I reveled in the luxurious bath, surrounded by the soothing scent of oils and the gentle ministrations of the servant women. The bath was large enough to have several people in the tub at the same time. The tile was placed in a mosaic of the Caravelle crest at the bottom of the tube. It was a rare moment of relaxation, a respite from the challenges and mysteries that had unfolded since my arrival at the Caravelle Empire. As I lay in the tub, I couldn't help but think about the enigmatic Grand Cleric and the society I now found myself a part of.

The wardrobe from the Royal Transport had been brought to my suite, and I was grateful to finally shed the armor that had served me well but was now in need of recharging. I selected my favorite pantsuit and a pair of heels, feeling a sense of relief at the return to more comfortable attire. I carefully placed the crown upon my head, a symbol of my role as queen, and discreetly holstered my pistol, an acknowledgment of the uncertainties that lay ahead.

I opened the door of my suite into the sitting room. There waiting patiently was my messenger, “What is your name?”

He looked shyly up at me and spoke softly, “Tryon, your majesty.”

“Tryon, I need you to find out what is going on with the former slave girl Misty. Oh, and can you show me the way to the kitchen so I can speak to the cook.” I said with a smile.

He jumped up right away and rushed over to the door, “Please follow me, Your Majesty.”

We walked through the palace till we got to the kitchen. He rushed off while I walked in to talk with the staff there. As I entered, I was greeted by a grumpy old woman. “I was not expecting new servants. You might want to change otherwise the men of the house will think you are a sex slave, and I can’t have all your time taken up servicing them in that capacity.”

I was a little taken aback by her statement. I know she didn’t look at me when I walked in but to think the servants could be treated in such a way. “Madame, I am not a servant and I assure you that if any of the men in the palace use any of the servants as sex slaves, they will find themselves missing their manhood. Now I need to talk to the head cook.”

She turned back to me looking closer at me, “Huh, so the rummers were true. We have a queen now. Well, I be the head cook here. What can I do for you?”

I clapped my hands together and rubbed them. “First, as you can see, I am not one of the races that have populated the Empire. For that reason, I need to make you aware of some of my dietary differences. I noticed none of the men this evening were eating any meat, but I need meat with at least two meals a day. I will have to talk to you later about the cooking techniques that I prefer. Maybe I can find some substitutes for my favorite foods. If you need anything to make your job easier, please let me know and I will try to help.”

While I was there, I grabbed a little pastry that had just finished being made. It was very different, not sweet like I would have expected. I think it was a little bitter. Well, I guess it’s going to take trial and error to figure out what I like for food here in the Andromeda galaxy.

“Your Majesty, was the taste to your liking?” The cook asked me.

“I’m sorry, I forgot to ask you your name. The taste was not what I was expecting. I thought it would be a little sweet but found it bitter. I will just have to learn how to get used to the food here.” I responded.

“I’m sorry if my cooking is not up to your expectations. My name is Silva, and I hope that you will give me another chance. I don’t want to lose my position here.” Silva replied to me with shame in her voice.

“I am not going to get rid of you because you cook differently than I expect. I can’t expect you to know what I like to eat. So let me tell you a little about what food I am used to eating. I prefer my meat to be juicy and savory, and for my bread, I like it a little sweet except in the morning when I like it really sweet. I think that I am just going to have to come down here someday soon and give you some examples of the type of foods I like.” I explained to her. I felt some sympathy for her. She was probably treated poorly by the Grand Cleric and thought that any mistake would result in punishment.

I faced her and clasped her hands in mine, “I promise to work with you to come up with some new dishes. Thank you so much for your time, Silva. I look forward to seeing what types of dishes you come up with for me.”

My next stop on my self-guided tour of the palace was a large sitting room. In there I found many women looking around in wonderment at the palace. I could tell by their attire that they were not servants, because they wore a hideous red uniform that I needed to see about replacing. These women looked like the women slaves I encountered in the throne room. As soon as I was noticed by one of the women, they all dropped to their knees and thanked me. I better get used to people fawning all over me.

“Hello ladies, please stand I wish to speak with you.” I spent a long time getting the ladies to open up about their circumstances, but I learned a lot about how badly women were being treated by society. I am sure some women were treated well by their husbands, but that didn’t make up for the societal injustice that they have been experiencing.

Some of the women had gotten pregnant and had the children stripped away from them by the father because he wanted a male heir. As I listened to the stories, I could not help but cry about the fate society had imposed on them. They had no choice in the matter. They were all largely uneducated because it was illegal for women to go to school once they reached ten. They only had the skills they learned on the job which was something I would have to change. How could I make these women’s lives better?

As the time grew late, I worked with the staff to find all the women some rooms. The palace unfortunately did not have enough rooms available for all the women so many of them had to double up in a room. I found out that Misty was still being treated for her injuries. I hoped she would recover; I don’t think she will ever be okay though.

My body was getting exhausted. I don’t know how long I was up for today, but I needed to get some sleep. I was so sleepy that the moment my head hit the pillow I was out for the count. My mind completely shut down; I don’t think I even had any dreams. The great thing I found out about being queen was I set the schedule. If I slept in like I did the next morning, then everyone waited till I was ready to start getting things ready for me.

“Spire, how is time tracked here?” I asked hoping it would not be too difficult to remember and hopefully not too different than what I am used to.

“My Queen, time is tracked here based on the Caravelle home world. Time is comparable to your seconds, minutes, and hours. Days are twenty-nine hours long and one year is four hundred and twenty-six days.” Spire informed me. Well, I guess the planet has a wider orbit than Earth does.

“How far are we away from the Caravelle home world?” I was curious.

“The Queen’s Spire is seven days by slipstream, and relatively equidistance to all the farthest systems. The true center of the Empire.”

I haven’t had a good look at the space surrounding the space station. I know the station is huge just from what I have seen so far, and I know that I haven’t seen but a little bit of it, but most of that was while I was running. I did look out the windows of my suite and was able to see so many different sections within the dome all circling the palace. The throne room was next to the palace in a separate building.

The palace itself; is a twenty-story central spire with four smaller spires forming a square around the central spire. Thankfully there was a lift to get around the inside. I would not want to walk up and down the stairs all the time, even if that would give me great legs and ass. My suite was not really decorated to my taste. It was too much damn red. I think I wanted it to be painted or whatever they do to change the colors, to a pastel blue. I wanted it brighter and relaxing, less dramatic and bold. I needed someone to help me manage the palace.

“Spire, can we find an assistant that can help me keep track of my schedule and take care of the palace?” I asked.

“Yes, I will have potential persons go through a background check to verify a good fit,” Spire told me.

“I’d also like to have education set up for women of the station so that they can get on the same level of education that the men have. The women I have staying here in the palace, I would like to find them suitable jobs to do around the palace. I met two yesterday who looked like they were very knowledgeable about makeup and fashion. It was, Tren and Kal, I would like them to work with me on my wardrobe and makeup. I also want them to have clothes that are fit to stand with me in public. That is if they want the job.”

“I will send the message out.” It was nice to be able to just speak and get stuff done, but I was still lonely. I had no one like me around the station. I might have some of the same DNA as the rest of the folks on the station, but they were not like me in any other way. Even if I had someone close to talk to, we would not have any common past to share. No one would understand my struggles and my accomplishments or even my life.

I put my armor back on since I was going to be in front of people who didn’t necessarily like me. I would bet that some of them would take a chance at killing me for the throne if I gave them the chance. After some food, I was escorted to the throne room.

I took a deep breath and let it out before I opened the doors to the throne room. This time I only came in with two mechs as guards. I felt that any more than that would cause problems. The talking immediately ceased when I walked into the room. I left the mechs to guard the doors. I needed to show strength and not hide behind superior technology. The spire had mechs hidden from the rest of the populous until the time of my crowning. There were other changes to the spire as several systems came online. We now had slip-gate engines available that could move the station anywhere in the empire. I also discovered that we had larger more powerful weapons that came online as well as shielding which was so much better than the shield generators that they had been using which were only designed to protect the station from radiation and space debris.

This caused a stir when some of the systems started to send readings and feedback to the technicians who operate the station. This was causing some discussions on the streets. The loss of slaves was already causing shop owners to wonder how they would be able to make their products without slaves.

I sat on my throne and looked over the council members, then it hit me I only saw one race here. Where were representatives from the other systems so I can hear about what is going on in their systems? “Ok, I already see a problem here. I do not have any representatives from the other races in our Empire here in the council. This is going to change. I want to know what the needs of the races are from them. Who had been controlling the other systems?” I asked a little perturbed.

“Your Majesty, I am Nobar and I am in charge of trade relations for the systems. The enforcement of the Doctrine of the Caravelle Empire was handled by the Church of Mintral. They have enforcement squads all over the systems.” Nobar responded to me quickly after I asked my question. I think he might be one to keep on my new council.

“Thank you Nobar for that information. To deal with this I decree that all enforcement squads are disbanded and have no authority to enforce any laws. Those who wish to come and join the military will be welcome if they are willing to live within the rules of the Empire. With that said, will you please tell me what is going on with trade relations in our Empire?” I sat there looking more relaxed than I was feeling. I had a feeling my trouble with the Church of Mintral was just beginning.

For the most part, his report on trade relations only brought one problem to my attention. Slave traders were not happy with my order to free the slaves. That was a shocker. They have not ceased operations because they don’t think I can enforce that decree. I needed to start doing something about that quickly, so I looked to my brand-new military liaison, “I want you to send a battle group to these systems and if they find any of these slave traders. They were to confiscate their ships and take the slaves back to where they were from. If the slavers, try to fight deadly force is authorized. Any slaver that does not fight back will be sent to prison and their vessels will be put up for auction to help pay for the relocation costs of those slaves.

“I also want shipyards to start producing new ships with the information that was unlocked now that a queen sits on the throne again. Tell the shipyards that they can also use a few of the designs in commercial ships not heavy weapons. I also want groups of privateers with ships that can fight, for their privateering chit, they must be willing to come fight for the Empire if we have the need.” I know we are going to need them in the future. It will be inevitable. With these new upgrades to ships, they will start to venture out farther demanding I expand the Empire to maintain law and order.

The councilman who oversaw goods production said that the loss of slaves would cause them to slow down production. I made the simple claim. “Start paying the people for the work that they do. Give them a reason to want to continue to work with the companies. This goes for all the various industries that used slave labor.”

I also heard from my Chief of Police, that he was having some problems with those that live in the city because all the brothels closed. I had to think a minute about what I could do to solve the problem but also not promote slavery. I needed to give the women more power in the situation. “Spire, do I have access to enough funds to be able to purchase all the brothels on the station?” This was a crazy idea and I hoped that it would work.

“Yes, your Majesty,” the AI informed me.

“So here is my solution. I will purchase all the buildings that the brothels have been run out of and I will fix them up. Prostitution will be state-run. Those who choose to work in that industry will have my support behind them. The rules will be that the workers will choose their fees. They have the right to decline a customer. There will be security on the premises to keep any violence out of the brothels and anyone who violates the rules will be permanently banned from all brothels. The women will have free medical care to protect themselves. To be fair here I will also ban any worker that tries to steal, injure, or do any harm to a customer will also be punished. There will be a ten percent tax on all money that the workers make to be used to maintain the facilities.” I hope that this will help show that I am willing to compromise so that people suffer.

“Chief, please inform men on the street, that I plan to have this up in running in fourteen days. Depending on how much work it will take to fix up some of the brothels. I will also have to find women willing to take these jobs, but I am sure I can make that work.” I had my idea written into the law so that I could move forward with it. I hoped this would allow some of these women to take back control over their bodies.

Earth history has shown that any changes made that deal with discrimination take generations to start to see a dramatic change in society. I won’t be around then but hopefully, I can set things on the right track.

The other thing I need to worry about is housing for the slaves that I freed. For that, I needed to get onto the streets and see what the station was like with my own eyes.

“Who here deals with the justice system for the Empire?” When no one acknowledged me, I felt like I knew what the answer was going to be. “Let me guess, the church.” I found that the Church had its fingers in a lot of pies. They controlled the judicial, the military, also the orphanages that would ‘train young children.’ This was going to be a huge mess to clean up. I realized I was taking over for the church, but I didn’t have the same reach as they did.

I called an end to the meeting when it became clear that I only had five members on the council who did anything. The rest were put there as a favor for some gift or something. I had the dead weight removed from the council. This was not going to be a social club. I wanted people who wanted to do something to help the Empire.

I needed to walk around I was tired of being isolated so much. It was fun talking with the rest of the women last night even if the topic was serious. It was just so nice to be around other people. I grabbed two more mechs to escort me around the station so I could see what was going on outside the palace grounds.

I couldn’t see much change when I first left the grounds. There was a plaza right outside the gate with a giant golden statue in the center. How I missed seeing that when I came running past it the first time I don’t know. It was actually very gaudy. Some man in heavy armor holding a scepter in the air. As I walked around studying the statue, the man looked different than the Caravelle people I have seen so far. His eyes were not as big as those I had seen. I looked at the inscription, ‘High King Mirtan, Savior of Man.’ So, this was who the church saw as the god of the Caravelle Empire.

I know this was a little petty of me, but I told my mechs to take it down and have it melted down for the precious metals. I wondered how many statues there were around the station. I then remembered all the damn statues that were in my throne room. I needed them removed as well. I wanted to sanitize the filth of the church from this station and then my Empire. The misogynistic teachings of the church have made the empire’s technology decline. I want to get it back to where it once was and hopefully better.

Once I left the area around the palace and the councilor homes, I found the station changed a lot. The streets were dirtier, and you could smell a variety of different smells. This was the Tagnor district that I have wandered into. The creatures reminded me of werewolves, to be honest. They had large bodies covered in fur. Their face has a short snout with large canine teeth. Their eyes didn’t display hate or fear. In fact, they looked like very nice people, just different. The women looked different than the men. They have smaller frames and slender shoulders. Their fur also looked a lighter color.

The Tagnor all gave me a wide birth, stared, and whispered to each other about me. The shops here were little more than stalls. The clothing the Tagnor were wearing here was not of the highest quality. I had to assume that this area was not where the money was when it came to their people. I continued to walk and while I didn’t see anything too bad in the area. There was no sign of angry people. No one was begging on the side of the street. The people also looked well-fed. They lived much like I did before I got whisked away.

A smell reached my nose that made me smile and my stomach growled in hunger. It smelled like roasted lamb. I followed the smell of that savory meat to a small street stand that was roasting meat on a stick. I just had to have one. I knew I was attracting attention as I walked up to the food stall. I saw many people eating the meat, so I assumed it was good.

Luckily, I was taught how to pay vendors, it’s just a simple biometric scanner that authorizes the payment. My mouth was watering when I got up there. I asked for one which shocked everyone. No one had seen a Caravelle eat any meat. After I paid for it, I tore into the meat. It was so good the seasoning was extraordinary. I asked them what the meat was. I was told it was a hauker, which I found was a large hairy mammal similar to a wooly mammoth but with sharper teeth. I complimented the shop owner for such a delicious meal.

I was smiling as I walked through more of the Tagnor section. I found a clothing shop that had the custom dress of the Tagnor women. It was like a long loin cloth and a halter top wrap. It looked sexy, and I found a color that matched my complexion, so I got one. I figured that if I showed interest in the other cultures it would help me build some goodwill within the empire. I had a lot of Tagnor following me as I walked through the streets watching what I was doing.

Word had gotten around that I had sampled their food, so I had a few of the food stalls offer me samples of their food. There were some that I could not eat, it was just too bitter for me. But in that case, I was still nice to the vendor when it was food that was not edible to me. They showed a lot of interest in my taste in food. If I found one that had really good food, they would cheer and congratulate the stall owner. It was a fun experience for everyone because I was willing to try new things.

I met the representative of the Tagnor, he met me outside one of the shops I had just wandered through. He introduced himself as Maninor, he looked to be an older Tagnor with a little graying of his fur. He still towered over me even in my heels. I felt short at that time. His broad shoulders were marked with graying areas in his otherwise black hair. He was friendly, which made me happy. He offered his daughter to help show me around.

Minsha was not as tall as her father but still was a good foot taller than me. I was starting to get a Napoleon Complex being the shortest person around. Her fur was a very light brown, and her eyes were a bright green. Her body was full-figured like most of the women Tagnor. She wore a traditional dress like I had bought earlier but in a green that matched her eyes. She was a quite striking woman. I accepted their offer of her services and wrapped my arm in hers and started to walk off with her. That got a lot of gasps from the crowd, which caused me to stop in my tracks and wonder what custom I just violated.

Turns out when Tagnor interlock their arms like I just did to her it was an announcement that we were courting. The way people were reacting I could tell if I tried to say that isn’t what I meant that it would shame her in the eyes of her people. Fuck, what am I going to do? Her eyes were quite wide as well, but she did not pull away. I think she was thinking she did not want to dishonor me or her family by turning down my offer. This was something that needed to be handled in a private setting so we could figure out how to deal with the situation.

“Your Majesty, would you please accompany me to my home so we can discuss this?” Maninor asked realizing the delicate nature of the situation. Both Minsha and I walked with our heads held high like there was nothing wrong. Again, we wanted to refrain from causing a scandal that would hurt the reputation of both me and her family.

Once we got to Maninor’s home and settled in his seating quarters. His wife Yamine showed up a little later screaming at her husband about why there were mech guards in front of her house asking for identification to get in. “That would be because of me,” I called out to her, causing her eyes to get the size of saucers. This did not ease her furry, as she smacked her husband's arm asking him what he did now.

“Yasmine, let me introduce myself. My name is Kara, queen of the Caravelle Empire. Let me assure you that your husband has done nothing wrong. Your husband is trying to help me out after I made a mistake when I wrapped my arm with Minsha, not realizing the implication of my actions.”

“You didn’t know our customs; we understand that you did not mean to say you are courting my daughter,” Yasmine announced like there should be no problem. I agree there shouldn’t have been a problem.

“It happened in public while I was surrounded by a large number of your people.” And that was when she saw the problem. Now, the Tagnor section would expect to see the two of us courting. I wouldn’t be surprised if this had not been broadcast all over the station by now.

I turned to Maninor, “Can you check the news feeds around the station to see if they are saying anything about my courtship? I would like to know how far this has spread through the station.” Sure, enough I was the talk of all the media feeds on the station. They focused on my defiant walk back to Maninor’s home. I guess maybe that was a bad idea. It was now being reported that I was in discussions with the family. Oh, now this is getting out of hand. I needed to do a press release soon.

“How about I do this, I will release a statement that says while I am courting Minsha. In my culture, this is a process that can take years to determine if we are compatible for marriage. This might leave us an out later once the press stops talking about this.” I hoped that would work for them because I’m not trying to disrespect their customs.

“Your Majesty, I respectfully disagree with your assessment of the situation. The station is not going to stop talking about this. You are the head of the Empire and everything you do is under increased scrutiny because you are a woman. They will try any means to discredit you. It is not uncommon for the head of the Caravelle Empire to have multiple consorts.” Maninor explained to me.

His comment about multiple consorts didn’t sit well with me but I know he was trying to lessen the blow of this. “You are telling me that to save face within the Empire I will need to get married to Minsha.”

Both Yasmine and Maninor said yes at the same time. I still have not heard what Minsha thought about this. “Minsha what do you feel about this situation?”

“I know that you do not want to be in a relationship with me, but I am willing to go along with this for the good of my people and the Empire. I am happy that my actions will give my father a better standing within our people.” Minsha responded to me.

This was not the response I was expecting from her. I thought she would be totally against this. “Minsha, it’s not that I don’t want a relationship with you. I was hoping that we could be friends. I am not happy that we are forced to be in this situation, because of my mistake. I apologize that I have caused this trouble for you and your family. I promise that if we do go through with this, I will always treat you with respect. I fear for your safety and your family’s safety. I fear that many on this station and within the Empire would want to hurt you to hurt me. I would like to offer you all a place to stay in the palace until we can get you proper protection at your home.” I offered the family. It was the least I could do to keep them safe.

Maninor and Yasmine were not very keen on leaving their home. They recommended that I just take Minsha to the palace. I was a little confused by this. I guess that it was stubbornness on their part in not wanting to leave their home. I would assign one of the mechs to guard the family and the house. “Minsha would you please let me escort you to the palace? I will send someone for your things.” I held out my arm for her to take. I don’t know how this is going to turn out, but I was going to make the best of it.

“Yes, your Majesty.” She informed me and wrapped her arm in with mine. I guess she knew how she was going to have to react in public with me now.

“You do not have to call me Majesty, my name is Kara, and I would appreciate it if you would call me that,” I said with a smile. I wanted this to go smoothly. This whole multi-galaxy trip was turning out crazier than I could have ever guessed.

“Maninor, one other thing. I want a representative from all the races in the Empire in my new council. If you would please come to the throne room tomorrow to discuss the state of your race in the Empire. Now if you will excuse us, I must visit the other representatives to offer them the same invitation.” I told him in a way that made it an order but in a polite way.

Minsha and I walked out of the home with a smile on our faces. I noticed the large crowd out on the street. They were being held back by the police with Captain Fenmer controlling the officers. He looked at me with an irritated face.

“Captain Fenmer, I apologize for the trouble I have caused you and your officers. I will better coordinate with your office for my future visits outside the palace. I do have five other representatives that I must speak to before I head back to the palace. If you can suggest how I may get there, it would be greatly appreciated.” He looked even more angry at me than when I first came out of the house.

“I would recommend you call your shuttle to be able to take you to the different locations, as you can see it will be very difficult for you to walk anywhere at this moment.” He tried to sound respectful while still being very angry with me.

I believed I should take his advice and called for me shuttle to meet me. “Captain, I would like to offer you and your officers here a bonus to your pay for having to deal with this issue I caused. I didn’t expect my walk to cause so much trouble. Again, I am truly sorry that my actions have resulted in this.” He looked befuddled by my words. I expect he had never expected me to take responsibility for my actions and to offer to pay him more. It was the least I could do for them.

My transport showed up a few minutes later, and Minsha and I got in. We traveled to the next representative's home. The next representative was the Pinari, they are a reptilian race that was slender like a giant gecko. The representative’s name was Grinky. He was an odd fellow always looking around like he was waiting to be surprised by some attack. After giving him the same invitation that we gave Maninor, we left for the next representative.

The next representative was for the Skrags. They were human-looking people with deep purple-colored skin. Their hair colors are bright and in colors that I have only seen people dye their hair. The eyes were something that I would have to get used to, they were a deep black color. Trinar was their representative. He was an older gentleman, I guessed he was in maybe fifties or sixties time frame. He also was a little portly, along with his wife who was an absolute delight to talk to.

Next, I found myself among a race of really short people. I wouldn’t call them dwarves but same height. They were not thick and strong like the stories of dwarves. To be honest, if their faces didn’t give away their ages, I would have thought that they were all kids. It was nice to not have to look up at the representative like I have had to do with everyone else. They called themselves Buta. Ackran was the representative for them, he was a grumpy man. I think he did not like that he had to deal with a woman now. But he was good enough to try to hide it from me.

The Craggs were next on my list. They looked like elves. Real no shit elves. I almost fangirled over them when I got there. I always thought the elves in books were the best looking of all the races of fantasy books. They were unfortunately not in tune with nature like our books describe them. They had a cyberpunk vibe going on. Srellon was their representative. He took a dislike to me upon our first meeting. I was so disappointed by his attitude.

Last was the Nirni, think sapient birds. I was just hoping that I wouldn’t see a ‘big bird’ looking one, because I would not have been able to keep the laughter in. Tumpy was the representative. I struggled the whole time to maintain my composure. Tumpy seemed to be oblivious to my struggles, so that meeting went pretty well.

I was glad that I had my transport by the end of the trip. I don’t know what I was thinking that I would be able to walk around the whole station. This place was huge, like Los Angeles huge. There is so much to see. I had to thank Minsha, as she let me know what customs I should stay away from. I didn’t want to end up with any more consorts or even worse starting a war.

Once we got back to the palace. I sat down to eat some dinner. I needed a full meal after all the work I put in today. Silva had already been informed that Minsha was joining me for dinner and prepared appropriate food for her as well. Minsha had never been to the palace, so she was amazed by the beauty of the structure, but like me, she was not a fan of the color. I need to find a way to get the color changed. I put that on my tomorrow to-do list.

Tyron informed me that Minsha’s things had been delivered to the palace but since all the rooms had been taken up by the freed slaves, he asked if they should be moved to my room. I told him to go ahead and do it.

“Your things have arrived and are being moved to my room. I was not expecting anyone else to be moving in at the moment and all the spare rooms are being taken up by the freed slaves that I am helping. I hope this will not be a problem.” I asked looking a little defeated. I just met this woman and already have her moving into my room. I know that people joke that lesbians move in together really quickly, but this was crazy. I am just glad sex was not something that was expected. I am not a lesbian; I have been bi since I started fantasizing about sex. I have no sexual experience though. My gender identity issues made me scared to ask anyone out.

“I don’t mind it is just sleeping and we will have to get used to being around each other like this in the future. I just hope you are not repulsed by my species. I know we didn’t have much of a choice in this, but I hope that you can accept me.” She looked so nervous to be saying that. I must admit I hadn’t even really thought about the different species aspect. I was so stunned by the whole courtship issue; it just didn’t register.

I’ll be honest with you, Minsha. I have never been in any real relationship before. I was born very different from what you see before you. According to the AI on the ship I came here on, I had a protein strand that was in the wrong place. This protein strand made me develop into a male of my species. The problem was it was only that strand that made me male. My mind kept telling me I should have been female. I struggled my whole life with this contradiction of body and mind.

It made me hate my body and caused my mind to pull inward. I only felt three feelings during that time: pain, depression, and anger. I didn’t know who I could talk to because this was something that not a lot of people talked about when I was younger. I became cold to the world. Once I realized what it was called for people like me, I found that society hated people like me. So, I hid that part of me. I let it eat away at my soul as I tried to live as a male. I couldn’t form meaningful relationships with others because of my self-hate.

I joined the military for my country, hoping it would take these feelings away or that I could die in war and finally have peace. The military did not make those feelings go away though. Once I was injured, I was able to get out of the military. I lived isolated from people. The only interaction I had with people was what was necessary. Once I found the ship. It fixed my body and finally made me whole, but I still have not healed from all the emotional damage that I inflicted on myself.

I say that so you know that I don’t know how to love. I only just felt joy for the first time when I was changed into this body. So, when you ask me if I find you repulsive, the answer is no but I don’t know how to build a relationship with you. And remember everyone here is a different species from me. On my world, we have not learned yet about other planets with life on them. We have never met another species before. You are the first I have ever told about my life. I hope that this does not repulse you from me. I would like for us to be friends.

I could not tell what she was feeling after I relayed my story, but she was deep in thought. I felt a weight had lifted off my chest as I told her about this. I finally opened up to someone and it felt good. Emotions flooded from my heart, some that I had never experienced before. My eyes started to tear, but I also had a smile on my face.

“Kara, I do not fully understand what you have gone through. It is not something that has happened to my people, but from your words, I could feel your pain. I hope that my friendship will help with that pain. You have shown to this station that you are a good person. I am happy to have you as a friend.” With those simple words, I felt joy flood through my body. It made my heart thaw from the freeze I kept it under.