kind too, my Matara. It’s just that they’re geared to leadership and protection.”
“Or fighting? Your Nobek didn’t get that crooked nose or those scars from being kind,” Katherine pointed out.
Vadef flushed to be corrected. “Nobeks are very much warriors and they can be quite uncontrollable as children. However, they are not aggressive against women … at least not usually. I can tell you with all assurance that Miv cannot stand to see a female suffer violence.” His tone became firm as he defended his clanmate.
“That’s good to know,” Katherine said. “He’s quite intimidating. That leaves Simdow as the Dramok. He’s a member of the breed that leads the clan and the Empire in most cases.”
Vadef nodded. “How is it you know so much about Kalquorians, Katherine?”
She drew a deep breath. “When our people began to have problems with each other, I thought the Church should make an effort to find common ground. I researched the little bit I was able to find in hopes of being part of that.”
Vadef gave her a half-smile that was as sad as it was kind. “I guess your hopes didn’t exactly come to pass. We Kalquorians didn’t want to fight the very people we were hoping could save us.”
Katherine’s neck ached from staying turned in his direction. She twisted her body around to face him. It helped lessen their closeness. She felt a sense of relief, but at the same time she had the sensation of loss.
She frowned, and Vadef leaned close, his expression worried. Katherine quickly rearranged her expression to be friendlier.
She invited him, “Tell me about the problem with your kind, Vadef. You’re truly going extinct?”
He nodded, his gaze going distant. The worry on his features deepened. “In less than 300 years. Too few females survive being born, and the few that make it to adulthood are rarely able to have children.”
Katherine said, “Your people are known for so many medical and technical breakthroughs, though.”
Vadef sighed. “It’s true. Most of my people also have extremely hardy genetic material, which keeps us healthy for the most part. Unfortunately, it’s also this characteristic that has made it impossible to reverse the damage we sustained when the virus that caused our women’s infertility became an epidemic.” Sorrow made his face more poignant than ever. “It couldn’t have been more devastating to the Empire than if it had been custom-made to eradicate us.”
Katherine had to restrain the urge to stroke his unhappy face. “What a terrible loss. And what horror that it has reduced you to abducting innocent Earther women.”
Vadef’s gaze jerked to her face. His eyes widened. “Please don’t see us as monsters, Katherine.”
“I don’t. I see desperation that leads to monstrous acts.”
Had Vadef looked miserable before? It was nothing compared to the hurt on his expression now. Katherine hated that she had put that emotion on his face, but she could not tell him lies just to make him feel better. Not when he and his kind were destroying lives to save their own.
The Kalquorians needed to own up to the truth of their actions, no matter what hopelessness had made them feel they had no choice.
Chapter 6
Simdow hurried to his quarters after coming off duty. It had been a long but exciting day. They’d captured General Hamilton who had the information that would allow the Kalquorian fleet to invade Earth and end this stupid war. They’d found many women to help save his race. Better still, he had a Matara for his own clan, an actual woman to share his life with.
He was nervous too. Simdow had read the medical team’s reports on the Earther women they’d captured. On the advice of the Kalquorian medical and psychological boards, the spyship’s men had begun the process of re-educating the other women to accept sex as a natural and
“Or fighting? Your Nobek didn’t get that crooked nose or those scars from being kind,” Katherine pointed out.
Vadef flushed to be corrected. “Nobeks are very much warriors and they can be quite uncontrollable as children. However, they are not aggressive against women … at least not usually. I can tell you with all assurance that Miv cannot stand to see a female suffer violence.” His tone became firm as he defended his clanmate.
“That’s good to know,” Katherine said. “He’s quite intimidating. That leaves Simdow as the Dramok. He’s a member of the breed that leads the clan and the Empire in most cases.”
Vadef nodded. “How is it you know so much about Kalquorians, Katherine?”
She drew a deep breath. “When our people began to have problems with each other, I thought the Church should make an effort to find common ground. I researched the little bit I was able to find in hopes of being part of that.”
Vadef gave her a half-smile that was as sad as it was kind. “I guess your hopes didn’t exactly come to pass. We Kalquorians didn’t want to fight the very people we were hoping could save us.”
Katherine’s neck ached from staying turned in his direction. She twisted her body around to face him. It helped lessen their closeness. She felt a sense of relief, but at the same time she had the sensation of loss.
She frowned, and Vadef leaned close, his expression worried. Katherine quickly rearranged her expression to be friendlier.
She invited him, “Tell me about the problem with your kind, Vadef. You’re truly going extinct?”
He nodded, his gaze going distant. The worry on his features deepened. “In less than 300 years. Too few females survive being born, and the few that make it to adulthood are rarely able to have children.”
Katherine said, “Your people are known for so many medical and technical breakthroughs, though.”
Vadef sighed. “It’s true. Most of my people also have extremely hardy genetic material, which keeps us healthy for the most part. Unfortunately, it’s also this characteristic that has made it impossible to reverse the damage we sustained when the virus that caused our women’s infertility became an epidemic.” Sorrow made his face more poignant than ever. “It couldn’t have been more devastating to the Empire than if it had been custom-made to eradicate us.”
Katherine had to restrain the urge to stroke his unhappy face. “What a terrible loss. And what horror that it has reduced you to abducting innocent Earther women.”
Vadef’s gaze jerked to her face. His eyes widened. “Please don’t see us as monsters, Katherine.”
“I don’t. I see desperation that leads to monstrous acts.”
Had Vadef looked miserable before? It was nothing compared to the hurt on his expression now. Katherine hated that she had put that emotion on his face, but she could not tell him lies just to make him feel better. Not when he and his kind were destroying lives to save their own.
The Kalquorians needed to own up to the truth of their actions, no matter what hopelessness had made them feel they had no choice.
Chapter 6
Simdow hurried to his quarters after coming off duty. It had been a long but exciting day. They’d captured General Hamilton who had the information that would allow the Kalquorian fleet to invade Earth and end this stupid war. They’d found many women to help save his race. Better still, he had a Matara for his own clan, an actual woman to share his life with.
He was nervous too. Simdow had read the medical team’s reports on the Earther women they’d captured. On the advice of the Kalquorian medical and psychological boards, the spyship’s men had begun the process of re-educating the other women to accept sex as a natural and
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