Page 9 of Her Alien Delegate (Necia Alien Warriors)

"You could kill us here, but then you'd be killing more than us, wouldn't you?

" I reasoned without flustering. It was true, their poison was deadly, but I had a feeling it drew too much attention, even for the Blue District, to poison an entire street.

Their poison wasn't exactly subtle when it sprayed out of their scales like a mist.

"If you try anything, then it won't really matter if I cause a scene.

Better to kill you all," the trill warned.

He motioned for us to follow him as he tugged Vaquel along, turning his back to me.

I could end them here, but there was no telling if they had backup groups ready to take up where these two left off.

It was better to make it to the Blue District underground first.

I whispered to the garrant, who had extremely good hearing, "Guess he doesn't really value your life much, and whatever reason you need Broma alive for would be gone."

Before I could say more, the garrant was already charging without much thought. His mind was obviously under stress and his health was in serious question. Two fists smashed on either side of the trill's head and I could feel the crunch of the skull before he used his other arms to squeeze Vaquel.

"Sleep now," he said while Vaquel's eyes rolled back. He didn't even attempt to use his ormete to free himself. He was allowing himself to be caught at whatever cost, even his life, to make sure that I could go free.

The trill was left behind, but I wasn't sure if that would kill it when I'd seen them come back from worse. They were extraordinarily resilient.

We made it to the Blue District without further incident, and I did not provoke the garrant again with his unstable nature.

"You will stay back there. You can hear that I will give the computer instructions to keep the commissioner isolated," he gritted out barely containing himself.

"Agreed." I stayed back while he purchased his rooms and gave the isolation command. Even the one who purchased the isolation wasn't allowed to undo it until the contract term was up, so Vaquel would be safe for two risings.

"Now, you will give yourself an isolation command," he ordered while he shoved Vaquel's body into the transfer container reserved for unconscious guests.

"Of course," I said with a nod. I purchased my own unit and gave it an isolation command for two days, but with the contingency that the isolation was simply to the Blue District facility, not my room. But as this was a district designed for illegal trade, it was easy to fool the garrant.

"Isolation request complete," the computer intoned, and the garrant grunted his approval without having full faculties to confirm what kind of isolation was requested.

It was mostly for the garrant to know that I would have no way of following him or trying to get help to free Vaquel.

It was also helpful that privacy was respected here, and my name was never used to inform the garrant of his mistake.

"Wait." His large arms, all four of them, flexed as he watched me. Assessing me with scrutiny, he added, "Confirm isolation time."

"Please confirm my isolation time," I commanded the computer.

"One rising has been requested; please confirm duration," it stated.

"That is not what we agreed to! Two risings! It must be—"

"Of course," I interrupted, but kept my tone neutral and updated my time, "Adjust to two risings," I told the computer.

"Two risings confirmed, please proceed to your quarters through the right hall entry. Welcome to the Blue District. Enjoy your stay."

"Your stay has been confirmed. Please proceed to the left hall entry," the computer informed the garrant of his own stay confirmation. Before he departed, he warned, "I would consider a longer stay if I were you, as I don't need you alive, and I will kill you if I see you again."

I nodded my understanding and replied with a smile, "My sentiments exactly. Not even your friends care if you live, but I do care that you harmed him. If we meet again, I will kill you."

I didn't think Vaquel would grow on me so fast, but I didn't lie to the garrant. I would kill him if I saw him again for threatening those under my protection.

Walking down the hall of mostly rooms reserved for isolated chambers, it was an eerie feeling to not run into another guest of the Blue District while making my way to my room.

"Do you have no other guests on this floor?" I asked the computer running this establishment.

"Many are isolated on this floor, and the Blue District has many floors with two entrances to every room that connect to two different halls.

I'm equipped to manage every guest according to their preferences for privacy.

Many guests choose to wait until one of the two halls attached to their room is vacant before they depart, and there are separate floors for guests looking for experiences.

Are you looking for company? We have the largest selection of species for various requests from scent stimulants to viewing rooms, or—"

"No, that will not be necessary. I'm waiting for a human mate."

"We have a human in residence, should you change your mind," the computer said, while an air vent above me opened and a soft puff blew down my ormete.

It was a pleasant scent, but something in it made my muscles tense, like I should be alert for predators.

It smelled like fear when a warrior faces their ormete ceremony to claim their first trophy.

My hand instinctively lifted to touch the bone of my first kill.

My ormete were still too weak to lift the weight of every memory.

All I had left was my duty to find a human mate to keep peace for AsunGor.

"Male or female?" I asked the computer.

"It has not specified a gender for guests, but I can request permission to reveal this data? One request is complimentary for every guest."

It would be a waste of a request to ask such a simple question when I can get the same information with a different request.

"Request a time option with the human."

"Please specify the type of time option requested. No services are currently inventoried. It is their first rising open for guest interaction."

"I'll pay for a block on all other requests. The human will only be seen by me."

"Please confirm a single rising block on outside requests."

"Confirm," I said and watched as the screen on my wrist flashed the amount of an entire week of credits for one day of blocking requests on the human. "Robbery," I scoffed.

"Your request has been submitted to the human."

The light above my door turned blue, indicating 'occupied' to guests that might pass by my room.

Inside, the space had basic accommodation, smaller than expected when I was used to spacious caverns.

Even on my ship the crew quarters were larger than this, and it was a ship designed for speed, not cargo.

We always made sure to utilize the limited cargo space for trade, but our ships were designed to be fast and sturdy to survive the winds of AsunGor's atmosphere.

The interface on the room's wall lit up with a notification.

"The human has added conditions to your request for time."

"State the conditions," I replied curiously.

"You are not allowed to gaze upon its form during your visit to its room. A sap will be applied to your eyes, which will naturally crack and fall off after a rising or once a dissolvent is applied. It wishes to remain what it calls "anonymous", which is defined as lacking a name in their tongue."

"You said conditions?"

"Yes, any requests during your time with the human are subject to denial at its discretion."

"I see..."

"You won't see; that is one of the terms," the computer corrected.

"I accept."

Regardless of what I found out about this human during my visit, at least I wouldn't be bored while I waited to rescue Vaquel.

He'd be isolated for a couple risings, regardless of what I did, and I didn't need to find him, when I could easily ask the computer to lead me to him when his isolation was up, since the garrant did not specify that the guest was to be blocked from requests.

Vaquel was safe enough, and I'd get to meet my first human.