Spears of Uu'kata

Chapter 59 The Beans

Charlotte cut off as Ahnekk's arms slipped around her, pulling her against his wide chest saying, "No, no, no, my Charlotte. My precious miracle," he breathed. "I just... I just can't believe this... is this real?"

"It is," Gondroll said with a sniff. "I've known since I read the Skath bath last night. It's real. There are two. Both girls."

"This is unheard of," Captain Tlorndon said. "Cross-species propagation has never been possible with any species. We tried. In our efforts to save our people, we tried breeding with... everything."

"Even... those guys?" Charlotte asked, pointing at the Koli.

The tentacle alien, who was usually so emotionless, actually quirked a smile and nodded slightly.

The ice seemed to break and suddenly everyone was talking at once. Gondroll and Echnar came up and joined in the group hug and Charlotte felt herself calm, some of the anxiety melting away.

Charlotte held Shodara against her chest, stroking her hair as she continued to weep. Shodara's arms were almost uncomfortably tight around her. The males linked arms over each other's shoulders, pressing their heads together. She looked up to see tears in both Echnar and Ahnekk's eyes. But they were smiling.

"Do you understand now?" Charlotte asked. "Do you understand why you need to take the people, instead of killing them?"

Ahnekk met her eyes and blinked a few times, as though his brain was trying to catch up. His eyes suddenly widened. He inhaled sharply and straightened, then turned to Captain Tlornden.

"Our objective has to change," he said.

"Agreed," the captain said immediately.

Charlotte disengaged herself from her lovers and waved her arms.

"Wait, wait, wait," she said. "Before you start making plans, I need to be clear. You are not getting into that farm without my help because none of you can teleport there. I can. I've been there. And I am not helping you with anything unless you all agree to my terms."

The room went quiet.

"I'm not going to let my people be taken prisoner and raped or trafficked. I'm not going to help anyone enslave my people and force them to carry babies they don't want to carry or be experimented on without their consent. So before we do anything we need a written agreement concerning the treatment of my people and the punishment of anyone who violates the agreement."

Thenderik, the leader of the Arinoll stepped forward and said, "I will start working on the agreement."

"Thank you," Charlotte said with a nod.

The female stood there, staring at her for a long moment, her expression unfathomable. Was she pleased by this new development? Angered?

"So... what's going on?" Annie asked.

Eyes turned to her. The males looked her up and down with a new kind of consideration. The exact kind of consideration she wanted to protect human women from. Except, they weren't just looking at her, they were also eyeing Vasquez.

Chelling growled at them.

Charlotte took a deep breath and summed up the conversation in English.

Vasquez was not happy. His jaw bunched at the sides and his skin flushed as he paced, bare feet slapping softly against the stone floor.

"And you're okay with this? With helping them just kidnap a couple of thousand innocent humans?" he asked, turning to her.

"Vasquez, it's not about being okay anymore. We need to insulate this planet from attack. And keep our people alive. The Tilith are going to hit that farm whether we help or not. Their plan was an all-out assault. They wanted to completely destroy it and neither you nor I are in a position to talk them out of it. But we can change the outcome by giving another option. That's what I'm doing here.