Book For Read
90
Jack greeted his day the same way he had every morning for the past year.
With a toe in his nose.
Actually, to be fair, it wasn’t always a toe. Sometimes it was a finger. Or the tip of a tail. On a few occasions, near the beginning, it was a sharp little tooth. That was no longer allowed.
He opened his eyes and a happy, mischievous little face looked down at him, the tiny foot still planted across his mouth and the toe… in his nostril.
He tickled the pads of the foot with the tip of his tongue and was rewarded with high pitched giggles, one from the owner of the foot and one from her sister hiding at the foot of the bed. The tiny foot left his mouth but rested on his chest. Jack had no trouble bearing the weight of the two foot tall being standing on his chest.
“Zaina? What do you think you’re doing?” he asked her as he did each morning. Well… the sister’s took turns on alternate mornings but both heard the question.
Her eyes twinkled with excited anticipation. “Papa was making monster noises!”
“Papa’s a monster?” he asked in surprise, his eyes wide. Zaina’s muscles began to twitch in anticipation, her tail whipping back and forth, and she couldn’t suppress the grin as she nodded.
He surprised her this morning by suddenly lifting his arms under the sheets and trapping her in a tangle. Two little voices shrieked in delight.
“Papa’s a hungry monster!” he growled and pretended to bite Zaina through the sheets. More shrieking ensued and Adina launched herself onto the bed to rescue her trapped sibling.
Exactly what he’d been waiting for.
With one trapped in the sheets he grabbed Adina’s leg and toppled her onto her back next to her sister. Then he pressed a foot from each of them together and blew a loud raspberry against the bottoms of the two’s wiggling toes.
Their shrieks of laughter had an oddly harmonic synchronicity as the two shared the intense tickling sensation like a feedback loop between them. Their brains had linked sensory centers. What one felt, the other involuntarily did as well. Somehow they were able to distinguish who the sensations belonged to and, most of the time, they could ignore the secondary input.
Additionally, what one saw and heard, the other could choose to see and hear. They’d discovered there were differing levels of transference and control when it came to some of the senses. Scent for instance, was only minimally shared and often faded quickly. The family had been keeping this unique ability a secret as best they could in the three and a half years since they were born.
When he let go of the two legs and pulled the sheet clear of Zaina’s head the two had matching expressions of dreaminess on their faces. They were blissed out within their connection. He knew from previous experience they’d come out of it in a few minutes and come looking for him again so he rolled out of bed, grabbed some work clothes, and went to take a quick shower behind a locked door. Just keeping the door closed no longer sufficed with three year old, curious kids in his condo.
He removed the protective caps from the points of his sharp horns, something else he had to do for the kids. Stepping into the shower he let it blast him with hot water and he quickly lathered up and rinsed off. He carefully washed his long sandy blond hair which hung down to his mid back. He ached to get a short haircut but he’d have to deal with a mutiny in both offices he worked in. He managed to wash and rinse his hair without scratching himself on his horns. He could have left the caps on but water always got inside and he’d forgotten to empty them before and had to listen to it slosh during a meeting or drip out at the worst possible moment.
He shut off the water and got out to dry off. He shaved, put deodorant on, put the protective caps back on his horns before brushing out his hair, and then brushed his teeth. Before he got dressed he used his towel to buff the slave collar which was fused to his neck. He’d like to ignore it but found if he didn’t keep it clean and shiny the skin of his neck became irritated. So he took care of it. He got dressed and put as smile on his face as he looked at himself in the mirror.
Yeah, he was fooling no one with that smile.
The Queen had spent an extraordinary amount of time with him after his rescue from the Allsa Komanae and he was almost back to his old self but something was still missing. He tried not to burden anyone else with it so the smile went back on his face and he opened the bathroom door.
“RRRAAARR” roared from throats as the two small, ebony cat-like beings launched from the corner of the bed into his arms. He wrapped them up tight against his chest and kissed their cheeks as he walked them out into the living room where most of his family were. SennLann walked up to him and he dipped his face down to her to give her a good morning kiss. The girls wiggled free to race away down the hall to their room. Playtime waits for no man.
SennLann watched them go with a happy smile. When she turned back she smiled at Jack. “We let you sleep in just a little longer today. It was not a running day.”
“Thank you. Yes, tomorrow I run,” he responded. “Any word from Eve?” he asked looking at SennLann and Diana.
It was Diana who answered. “They had a much better night at the hospital. Joseph’s fever broke and it’s on its way back to normal.” Jack sighed. The poor little tyke had one ear infection after another. The doctor said he would be prone to them during the next few years. Eve vigilantly stayed by his side. Jack called the Chuuruthian medical board to see if they had any suggestions but they hadn’t had too many human infants as patients.
Jack collected a kiss from Diana and his daughter Emily. SennLann handed him a breakfast shake and he headed off to work.
He had a shift at the Embassy this morning and the Trade Commission this afternoon. The offices were just across a lovely courtyard from each other and the walk from his condo wasn’t long. He made his way into the Embassy building and went up to the office. Stepping through the doors he said his hellos to the staff as he walked over to Denee, his personal assistant.
“Good morning Denee!” he said with a smile.
“Good morning Jack! You have some special guests waiting for you in your office this morning.”
“Really? How long have they been there?” he asked.
“Not more than a couple of minutes but you shouldn’t make them wait,” Denee said with a smile. When he didn’t move immediately she made shooing motions.
“Ok, fine!” he said with a grin.
He walked over to his office and knocked before entering. Once inside he paused and smiled at the two ladies smiling back at him from the chairs in front of his desk.
“Queen Elissa! Karrel! To what do I owe this pleasant surprise?” he said as he walked over and gave them both a quick kiss.
“Have a seat Jack,” Elissa said with a smile.Content is © 2024 NôvelDrama.Org.
“Oh, maybe this isn’t a pleasant surprise?” he said with a worried tone as he moved to his chair.
“Don’t be silly Jack. Of course it’s pleasant. We have no bad news to deliver to you!” Elissa said.
“Ok, good. So, what can I do for you two?”
Elissa and Karrel shared a look and Jack’s unease increased.
“I do have a favor to ask of my Altarian Ambassador,” the Queen said and Jack unconsciously sat a little straighter in his chair.
“I need you to take a vacation.”
Jack froze and stared at the two women in shock. They looked back at him with concerned expressions.
He tried to speak but his voice failed him at first. He cleared his throat. “I’m… I’m sorry. Did you just ask me to take a vacation? You… you do recall how… badly… the last one went?”
“Stop! That wasn’t an issue with taking time off. That entire affair was the product of the insidious manipulations of a Mahrell Drun Prime! Who is now dead! Jack. You more than anyone know life moves forward. You cannot and must not allow yourself to fear what lies ahead. You also know we won’t put you in harm’s way, ever again. You mean too much to all of us!” the Queen exclaimed.
He nodded and looked to the windows. The climate on Altaria was stable and consistent so the view out his window rarely varied by much. This allowed his sense of time to sometimes feel like it was standing still. But he knew, as Elissa just said, life moves forward, regardless of our wishes and desires. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
“What-” He began again. “Is the vacation the favor you need?” he asked.
“No, what I actually need is for you to visit a colony world of ours. The planet is called Chrystan. It’s ours only because it resides deep within the Altarian region of space. No Altarians live there as its climate isn’t really suitable to us. It’s a world of perpetual winter,” she explained.
“Wait, if no Altarians live there why am I going?” he asked.
Karrel picked up the story. “The planet is populated by the Shreen. Hundreds of years ago the sun above their original home planet began to show dramatic, sudden, and unexplainable signs of instability. It was suspected that the Allsa Komanae were somehow involved as Shreen was close to their territory. The populace of the planet needed to be evacuated but their requirements for survival were so particular none of the worlds in the Gate Network had a suitable offering. The Tik scoured the records of all planets located by all races and found a reference to an icy ball we had located and written off as unsuitable. They approached us and we immediately offered Chrystan to the Shreen. The Tik and the Altarians evacuated the entire populace from the Shreen home world to Chrystan taking with them everything they could save. Only months after the last group was evacuated the sun flared and consumed the planet.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever met a Shreen before,” Jack noted, curious in spite of his earlier anxiety. Queen Elissa was smiling fondly at him.
“They don’t leave their new home. Ever. They’ve actually found it to be more hospitable than their original home planet. It isn’t brutally cold, has a more stable orbit around a young sun, is geologically stable, has plenty of geothermal energy, and the resources are easier to access. The Shreen themselves aren’t what you’d call a very adventurous people. Homebodies is a better description of their type. They do trade with the other worlds of the Gate Network but only through brokers,” Elissa offered.
“Sounds like a snowy utopia. Why do you need an Altarian Ambassador to visit them?” he asked.
Elissa shared another look with Karrel who chose to answer. “We’ve received word, rumors really, of unrest. We’d like you to go as our official diplomat to speak with them to carefully and discreetly determine the source of this unrest so we can figure out if there is anything we can and should do to ease their minds.”