Galactic Marshal II
by
Hilltopper

CHAPTER 15

Standing before me were two aliens. They were about 3 feet tall and had a slight greenish tinge to their skin. They were humanoid and both looked female. To top it off, they had beautiful translucent wings. The word that came to my mind was ‘faeries’.

“Welcome to my ship. This is my mate. I would give you our names but you could not pronounce them. You can call us what ever you want.”

I continued to stare.

“The reaction you are having is why we use an avatar to interact with your race. Our people visited your Earth thousands of your years ago. They left because of your aggressive nature. I understand that stories about us have been passed down through the ages.”

I glanced at Karen. She looked like she was about to faint. I finally found my voice.

“You’re Faeries! This can’t be real!”

The one talking laughed.

“That’s what your ancestors called us but we are just people like you. We created the avatars so that we could negotiate business deals without any handicaps.”

I was starting to recover.

“Yes, I can see why you do not want to interact as your selves. Our preconceptions would work against you.”

The alien turned to Karen.

“You are letting your mate do all the talking.”

Karen shook her head.

“Huh”

“We are used to the primary member doing most of the interacting. My mate will only talk with others in my presence when spoken to. We assumed that you are the primary.”

I didn’t know what to think about this. Karen looked at me and shrugged. She turned back to the alien.

“There may be married couples that seem to act that way but we consider each spouse to be equal.”

The alien appeared to frown.

“That is not what we observed on Prowhiness. The one you call ‘male’ always appeared to be the primary and the ‘female’ followed the males lead. I know your planet is different because you are all females. Perhaps we are mistaken in your case but, since you are bigger and stronger than Gina, it made sense that you would be the primary.”

Karen smiled.

“You are definitely mistaken. Gina is an equal to me. In fact, that is one reason our ancestors moved to Fledora. The planet we originated from suffered under male oppression of females.”

Karen studied the aliens a second.

“You both seem to be female. How do you decide who is primary?”

The alien shook its head.

“We do not have gender designations like you. We both produce a gamete that can be fused together to produce an off spring. This is done in a lab. The child as you would call it is raised in an institution until it has learned enough to become a citizen. We do not have parents as such, therefore.”

“Well, that is certainly different. You mentioned that your rulers wanted to meet us. I don’t have a problem with that but once again you are taking one of us away without permission. Why didn’t you just ask?”

“We did as we were told. I am sorry it has caused you pain. You are not prisoners. On the contrary, you are welcomed guests.”

“OK, as long as you view Gina and me as equals. You never did tell us how you choose who is primary in your relationship.”

“That is predetermined. Now, if you will please go back and strap in, we will head for our home.”

“Don’t we need hibernation pods?”

“No, our drive is not like yours. We will arrive in about 3 hours. Please hurry.”

We walked back to the room with the chairs and strapped in. I shook my head.

“I must be dreaming.”

Karen laughed.

“I have to admit that, in all the time I spent with them, I never expected this. I knew the guys I dealt with weren’t really the true aliens but --- an avatar? I sure would like to know how they do it.”

“Yeah, their technology is way beyond us. It makes one wonder why they need to deal with us at all. What do you make of the primary crap. That sounds very old fashioned for an advanced race.”

“I don’t know. It worries me some. I’m not sure I like the idea of going with them.”

“Me either but it looks like we have no choice in the matter. I sure wish Coop was tailing us.”

Karen nodded. We were silent for a while. I was really worried. They seemed to be viewing me as arm candy with no real status in spite of Karen’s demand. I didn’t want to cause a conflict since we will be on their territory but I was not going to take this lying down. Karen was backing me up which I appreciated. The face appeared on the screen. This seemed strange since we knew what they looked like.

“When we reach our planet, we will enter orbit. Our rulers have stated that they will fly up to our ship. Just relax. I will brief you before they come aboard.”

The screen went blank. I looked over at Karen.

“Well, that was interesting.”

Karen frowned.

“It’s almost like our earlier meeting never took place. Maybe it’s a software thing.”

“Yeah, I guess I better control myself. They are quickly getting on my nerves. I don’t want to do anything that will cause George to not get help.”

Karen smiled and patted my hand.

“Don’t take their peculiar customs to heart. They are an alien civilization. Let’s just play along. The stakes are very high.”

I nodded.

“OK, you take the lead and I will be a good girl.”

Karen laughed.

“That will be the day!”

After a bit, our door opened and one of the aliens walked in. It looked like the one who had done all of the talking.

“We are about home. Have you decided what you would like to call us?”

Karen glanced at me. I shrugged.

“I don’t know, how about Tinker?”

I thought I was going to fall over. She did not say that and with a straight face.

“Fine, and my mate?”

I couldn’t help myself. I blurted out.

“Bell?”

“OK, from now on in your presence, I will be Tinker and my mate will be Bell.”

Tinker turned and left. Karen couldn’t hold it any longer. I joined in. After a few minutes, we finally calmed down. I had laughed so hard I was crying. A few minutes later, Tinker returned.

“I am glad you are feeling better about this. We did not mean you harm. When our leaders come aboard, I will lead you to them. Upon entering the room, I will take Karen up to the leaders. Gina, you will see Bell to the right. Go join her. Please say nothing. From that point on, the leaders will guide us. They do not speak your language so I will translate. Now, part of this meeting will be to discuss our purchase of thulium. Do you have any thing to add to this?”

Karen spoke up.

“Yes, one of us was injured in the escape from your ship. He has severe spinal damage. I know that you healed me. We ask that you do the same for him. He is on our ship at Prowhiness.”

Tinker nodded.

“I don’t see a problem with that. As long as our leaders reach an agreement to obtain the thulium, I am sure they will approve that.”

I smiled.

“Thank you.”

Bell walked in and spoke to Tinker. It was the first time we had heard their native language. It is hard to describe it. I don’t see how we could speak it. To say the least, it was alien.

“Bell says that the rulers have come along side. We will leave in a few minutes.”

Bell left. Tinker seemed to be waiting for some signal. Finally, its wings fluttered. I wonder if they can fly. The wings looked vestigial.

“OK, please follow me.”

We were led down the corridor but turned at a door before reaching the galley. Karen walked in beside Tinker. As I entered, I noticed Bell off to the side. I went over and stood beside her. There were two new aliens in the room. They looked about the same but appeared older. Karen towered over them. It was hard to read any expressions but I got the feeling that she intimidated them. That seemed out of character in spite of the difference in height. I could not hear what was said but one of the leaders made a long speach. After the translation, all parties talked back and forth. I looked over at Bell. She stood motionless with a blank face. I felt like a second class citizen. Finally after about 30 minutes, Karen bowed to the leaders. Tinker took her hand and they walked toward the exit. After they left the room, the alien elders walked up to me. They spoke for about 2 minutes, bowed slightly, and left. I turned to Bell.

“What was that all about?”

“They were complimenting you on your support of your mate and wished you well. We can go back now.”

“That was a lot of talking just to say that.”

Bell looked away and led me back without speaking further. When I returned to our room, Karen was already seated. Bell left and the door closed.

“Well?”

Karen grinned.

“I think we did it. They agreed to pay the same for the thulium as before and they are willing to help George.”

“That’s great! Why did they bring us all the way here?”

“That’s the strange part. They are impressed by you.”

“Me?”

“Yes, the leaders wanted to meet you personally.”

I shook my head.

“That’s crazy, besides, I never said a thing to them. They came over after you left and talked to me for a couple of minutes but I said nothing. Bell said they were just being nice. It seemed a lot more than that to me.”

Karen nodded.

“I think there is more to it than we know. Anyhow, a merchant ship is going to follow us back to Prowhiness. It will have the facilities to treat George. Then we go to Fledora’s moon to get the thulium.”

I grunted.

“That will be easier said than done. You didn’t happen to tell them that we are fugitives did you?”

Karen grimaced.

“Not exactly, I just said we would need to load the thulium without the council knowing.”

“Hmm, well, we will cross that bridge when we get to it.”

We settled back to wait. About 20 minutes later, our friendly face appeared.

“Buckle in, we are leaving.”

The screen went blank and we did. The ship started vibrating like it did when we left Prowhiness. I sure would like to know more about their engines. I don’t know how far we traveled but we would have had to hibernate to make the trip with our ship because of the hardship on our bodies. There was none of that here. I barely felt anything. I guess I was tired and a little hungry because I drifted off. I was awakened by the door opening. Bell walked in.

“We are almost there. You need to contact your ship so that we may rendezvous with it. Please follow me.”

She took us back to the galley. It occurred to me that they have not let us view any of the workings of the ship. When we entered, Tinker was there. Karen was handed a devise that looked like a walkie-talkie.

“We have announced our presence to your ship. Just talk into that.”

Karen looked at it curiously and then called out.

“This is Karen, are you there, Coop?”

“Thank God, yes, I’m here. Are you two alright?”

“We’re fine and need to dock with you.”

“OK, I see you. Come ahead, we’re ready.”

“Thanks Coop.”

Karen glanced at me and shrugged. She knew it was my place to communicate with Coop. I couldn’t help myself.

“I see I’m still not considered an equal.”

Tinker looked surprised.

“We just assumed that since Karen is the primary that she would be the one to tell them we are here.”

I realized I had said too much. They didn’t know I was the commander. I acquiesced.

“That’s fine. You did right.”

Tinker looked relieved. We docked and went to the hatch. When it opened, we were greeted by Linda and Coop. I looked back to introduce Tinker but found the avatar standing there. He stepped forward and shook Coop’s hand.

“Please to meet you Mr. Cooper. I understand you have an injured man aboard.”

Coop looked over at me.

“They have agreed to fix Georges back.”

“Oh, that’s great!”

Linda was ecstatic.

“I’ll go get him.”

She came back a few minutes later pushing George in a wheelchair. The avatar looked confused.

“I thought the injured person was male.”

George spoke up.

“I was disguised as a woman to get on your ship. I would be glad to get rid of this.”

The avatar nodded.

“I bet. It’s not right to be forced to be something you’re not. Let’s get you on the ship and we will correct things.”

He turned to Coop.

“We will head to your planet Fledora after getting George into our medical unit. You go on ahead.”

Coop nodded and the avatar, Linda, and George entered the alien ship. Karen and I went with Coop to the command center. Coop set the ship to take us near Fledora and we headed to the hibernation pod.

“You know, Karen, we will probably not be welcomed back to Fledora or the moon.”

“That’s for sure.”

Coop looked thoughtful.

“When we get to the Fledora area, why not put our ship on the back side of the moon until we can see how things are?”

“That sounds good to me.”

We entered the pods and went into hibernation. I awoke to find Karen and Coop already gone. I went to the command center. They were staring out the window. When I looked, I got a shock. There were two marshal cruisers on an intercept course to us.