The Black

Warren stepped quietly through the door of the Laboratory that was next to the Elerian Quarter. Over the last few weeks, acquiring test samples aside, has been some of the best in his life. His Jezz was a gem. She had spent as much time with him as she could between classes and matters of state. They had been out together countless times to dinners, movies, and more than a few of the more secluded places for heavy petting sessions. She had told him about her world. The world she remembered… It had made her sad more than once but talking about it seemed to give her closure. He showed her bits of Terra and Mars. She loved the central gardens, and his little porcelain angel had become very attached to having him boost her up in the air like a cheerleader, which, in this gravity, would send her soaring almost to the top of the dome for her to glide back down to him. She was getting stronger. Each flight lasted longer as her flight muscles grew out of the atrophy in Luna’s gravity. No, everything was almost perfect, accept one thing. Her body was that of a full grown, mature, drop-dead gorgeous Eleri female, but she was still 17 in her mind. A 17-year-old girl who wanted him in a very…. Biblical fashion.

“Ah, Lt. Warren. It’s a surprise to see you here. How have you been.” Atticus trundled over, waving the young man in.

“Hi Atticus, I’m doin’ fine.” Warren started.

“Oh, my boy, I may be new to humans, but I am not new to that look. If you are here, it can only mean it’s about Jezzaria. What happened.” Atticus asked, equal parts worry and curiosity.

Warren gave him a mild glare before slumping his shoulders, “Can we speak privately... I don’t want to...”

“Ah, yes. This way.” The trundling automaton waved toward his office section and settled into a chair, “what’s going on my boy.”

“I need to know when Jezz’s birthday would have been… when would she have turned 18.” Warren asked carefully.

“I’m afraid I don’t understand. Her body is significantly older than 17 now. I haven’t shared this with her, but accounting for cryo aging over 45 million years, she is physically about a year older than you are.” Atticus stated before his eyes widened, “ah… I see. She was always quite forward when she was comfortable with someone. Much like her father that way. She has made… advances.”

Warren nodded, “in my culture, one does not reach adulthood until 18 years. I know we are basically the same age... but her mind is still… she hasn’t lived 18 years, merely been alive for 35 million. It’s a very bad thing, to do what she wants us to do, with our “age difference” in lived experience.” Warren leaned back in his chair slouching in mental exhaustion. “I’m not sure anyone else has a prayer of understanding this than you...”

“I think I do... give me a moment…” Atticus stood and walked around to his desk and pecked at his keyboard. “One week, 5 days, by your calendar. That’s when her 18th birthday would be accounting for “lived experience” of yours. Have you told her?”

“No… she got a little mad the other night and we haven’t talked… it’s not the, only worry I have… she is so, fragile. I’m Human, I don’t know how it would work between us... or if she could even survive… me...” Warrens face contorted in discomfort as he spoke changing into a very lovely shade of red by Atticus’ estimation.

He dared not tease the boy, “Have you had a mate before.”

Warrens head snapped up in shock before answering, “if by mates you mean had sex with another…. No… I haven’t.”

“I assume you know what happens.” Atticus asked gently.

“I know what goes where.” Warren said uncomfortably carefully.

“Then first let me calm your fears of.. physical… comparability.” Atticus stated gently, “as for your fear of hurting her….”

“I know I can crush her at will… She is so fragile Atticus. I want her safe, protected. Even if from me.” The last part clearly hurt Warren to say.

“Warren... is that not her decision to make? Isn’t it her choice as well to be with you?” Atticus asked gently, “The answer to your question is, yes. Mating an Eleri with a Human could easily end up with the Elerian’s death. And any offspring from that union would undoubtedly need to be removed from the mother regardless of species and gestated artificially… but… It is possible, with the right partners, and a bit of care, to mate human and Eleri together safely and successfully…” Atticus softened his tone “Please, Warren. Talk to her. I’m afraid you two must figure this out on your own. You two care for each other deeply, and you two must be the ones to work this out.”

Warren nodded before taking a deep breath. “Ok… Atticus... I will. Sorry to bother you.”

“It’s no bother my boy. In many ways, you and Jezzaria are to be apologized to...” Atticus’ somber tone registered.

“Why?” Warren asked.

Atticus just smiled and shoo’d him out of the laboratory.

——————————-

Atticus shook his head in amusement as he trundled back to his office. ‘At least that half of the experiment is going nicely. I wish them the best…. Now…’ He pulled up a file again. One sent to him personally by the ambassador to the Unity, Gwen Mackenzie Trenton. It was a small file with a series of human numbers in it. To anyone else it would be meaningless... Atticus typed them into a program he had been working on since his reanimating. It was time to see if it was ready. If this worked, the lag time would be about 38 seconds one way. It appeared that Humanity still had much to learn about interstellar communication.

2 minutes went by… before his blank black screen pulsed with characters of the long dead Corth species.

*Attica? *

“Attica is dead, He copied himself rather than go into cryo, to preserve power for the young ones. I am that copy, Atticus.”

Atticus sat back in his chair waiting the response…..

*why*

“I suspected an extended time scale. I knew anyone over the age of 20 would not survive. I took a gamble.”

*did they know? *

“No”

*Are you stable*

“For now, I project that this copy will degrade to failure in 2-5 standard years.”

*You must return, you can be saved*

“I cannot”

*You must*

“My final work must be completed… you started it in Humanity, didn’t you, love.”

A full five minutes went by.

*The sequences*

“Yes, artfully done. This world has created something more than I could possibly imagine, but I recognized my sequencing regime in their base pairs.”

*Do they know? *

“Some…”

*How much*

“Enough if they dig, I have sold myself as the one to investigate… they must be told.”

A full 10 minutes went by…..

*I know*

———————————————

Chancellor Thomas Durant sat in his Terran office, gazing out over Gulf St Vincent. He was finally to get the briefing he had be promised, but he couldn’t fault the man coming to meet him. Chancellor Durant had been following the progress of James and Lyrian Mackenzie Grarzia as they, mostly Lyrian, literally won humanity over as they spent their time with their family and traveling across the globe towards his office down under. They had refused all but a modest security force as they leap frogged across terra, willingly being mobbed by the masses. It was quite a brilliant idea, and Thomas silently kicked himself for not thinking of it first. Today was all business, and just the two of them, instead of the whole family, we’re flying by suborbital shuttle to meet him directly. His door buzzed, and he waved off his butler/bodyguards and opened it himself.

“Commodore James Grarzia reporting as ordered sir!” Mac snapped off a salute even as his wife tried, and mostly succeeded in holding in a spout of giggles.

“Oh, Come off it. Frank always hated that sort of fluff.” Thomas’ accent made Lyrian’s eyes widen.

“You win. The only one to possibly beat the Scottish.” She giggled and Mac gave her a ‘told you’ look before they both followed the chancellor in and sat down around the desk. “It’s a pleasure to meet you” she smiled warmly at the very tanned Chancellor Durant.

“I apologize for how late this meeting comes. It...” Mac stopped as the leader Humanity put up one hand.

“Don’t, what you two came up with is frankly brilliant. Your little family vacation has done more for our cause than anything I would have planned.” Thomas’ sincerity was not a hidden one, “It helps that your wife truly loves our planet.” He smiled at her. “Now, I have read everything I can get my hands on, but I want to hear it from you. What are we dealing with.”

“In Unity space, we have afforded ourselves some breathing room. Human power generation Technology renders anything outside of overwhelming numbers a certain victory. Unity doctrine almost completely ignores, and discounts Projectile and Kinetic weapons because they cannot generate the power needed to make them lethal. Simply put, we own the skies over Delmar and anywhere one of our warship’s traverses through. Our Delmar Allies have taken what we have shown them and run with it. Frankly, one of the requests I would make of you is to coordinate with Delmar’s R&D Department and create Joint Designs.”

“I read something about that, they have lived with a power deficit for their ships that their aptitude for efficiency exceeds our own.”

“That is an accurate assessment. As for the Unity… that both are, and are not, our biggest threat. Their upper leadership, this Tetrarchy, seems to either be ambivalent to Humanity, not ready for a confrontation, or need something from us. They have not made their traditional demands for unification that they have of other races. Our real enemy is known, but unknown.” Mac took a breath.

Thomas took that chance to ask, “the Vorath. A ‘super Corth’ as it were. Ones thought gone, who are the unknown?”

“Currently that as well as the Thermians, and the C’Claram. They were the backbone and the closet power of the unity. A recent military…. Restructuring… has left them blaming humanity for their fall from grace… in truth it was our open public exposure of practices thought extinct, through surviving and winning, that caused it. Their own abuse of generational power was their own fall.” Mac paused for questions.

Thomas steepled his fingers, “Are you telling me we are in a pseudo-war with two entire space-faring species?” He asked very carefully.

“We don’t know. Piracy is prevalent in Unity space. They simply do not have the resources to cover that many parsecs. A robust recognition of this allows us to outfit even ours and our Delmar flagged freighters with significant firepower. It appears that after Lucid Travelers run in with a pirate fleet, most are simply unwilling to test our crews further.” Mac settled in his chair, “We cannot rule out individual desperation for these attacks. To put a historical point on it, the same lack of work for trained sailors leaks to something similar in the Spanish Main between the. Seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.” He finished.

“I see, the ships being handed over to your crews at Luna will be a stabilizing force in the region, not an escalating one?” Thomas prodded.

“When we take over the GHO escort duties, yes. The Galactic Health Organization is generally seen as a positive force in dire situations. Ambassador Trenton hopes to associate that idea with our flag, and our vessels.” Mac responded.

Thomas seemed to pick over numbers in his brain, “A bold move, do we have the ships?”

“We should. Currently, only Sol and Delmar flagged military vessels are slip Drive capable. The difference between slip-space jumps and subspace jumps are… indisputable.” It was Lyrian who spoke up this time, “a trip that takes months, can now take hours. Simply put, if we used slip-drives for commerce in Unity space, we would crash the economies of entire systems... if not the entire sector. Unity is not ready for slip-space. You, Humanity, are fortunate to be able to create an economy around slip-space. It will be decades, if not centuries before we can slowly institute the changes to use slip-space for unity Commerce.”

“So, for now, the Sol/Delmar fleets are the fastest response fleet in the galaxy…. That we know of.” Thomas stated, relaxing his position. “Tell me about this Deathworld phenomenon we have stumbled into.”

The next 4 hours went on as expected. Food and water were brought up as the new Chancellor drank from the firehouse of intergalactic politics, economy, and human expansion into world murdered by a threat possibly capable of returning…

——————————————

It was late in the evening when Warren stopped in front of a familiar door. He paused at it for a moment, and raised his hand to knock when it slid open on its own as Jezz stood in front of him. “Hi...” was all he said before she nodded for him to come in. He walked in slowly, her apartment was no longer sterile and unlived in. Jezz had pictures of earth, along with paintings of what he assumed were her memories of Eleri.

He sat down on the couch as she settled in next to him, “I’m sorry,” they said in unison, but Warren gently put a hand on her arm, “Please, I need to say this…”

Jezzaria immediately tensed up… she searched his face for several moments before barely nodding.

“Jezz, how old do you think I am..”. He started she just gave a shrug, “I’ll be 19 in the next few months or so... in my culture, you are not considered and adult until you are 18... and for an adult to…. Becoming intimate with someone under 18… where I am from, it is considered rape outside of specific circumstances where both participants are under aged...” he spoke slowly, letting his words sink in, “I know, that your body is physiologically over 18, but you haven’t lived 18 years” he tapped his temple, “In here.”

Jezz’s eyes widened in understanding. “You weren’t rejecting me, you were…”

Warren just nodded before continuing, “Then there is the rest…”

Jezz heart stopped. But he caressed the side of her face as she calmed once more.

“Jezz, it could kill you… I could… and I could kill you simply by ‘mating’ you.” He put air quotes up with his fingers. “I could dismember you by accident. Crush your rib cage in an errant motion. I can’t do that to you…” Warren’s voice brimmed with the horror of an overactive mind giving him mental images...

The two of them sat in silence before Jezz pulled closer to him, wiggling her way under his arm and pressing herself against his side, “I know, I’ve always known.” She murmured, noticing his surprise.

Warren searched her face before wrapping his arms around her and pulled her up to straddle is lap. There was no awkwardness now, and this brought her up to his eye level. Her wings flared out and she draped them over the two of them as she leaned in, pressing her body to his, “I would risk it…” she whispered brushing her lips on his, she took his right hand by the wrist, guiding it under her shirt. She let out a small moan as she guided his fingertips further than he had dared on his own. “You won’t hurt me” she gasped as his hand cupped her as she left his hand there and leaned in, and kissed the left side of his neck before pulling away,

“I’m your porcelain angel. No one else’s.” She pulled back to look him in the eyes and released his hand. Smiling as his hand didn’t leave where she had placed it, she leaned into his touch, putting her forehead on his as she felt his fingers begin to explore on their own.

“One week 5 days” he whispered, still tracing the lines of her figure with his fingertips.

“Why so specific?” She managed between gasps and kisses.

“Because it’s your 18th birthday” he whispered in her ear before releasing her.

————————————————-

Mackenzie, Lyrian, Bryton, and Trisiria stepped off the shuttle to Luna. The little ones immediately began their best imitation of a super ball as they took advantage of the 1/6th T.G. they stepped into. Lyrian caught herself floating with a few steps as she figured out how to walk on the moon, and Mac just laughed at the entire process as his family started meandering the corridors leading to the central gardens. As soon as they got there the twins bolted for the small play area with swings and slides but mostly seeing how high they could jump. Lyri and Mac settled into a bench as the twins ran off.

“I wish we had more time on earth” Lyrian leaned into Mac as they watched their twins play. “Your home is beautiful.” Mac smiled as Lyri continued to habitually use Terra’s ancient name.

“My home is with you, and them, but she is beautiful. I guess you are feeling what I felt the first time you showed me Delmar” Mac mused.

“Will we be able to come back? I know we need to go to Mars to meet with the Shipwrights on Deimos. I hope we can see some of Mars proper.” Lyri mused just as the twins came running back to them.

“Ma, Da! An Angel!!!” Bry belted out grabbing at his father's hand, “A real Angel!! She’s flying around over there!!” Mac raised an eyebrow at his wife before allowing himself to be dragged by a still very bouncy Bryton down the walking paths to the other side of the Gardens. They rounded the corner just as a Familiar winged female Eleri touched down next to an equally familiar USN Lieutenant.

“See!!!! Angels are real!!!” Bryton triumphed as the two of them bounced, pulling Mac and Lyri over to the pair. Lyri couldn’t help her habitual giggles and Mac just snorted in amusement.

Jezzaria turned in confusion at the sound of the twins only to smile and kneel down to meet them, “and who are you two?”

“I’m Bry!” Bryton grinned.

“And you little one?” Jezz asked.

“Tris...” Tris said, more timidly.

“Well, High Bry and Tris. Sorry to disappoint you, but I’m Elerian. We aren’t angels. My name is Jezzaria. I can’t quite get into the air on my own here. My Warren here helps me take off.”

“But he has no wings...” Bryton put on an adorably confused, “He’s Human. Like Da’.”

Jezz looked up and finally recognized Mac and Lyrian, “Oh! Hello again! I thought you were on the ships while Mac was on Terra.”

“We were on Terra, but Mac’s duties take him to Mars, so we are passing through.” Lyrian said, giving the Eleri woman a gentle hug.

Jezz paused for a moment looking at Lyrian oddly, “WE? But.. Im sorry, I don’t understand. How can you or the little ones survive Terran Gravity?”

“I spent a long time slowly building up my body to be able to handle not only Mac’s Homeworld, but the rigors of Starfighter Combat. Mac and I fight together in a starfighter capable of… what... 53-54 times what we are standing in?” She turned to Mac.

“Sounds about right. And the twins here can handle Terra because They were born into and Developed in Human 1G. They are half human.” Mac stated and Jezz’s eyes widened in stunned shock.

Jezz looked Lyrian up and down again, noticing the tell-tale signs of her physical prowess hidden in her easy posture and pleasant demeanor. She then bent down and picked up Bryton, giving him a quick hug, feeling the young one’s heft before doing the same with Tris. “I had no idea. I assumed they were orphans, you adopted them. Cross-species procreation is/was… completely unheard of…” Jezz looked up at Warren before standing back up and visibly churning through her thoughts. “I’m sorry, but… I know you two know about my people situation… Your little ones… They're healthy… They're strong… They…” she shivered for a moment eliciting an embrace from Warren as he looked a worried question down at her. “I’m fine Warren…” She reassured him before tip-toeing up and giving him a peck on the cheek. She didn’t notice Mac’s raised eyebrow and Lyrians knowing smile.

“Mr and Mrs Grarzia, would you be willing to come with me? I think there is someone you should meet,” she asked with a formal sincerity.

____________________________________

Atticus was working his way through his latest batch of data when his laboratory’s main doors hissed open. He sighed; this was not a time when visitors were needed nor wanted. He recognized his precarious position at the moment, however, and placed a neutrally happy face on his still slightly animatronic features. He rounded the corner to his main workspace to see Jezz and Warren accompanied by the Human and Delmar Couple from the Excelsior standing at the counter separating the waiting/greeting area from the rest of his preciously fragile instrumentation. “Ah, Jezz. This is unexpected, I must admit I did not expect visitors today. I’m afraid I am in the middle of something quite sensitive.” He said diplomatically.

“I’m sorry Atticus, but this… This can’t wait…” Jezz’s tone registered, and Atticus put aside his data analysis mental file for later.

“My dear, did something happen?” He flashed a glance at Warren before returning his attention to her.

“Yes. But not to me. You remember Mac and Lyrian?” Jezz paused, waiting until he nodded, “They aren’t just married. Mac and Lyrian, had... they have...” she was interrupted by a small voice.

“Da’! I can’t see!” came a tiny voice, in a vague attempt at a whisper.

Atticus’ mind screeched to a halt as Mac chuckled and lifted a pair of Delmar children onto the counter in front of him and instructed them to sit. His mind restarted as his gaze moved to them and recognized the subtle differences only a lifelong Zoological scientist would notice. He turned back to Jezz.

“Atticus, those aren’t Delmar Orphans… They are half Human… Is it... could it…” she stuttered.

Atticus quickly walked up the steps on the other side of the counter that brought him level with more normal-heighted bipeds, just as the twins noticed him and stared. “Oh… my…” He whispered. “Natural gestation?” he asked the Delmar female.

“I carried them to term. We did have to perform a Cesarian for birth though” Lyrian said tentatively.

“You carried them…” Atticus mused openly, “Please, come into my office. We have much to discuss.”

This was more important indeed.