helped me in. Another minute later, she was in the tub with me.

"Hold me," I whispered. So she did. "Is this a dream?" "No, Andromeda." "Is this real?" "Yes." "A trick." "No tricks. Are you all right?" "No. Hold me. I don't want to talk about any of it tonight. Are we mated?" "Do you still want to be?" "Yes." "Yes, we're mated." "I want a wedding." "Here or home?"

"I don't know. We're getting married?" "We're doing anything you want, Andromeda." "Why aren't you calling me Andie? Why aren't you holding me more tightly? Why haven't you let me kiss a tentacle?" "Oh, Andie," she said. She squirmed around, wrapping more completely around me, and then a tentacle came across my face. I kissed it as soon as it was in place, and it slipped inside. I was waiting. She teased with it, just a little, and it may have been the best thing I'd ever tasted. I reached up and grabbed it, holding it in place, not letting her pull

away, and I sucked lightly. So did she. Although not all her sucking was quite so light. She bathed me and let me bath her. Then I turned around and climbed into her lap, and she wrapped around me some more. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "No. You can explain tomorrow. Do you really want me?" "I've wanted you from the beginning, Andie. I wanted you from that very first day." "No lying. You aren't doing this out of pity." "I've sent a few thousand women off to be married to people they thought

they were going to hate. Do you think I am motivated by pity?" "Do you want to ... have me?" "Oh, yes." "Take me to bed." It wasn't that easy, of course. We had to climb from the tub. And then we dried. She brushed my hair and dried it as well. And then she took my hand and pulled me to her bed, then onto her bed. She pulled the visor from me, setting it aside. "I want to watch your eyes." She pulled me into her embrace, offering her tentacle again. I accepted, and then we held each other like that for a long, long time. Her tentacles moved on my back, across my shoulders. I could feel them tasting. They snuffled,

too. They snuffled a great deal. But then she rolled us over, laying me amongst the pillows and withdrawing her tentacle. "I won our challenge." "Yes," I agreed. "And thus, you must obey me." "For now." "For now," she agreed. "Tonight, I take what I want, I give what I want. You will allow me to do as I please and do as I demand." "Yes," I whispered. "These are now mine," she said, and she began to touch my chest with her tentacles. It took very little time until I was squirming.

"Yours," I whispered. "This is mine," and a tentacle slid down between us, sliding down, and down, and I gasped as she began to tease me. "You don't waste time," I said. "I wasted six months. I'm not wasting more. Catseye do not kiss, and I hear that trying to kiss us is like kissing a sister." But she had a remaining tentacle, and she used it to tease my lips, sliding lightly, and I knew she was using her oil as she did so. I closed my eyes, but I reached for her. Her hands caught mine, and she pressed them back. "I will take what I want. Your hands remain down." "All right, Jasmine."

She teased me; she touched me. It felt amazing, and I couldn't help the squirms. But then she withdrew her tentacle, and she was pressing her center to mine. She moved, and we both gasped. My eyes flew open. Jasmine carried an expression of bliss. Then a tentacle reached underneath my hips, and she used it to adjust our position, my legs spreading wider, our centers touching more firmly. She began moving, up and down, up and down, and it felt amazing. Like that, she brought me to the edge, and I was whimpering for release, but then it happened together, both together. And we cried out, both

together, our centers pressed together, locked together. I felt her contractions, but they pressed against me, and I came a second time, just like that. "Jasmine!" I cried out. "Ohhhh...." And then she stilled. **** We lay together afterwards, entirely wrapped in each other, the stress of the previous weeks forgotten. "Andie, are you sure?" "Yes," I said. "If you are." "I am." "There are things you must know, and then I am going to ask again. There are changes I wish to make to your

body." "I know. You told me." She told me about a potion, and about being sick. She told me about surgery that would change my voice so I could speak Catseye with less of an accent. I agreed to it all and only asked when. "Our wedding night," she said. "Will you take the potion during our wedding celebration? You won't become sick right away. A few days. I will take care of you." "Yes, Jasmine. Hold me tighter." A while later I asked, "How many children will you give me?" "Two, but do you mind if we

wait a few years? Two, maybe three years. Then two. When they grow up, maybe we'll have more. Maybe we won't." "We'll decide together?" "Yes, we'll decide together." I snuggled closer. Some minutes later I asked, "Do I have a job?" "Oh, I surely do hope so. We've missed your help." And then she snuffled. "You're the one who told me to treat you like a mating candidate around the other women. I'm left wondering how you're going to feel about that in the future." "Wouldn't you love that," I said.

"You will decide whether I continue to treat you like a mating candidate." "Oh, I think we know the answer to that." "You're the one who told me to take you out onto the arena in chains. That wasn't my idea." "My decision." "Yes, but then I won't entertain complaints." I thought about it and smiled, although my back was to her, so she wouldn't see. "So, are you going to still ask me to swim naked at the start of each batch cycle?" She didn't answer, so I rolled

over until we were nose to nose. "Jasmine, there's something I haven't told you. I think this is a good opportunity." She caressed my cheek with a tentacle. "I love you, Jasmine Brighteyes." "I love you, too, Andromeda Brighteyes." I laughed. "We'll see about that one, too."

Visitors "What time do our visitors arrive?" I asked Jasmine. "Not until shortly before dinner, and I'm not sure how many are coming. I need you to be charming." "I'm always charming. Look at how I've charmed everyone. They're staring at me, I'm so charming." "Yeah, that's why," she said. "Do you think you can keep up this lap?" "Hell, no," I said. "You must have had one hell of a swimming instructor." "She was good at motivating me," Jasmine replied. Together, we pushed off the edge of the pool, diving

deep before swimming towards the far end. Jasmine could swim so much faster than I could now, but she moved casually so we were side-by-side. We swam several more laps, surfacing at each end, then pushing off and heading for the other end. But we were running out of time, and it was to be a busy day. And so I stood in the shallow end and moved to the ladder in the other corner. I had to pass between some of the alien women as they looked at me. At least no one tried to grab me this time, but with Jasmine here, maybe they realized that wouldn't be such a good idea. I climbed from the pool. Jasmine

was ahead of. She wrapped me first in a waiting towel and then a robe besides. **** It was an hour and a half later that Jasmine and I stood at the edge of the arena watching the women being led onto the sands. "This is still barbaric." "I know." Soon all sixteen women stood, their hands embedded in the pillars. Jasmine looked over her shoulder at me. "Ready?" I nodded. She tugged on the chain, leading me onto the sands. **** Around the women, we agreed

she would treat me as a mating candidate, and so some portions of my life resembled my first six months here. We had tried other things, but my effectiveness dropped dramatically without the visual indicators I was on the side of the mating candidates. So I dressed in undies and a camisole for our initial meetings. I attended the receptions dressed the same as they were. And, in chains, I was led onto the sands to talk to them one last time before the group event. A little performance art went a long way. **** For dinner, we both dressed in cocktail dresses, backless of course.

Jasmine looked great, and I loved the way she treated me. The meal was catered, but it was all human food. I was learning to enjoy Jasmine's spices, but it was definitely a taste that would take time to acquire. We received word they had landed, and they had directions to our home. Jasmine and I smoothed each other, and then we waited near the door, arms and tentacles wrapped lovingly. The door opened, and a Catseye entered with a human woman in her mid twenties. Then another Catseye entered with another human, this one a little younger. Jasmine tightened briefly, then released me and stepped forward. "Welcome to our home," she said

in Catseye, speaking slowly and carefully for my benefit. I could tell she wanted a hug, but the first of the human women backed up a tiny step and said in English, "We're here, but I came under protest, and keep your tentacles to yourself." "What she said," said the other human. "And speak English," said the first. "Audra is still learning, and I imagine your mate is as well." "And neither will improve without practice," Jasmine replied. "They can practice in less stressful settings. Are you going to introduce us or not, Jasmine?"

Jasmine nodded. She gestured to me, and I stepped forward. "Violet Beaming," she said, gesturing to the first of the Catseye. "And her mate, Skye Andrews." "Skye Beaming," corrected the human. "Of course. My apologies. And her mate, Skye Beaming. This is my mate, Andromeda Brighteyes." I stepped forward and was very presumptuous. I hugged the Catseye. She wrapped around me, and when presented with a tentacle, I kissed. The human beside her snorted but didn't say anything. "It's about time someone pinned Jasmine down," said Violet.

Then she withdrew the tentacle, and I said, "I couldn't be happier." She released me, and I turned to her mate. "This is a Catseye household, and we hug new friends. Are we to be friends, Skye Beaming?" She looked me up and down, and then she stepped forward. We hugged, and we both received a cheek kiss. "How did you put up with being a mating candidate for six months?" "Ah, that is a long story," I said. "If you stay for a few days, I can tell you." "We'll see." Then they stepped away, and I stepped back to my place beside Jasmine. "Posey Beamer, and her mate,

Audra Andrews..." Jasmine paused, and the human nodded. "My mate, Andromeda Brighteyes." I received hugs from both, just as I had with the first pair. And then we invited them into the living room. **** It was over the meal that the human -- Skye -- demanded of Jasmine, "Well, you got us here. If you think I'm forgiving you for what you did, you're cracked." I looked back and forth. The tension throughout their visit had been high, and I kept hearing subtle references, but Jasmine hadn't told me what she had done to cause the antipathy. I decided I was tired of being in the

dark. "I can believe Jasmine would do something to upset a past mating candidate." "Mating candidate, hell," said Skye. "She didn't tell you, did she?" "I knew you would want to," Jasmine said. "I grew up here," Skye said. "I thought what happened here was so romantic." "What?" "Yeah, I was young. What can I say? I volunteered. Long story. Jasmine told me to grow up first, and then sent me to college." "I will point out I paid for her

first three and a half years," Jasmine declared. "A full scholarship. And the only reason I didn't pay for the last half year is because she didn't let me." "And what did you do that she'd rather not accept your money?" "Who said I did anything?" I snorted. I already knew Jasmine had done something foolish, but from the clues I'd gotten, she'd felt it was necessary. I turned back to Skye. "What did she do?" "She betrayed me. She betrayed my trust. And she convinced Violet and Posey to help her. Along the way, she also hurt my sister. And then every Catseye I knew conspired to have me thrown out of school."

"Oh shit," I said. I looked around the room. "And yet, here you are, married to her, and your sister mated, but presumably not married, to the other sister. So you must have done some forgiving." "Six months later, after being homeless for a portion of the time." "You had options," Jasmine said. "You could have gone home." "With my tail between my legs," she said. "Are you blaming me for what happened?" "No," said Jasmine. "Why have you forgiven everyone else, but you haven't forgiven me?" "Because everyone else apologized, expressed a significant

amount of grief, and promised nothing like that would ever happen again. You have done none of the above. Furthermore, I believe Violet and Posey are honestly sorry for getting roped into your hair-brained scheme, and Bluebell was just trying to convince me to come home and deal with it. Even if she was being heavy handed. You aren't sorry. You'd do it again if you felt the need. So I don't trust you, and I have cause." "Tell her the rest, Skye," Jasmine said. "What was the effect of my actions?" Skye huffed. "Tell her yourself." "Oh, no," Jasmine said. "Put your slant on it." Skye crossed her arms and

looked away. And so it was Audra who said, "Jasmine used the situation to force the council to let her treat you the way she did instead of like she's had to treat all the other mating candidates. And she wouldn't have been able to make the other changes she made, either. Skye, and to a lesser extent I, gave Jasmine the tool she needed to lever a few changes." I looked back and forth between the two humans then said, "Thank you." Skye turned her gaze to me. She hadn't quite been looking at me. "Don't thank us." "I don't know what Jasmine actually did, but it sounds like the two of you helped her pave the way for better treatment of future mating candidates.

She tells me we can't make too many more changes right away, although we're talking about how we could ask for volunteers. But at least we're not sending lesbians off with males anymore." "Mom told us about some of the changes," Posey said. Violet turned to Jasmine. "She said you told her to explore ways of asking for volunteers during Testing." "Really?" I asked. "Explore," Jasmine said. "But we need to be careful. Which means you can't talk about it where anyone else might hear, and I wish you hadn't said it in front of my mate. Now she's going to be pestering at me to hurry it up when we're already going as fast as is

prudent." "All that because of what you did to Skye and Audra?" I asked. "Well, it's been a progression. Skye and Audra helped me jump ahead. And then your success has led to Bluebell and me working on asking for volunteers. We're going to ask during the Testing process. They won't actually remember we asked if they turn us down." "She had no right," Skye muttered. "Skye," said Jasmine. "Perhaps you should tell Andromeda what I did to you." "She betrayed me," Skye said.

"Actually, I didn't, but I know it felt like it," Jasmine said. "What else?" "She convinced these two," Skye said, gesturing to the other two Catseye, "to betray both Audra and me. And to break promises they had made." "I did do that," Jasmine agreed. "Although I had a right to do so." "A right?" Skye squeaked. "A right?" "You were still mine," Jasmine said. "You once promised me a significant favor. I only had to ask, and whatever it was, you would do. I told you at the time I knew what I was going to do, but I wasn't going to tell you. Do you remember?" "You never asked, and as far as

I'm concerned, you used that promise." "I certainly did," Jasmine said. "Although I didn't ask. But I agree. I used that promise." "I think I need to know the entire story," I said. "Who is going to tell me?" "Skye is," Jasmine said. And so Skye spent the next ten minutes explaining. I wanted to stop her a few times to ask questions, but I let her finish. She grew increasingly angry by the end of her telling, and when she was done, she turned to her mate. "Why are we here? I thought I was past this. I told you I didn't want to come." "We're here," said Violet, "because Mom asked us to come."

Skye calmed down at that, then turned to me. "So, that's what happened. They betrayed me, and in the end, I got kicked out of school and was homeless besides. And it's her fault." She pointed to Jasmine. "It's largely my fault," Jasmine said. "But the rest is yours." "I should have forgiven them when they weren't even apologizing?" she asked, her voice rising. "You could have let Bluebell pay for your last term," Jasmine said. "At what price?" "Going home to talk about it," Jasmine said. "She'd have made you stay for a few days. She'd have made you talk to Violet and Posey."

"And were they going to apologize and explain?" she asked, looking at Violet. "No." "So what was the point?" "When we didn't apologize," Violet said, "Mom would have yelled at us and then taken care of you like she would have if I'd been mad at Posey." "So it's all my fault." "Oh, no," Jasmine said. "Blame me if you want." "So I repeat. Why are we here?" That's when I chimed in. "Skye, I'm trying to understand. You broke up with your mate, broke your friendship with Jasmine, broke your friendship with

Bluebell, and accepted dropping out of school and becoming homeless because Jasmine treated you like a mating candidate for a few days?" "Do not belittle my choices." "I'm only trying to understand. I think I'm missing something." "Yes, you're missing something. I didn't do it because I was treated like a mating candidate. I did it because they betrayed me. They promised they'd never do that to me again, but they did it anyway." "I didn't promise," Jasmine said. "In fact, I pretty much told you I'd do it again." "Fine, but these two promised. They broke that promise, and they

congratulated themselves afterwards. They did it because Jasmine asked them to. They picked her and her games over me. And they refused to explain or apologize, which meant in spite of how hurt and angry I was, they still picked her over me." I held her gaze then said, "It looks like you've forgiven them but you're still angry at Jasmine." "They apologized and expressed a significant amount of grief. She hasn't, and I wouldn't believe her, anyway. She'd do it again given the opportunity." She turned back to Violet. "Why did Bluebell make us come?" "Because I begged her to," said Jasmine.

"You have never begged in your life." "Well, I begged Bluebell to convince you and Violet to come, and I asked her to send Posey and Audra as well. Your mother misses you." "Then she can come visit. Or better yet, she can accept Bluebell's job offer, and then we never need to even think about you ever again." Then Skye put on a glower. "Oh, nice misdirect. Why are we here?" "So we could have this conversation," Jasmine said. "And I need something." "Of course you do." "Wait," I said. "I don't think I'm caught up yet."

"That's because Skye didn't tell you the most important part," said Audra. "I'm her little sister. It's a long story, but she's had more reasons than most big sisters to protect me. They didn't just betray Skye. They made the same promise to me, and I was devastated by what they did. Skye didn't know, but I'd started dating Posey, and I'd never felt more betrayed when she and Violet turned on us like that. They both knew Skye would be mad and I'd feel hurt, but they did it anyway. I didn't realize they were doing it because Jasmine put them up to it. I thought they were doing it to be mean. Skye would have gotten over it if it had just been her. But they did it to me, too, and it's really

hard for her to forgive someone who hurts me." I turned my gaze back to Skye. "All right. I commend you for that part. But in the end, you're mad not because they turned on you during a challenge, but because you had to spend four days as a mating candidate." "And how they picked her game over us," Skye said. "And when they saw how upset we both were, they refused to explain. We were supposed to just accept being treated like shit without apology or explanation." I looked at Jasmine. She was watching me. So I turned back to Skye, but then redirected my gaze as Audra. "Are you mad at Jasmine?"

"I wish she would apologize to Skye, but I don't think she really feels bad." "Of course I feel bad," Jasmine said. "I felt bad while we were doing it. But sometimes I have to do things I hate doing for the greater good." I turned back to Skye. "You admitted you were immature at 18, that your reasons for volunteering were immature." "I was long past that." "I understand that. But you're not eighteen anymore. However, I'm not sure you're significantly more mature than you were then." "Of course you're on her side!" Skye exploded, pointing at Jasmine.

"I think you're selfish and holding a grudge because it feels good." "You're insane." "Oh," I said, putting on a whiny voice, "they made me a mating candidate for four days, and because they did, hundreds and hundreds of women have had better lives. Hundreds of women had an easier time, and now we're moving towards actually asking for volunteers instead of kidnapping people. But I had to be a mating candidate for four days. Boo, hoo, fucking hoo." She stared at me. "I was a mating candidate for six months. Most of the women who came through before I got here were mating candidates for about two weeks.

Because you paved the way, I've been able to trim that significantly for about half the women. You went through some emotional pain. I get it. I would have been livid, too. But it sounds like you expected to be a cook or a waitress like your mom. Jasmine paid for your undergraduate degree and was your friend. You owed her, and when she collected, she did it so she could help these women, hundreds of women a year. She didn't do it because she thought it would be fun. But I guess you weren't willing to help anyone." "That's not fair!" Skye said. "What you mean to say is that you don't like thinking about what a spoiled brat you are." I pointed to

Jasmine. "Four years of college and friendship besides. Yeah, she used you. Like I said, I'd be mad. But I'd get over it." I shrugged. "You didn't go through anything compared to what I went through." "In fairness, I don't expect you to forgive Sugilite," Jasmine said gently. "She tortured me, and I haven't heard why." "Someone tortured you?" Audra asked. "Yeah, but it was only a few hours." "Seven," Jasmine said. "I was in agony just watching."

"You let someone torture your mate?" Audra asked. "Why didn't you stop her?" "The Implacs she had guarding me weren't afraid to hurt me if they had to, and they were certainly capable of enforcing her word." "Implacs," Violet said. "God, I hate Implacs." "Everyone hates Implacs," I said. I smiled. "I kicked a female's ass in the arena, though. You should see the video. But we're getting sidetracked." I turned back to Jasmine. "I thought I wasn't going to ask, but I think I will. Why did she do all that to me if she was going to let you have me in the end." "There were members of the

council who thought I'd put you up to it. Sugilite oversaw us Test you in your cell to prove I hadn't, and she was satisfied, but the Implacs weren't going to believe either of us." "Ah. Well, I still never want to see her again, or her daughter. Or a fucking Implac." "I don't blame you," Jasmine said. She tightened her tentacles for a moment, and I leaned over and gave one a quick kiss. I turned back to Skye. "I get it. You were mad. But she was your friend and patron for four years, and she needed you. And now you're a petulant child, kicking your feet because you were bored for a few days. It doesn't

matter how much better we can treat the women who come through here since." I shook my head. "You should wear it all as a badge of honor. You helped. You helped me. You helped every woman who has come through here since. And I thank you for that. But you should get over it. You should forgive your friend and maybe ask for a hug. I for one would like a game of Boardwalk and maybe a little ice cream after. I understand I'll get my ass kicked, but Jasmine will kiss it later, so that's not so bad." Skye, glaring at me, stood up. "Fuck you," she said. Five seconds later, she was out the door. "Um. I better go with her," Violet said, scrambling from her own seat. "I'm

sorry." "Of course," said Jasmine. "Go." Audra and Posey looked after both of them. "I think," I said, "that you two shouldn't look like you are picking this side of the dispute." "I think you're right," said Audra. But she turned to Jasmine, "You are never doing anything like that to either of us ever again." "No," Jasmine said. "I'm not." "All right then," she said. "Skye will do the right thing. She always does in the end, but sometimes it takes her a little while to figure out what that is." And then they both got up and headed for

the door. Soon, it was quiet. "Ah," I said, leaning back in my chair. "I've still got it." "Got what?" "The diplomatic skills I used with the Implac." "Come on, Oh Great Diplomat. I could use a cuddle." **** It was, oh, an hour and a half later when Jasmine cocked her head. "Oh," she said. She tightened her hold. "It may be that Audra was right." "About what?" "Skye doing the right thing. Or perhaps she's coming to tell us off. They're at the door."

"Well don't just sit there!" I said. "Go warm up the ice cream or something." I jumped to my feet, ran to the door, and then smoothed my appearance. But not too much. Let them see I was disheveled. Then I told the door it could open. Skye was through first. She was holding Violet's hand. Audra and Posey were next, and they were wrapped around each other. Jasmine stepped up to me and wrapped me in tentacles. Then we looked to our unexpected guests. Skye stepped forward a half step. "I'm not ready to apologize for my behavior."

"And I have no intention of apologizing for mine," I said. "And I don't know if I can really forgive Jasmine," she added. "But I might be able to put it behind me. And a game of Boardwalk might be nice, but I think we should have our ice cream during the game. That is, if we're still invited." I glanced at Jasmine only briefly. "Of course you are. But we play a variation in this house." "Oh?" "Yes. Rule One. Mates may not form partnerships within the first half hour of the game. Rule Two. Within that same period, Catseye may defend against attack from a human, but may not

initiate hostilities unless attacked first." Skye began to smile. "Rule Three. Catseye may not conspire together against humans." "I think I like these rules," said Audra. I cocked my head. "Rule Four. Human sisters may not form a partnership in order to attack an unallied human." "You just made that one up," Audra complained. "Tell me you weren't considering it." "I might have been thinking of conspiring with Violet to go after...um... someone."

"We have not had to worry about a human-Catseye partnership," I said. "I believe I could argue that falls under one of the rules above." "Darn," she said. "Fine, fine." "You will notice I didn't suggest the humans can't form a partnership and go after the Catseye, one at a time." Jasmine snorted. "We might need a rule five." "Oh, I'm sure we don't," I said. "Come on in." Then I took hugs from the four of them. **** It was some time later when Skye asked, "I want to know why we're here."

"For a second bowl of ice cream," Audra said, dipping a spoon into Posey's bowl. "Duh. You're supposed to be the smart one." "Said the Harvard girl," Skye replied. "I'm serious." Jasmine looked at me. I shrugged. She knew these people; I didn't, not really. I let it be her decision. And then I watched her make it. "I need your help," Jasmine said. "We need your help," I clarified. "No," said Skye. "Peony moved to Switzerland," Jasmine said. "I've been sending Clover up to her as often as I can, but it's only a few nights every few weeks."

"Are they breaking up?" Audra asked. "What's going on?" "No, no. They've got a new job. Well, Peony does, and there's one waiting for Clover. She'd have left with Peony, but I've begged her to wait until I can replace both of them. Andie is helping, but we lost Dark Skies, too, and we still don't have a replacement for her. I need people I can trust. I need people who know what goes on down here and will be aligned with what we're trying to accomplish. I can get help, but not the kind of help I'm willing to accept." "Wait," said Skye. "You're offering Violet a job?" "Well, I'm offering you and Violet both jobs. And Posey and Audra,

if they want them, but Audra isn't done with school." Skye stared. Jasmine paused a moment then said, "I asked your mother to give me time to find a replacement for her, too. Frankly, I stalled her until I could get you to come talk to me. I didn't want her moving to Boston and then try to get you to move here. If you tell me no, she'll probably leave with you." "You didn't have to tell us that," Skye said. "No, I didn't. But it would have been wrong not to." Skye surprised me. She didn't say 'no'. "We have to think about it," she said instead. "Send us the details." And so Jasmine nodded.

Finale I met with the woman alone. Her name was Marybeth Hastings. Marybeth was young, only twenty-two, with a fresh undergraduate degree in physics. She was small, about my size, and cute. Bookish, with big glasses and inexpensively cut hair. She was dressed only in the clothes we had provided her. I'd asked Piper and Dilly to handle her themselves, and to leave the guys out in the hall. "Be gentle." And so they had. They brought her in and sat her in the chair. I commanded the chair to swallow her, and then the table to take

her arms. Piper was about to remove the hood, but I shook my head, and they stepped out. I was dressed as I always did for these meetings, not all that differently than the women did. I'd been acquiring a great deal of lingerie, however. I made Jasmine buy me two new outfits for each batch we got. "Who is there?" Marybeth asked from inside the hood. "What's happening to me?" I moved to her side. She sensed me and leaned away, but I knelt down. "Marybeth," I said. "Don't be afraid. I'm going to remove the hood. All right?" She nodded. "All right." I was gentle, peeling it away

carefully, then holding it in my hands as she looked around, blinking. The lights were down, so it wasn't too bright. I didn't like blinding the women after all. She searched the room with her eyes before settling on me as I knelt beside her. That was when I stood, making sure she got a real good look at what I was wearing. "Who are you?" I moved away then sat down beside her. Sometimes I sat across. Sometimes I sat beside. I thought she might want me to touch her, so I sat beside her this time. If this went on for a while, I'd move so she didn't have to crane her head. "My name is Andromeda," I said.

"But you could call me Andie if you want. That's what my friends call me." "Andromeda," she said. "You don't look like a space alien." "I'm not. I was born every bit as human as you were. I grew up in Minnesota." "I'm from Iowa." "We were practically neighbors," I said. "I came here the same way you did. Well, that's not entirely true. I was in my Testing, and then when I woke up, I was naked in and in one of those cells. Just like you." "Where are we, Andie? Do you know?" "Africa," I said. "The aliens have

a large place in Africa." "They...they kidnapped me! They kidnapped us!" "Well, they certainly kidnapped me," I said. "You won't remember, but you volunteered." "I did not!" "As I said, you don't remember. Why don't you let me tell you what you don't remember?"