Diplomacy
(continued)
Admiral Benson was not easy to convince, in spite of his goodwill toward the prostitutes. The male Vashni stood behind Benson's desk, gazing out his porthole. In his view was a sliver of Jupiter, the rest of the window black.
The Vashni said, "She is the strongest of the prostitutes,
the most sure in her ego center. What other women on board would qualify
or even be willing? Homosexuality in the Plaorik is extremely rare, so
male volunteers are out of the question. There is no other choice."
"They would never approve this at home," said
Benson. "Are you kidding?"
"You would not find my sort of kidding amusing," replied Tet.
"The fact is, you are in command here. I am not certain how you allowed
the Chief of Security to override your power in the first place. You understand
that your even being in this position is due to Vashni influence. We approve
of your sensitivity in management and assumed you would transfer this
to alien contact."
Benson heard the mild threat under the Vashni's statement. It served to remind him of who was really in charge behind all the bureaucracy. "It's not that I disapprove of the idea," he said.
"Then do what you must before asking for approval,"
said Tet. "That is what you're here for. To be in command."
Alone in her understanding of what was coming, Sonja sat
in her room staring at the wall, unable to even consider the packing.
"Be clean," Jadwa had suggested, "and do not apply perfumes,
creams or lotions. Do not use any cosmetics on your skin or hair and try
not to eat aromatic foods. Wear something of natural fibers and be present
in the Admiral's office at 16:00 hours tomorrow."
Sonja spent the night in a state of extreme unrest, only
falling asleep near morning. She managed a nap in early afternoon then
presented herself, resembling an acolyte in some esoteric religious order,
to the small group assembled in Benson's office.
Before she had time to greet anyone, the door opened behind her and, accompanied
by the Vashnis, an alien being stepped into the room. As if he knew who
he was going to "get to know," his long uptilted black eyes
fell upon Sonja.
While a verbal interchange ensued, Sonja looked him over.
His name was Marmos and he was attractive in a bizarre
sort of way. Of medium human height, he was generally slim although he
had a small pot belly and oversized upper arms. His neck was thicker than
that of most humans and certainly of a Vashni and his dark brown hair
cut in a thick shag that appeared to grow down the back of his neck and
onto the top of his back. His skin was a beige/tan, darker on his hands,
which consisted of three long fingers and what was like a thumb. His face
was round, though no more so than that of some humans, his nose prominent
and his mouth wide and sensuous.
Sonja experienced a sudden desire to tell Zed that she simply had to be
right about the universe having been seeded, for how else could this alien
have lips like those? The only thing really disconcerting about him were
his eyes, which had no whites to them but were black all over, much like
those of some animals on Earth.
The Vashni spoke the Plaorik tongue, which included clicking
sounds, and interpreted while Marmos sniffed the hands of everyone instead
of shaking them, then rubbed his cheek to theirs. When offered a glass
of wine, he politely demurred. Before Sonja had time to mentally prepare
herself, Jadwa was leading her and the alien to a bedroom suite that had
been hurriedly prepared for the occasion, then silently slipping out the
door. In this large, attractive room, Sonja now stood with this understatement
of a complete stranger, an alien from across the galaxy. The fact that
she was the first human being to spend more than a few moments with him
hit her like a stun ray though strangely she was unafraid, only nervous.
Language would not take them far. The Plaorik only knew a few
words of English, whatever he had managed to study from what the Vashni
transmitted ahead to his vessel. His voice was low and vibrated in a slightly
thrilling way.
"I, Marmos, touch you." He added a click.
At that, her heart pounded so hard, she thought it might explode.
He moved to embrace her, his warm hands caressing her back,
neck, head and rear. All the while he rubbed his face against hers, then
down her throat and over her breasts. They fell onto the bed. She saw
the black eyes close in a swoon of pleasure. In the flash of a photon,
her clothing was off and so was his. He was all over her, sniffing, rubbing,
squeezing and licking. Never in her life and with all her sexual encounters
had she ever experienced anything like this.
"You interesting," said Marmos, his voice muffled
as he continued to rub his nose and mouth all over her skin. Suddenly,
he bolted upright and opened his eyes. "I feel..." he hesitated
then went on, "I feel you emotion, all. I am understand some."
She somehow grasped what he meant. That by her scent and
taste, he could decipher, could separate out all of her feelings. How
she understood this, she was not certain.
Time forgot to flow; she did not know how long they were in that room. Before long, she had adopted some of his ways and was running her own nose and lips over his body, which was soon losing it's alien qualities. His odors were delicate and nutty, his taste slightly bitter. This was as far as she could go in perceiving these peculiarities. He, however, was interpreting and cataloging as he went, storing thousands of info bits in his brain about the human race in general and, she supposed, herself in particular.
Though Plaorik reproduction was slightly different than
human, he was able to put a certain projectile into a certain receptacle
to each of their pleasure and he was capable of doing so several times.
She was aware that even this bit of him was exploring and analyzing.
While she had fornicated with hundreds, if not thousands of human men
and sampled partners of every race, age, size and degree of attractiveness,
Sonja felt that she now knew this alien better than any of them. In some
strange way, she felt that she loved him.
They emerged from the suite to find a weary and rumpled
task force now jerking awake from restless slumber. The Admiral looked
drained. The two Vashnis had slept sitting upright as if meditating and
slowly opened their eyes. All the humans jumped to their feet while the
Vashnis gently rose.
Sonja had no idea what to say and was a bit embarrassed
about how she might look. She had emerged from many a bedroom in her time,
but this was different. Her skin was flushed, her eyes sparkled and her
lips insisted on curving in a smile. Marmos kept his hand on her shoulder
in a proprietary, protective manner. But eventually, he removed it and
returned to his persona of visiting alien.
"I thank you," he said in his vibrating baritone. "Now understand." He hesitated. "Emotion like me. But anger. Danger. Very passion. Interesting." He turned to look at Sonja. "Has suffered. Much loneness. Hard to live. Courage."
Then back at Admiral Benson. "Ready to meet home world.
Arrange, Vashni."
Sonja never finished her packing. It was some weeks before the American government learned her exact role in first contact with the Plaoriks and then a few more while they tried to keep it under wraps. But eventually the press discovered the truth and clawed each other to get at her. Fortunately, only a few of them actually made it in person to Europa to plague her with interviews. Admiral Benson saved her position on Europa after a transmission to Earth informing them that if they wanted him to stay in charge, the prossies would stay. Knowing he was backed by the Vashnis, they acquiesced for the time being and after several Vashni supervised dialogues with the Plaorik, the matter was dropped. Sonja was relieved, not only for herself, but for Luna, who now would not be snuffed by her gangster boyfriend.
Over a fine salmon filet, wild rice and green beans, Sonja
clicked wine glasses with the Admiral. "So, how do you like your
new position as Entertainment Director?" asked Benson.
Sonja smiled before she took a sip of her Chablis. "It's an interesting job and I finally get some respect."
"And how is Westweiller working out in Entertainment
Security? Is he keeping your celebs safe and happy?"
"On the whole," replied Sonja. "I had to reprimand him
on Tuesday. He let one of the puters slip by and get into the magician's
quarters."
"Took it well, did he?"
"I don't think he liked it," said Sonja. "But what can he do?"
Benson laughed. "You're going to be good at this job," he said.
"I think I'm better at it than what I did before," she replied.
The Admiral chuckled and dug into his food. "Oh, I don't know about that," he said.
