《Akmedrah&#x27;s Wonderful World of One-Shots》


 Chapter 1: Bump In the Night

    Once upon a time...

    Recovered from planet P7-9L, the last world that humanity visited before seceding its seat on the galactic council, and retreating to only three systems. Text transcription of video recording.

    [recording begins: A mother holding its child]

    Child (C): Mother what does father fight.

    Mother (M): He fights the stuff of stories long sung by our people.

    C: What stories, mother?

    M: Shall I tell you one, little one? I warn you they are not for the faint of heart.

    [Child seems to be contemplating]

    C: I think I am brave.

    [Tears roll down the mother''s eyes as the sounds of bombs drop.]

    M: You are very brave, now listen well my child for I only have time for one story before we must go to bed.

    C: Okay.

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    M: What goes bump in the night?

    Sending demons running in fright?

    Two legs, and two arms,

    and voices filled with charms.

    A world of many, known by one,

    for they have the fear of their home.

    In peace at first, filled with fun,

    they will leave their world to roam.

    As the shadows, they know,

    and name as stories,

    we come with scars to show,

    and warn you of our worries.

    Strength of arms, and power of sight,

    are not included in their might,

    Wisdom, grace, beauty, and fame,

    Are neither theirs to claim.

    Fury, wrath, and death abound,

    wherever humans are to be found.

    So when they come as they surely will,

    feel upon your back the chill.

    A chill of cold and dark and fear,

    for an unknowable predator is near,

    they hunted us in eons past,

    and though we few fled at last.

    We spread this as a ward, warning, and prayer

    that when they come, it is not in anger.

    These will be our final thoughts,

    As we flee what they wrought.

    Though we the ancients of the earth,

    Have come to you filled with mirth.

    If strength within you, prepare for fight,

    for it is humans that go bump in the night.

    [The sound of bombs can be heard drawing closer]

    C: It''s not that scary. It''s a funny rhyme.

    M: It is isn''t it. I love you little one.

    C: I love you to...

    [video files end after sounds that indicate subjects were killed.]

    It is worth noting that variations of this story had been seeded throughout societies before the achievement of FTL, in a straight line of systems, leading from the human homeworld of Earth to the uncharted depths of the galaxy.

    At this time, the Galactic Council has not determined what actions will be taken against the humans or if any action against them is wise.

 Chapter 2: Human Women

    When the Galt first attacked the small backwater commonly referred to as "Earth," they assumed that, like any other proper species, the humans would segregate battle by sex. This assumption was their first mistake. The Galt used a tried and true tactic that targeted only those of a specific gender chromosome.

    As always, a percentage of males survived for some reason or another, but the Galt did not care about them; they saw only a world filled with materials and future slave-mates. When the first landing party touched down, they approached the city nearest them and vanished from the comm-nets of their allies. This was not unheard of for a landing party to encounter traps laid out as a last line of defense, but it kept happening.

    "What is happening?" Galt commander Yilk asked of his subordinate. None could answer in any way that he found acceptable. "Very well, I shall investigate myself." He said, setting off with his honor guard to land near the site of the first disappearance. When he touched down, he looked at the sign outside the seemingly vacant city; his translation AI kicked in and informed him that it read, "Welcome to Dallas, Texas, Drive Friendly - The Texas Way."

    The next moments would haunt Yilk for the remainder of his life; seemingly from nowhere, a thousand females of the local ''Human'' population were in front of him and his honor guard of fifteen of the best Galt his people could offer. He opened his mouth to address the women who had surely come in response to his presence, and then the world exploded around him; in a matter of moments, his honor guard was dead, and he hurt for some reason in one of his legs.

    One of the women, who seemed to be more elderly, was being led to the corpses of his honor guard by a younger one. A third, who seemed even younger, was dashing ahead in a way that Yilk would call playfully. As the youngest of the three got to bodies, she lept from one corpse to the next, pointing a small metallic object at the heads and moving her finger, followed by a loud sound and the obliteration of a Galt''s face. When she got to Yilk, she stopped and spoke.

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    "Grandma, this one is still alive." The young one left him after carefully pulling a railgun almost the same size as she was out of his reach.

    The elderly woman approached. "Now, what do we have here?" She seemed amused. "I know that you lot have a translation ability or technology, so if you have any desire to live, tell us who you are and why you have come." By this time, the rest of the crowd had arrived and was stripping his honor guard of weapons, armor, clothing, everything.

    "I am Yilk, ninth son of the Emperor of the Galt, rightful ruler of the galaxy, and I demand that you submit!" Yilk spoke as he tried to rise, and the middle-aged woman helping the elder placed a slender foot on his throat, pushing him back down, while others pinned his arms.

    "You hear that girls?" The elderly one called out. "We have to submit to the emperor''s son." The crowd seemed to find this incredibly amusing as they all laughed harshly. "You think that we should submit to the ones who sent that disease that killed our husbands, our sons, our fathers?" She asked, a venom in her voice that sent shivers down Yilk''s back. "I don''t think we will. Indeed, you didn''t kill them all, and all the remaining men have been given a task that I''m sure they will find both a blessing and a curse in rebuilding humanity. Going forward, if you value your species, you should run back to Daddy and tell him that Earth is not worth the risk."

    The woman standing on his throat slammed what looked like a primitive railgun into his head, and he blacked out. When Yilk came to he was back on his carrier ship, he had a note in his pocket that his AI translated, "Remember the love of a mother, the love of a sister, the love of a daughter. And know that you brought this on yourself." was what it said.

    Yilk laughed and went to the bridge to find all the ships but his had been destroyed. Yilk fled, returning to his homeworld intending to bring back an armada capable of destroying the planet. That was the last anyone ever heard from the Galt.

    Centuries later, when humanity had joined the galaxy and met with other races, it was revealed that humanity''s remnants, in only a few short days, had extracted the virus that had killed their men and modified it to act on any and all Galt, save for one whose name had been Yilk, as they wanted him to watch his race die, and be unable to stop it just as the women of Earth had been powerless to stop the death of their loved ones.

 Chapter 3: Let Loose the Dogs of War

    Kelly''s life was good. She, her parents, and her grandfather lived on a small moon purchased by her great-great-grandfather and passed down through the generations. He did this so the family could pursue their passion for breeding dogs. Since the third world war of 2237 on Earth, dogs of all kinds have been driven nearly to extinction; from usage as food to bioweapons, dogs have been nearly eradicated.

    The Melbourn family had always loved dogs. After leaving Earth with a pack of dogs rescued from various places around the world, the family sold everything they had and purchased a moon. The moon had an Earth-like atmosphere and gravity, adjusted to match Earth''s norm. Over the last three generations, the moon has become a wonderland of doggy goodness.

    That had all changed four days ago. When Kelly had gone off to her hiding place where she went when she needed to be alone, a strange sound had echoed through the air. And before she had even known what was happening, the house dogs, those who were older, or bred specifically for domestication, had come running through the forest and found her.

    As Kelly ran back to the house, she watched a ship emblazoned with the insignia of the First Watch, a Jarvinian military organization that was known for being more of an officially sanctioned pirate group than a military unit, shoot off from the small cluster of buildings where she and her family lived. She stopped at the edge of the forest. And looked out over the buildings that were on fire.

    Several Jarvinians still moved through the buildings; one dragged Kelly''s mother by her hair from the main house.

    "Mom," Kelly said quietly to herself, and Ruffus, a dog as close to a purebred golden retriever as could be found today, nuzzled up to her. She petted him, and the other dogs whined quietly around her, being quiet as they picked up on her fear.

    The Jarvinians talked with her mother as three others dragged out the unconscious form of her father, his insane bulk causing them to move slowly. Suddenly a howl that sent shivers down Kelly''s spine echoed through the air, and the entire forest, Dogs, Humans, and Javinians, all immediately went silent.

    "Oh no," Kelly whispered to herself and then heard a growl behind her.

    Her father''s latest project had been the recreation of the Direwolves of ancient Earth. The DNA samples he had purchased and then cloned had resulted in dogs far larger than anyone expected. The Direwolves were believed to be about the size of a large wolf, but apparently, given enough food, dire wolves could regularly grow to the size of a horse. Kelly looked behind her to find three horse-sized dogs snarling at her. She recognized them.

    "Kenny, Lupine, Mortis," Kelly said, trying to use the same tone her father used when dealing with the huge animals, "No." She held up her hand and made the gesture that her father trained every dog to know meant sit. Her father was the Alpha dog of every pack on the moon, standing at almost seven foot two inches tall and weighing in at almost four hundred pounds of pure muscle; not even the dire wolves tried to test him more than once. And he and Kelly were the ones who always took them their food.

    Kelly knew all this but fully expected to be attacked and shut her eyes; she was surprised when instead of biting her hand off, She felt the cool nose almost as large as her hand press into her palm. She opened her eyes and saw all three of the huge animals sitting, and several more came out from the woods and sat with the rest of the dogs.

    The one touching her hand, Lupine, was the leader of the pack, and when he had been a puppy, Kelly had spent more than one night snuggled up to the dog. Kelly felt she could hear her father''s voice in her head then.

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    "If you are nice to them and give them food, even these big brutes will remember who you are and treat you like family."

    Kelly smiled at the huge dog sitting and waiting for something; she reached into her pocket of treats she always carried and began handing out treats to every dog.

    After a few moments, she had given every dog a treat and knew then that she had to act. The ship bearing the First Watch symbol came back down, and Kelly decided it was time. She moved forward. The older dog Ruffus and Lupine walked next to her, and the other dogs followed behind. She remembered her father''s training and knew what she had to do. When she cleared the tree line, she realized how many Dire Wolves there really were and why her father had been ordering more and more food, saying that it wasn''t enough.

    Nearly a hundred and fifty horse-sized dogs walked out of the woods at Kelly''s back. The young girl, leading Lupine and hundreds of other dogs of all breeds, also came out. When the Jardinians saw this, they leveled weapons at her. Kelly saw the Jardinians loading puppies into their ship, several of them were large dire wolf puppies, and what little she knew of the galaxy, she knew that those dogs would become food once they grew up.

    The Jardinians were yelling, and the dire wolves were growling. Kelly raised her hand, and every dog her father had trained stopped watching the arm as they had been trained to do. Kelly made a fist, and almost in unison, the dogs lowered their heads and took on feral snarls. "Kresh''Na Tor!" Kelly yelled a command word from the language that her father used to train the dogs, and a veritable tidal wave of angry fur and teeth, cascaded forth, following the command of the attack.

    The resulting battle took four and a half minutes and resulted in total losses for the Jardinians. The dogs lost four Dire wolves and twenty or so of the smaller breeds. Kelly found that her mother and father were in good health other than the forty or so stun bolts her father had been hit with.

    <hr>

    Later that year, when Kelly left the moon for schooling, attending an interracial academy, and taking a dire wolf puppy, Lint, with her, she learned from a Jardinian classmate that a single message had come from the moon. It had become a legend of the Jardinian people almost overnight.

    "The story goes that daemons rose from the moon with a goddess at their head, and she rained down a wrath of anger upon the First Watch," Kil''Kesh said to Kelly, who was trying to figure out what she should or should not say. "But it is a good thing. The First watch were bastards."

    "So you are not mad at what happened?" Kelly asked.

    "No, not at all; the first watch was a leftover from a previous war. So the fact that they were finally eradicated is, frankly, a good thing." Kil''Kesh said and then gave Kelly a look. "Why? Do you know something about that moon?"

    Kelly nodded her head. "That moon is my home. And the demons that you spoke of are my family pets."

    "Wait, so then the Goddess that was spoken of, was you?!" Kil''Kesh said, stopping in their walk back to Kelly''s room to work on an assignment for class.

    "Um, yeah," Kelly said, then smiled. "Hey, do you want to meet one?"

    "A demon? Not likely."

    "No, not a demon," Kelly said, grabbing Kil''Kesh by the grasper and pulling him through the door they had just arrived at. "This is Lint." Kelly bent down and scooped up the fifty-pound puppy, who was fuzzier than he had any right to be. "His dad was Lupine; he died when the First Watch attacked my home."

    The Fuzzball in her arms began licking her face. "Kelly, be careful! It''s trying to predigest you!" Kil''Kesh said, trying to shy back from the dog who had just noticed him.

    "No, he is not; that is how he shows love." She set Lint down, and the puppy walked over to the Jardinian and sniffed the hard exoskeleton that covered the boy. "You can pet him." She grabbed the grasper of Kil''Kesh and gently guided it down to pet the fluffy animal. "When he grows fully, you can probably ride him." She explained and then showed Kil''Kesh pictures of herself standing next to full-grown dire wolves.

    Kil''Kesh decided then that Kelly was wrong, the dire wolves were indeed demons, and humans who would tame such a thing were as close to divinity as he would ever see. When Kelly left to get food for them both, Kil''Kesh squatted down to be on eye level with Lint.

    "I am sorry that your father was killed by some of my kind. I hope that you do not hold that against me." Lint responded by licking the face of the Jardinian and settling down to take a nap at his feet. "I will accept your love and return it when the opportunity presents itself."

    Kil''Kesh would go on to become the first Jardinian to own a pet, and Kelly''s husband, living on the moon with his very own Goddess and a horde of demons that loved to lick his face.

 Chapter 4: Humanity At Its Finest

    The bar on SL-7Epsilon station was frequented by a wide variety of races due to the station''s location on a convergence of twenty or so trade routes. Tonight was unique, though; for the first time in many rotations, there was not a single human present.

    "This is weird." A lone Draknik said, looking from one empty table to the next, his scaled skin shifting temperature to reflect his mood.

    "Who knew it would be so quiet without the Humans?"

    "Yes, they may be loud and angry drunks, but they have a way of filling a space with joy, don''t they?" a paired Valn couple said, each one speaking one word and the other saying the next, alternating as their shared hive-mind spoke through them.

    "Why are we worried about the Humans?" a young Uld''Iq said, his voice bubbling through his aquatic containment suit with a tone of dislike. "They run a large portion of the Galaxy, but they never fight. They only make rules and consume."

    "Young one, why do you think your race now travels the stars?" An ancient-looking Yuld said.

    "What does it matter? And why do you care, Ent?" The Uld''Iq demanded using the human reference for the Yuld race.

    "Ah, Ent, the humans gave my race that moniker. Apparently, we resemble a fantastical creature described in many of their ancient works of fiction. But I do care, Young one." The Yuld said, laughing in a deep rolling tone that caused his branchlike appendages to rattle slightly. "The humans have brought us peace. They strove to lift races such as yours up from their homeworlds to join the Galaxy. They don''t fight now because, after the last great war, they stepped up to become a force for peace and swore that they would never again turn their weapons on another sentient."

    "Weapons?" The Uld''Iq said, a giggle carried through its suit. "What weapons? Even their homeworld is policed by the Draknik. Their farming and parks are handled by your own people, and their seas are handled by mine. What do the humans know of war?"

    A grizzled chuckle rumbled out from the corner as a being whose very presence spoke of eons of life. "Tell me, young Uld''Iq, do you know what I am?"

    The Uld''Iq seemed to shiver even through his suit. "I do. You are a Keeper. No one knows your racial name, and no one knows how you came to be so few. But all know of the power that you control." The Uld''Iq said and bowed low in what had been a custom drilled into all the young of many hundreds of races when facing a Keeper.

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    "The humans, as you know them, are at their best. They have no need to fight because the fights they won centuries ago won them the respect and love of a thousand races, including mine." The Keeper stood and walked to sit at the same table as the young Uld''Iq.

    "What weapons, you asked? If I told you of the things that I witnessed on the battlefields of humanity, you would die of fright. You said their worlds are in the care of others, and it is not because anyone can do it better, but simply because the Humans decided that they enjoyed the presence of other races on their worlds." The Keeper took a deep breath. "You asked what humanity knows of war, and I will tell you, young one, the humans that you see playing politician, or working in this very bar, or even the women who tend to the orphans of the station, each and every one of them is more versed in war than any other race."

    "Preposterous." The young Uld''Iq said, dismissing the Keeper. As he looked around, he realized that all of the patrons in the bar were battle-scared and ancient. It was humans alone who required nanites to live past a measly 70 or 80 rotations.

    "This station was once a battle command center." The Yuld said, smiling as his eyes seemed too far in the distant past. "My people, the Draknik, and the...Keepers." He seemed to hesitate, "We all built this station to use it in an offensive to eliminate the Humans." The Uld''Iq looked shocked; it was true it was only a single jump from here to Earth, as the humans called it.

    "We Jumped in and laid waste to every human we could find." The Draknik said, his eyes staring into the deep amber of a human beer. "It was a mistake."

    "We didn''t know that the day before, humanity had struck a deal to let their children and the children of those who had died already escape from the final invasion with my people." The Keeper said in a voice that crackled in emotion. "In that deal, the humans agreed not to use their ultimate weapons that had only just been completed in the coming battle. I remember ordering the strikes that killed those children as if it were yesterday. They brought us to our knees, and in recompense, my people swore never to reproduce and never to let any forget their promises; in return, the humans laid down their weapons and gave us the name of Keepers."

    The Keeper took a moment and wiped a silvery fluid from his face. "Why are we worried about the humans?" the Keeper took a deep breath of the station''s stagnant air.

    "Because the humans, at their best, are merciful and kind. Loyal to a fault and warriors who any would be honored to have at their side. I worry because even after all that has transpired between our races, the humans implore the Keepers to once again have children and not let our race fall from history. We all worry," he gestured to the room of battle-scarred veterans from several races, "because someone somewhere has stoked the ire and wrath of the human race, and rather than ask for help, humanity has once again taken up their weapons."

    The Yuld stepped over and spoke to the Keeper in a language the translator would not translate before turning to the Uld''Iq. "Young one, you should return home and tell those in power of what you have learned tonight, for those that side with the enemy of the humans have only one saving grace, it is that death will be swift and that humanity will one day return to its best."

 Chapter 5: Filthy Casuals

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 Chapter 6: Smile With Your Eyes!

    Tarajilana, a member of a humanoid species that humanity had quaintly dubbed "Elves," was on a date. Her first date, and as she understood it, the first date was important as it determined if there would be more dates. Tarajilana, who the human Ben had taken to calling Tara, desperately wanted there to be more dates with Ben as he treated her like one of the highblood of her people, despite the fact that she was lowblood, actually as lowblood as one could get without being terminated at birth. So when Ben suggested a bar known to cater to the ''Elves'' and usually those of the highblood, she had wanted to say no, but Ben was so excited.

    "I heard this place has awesome food," Ben said excitedly, grabbing Tara''s hand and leading her into a portion of town that Tara usually avoided.

    "As have I," Tara said. She was already getting looks from the others of her kind. But when she looked at Ben, it was all that mattered. His eyes said more than any words could. They looked around at everything, and Tara could literally see the happiness in them, but when they turned to her...Tara almost lost her breath every time because Ben''s eyes would light up with an intensity that she had never seen before.

    They talked as he led them through the crowds; as she watched his eyes, they would fall upon others of her species, men and women, and never did they have the same spark that they held for her. That was why she wanted more dates. It took them nearly an hour to walk from where the ship they both worked on had docked to the restaurant.

    Ben stepped up to the Host, who was also an Elf. "High, I called and made a reservation for Ben."

    "Good evening, sir." The Host said his smile clearly was what humans call a ''customer service smile.'' Then, his eyes fell on Tara, and the smile vanished from his face. "Ah, Sir, I think there has been a mistake. Unfortunately, the only table that is available is one that is near the trash recycler. Tara felt her hearts plummet, this was the typical way her people tried to dissuade lowbloods.

    "No, let me guess, you are Hevishnal, correct?" Ben said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a human device.

    "Yes, I am Hevishnal." The Host said, confused. "But I do not remember speaking to you."

    "See, I am a little bit of a worrywart, so I recorded the call in case something happened. After all, I didn''t want to screw up this night," Ben said, hitting play as he cast that smile that seemed to emanate from his eyes back at Tara and she felt all three of her hearts skip a beat. The device played a call in excellent and unmistakable audio quality that made clear that not only had Ben reserved the best table in the place, but he had pre-paid. "We will be shown to the table now if you please, Hevishnal."

    Clearly beat and hating that he had been, Hevishnal showed them to the second floor and out onto a climate-controlled balcony where four tables were, three were already occupied by people who Tara would never even dream of seeing, let alone dining near, and the fourth with a small sign that read "Reserved for Ben."

    Ben thanked Hevishnal as he removed the sign and then placed their menus. Ben pulled Tara''s chair out for her, letting her sit and sliding it in before he took his seat. Tara watched the Host, who walked straight to the servers who dealt with the balcony and talked with them, pointing to her. She knew what would come next. The server assigned to their table came over.

    "Good evening, Sir; my name is Kelivash, and I will be serving you tonight; please tell me what you would like," Kelivash said, clearly ignoring Tara and planning to do so the whole time we were there.

    "Sorry about this, but on dates, it is customary that the lady order first, so please start with Tara," Ben said, completely oblivious to the server''s rudeness.

    "Very well, Sir." The server said and then switched off the translator that had been translating from their native elvish to English. Kelivash turned to Tara and spoke in elvish. "You will order nothing you filthy lowblood, the guts to even walk in here.."

    Tara''s eyes widened as the server continued a short tirade, but with a tone that was completely sweet, like he was explaining the daily specials. She also looked at Ben, whose eyes had gone wide; she knew something that the server did not.

    Ben slowly reached up and took his translator off. "Excuse me," Ben said in nearly flawless Elvish, "but what in the hell did you just say to Tara?" Ben had first impressed Tara when he learned Elvish to talk with her and make her feel more at home as the only Elf on the ship.

    "I said..." The server turned, thinking that one of the other patrons had stepped in, but instead found himself facing a standing human, Ted, with a smile that only reached his mouth. His eyes held something cold and calculating. "I said..." The server was panicking. This far out in the colonies, not many knew the truth about Humans, but what they did know was terrified reports of freakish strength and a body that was virtually indestructible, and even if you hurt them, they would just as soon beat you to death with a severed limb as lay down and die like any normal sentient.

    "Let me make this clear," Ben said in Elvish, "You will not speak to her like that again. You will not tamper with our food. You will provide the best service you possibly can. Do these things, and I will assume that you confused Tara for someone else and that you are having a bad day, don''t, and I will make sure that you never forget this night, even if you get a full mind wipe. Are we clear?" Ben was not asking.

    Tara was shocked; she had never heard Ben talk like this, and by the time he was finished speaking, he was almost hissing, and his anger had clearly manifested itself in his voice. She was scared, not of Ben, but for the poor server, even though he had been calling her terrible things a moment before. She found it thrilling and incredibly sexy.

    The server nodded and stepped away to compose himself before coming back and speaking again. "Apologies, Ma''am, I must have confused you with someone else. Please tell me what it is that you would like and how you would like it cooked." The smile on Kelivash''s face was genuine if clearly motivated by fear, and he seemed far more interested in satiating the angry human than trying to worry about blood status.

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    Tara ordered one of her favorite appetizers and a sample platter of several dishes native to her homeworld. The server turned to Ben. "And you, sir?"

    "That actually sounds really good. Can you get me the sample platter but double the portions?" Ben asked, his voice and body language returning to normal as if nothing strange had happened.

    "Of course, Sir." The server said and then took their drink orders. Ben ordered a human wine that was compatible with both humans and elves, as well as water.

    "I''m so sorry, Ben. I should have said something sooner." Tara said after taking off her translator and speaking in English, she had decided to learn English in return for Ben, as he was the only human on the ship.

    "What do you mean?" Ben said, taking the bottle of wine from a hover tray that had appeared with two wine glasses, two water glasses, a bottle of wine, and a pitcher of ice water.

    "I should have warned you about my blood status and what this place is," Tara said and then quickly explained that the Elves could all trace their heritage back to one or more of one hundred and seventy-three different families that had been the only ones to survive the last world war of her homeworld. Blood status was how directly you were tied to a family; if you had only one family''s genetic marker, you were considered to have the highest blood; if you had more than 47 family markers, you were executed at birth. "I have 46 family markers, so I have the lowest blood status."

    The server returned, placing their food in front of them. They ate, and Ben asked several questions; Tara answered them, though, with each one, she felt her heart sink further. Surely, he would never want to date her again. "Huh," Ben said, "Well, it all sounds like a bunch of crap to me."

    "What?" Tara said, nearly choking on her current bite of food.

    "It''s crap," Ben said, taking a drink of the wine. "If humanity measured family markers, I''m fairly sure that I would have hundreds, maybe thousands of family markers, if not even more."

    Tara looked at him, and Ben smiled that soul-warming smile that seemed to be only for her. "Your blood status is of no concern to me. I just like you for you." Ben said, shrugging awkwardly with a smile that said he was unsure how to explain what he was feeling.

    Just then, the Host returned with two police officers; both were elvish. "Let me guess," Ben said quietly in English, "they are highblood?" Tara nodded glumly.

    "Alright, you two, let''s go." The officer who had more rank said, gesturing at Ben and Tara. Tara moved to oblige, but Ben placed a hand on hers, smiling that bright smile again.

    "No, thank you, office. We appreciate the offer to escort us, but I think that we will be quite fine as we are." Ben smiled courteously at the officers. "Besides, we haven''t finished our food yet."

    Ben turned his head away from the stunned police officers and continued talking with an equally stunned Tara. "I don''t think you understand, kid." The younger officer said, placing a hand on Ben''s shoulder.

    Suddenly, Ben''s attitude changed. "If you want to keep that hand. Remove it from my shoulder." Ben said and then stood when the officer took his hand off. "Now, gentlemen, tell me, why are you interrupting my date with this lovely young lady."

    There it was again. Tara noticed a smile that seemed cordial enough but didn''t reach his eyes. His eyes were burning, not with whatever it was that he had for Tara, but with rage, anger, and cold, calculating wrath.

    "You have violated the law by bringing a Lowblood in here." The younger officer said.

    "Really?" Ben said his smile now becoming something feral. "What law? Give me the galactic standard code for it." He pulled out his datapad and the strange device from earlier. He hit a button with a red circle on it and waited for the code.

    "I don''t have to do any such thing." The younger officer said in anger and reached to slap the two devices from Ben''s hands.

    Faster than her eyes could follow, Tara watched as Ben was holding the devices for one moment. The next, he had both devices in one hand, and the other was locked around the wrist of the police officer.

    "Correction, you do," Ben said. "Galactic Standard Law, H-173-48: any office must, upon request from parties involved, provide a GSL code for verification prior to arrest. Effective 78Q-9943T. And considering that the law I have just quoted to you went into effect what would be thirty-seven planetary orbits ago for this planet, you are legally required to provide the law."

    Both the officers looked a little startled. They both rattled off a GSL code, two different GSL codes; Ben let go of the officer and punched both in. "The first one has to do with mining rights, and the second one has to do with the legality of breeding supermassive space-capable biological entities for racing. Neither are legal reasons to attempt an assault on either me or my date. However, according to the bill of indoctrination that humanity pushed through when they joined the galactic council, I have every right to defend myself, those I care for, and those who are incapable of caring for themselves. Further actions on your part will be treated as hostile, and to quote an old earth song, ''you will have opened up a great big can of whoop ass,'' as I said earlier. Thanks, but no thanks. Please see yourself out."

    The police officers seemed to visibly deflate, and Ben turned to the Host. "I will also be lodging a complaint with the human office of legal affairs and asking them to look into every case of discrimination that this restaurant has ever received, and a complaint against the Elvish race for practicing eugenics. I don''t know what will come of it, but I can assure you that while human warriors are the best known, it is our lawyers that you should watch out for. If you have further questions, please contact my office." Ben handed each of the three a card that clearly stated he was the legal rep for the ship and its constituent business.

    Ben sat down, and the three walked away. The rest of the date went smoothly; the waiter was polite, and Tara had a blast. A few hours later, Ben and Tara, arm in arm, walked back towards the ship. "Ben, can I ask you some questions?" Tara asked.

    "Of course." He said smiling at her, making her hearts melt all over again.

    She asked a few questions about what he had said, and he explained them to her, and then she got to the two that she really wanted to ask. "Okay, so about your eyes, when you look at me, it is as if the stars have descended to inhabit them, but when you looked at those police officers, your smile was there, but your eyes were dangerous."

    Tara felt his shoulders slump. "Don''t take it wrong, Ben," Tara said hurriedly. "I think it''s kind of sexy, as you humans say."

    "Oh," Ben said, surprised, and smiled at her, reinforcing how she had described it earlier. "Well, to quote my grandmother, you will only truly know if someone likes you if they are smiling with their eyes. Basically, humans believe that the eyes are a window to the soul and reveal what is truly in that person''s heart, or hearts, in your case. And just so you know, Tara," Ben sounded unsure again, "when I look into your eyes, I feel like the gods of beauty have descended from their place of residence and taken the time to craft every atom of you and who you are into the model of perfection."

    Tara felt her hearts flutter, never before had anyone said anything like that. She knew she had to ask. "Will there be more dates?" Tara blurted it out, panicking about the possibility of the word ''no'' leaving his lips.

    Ben looked confused, glanced at her, and then stopped. Slamming his palm into his forehead. "I''m so stupid." He said, laughing and smiling at her. "Tara, I asked you on the date. That is true, but it''s typical for the woman to decide if there will be more dates."

    Tara froze, processing what he had said. "Well, then, I guess I''ll just have to answer with this." She leaned over and kissed him just as they made it to the ship.

 Chapter 7: Christmas Ceasefire

    The Galk were in shock. They had received a request from the species that they were currently in the process of subjugating for a forty-eight-hour temporary cease-fire.

    "Why would see allow this?" Ventstrill, the high warlord in charge of this campaign asked the human who had been brave enough to bring the message.

    "Well, see here is the thing." The human said rubbing his furred chin. "It is a religious holiday for lot of people, and simply a family tradition for others. We have a history of this cease-fire being honored throughout our history, and if we are going to continue fighting, we would like this opportunity to say our goodbyes, as well as for you to observe some of the human culture."

    The laugh that rumbled out from the Galk in the room reverberated like steel drums. Ventstrill raised his hand for silence. "What trick is this?" He asked the human

    "No trick, just a human tradition that we hoped you would honor." The human seemed strangely comfortable here and wore a strange uniform. "We know that you like to say you are not what we think you are, that this war is all a big misunderstanding if that is true and you are not the liars that the rest of the universe seems to think you are, then do this for us."

    Ventstrill thought about that. He knew that it was just propaganda. Propaganda that was failing miserably against the almost preternatural communication abilities of the humans, but maybe this could lend weight to it. "Very well, going by the calendar you humans use, you would ask that all wartime activities cease at 0001 December 24th, and resume at 0001 December 26th, is that correct?"

    "Yes, it is." The human said his large stomach rolling in his red uniform, his voice what could only be described as jolly. "And to further show that this is in goodwill, I would like my wife and I to be granted permission to bring the holiday spirit to your own table. Bring as many family or friends as you would like, and we will cook here for all that come."

    This took the Warlord by surprise. "Very well." He thought that it would be a good thing to learn more about the race that he would soon be in control of. "I shall see you again, here on the 24th of December. What should I call you?"

    "Ohh, I have many names, but if you would call me Chris, and my wife Penelopy, I would much appreciate it." The human said, returning his strangely adorned cap of red to his head. "See you on Christmas eve."

    The months went by, the humans had asked for the cease-fire well in advance, and finally the day came, on December 23rd, the clocks struck midnight, and sixty seconds afterward, Venstrill was shocked as true to their word, all combat activities ceased across seven worlds, and hundreds of continents. Almost simultaneously he received a message, it was from the human Chris.

    "High Warlord Ventstrill, we will be arriving in several hours. Thank you for honoring your word." Was all the message said. Ventstrill thinking little about the fact that the message had come through hundreds of layers of encryption uninterrupted, went to sleep. When he woke his family had arrived, all seventy-three of his children, his wife, his twenty remaining siblings, his mother, and even his father. His subordinates had called in their closest family. All told there were nearly five hundred of his closest family and friends on board.

    "I hope they came hungry." A female voice said behind him, and Venstrill turned to see the large red-clad Chris, with a petite woman also clad in red.

    "Warlord Ventstrill, this is my wife Penelopy." Chris said, taking his cap off his white head fur.

    "It is a pleasure to meet you." Ventstrill said stiffly, unsure of how to react. The humans had slipped through the docking bay security, and into his inner sanctum with zero security response. He shook his head assuming that the guards had been lax as they had been away from their family for years.

    "If someone could show me to the kitchen, I will get started." Penelopy said, and one of the female security officers whose family had not been able to come volunteered to show her the way.

    "Now if I could address the rest of the people here?" Chris asked, and the warlord nodded, wondering what would happen next.

    The warlord stamped one of his four feet, and the hall fell silent. "Attention everyone." Chris said and thanked them all for coming, his smile and tone were infectious, as he quickly explained some of the histories of Christmas. "So I had hoped that I might share some of these traditions with you." He reached into a sack and pulled forth a massive tree, with a stand attached to the bottom. It seemed weightless in his hands as he stood it up.

    With smiles and laughs, the children in the group eagerly went to help with the decoration as he called them. Hesitantly and with the Warlords blessing the adults joined in, though Venstrill noticed that many of the women, and exceptionally young children were absent. He wandered the halls of the ship and finally made his way to the kitchen where he found Penelopy leading the women through the steps of baking cookies as she called it. All the while the woman tended to multiple large pots made of red metal that he was sure that the ship did not own.

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    When he went back to where Chris was, Ventstrill was greeted by his youngest child and the human. "Warlord Ventstrill, this little one tells me that she wants to put the star on top of the tree, I thought it only fitting that her father help her do it."

    Ventstrill smiled down at his youngest daughter, and scooped her up, standing up on his hind legs to get the height required. And when the star was finally on top of the tree Chris snapped his finger, and the tree, the star, and hundreds of other lights on strings that had not been there before lit up in bright reds, yellows, blues, and many other colors.

    There were oohs and aahs from all those gathered. Then Chris asked to use his high throne, Ventstrill was curious as to what would happen, agreed, and Chris took his red sack and went and sat on the throne. Seemingly unbidden, the youngest children lined up to talk with Chris, he would smile at them, and ask them questions, such as if they had been good this year, and if they had listened to their parents. Once he played out the initial questions, he would always inevitably ask what they wanted for Christmas, what was one gift that Santa could give them.

    The children would ask for toys, or games, or other things, and every time Chris reached into his big red sack and pulled a brightly wrapped gift from inside it. He would tell them to wait to open it, and then send them on their way. After ten or so of the children had gone through, the women and younger children came back and began distributing the fruits of their labor, cookies.

    Ventstrill tried the cookies that his wife had baked, and they were delicious, they reminded him of his time when he was young living with his parents. If he had a bad day he could always count on his mothers cooking to cheer him up. Chris continued with the children until only one remained. It was the son of a soldier who had been slain in the current war.

    "And what can Santa get you, young man?" Chris asked in his Jolly voice.

    "I want my father back. But he was killed by the Humans. He was killed by your kind." The boy said.

    Chris looked at the child and Ventstrill tensed as he thought he might have to step in, but Chris surprised him then. "That is unfortunate. So tell me what was your favorite thing about your father?"

    The young Galk talked at length about how he wanted to hear his father sing once more. Chris nodded and reached into the bag pulling out yet another large brightly wrapped box, and handing it to the boy. "I know that I can not give you anything to make your loss go away, but hopefully this will make it easier for you to sleep at night."

    Just then Penelopy came in with all the large pots on carts seeming to follow behind her without anyone''s guidance. "Dinner time everyone."

    "Well, this won''t do!" Said Chris and clapped his hands. Where before had been a long empty hall was now filled with large tables and benches, the Galk were surprised but quickly took seats and Chris and Penelopy set about serving everyone, before taking their own seats next to Ventstrill. As the night wore on, the food slowly emptied from the pots, and everyone had an excellent time, laughing and talking, remembering the good times and bad. When the clock alerted them that it was midnight, Chris stood up.

    "Children, it is now officially Christmas, you may open your gifts." The children were excited and for the next few minutes, all that could be heard was a symphony of tearing paper, followed by excited cries of joy. Every child had received what they had asked for.

    Ventstrill looked to the boy who had lost his father, and saw the boy weeping as he hugged a soft stuffed Jixle, common pets on the Galk homeworld, when Venstrill approached, he could see the boy squeeze the paw of the Jixle, and then heard the voice that was clearly the boy''s father, singing a lullaby followed by the words "Sleep well my son, I love you."

    The night wore on until only Ventstrill, his father, Chris, and Penelopy remained. The rest had filtered off to bed. Ventstrill turned to Chris in time to see the human clap his hand and all the decorations and tables, benches, everything but the tree and its lights and decorations disappear.

    "Who...No...What are you." Ventstrill said, stuttering, all of the small things he had written off throughout the day coming together to tell him that this was no normal human.

    "I told you I had many names, To you, I am Chris, to others I am Santa, Though most just call me father Christmas." Chris said with a smile.

    Penelopy nudged the man. "Ah, yes, Ventstrill, this is for you and your father." He handed the two Galk a large box from his red sack, and then smiled, "Remember to be good, and thank you for the cease-fire, and of course, Merry Christmas!" Suddenly Chris and Penelopy were gone, leaving the two with a tree and a box.

    Ventstrill and his father looked at each other, then opened the box together, inside was a puzzle, and when they finished, they burst into tears. The puzzle was an image of the closest memory that the two held together from when Ventstrill was only a few years old, they had not had a way to record the image then, and having it now meant so much to the two.

    "Ventstrill..." The elder Galk said, as if unsure how to say what he wanted.

    "I know father." Ventstrill said, and walked to the command deck, and issued a new set of orders.

    Years later it would still remain a mystery as to why the Galk had first granted an un-asked-for Christmas cease-fire, and why they had sent a message that stated "Merry Christmas" and never resumed wartime activities. It did spark a strange habit that every year on the 25th, Galk ships would jump into human space, and ensure that everyone had food, and presents, and if there were any wars happening, they would forcibly guarantee a cease-fire.

    For twenty years no one was able to get to the bottom of it, until one day, a lone human representative traveled to the Galk homeworld, and upon stepping into the hall of the new Ruling High Lord Ventstrill was greeted like an old friend. "Chris! It has been too long, please dine with me."

 Chapter 8: Temperamental Humans

    "Ohh, we knew a human." Jalnaq said to the crowd in his classroom. "Well myself and my wife that is."

    "Really Professor?" Said Hilva, a notorious busy body, and what Jeff would have a teacher''s pet. "Will you tell us about them?"

    "If you really want to hear about it. But I must warn you that the store that pertains to our class, is not a pleasant one." Jalnaq said, in fact, it was this series of events that had led him to study and fall in love with the topic of interspecies relations.

    "Please tell us." The words sounded out as a chorus from many of the two hundred or so gathered for his lecture.

    "Very well." Jalnaq said, composing his thoughts and then continuing to speak. "As you all know the topic that led to this story is how humans can pack-bond with almost anything. Well, when I was attending this very college, I shared a home for rent with Killa, who would become my wife, and a human man name Jeff. "

    Jalnaq thought for a moment thinking back to the time he had spent in the home, and the everlasting friendship he had built with Jeff. "Humans were new to the galactic community then, few had ever been accepted into the college, Jeff was one of the first. As he was from a deathworld, Killa and I were quite apprehensive to interact with him. But we needed it as well."

    "Why did you need to interact with him?" Hilva asked, doing what she did best and trying to flatter Jalnaq into giving her a good grade but only ending up on Jalnaq''s nerves.

    "The house that we had rented, was in a less than desirable neighborhood. Since then it has been cleaned up and renamed, it is actually the school''s shopping district now. But at the time it was where many people went for activities that were less than legal, and for extraordinarily cheap housing. So when the human applied to rent our spare room and was a fellow student, we knew that we could play off the reputation his people had for some level of protection." Jalnaq chuckled to himself, remembering the conversation that had led to Killa and himself deciding to live with Jeff.

    "There are stories I could tell, of times when he played the role of the barbarian savage and scared off many rougher sorts, but that is for another day. When he arrived he asked us both to meet his pet. The creature that he brought in was small, seemingly defenseless, and craved social interaction as if it were a lifeline." Jalnaq smiled fondly to himself remembering the countless hours that he had spent scratching gently at the soft ears of the animal.

    "Jeff told us that it was called a dog, specifically a golden retriever. He loved that dog and thanks to recent advancements by the humans, the dog would live to be as old as Jeff would, rather than the few rotations that was its natural life span. His name was Ruffus." Jalnaq smiled sadly at the class who exclaimed in delight at the picture he had quickly pulled up of the dog sitting on his lap.

    "Anyways the dog will be important later. It is important to note that humans who have pets, do not think of them as solely a pet, they are an extension of the family rather than a possession. But back to the story, to understand everything you need to know more about Jeff. Jeff was large, even by human standards, he looked as if he could walk through a bulkhead." Jalnaq pulled up a photo that both he and his wife loved, it was of Jeff standing in the back of a music festival holding Jalnaq on one shoulder, and Killa on the other smiles plastered over all three of their faces.

    "And while Jeff could have quite easily been the brute that we thought he was, truth is that he was the gentlest soul you would ever meet. Rather than killing pests in the house, he would capture them and release them into the nearby park. If someone asked for help, Jeff would move mountains one stone at a time if he had to. Jeff was, in a word, kind." Jalnaq said remembering several times that Jeff had made them late to class insisting that they help a professor or some random person carry heavy things.

    "Jeff however was not naive, he would play the role of home protector, putting on a gruff voice, and telling people who intended anyone in our house harm to leave, and they always did. Jeff would then come inside and sit on the couch talking about how he hated that people always assumed that he was violent, even other humans, just based on his size." Jalnaq took a breath.

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    "Then one day someone started a rumor about Jeff, that apparently he was incredibly wealthy. Jeff and I laughed it off, because anyone who knew us or had seen our home knew that was the opposite of the truth. This did not matter because the Ikling mob heard this rumor." Jalnaq listened as the wave of whispers went around the room.

    The Ikling were a race that excelled in criminal activities for various reasons, but for some reason, they never crossed a human''s doorway or infringed on any target the humans declared off-limits. Jalnaq chuckled quietly to himself, the students would hear this story and assume what he had, that Jeff was the reason.

    "One day as the three of us arrived home, A group of fifteen Ikling pushed in behind us and bound our hands. They began demanding that Jeff hand over his fortune. Jeff gave them everything he had. One of the Ikling opened the door to the room that Jeff stayed in when they heard Ruffus barking, and was bowled over by the dog thinking that everyone was a friend of ours. Ruffus ran to Jeff, and began licking his face."

    "The next moment was what inspired my thesis paper, on mutual pack bonding." Jalnaq said. "Seeming to pick up on the atmosphere, Ruffus turned to stand between the three of us and the Ikling, his hackles rasing, and a low growl that I had never heard before terminating from his throat. Jeff tried to calm the dog, but Ruffus was dead set on protecting us, and when one of the Ikling reached to harm Killa, Ruffus tore its throat out."

    The classroom had fallen silent. "Anarchy ensued. Jeff calling for Ruffus. Myself trying to get between the Ikling and Killa, and the Ikling shouting and drawing knives. One of the Ikling moved behind Ruffus and in a swift movement killed the dog."

    Gasps ran through the classroom. Jalnaq quickly wiped a tear from his eye, he had loved that dog too, but he had to continue the story. "The silence that followed was broken by a primal roar that deafened the entire room. In a flash, a red-faced Jeff, shouting at a volume that I had not believed possible, had torn through the restraints that they used, and hurtled through the room to where his dog lay. Tears streamed down his face, as he hugged his friend, and then he seemed to become still."

    "Tell me Hilva, since I know you dying to interject. What do you think the most dangerous living thing is?" Jalnaq said seeing the girl squirming to contain herself.

    "That would be the Qualnaught of the Jeshi homeworld, Professor." Hilva said with a sense of satisfaction, and had she been in a biology class she would be right.

    "You are wrong." Jalnaq said and then continued. "You see when humans pack bond with another entity, and then someone else kills that entity. There is a moment. A terrifying, beautiful moment, of serenity when the human whose bond was broken loses all their inhibitions, their bodies activate every latent drop of rage and adrenaline that it can, and they lose all care in the world, except for the death of the who killed their friend. At that moment humans are the most dangerous hunters to have ever lived."

    Jalnaq let what he had said sink into his students, he could see the pieces falling into place, why war on the humans never targeted the young or civilian colonies. Why humanity was widely regarded as a peaceful people, but anyone could find the warnings of those who had faced them telling others that they should never cross the humans.

    Jalnaq continued. "When I tell you that at that moment Jeff, who was never a violent person, could have killed a Qualnaught with only his hands, I need you to understand that that does not do credit to the rage that I could quite literally feel radiating off his body. It took him seventy-three seconds to kill every single Ikling in the room. And then he collapsed to the floor holding his dog after untying Killa."

    "Professor," Uldishner, a student who was much liked by his classmates, and always put in good work on his assignments seemed to hesitate as he spoke. "What are we supposed to take away from this?"

    "It''s quite simple really." Jalnaq said, hearing the chimes that indicated the end of class, but none of his students moved. "Humans are temperamental, they love, laugh, cry, and do everything they can for those who they bond with, but should you ever break one of their bonds, the only thing to do is hope that your end is quick."

    Jalnaq canceled the rest of his classes that day, choosing to go home and see his wife and their two newly born children. When he arrived his wife, holding both their children as a golden retriever of their own licked the children to giggles. Killa gave him a look and nodded knowingly saying only three words. "Humans are Temperamental."

    Jalnaq nodded smiling scratching Rufford behind the ears as he hugged his children, and then went to his study to call on Jeff and invite him over for diner.

 Chapter 9: They Lusted

    "First contact for humanity was nothing like what they expected. Where they thought they would find lanky beings with bulbous grey heads and eyes as large as our hands, they found vivacious creatures with curves that kill. Where they thought to find quadrupedal giants, we found elegant beings that oozed sex."

    "Humanity collectively lost its mind. Within three years, humanity had discovered that not only were the aliens they met incredibly attractive, but their bodies also produced a chemical pheromone, that when mixed with human adrenaline and serotonin, produced a drug-like effect in the human and the alien that made ecstasy feel as if it were a child''s Tylenol."

    "To top it all off, the primary export of these races to each other, and what they offered to humanity, was sex. No kink was too kinky, no experience too deranged. Humanity agreed, and within months, the Earth had almost twice as many aliens on it as it had humans."

    "Fifteen years after first contact, the alien ambassadors approached the human leadership, showing that they had noticed a decline in ''sales.'' The human leadership nodded and said that this happens and that humans were fickled creatures when it came to sex and love."

    "The aliens were shocked, they had never heard the term love before. They wanted to know what it was. So the humans set about attempting to educate the races on love, and how it was an integral part of humanity."

    The human Professor who was giving this lecture stopped then and looked out into the classroom. "What do you think happened next?"

    A young, in the professor''s eyes, woman raised her hand. That action alone, her raising her hand, combined with the aura of sex and her big ''fuck-me'' eyes was almost enough to get even his libido going at almost 300 years old. The professor ignored his response to the student and nodded to her. "The humans asked us to leave."

    "Correct Kalla. We humans asked that the aliens, that would be your people, the people of the Dohenta, the Killwana, and the Halzix, leave the earth and that only diplomatic envoys and those who had married a human be allowed back to earth." The professor said looking around the room.

    The room as a whole looked like a whos who of pornstars and supermodels in the professor''s eyes. Since the events on Earth, fifteen more races had been found, each as lusty and attractive as the others. Another race like Humanity had yet to be found and the Professor wondered if there ever would be another like humanity.

    "Professor?" Another woman said getting his attention.

    "Yes, Iljana?" The professor said suppressing the urge that arose from the slight questioning raise of her eyebrow that seemed to accentuate every part of her nearly perfect face.

    "Why did they ask us to leave? I have heard tales from family members and friends that sex with a human is as close to the ultimate experience of any being that has ever been found. I wish to experience this. With you even if you amicable." Iljana said.

    The Professor sighed. It was not an uncommon request, and it was not meant in any way to harm. But the professor was tired of it. "While I am flattered, and I appreciate that you would offer that to an old man like me. I must decline because I am fairly certain that my body would not be able to perform, and I think that my wife would kill you, and then me in a fit of rage."

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    That got a chuckle from the class, as everyone knew the professor''s wife, another of Iljana''s people the Halzix, and the headmistress of the school. Iljana shrugged, "Well that is fair."

    The class continued, lectures on love, devotion, self-care, and a number of other human concepts until finally, the bell rang. The professor quickly packed his things and entered a hallway that lead to the human-only portion of the school compound. He went quickly to the tele-pad and was transported home for the day.

    The professor was there for several hours, grading papers, and finishing lesson plans, before he heard the quiet hum of power that was the tele-pad transporting his wife home. "I''m in here honey." He called out.

    In a flash, his wife, looking close to his age, was on him. Turning his chair around to straddle him and kiss him. She felt him stiffen. "Hello, my love." She said, slowly moving her hips over his clothing to keep him hard.

    "Hello, Hallana. " He said smiling up at her. Despite what he had said in class, the aliens had provided humanity with advanced technology that prolonged life indefinitely, he knew full well that he could perform. But he wanted no other than the glorious woman currently reaching to remove her shirt as she gyrated on his lap.

    "Anything interesting happen today?" She almost moaned out, as she removed her shirt, and began working on his.

    "I got propositioned by a student again. Another of your race." He said leaning forward to facilitate her removal of his shirt. She responded by burying his face in her voluptuous chest.

    "Ohh, will we be having company then?" She teased, and they both laughed. They had an agreement that no one they currently, or in the past, had taught would ever cross their threshold.

    "Why can''t we just tell them the secret?" He said, moaning as she leaned to bite his neck and run her fingers down his chest to his pants and begin working on his buttons.

    "You know that if we just tell them, it does not work." She whispered, finishing the thought by biting his ear gently.

    "I..." the professor moaned as she slid his pants down letting his manhood spring loose to be massaged by her gentle gyrations, "...know that. But they don''t understand, they need more to realize it." he said panting, as she pushed him back in his chair, and began teasingly pulling her skirt up to reveal that she was wearing the panties that he had bought for her.

    "They will," she said, reaching down to pull the panties and their built-in vibrator to the side, "you worry too much professor. For now, just know that I have been using this all day, and I will settle for no less than everything you have." She panted the words out and then guided her husband inside her, letting out a moan that by itself could have sent another man unused to it, over the edge.

    Later that night, with both of them fully sated, the professor thought back to the day that the aliens realized that love changed them, it made them better. But if they were simply told about it, about the trick to love, it conflicted with the ideals that they had been raised with so much that they would most likely end up in catatonic shock.

    The professor looked over at his wife her face bearing a look of total pleasant exhaustion. He loved this woman, and she loved him. They wanted none other than each other. It had been their idea almost one hundred years ago to start a school on love. It wasn''t called that, but the goal was, that while the students gained an education they would be introduced more and more to humans, and love, and hopefully find love of their own.

    The professor looked to the ceiling of the room, finding his reflection in the bed-sized mirror there, and remembered the trick himself. Humanity lusted, lusted for all things, but most of all humanity lusted to belong and to care for their partner.

    He smiled to himself, it was so simple but so alien to beings like his wife. He rolled over to pull his wife close and listen to her contented breathing until he fell asleep, wishing love for all his students.

 Chapter 10: Terminal Stupidity

    The bar was quiet. Moments before it had been a raucous thunder of laughing people sloshing drinks to and fro. Only one thing had changed, someone very dumb, had shoved the barman''s cat off of a seat.

    "What''s going on?" A young Jalanth asked his older compatriot who had brought him to this human bar.

    "Quiet," the older Jalanth said, "take note, that guy just caught a case of stupidity."

    The man who had shoved the cat seemed not to notice that everyone in the bar had gone silent and watched him. "Let me get a Grozian ale." He said.

    The barman, with a deadpan look that sent shudders through those who knew him, stared straight at him. "Fresh out of the Grozian." His tone could have tuned water to ice.

    "What about an Earth spirit, this is a human bar, surely you have something for me to drink." Cat pusher said.

    "I''m afraid that anything you order, will be unavailable. Maybe try the Ilvian bar next door." The barman retorted, and simply to infuriate the man the barman poured a large mug of Grozian ale and downed it without breaking eye contact. "So why don''t you head on out, and let captain Meowsel have his seat back."

    The cat, seeming to take note that his seat would be opening up again, jumped gracefully up on the bar and affixed the Cat Pusher with a glare that matched the barman.

    "Damned rat doesn''t need a seat." The Cat Pusher said, pushing the cat off of the backside of the bar this time.

    The room seemed to collectively inhale, and a young human, who everyone knew to be the barman''s oldest son, walked up to try and politely explain what was going on. "Excuse me, but I really think you should leave you see..."

    He never finished the sentence as Cat Pusher turned slightly and shoved the boy away muttering to himself. "Damnded humans, you reproduce like flies, and apparently don''t have the good sense to keep your putrid offspring away from a place that grown folk come to relax."

    "Oh shit." The older Jalanth said, pushing the younger Jalanth back with the rest of the crowd. "His case of stupidity just became terminal stupidity."

    An empty space formed as if by magic behind the Cat Pusher. Those paying attention would have noticed that several humans moved to stand next to the doors, all with eyes locked on Cat Pusher.

    Cat Pusher, however, did not notice, as he only continued to berate the barman for drinks.

    "We have no drink for you here." The barman said then smiled in a way that many of the patrons had never seen before and hoped never to see again. "However we do have one food item that might appeal to your kind."

    "Oh, really?" Cat Pusher said, thinking nothing of how the barman had said the last sentence as food and specialty drink were some of the most highly regulated things in the galaxy thanks to the vast spread of biological makeups that comprised the sentient races.

    "Oh, yes." The barman said, coming around to throw an arm rather forcefully across Cat Pusher''s shoulder. "It is a delicacy reserved for a special few, it dates back to many thousands of years before humanity even left Earth."

    "Oh? And what is this supposed delicacy called?" Cat Pushe asked clearly not impressed with the idea of ancient human food.

    "A knuckle sandwich." The barman said, and without warning, his left arm, which was wrapped around the shoulders of Cat Pusher in a ''friendly'' manner tightened into a headlock, and his right swung up and into the mouth of Cat Pusher.

    The crunch that came from Cat Pusher''s face was sickening. The young Jalanth looked around after flinching from the sound, as almost all the patrons had, to see nothing but smiles playing across the lips of every human in the bar.

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    The barman spoke, holding Cat Pusher''s back pined to the bar with one hand around his throat, his other arm worked in tandem with his words, striking Cat Pusher in the gut. "First you push my cat."

    Fwump

    "Then you fail to take the hint and leave."

    Fwump

    "And when my son comes to try and explain what the situation is, you shove him as well."

    Fwump

    "And still have the nerve to ask for more drink!"

    The young Jalanth braced for the sound of the human''s hand impacting the surely liquified torso of Cat Pusher once more, but it never came. Instead, he looked up to see the barman holding Cat Pusher by the hair and pointing at the chair, and words engraved on it, that captain Meowsel had been perched in.

    "Read it!"

    Cat Pusher looked at the chair and read, his words coming out mumbled through busted lips. "This chair is reserved at all times for Captain Meowsel."

    "That''s right." The barman said. "And do you know what all those words mean?"

    Cat Pusher nodded frantically, at least as much as the fistful of his hair in the barman''s hand would allow. "I do, I''m sorry, I shouldn''t have pushed your son either."

    "It''s not me you should apologize to." The barman said.

    Cat Pusher twisted in the grasp of the barman, finding the boy standing next to two other humans. "I''m sorry, I should not have shoved you."

    The boy nodded and the barman grabbed Cat Pusher''s face, holding the being off the ground so that they were eye-to-eye, on the human''s level. "The next time that you walk into a human establishment and think that you can do as you please, remember this. Remember the delicacy that is the knuckle sandwich, and then remember your manners."

    The young Jalanth watched as the two humans near the main door moved in anticipation of what happened next as if it were rehearsed. The barman turned and extended his body in a strange way faster than the young Jalanth could follow, the result of which was Cat Pusher flying the seven meters to, and then out, the door.

    Several hours later after the barman had apologized to everyone, and given out several free rounds. The Jalanths found themselves at a different bar. The young Jalanth spoke. "Okay, can someone please tell me what that was? And why did you say he caught a case of stupid, and then terminal stupidity?"

    The older Jalanths laughed and the one who had been talking to the younger spoke again. "When you look up the dos-and-don''ts of interacting with humans what do you notice?"

    The younger Jalanth was familiar with what the older was referencing, all races published a list of things that other beings should not do, and things that they should when interacting so that businesses and individuals could have peaceable interactions.

    The young Jalanth tapped his way to the human page on the net that listed their information. "What is this?" The young Jalanth asked, it was unlike any dos-and-don''ts list he had ever seen.

    Most had hundreds, maybe even thousands of things listed under both the ''do'' and ''don''t'' columns of their page. Humanity had two ''don''ts'' and no ''dos.''

    "What does it say?" The older Jalanth said, smiling in a knowing way.

    "Human dos: because humans, as individuals, differ so vastly, we will not be listing anything in this column, please be respectful in learning about any humans that you interact with." The young Jalanth said reading the footnote of the ''dos'' column and then continuing to read the don''ts. "Human Don''ts: It is imperative that the races of the galaxy realize that there are two things that will universally trigger a violent response from almost every human in existence, for your sake and the sake of those around you, we recommend abstaining from the following at all costs, firstly do not under any circumstances touch a human''s child in any way that may be aggressive, or inappropriate. And secondly, do not harm a human''s pet, as they are cared for and loved in much the same manner as a human''s child."

    The older Jalanth interjected after the younger had finished reading. "See the thing is that most races update those lists every year or so. That list has been the same for humans since their introduction to the wider galaxy seven hundred years ago."

    Another of the Jalanths piped up. "I even heard that several wars have been lost against the humans because the races who attacked them decided that humans children and unit mascots were viable targets. The races who were facing the humans in those wars, well they don''t exist anymore."

    Thye young Jalanth''s eyes widened at this. The older Jalanth spoke again, after nodding. "See after you see it a few times, and interact with enough humans, you realize that it isn''t that the humans are incredibly violent, the people who break the only two don''ts that the humans have are just really dumb."

    A third of the elder Jalanths spoke then, nodding in agreement. "It caught on a long time ago, but if you mess with a human''s pet, you caught a case of the stupid, you mess with their children, well your stupidity just became terminal, because more often than not the one who messed with the human child dies."

    The young Jalanth''s eyes went wide, and the others ordered another round. For the rest of the night, the young Jalanth drank and silently promised himself over and over, "I will not catch the stupid. I will not catch the stupid."

 Chapter 11: Diner with the Devil

    Jeb was sick of it all, the music, the festivities, the bullshit.

    ��Well I guess it��s not bullshit, not in that way.�� Jeb said quietly to himself. Jeb was 243 years old, and ended up as an immortal thanks to what the modern world called dyslexia.

    When he was 15, right on the cusp of disbelief when it came to things like Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, but he still wrote a letter with his little sister��

    \[Year 1794, the new nation of America]

    ��Jebbadiah, come write with me!�� Sarah called out excitedly.

    ��I��m too old for that.�� Jebbadiah said, smiling at his younger sister.

    ��Oh please!�� Sarah said, looking up at him from where she lay on the floor next to the mantle in the shadows of twilight. ��Please write with me Jebbadiah.��

    From the other room where the glow of a candle indicated someone��s presence, the sound of their mother��s voice called out. ��Oh, just write with her Jebbadiah. Both of you are going to bed here soon anyway, otherwise Santa won��t come.��

    Jebbadiah rolled his eyes and plopped down onto the floor next to Sarah who yelled excitedly. ��Yay! Now let��s write our letters.��

    For the next twenty minutes, they both wrote their letters, each asking for different things. Sarah asked for their father to be healed from a cough which had been plaguing him recently, and for a new dress for church days. Jebbadiah asked for his very own musket so he could help provide for his mother and sister, and he also asked for his mother and sister to never worry about him.

    They both finished and put their letters into envelopes as their mother came in to usher them to bed. ��Be sure to address them!�� She said and both children hastily scrawled ��Santa�� on the envelopes before noddingto each other and tossing the letters into the fire so they would be delivered to Old Saint Nick.

    \[Later that night]

    A swirl of silver light rushed out of the hearth and spun itself into a portly man wearing furs dyed white and red. ��Ho, Ho, Ho, what do we have here.��

    The man waved his hand over the cooling ashes of the fire and two letters seemed to unburn themselves and fly up to his waiting hand. ��Ah! Sarah and Jebbadiah, they both wrote me a letter����  His voice trailed off.

    On the letter bearing the more effeminate script was a hastily written name. His name, Santa. But on the letter scribed in the more practiced yet crude letters was a name that was so very close to Santa. Jebbadiah had swapped a few letters, an innocent enough mistake when you were not dealing with the divine.

    Without missing a beat, Santa looked over Sarah��s letter and reached to his side, his hand seeming to vanish from reality and when he pulled it back there was a pretty blue dress which he left hanging from the hearth. Then he pocketed Jebbadiah��s letter, and went on about his night, fading away once more to a stream of silver light.

    The entire interaction had taken roughly a thousandth of a second. And in the next thousandth, Santa was materializing in the next house. Several hours later, still deep in the dead of night, Santa had finished his year��s work and materialized somewhere that his red furs were incredibly out of place.

    The demons of hell were unaccustomed to other divines coming to visit, but they knew enough of the strange divine known as Santa that they stayed out of his way. As Santa strolled through the depths of hell, catching glimpses of souls in the midst of their eternal torment, he shook his head at the various things he saw and walked through the brimstone gilded doors of the only office in all of Hell.

    ��Hello, Lucifer.�� Santa said with a smile.

    ��Ah, Saint Nick. Here to torment me more for doing what my father told me?�� Lucifer said somewhat angrily.

    ��You know I am not affiliated with your father, the saint thing is, a by-product.�� Santa paused. ��Regardless, I am simply here to deliver a letter as per the rules of offerings to the divines.��

    As he said this, Santa reached into his pocket and pulled the letter out. On the front in those mixed up letters, was the name ��Satan�� and the letter had been properly offered and burned.

    Lucifer looked to the letter, confused, then to Santa. ��Is this a trick?��

    ��No, simply a delivery.�� Santa said reassuringly handing Lucifer the letter. ��Well there you go, lots to do for next year, have a very merry Christmas!�� Santa proceeded to vanish from Hell.

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    The Devil, once favored son of God, and ruler of the divine plane referred to as Hell, conjured a chair and sat to read the letter. After a moment he chuckled. ��Oh, Jebbadiah, your wish is my command.��

    Lucifer stood and snapped his fingers, finding himself in a small room with a cot-like bed and a young boy sleeping on it. After a moment the boy awakened, the temperature in the room rising as heat rolled off the Devil in waves.

    ��Hey, what''s goin�� on? That you Sarah?�� Jebbadiah said, and then his eyes fell upon the visage of evil standing beside his bed. Jebbadiah��s eyes widened as he shot to his feet and moved as if he was going to jump out the window.

    The Devil smiled, and snapped his fingers and suddenly both he and the boy were in chairs which had sprung from the floor, and struggle as he might, Jebbadiah could not rise. When he finally relaxed, the Devil spoke. ��You have written me a letter asking for two things. But it does not feel right to simply grant you a wish and be done. So instead, I will make you a deal. Starting this Christmas and going forward, you and I will meet, and we will have a fine meal. And in return for your time and energy you will receive three things. First, once you reach the age of 25, you will no longer age. Second, you will never die. And third, I will provide you with one thing of your asking at the end of the meal on Christmas. Do you accept my deal?��

    The Devil proffered his hand and Jebbadiah was shocked. He had heard the tales and warnings in the bible denouncing  the deals of the Devil. And here he was receiving an offer from the Devil himself, all while waving about the letter Jebbadiah had penned to Santa earlier that night. The Devil caught the look of confusion and went on to explain how The Divine Realms were incredibly strict when it came to names and the such.

    ��So let me get this straight, I misspelled Santa, and now Satan is sitting in my room?�� Jebbadiah asked, his brain failing to understand everything. ��Why would you show up for that!?��

    ��Yep pretty much.�� Satan said, looking around the room. ��And as far as why I am here, do you know how many times people attempt to summon me to do terrible things to other people?�� A LOT! So the fact that a 15-year-old kid wants me to fulfill his Christmas wish is a big deal to me. Especially since you are the only one who has managed to summon me properly. ��

    Satan could see the hesitation on Jebbadiah��s face. ��Look, say yes or no, doesn��t really bother me either way, I will give you a weapon as you asked, even if you decline my deal. Just, you know, make up your mind. I have a lot to do if we are not doing this deal.��

    Jebbadiah thought about it and then agreed. ��I will take your deal.��

    ��Good!�� The Devil said, smiling wickedly, and shaking hands with Jebbadiah before snapping his fingers. A table laden with a feast fit for kings and gods appeared between them. They ate and talked, each topic more normal than what Jebbadiah would have expected, but when it was concluded, the Devil snapped and the table and chairs vanished, and in their place was a long musket shaped parcel. The Devil looked sad as he spoke before vanishing. ��Merry Christmas Jebbadiah, I will see you next year.��

    ��To you too!�� Jebbadiah said, crawling back into bed and falling asleep.

    \[Present day]

    That is how it went for nearly two centuries. Christmas would come, Jebbadiah would eat and talk with Satan and then he would receive a gift. On the year that Jebbadiah, shortened to Jeb once the name fell out of favor,  turned 200 he learned something from the Devil and had decided to act on it. So for the last forty-three years, Jeb had used his annual gift to work on his end goal. And this year was to be the year of fruition.

    ��It��s not bullshit in any way really.�� Jeb said to himself and turned around, just in time to see Satan rise from the floor. ��Hey Lucifer, how is it going?��

    ��Oh, fine, just more of the same. Things don��t really change in Hell.�� Lucifer said.

    ��That makes an odd sort of sense.�� Jeb said, thinking for a moment about all he had learned of Hell. ��Tell you what, why don��t I give you my gift first?��

    ��Oh, this is new, you getting me a gift?�� Lucifer said. ��It won��t change the terms of our bargain.��

    �� I know.�� Jeb said and walked over to the door and opened it, revealing a glowing being. ��Please come in.��

    Into the home that Jeb owned, strolled God, father of Lucifer and current ruler of reality. ��Hello, Lucifer.��

    Lucifer seemed to be choking on air. ��Hi, Dad.��

    Jeb turned to Lucifer. ��The gift that I ask from you tonight is that you enjoy a meal with your father. I''ll be back in a few hours.�� Jeb walked out and made his way to a local twenty-four hour cafe and got a bite to eat before walking the city streets with their bright lights and subtle noises.

    After a few hours, Jeb found himself back at his door. He knocked gently just to give some warning and then opened the door to find Lucifer sitting in a contemplative posture at the table. ��So, how did it go?�� Jeb asked hesitantly.

    ��Oh, we yelled at each other for an hour then ate in silence and he left without saying anything.�� Lucifer said, his tone neutral.

    Jeb flinched. ��I��m Sorry.��

    ��Well whatever. We are good right?�� Lucifer asked, and Jeb nodded, watching Lucifer melt into the floor.

    ��Shit, I think I fucked up.�� Jeb said out loud to the room.

    ��No, I don��t think you did.�� A jolly voice said from behind him.

    Jeb whirled to find Santa sitting in a chair beside the fireplace as it crackled happily. ��Well, well, haven��t seen you in a while. What do you mean I didn��t fuck up?��

    ��I mean,�� Santa said looking Jeb in the eyes, ��that those two had more positive conversation than Lucifer let on, and more conversation in general than they have had in the last thousand millennia. What you did was deeply appreciated by both of them. Not that either of them will ever admit it.��

    Jeb chuckled. ��I suppose you are right.�� Jeb shrugged and looked down at the table of untouched food that Lucifer had left behind. ��Do you care to join me Santa?��

    ��Of course, I would love to!�� Santa said with a jolly smile taking the seat that Lucifer usually sat in. They ate and talked for several hours, before Santa stood and spoke once more. ��I thank you for the dinner, Jeb.��

    ��You are welcome. I thank you for eating with me.�� Jeb said, ��Merry Christmas Santa.��

    ��Merry Christmas to you too, Jeb.�� Santa said before disappearing into the air, off to spread joy and cheer to everyone.

 Chapter 12: I am God

    I am God. I don''t know what kind of God I am. I''m not even sure if I''m good at being God. But I am God. I remember everything from the moment the first prayer was said to me, I think I existed before that, but my memories only started with that first prayer.

    The prayer that started it all was from a desperate father. "Please, anyone, anything, Save my daughter. I will do anything that you ask of me." That was the prayer. I remember being suddenly aware of myself, the one who had prayed and the one he had prayed for. I also knew that I could help this Girl, not much, but enough that she would probably survive, so I did.

    It took months, and over time the Girl lived. After she was declared free from the sickness that held sway over her, I received another prayer: the Father again. "To whoever or whatever helped my daughter, I know that you helped, and I am a man of my word, ask what you will, and I will do all I can to make it happen. You have my eternal gratitude."

    At the time, I felt I had no right to ask anything of the Father, so I responded. "My name is Alejh''Ha''Rune. You are welcome."

    Later that night, I received prayer from my second-ever person. It was the daughter. "Alejh''Ha''Rune, my Father tells me you are the God who helped me. My name is Sarash; I know I am small and weak, but I want you to know that you will be in my thoughts for the entirety of my life, and I shall never pray to another. If I have children, they will know of your kindness. Thank you."

    "Grow well, Sarash." That was my response. I watched them for the next ten years, and every night both Sarash and her Father would pray to me. I would politely wish them a good night, and then I would watch over them. Something about our interactions made me feel responsible for them.

    Another five years passed, and Sarash''s Father built an altar for me with a bowl. I established a small portal on the bottom of the bowl so that anything they placed in the bowl would come to me. Suddenly I had a body!

    I realized quickly that I did not require food and that by having a body, I suddenly had greater control of things around me and those who worshiped me. As it so happened, within a month, I received a prayer unlike any other from Sarash. "Alejh''Ha''Rune, I have done my best and left an offering of coin for you. I am unsure what you might want as an offering, but it is all that I had to offer that was of great value. I have a favor to ask. Tomorrow I am supposed to meet a young man my Father wants me to marry. I will not marry unless I have your blessing. Please give me a sign if you bless the union. As always, thank you, and have a good night."

    "Goodnight, Sarash, and look to the shrine when returning home," I said and then proceeded to watch her dreams. Seeing the meeting play out in her nightmares, I reached out and soothed her mind, granting her peaceful dreams and a full night''s rest for her big day.

    The following day, I watched with intense scrutiny as the two families met. The fathers of the two young people discussed various things as Sarash and her supposed fiance talked for the first time. As they did this, I delved into the young man''s mind. What I found disgusted me. I understood that humans were lustful creatures and had little issue with that. It was how he was already planning on abusing her and using her in deplorable ways to fund his vices that truly made me despise him.

    The monster in man''s flesh reached out and placed his hand on the back of Sarash''s hand, and I could not help myself. I shouted out, "NO!" in Sarash and her Father''s minds. Instantly Sarash jerked her hand away and angered the monster. Just as I prepared to gather my power within Sarash to protect her, her Father burst in, and they quickly exited.

    A few months later, the monster married another young woman despite the urgings of Sarash and her Father to any who would listen. And within a month, there were issues. Sarash thanked me profusely. Her Father was ashamed at having almost given his daughter away to a monster like that and for not having asked me before the meeting. He poured time and effort into expanding my shrine, caving a beautiful piece that depicted myself having a body and a face, holding his daughter protectively to my chest as he knelt and prayed.

    The art moved me, so I searched far and wide through the population of the city in which they lived and finally found someone who I thought would be a good match for Sarash. I wrote the name in the shrine, and when Sarash and her Father were looking at it, I said, "A suggestion Only."

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    Months later, they celebrated their marriage. I watched as they bound themselves in my name. I watched their entire lives as Sarash, her Father, her husband, and their children became my most devoted worshipers and spread my name throughout their world.

    Years would pass, and slowly, over many centuries, the bloodline of Sarash would grow and expand to have thousands upon thousands of people. The day humanity sent their first pilot to another planet, I congratulated the pilot, who could trace their lineage directly back to Sarash. "Well done, Kevin."

    Kevin smiled and responded with a silent prayer as had been passed down in his family for generations. "As always, I thrive in your light, Alejh''Ha''Rune."

    Years would go by once more, and still, the descendants of Sarash remained loyal. Even in times of uncertainty and disbelief, there was never a night that I did not receive thousands of prayers. A Private temple was even constructed in my name.

    After almost 1500 years of guiding and protecting the Sarash line, humanity made contact with another race. I was excited to see the next step in human growth. I had also reached a point where I had enough power to manifest myself in the human realm. I did so now at the birth of every member of the Sarash line to bless the child and the parents. So when I received a panicked prayer, first only one, then it seemed as if every believer cried out in panic. I materialized myself in the temple. "What is it?"

    "Look." That was all they said and directed my attention to the sky. Descending from the clouds were ships that spread troops as a showerhead spreads water.

    "Gather everyone to the temple and tell those who can not be here to get into large groups if they can. The fewer places I have to worry about, the better," I said and then vanished and watched with my power as the entire Earth was invaded by the reptilian race that humanity had contacted, named the Jox.

    I also felt those who believed in me gather. Some places held thousands or hundreds, others only twenty or thirty. But one, an old woman named Sara, in honor of Sarash, had no one near that could help her and could not travel to a gathering on her own.

    I went to her. "Sara, it is good to see you."

    Sara smiled from the comfort of her armchair. "Is this the end, my God?"

    I smiled down at her kneeling. "It can be if you wish it to be. I have to give you an impossible choice Sara. My abilities are vast, but I can only do so much and have thousands to protect. I can not lay protection upon you as I would like and still manage to protect the other gatherings."

    I looked at the ancient woman, her smile never leaving her face. Tears welled up in my eyes. "I have failed you as your God, but if you desire, I can lay concealments upon you and do my best to maintain everything. I can also take you into my arms and bring about your end."

    I felt wrinkled hands reach up to wipe the tears from my face. "Alejh''Ha''Rune, you have long been good to my family and me. You have never deluded us into thinking you are all-powerful, so I know you are doing all you can. Know that you have not failed me, and I still love you with all my heart, my lord."

    Sara stood and wrapped her arms around me in an embrace, and I swept her soul into the afterlife. The sheer love and commitment I felt from her soul drove me to rage. Why should such a gentle and loving woman die? Why should a race like humanity, capable of so much love and kindness, be attacked simply for making contact? I wondered about these things and decided what would happen when I finally received the first panicked prayer.

    Jox troops were already at the temple. I touched the minds of the Jox and quickly assimilated their language. "Mercy for those who show mercy," I said into their minds.

    Some responded, shocked at the voice in their head. Others snarled cruelly, believing one of the humans was attempting to beg. But in the end, only one Jox did not raise his weapon. With a thought, those who raised their weapons were no more.

    This scene played out over the months in all the places where my followers gathered. Then I had the strangest thing happen. Several Jox who had not raised their weapons and survived an encounter with me prayed to me. They begged me to understand this and to know more about me. I sent them to the temple and instructed the line of Sarash to teach them.

    The war ended months later with the conversion of the entire race to worshiping me, all from a state of atheism. I gained power then, unimaginable power. The belief in me, since I was not afraid to show myself to those who believed, washed over the collective races of the galaxy, and my power grew.

    I watched as a new age of peace and understanding washed over humanity, and I was proud. I had not created them or created any of the races that now worshiped me. But each and everyone one of them showed only their best traits, and I reveled in it.

    <hr>

    "It wasn''t until I met you that I wondered if I was the only god," I said, looking down at the barely formed consciousness that would slowly grow into another god.

    The consciousness seemed to be excited. I laughed at it gently. "Yes, maybe we can meet one day and discuss what I am sure you will accomplish. Until then, I bid you farewell."

    I disappeared from the place where new life was forming and returned to see the flowering dynasty of humanity. I thought back over everything I had told the young God.

    "I am God," I said to myself, then chuckled and shook my head. "No, I am A God," I said, returning to my daily routine and ignoring the single tear that ran down my cheek. Finally, I was not alone.

 Chapter 13: Prisoner Protected

    [Galactic Collegium - Sigtarius VII, 3791]

    "When humans break, they tend to break worse than any other species." Professor Xarn said to his class, which contained several humans among the two hundred in the lecture hall. "Does anyone know what I mean by this? No one is asking the humans."

    Several people who had turned to their human friends turned back to face the front. The Professor looked around and then continued speaking when no hands other than human hands were in the air. "Human criminals are the worst, and I don''t mean those who commit petty crimes. I mean the truly bad men. Murderers, Terrorists, and the like. When a human reaches this point, they tend to go farther than any other race would."

    The humans in the room were nodding along, simply taking notes on the lecture, but the rest of the class seemed shocked. A female Dagnion raised her clawed appendage. Professor Xarn pointed to her, and she spoke. "If that is the case, why are we learning about them in an ethics class? They can not be ethical if they go that far."

    "An excellent question. Maybe this is where our human friends can provide an answer that still bewilders me to this day." The Professor said, looking from one human to another.

    One of the humans, a young man who seemed a little rougher than the others, raised his hand. The Professor saw, "Ah, yes, Arthur, what is your suggestion?"

    "There are rules in prison," Arthur said, and many of the non-humans laughed.

    The earlier Dagnion chuckled as she spoke, "Of course, there are rules in prison; that is kind of the point."

    "No," Arthur said, looking from one person to another as he spoke, "out here in the real world, you can say and do what you want so long as you don''t break the laws. But if you put a bunch of people who have no care for laws together, what rules do they follow?"

    The Professor smiled as a thoughtful silence fell over the class, he looked at Arthur, "Please explain what you think some of these rules are Arthur."

    "Don''t Rat. You never harm a pregnant woman or a child, and if you''re talkin'' shit, you better be able to back it up. Keep respect in your voice, especially for the shot callers, and if you want to get out alive, nothing is any of your business." Arthur said, his tone dead serious.

    "How could you possibly know what the rules are?" Asked a young Greyling man. "I mean, unless you were a...."

    His voice faded, and everyone looked at Arthur, who burst out laughing, "No, I have not been to prison, but I did respond to the Claxon event three years ago while I was in the corp."

    "So you''re a veteran?" The Dagnion girl asked.

    "Yes, Ma''am, Second Battalion Fifth Regiment of the Rapid Galactic Response Army." Arthur said, "And I can tell you one thing, as rough and tumble as many of the men I served with are, the boys who did what they did on Claxon IV were some of the worst of the worst, and they were some hard motherfuckers."

    "What is the Claxon Event?" Asked the Greyling.

    The Professor looked at Arthur who shrugged, "I guess I can tell you, we were the response unit and ended up getting tasked withe the investigation. It was roughly..."

    <hr>

    [Arvorn City - Claxon IV, 3788]

    The chill night air of planet Claxon, specifically Claxon IV, held a note of apprehension and an eerie, unnatural silence. Fifteen minuets earlier, a spaceship of unknown origin had jumped into orbit of the planer and descended to hover roughly a mile above the city of Arvorn.

    The Mayor of Arvorn, a native Kishtallon man named Tersh Kipplit, looked up in worry and spoke into a comms device, "I don''t know what it is or who it belongs to. That is why I am calling you, I was told that all matters of planetary security in my sector of the planet go through you. No. No. I don''t care if your systems say there is no ship; I am telling you that I am looking straight at it."

    A few moment''s passed, "Look, I already have enough going on, we are hosting that human prison transport ship that needed repairs so I have a warehouse filled to the brim with some of the most violent barbarian pirates you have ever seen, I don''t need this. Get a defense ship out here, Now!"

    Tersh closed the comms channel and turned to his wife, who  looking scared as she cradled their daughter. "Noxa, take Ul''Lana and go to the public shelter, I am going to sound the alarm and then come join you."

    They embraced, toughing their whiskers together and then each of them took off to their task. Tersh was sprinting through the streets in an attempt to reach the nearest public safety office and have them initiate the evacuation when he heard a sound unlike anything he had ever heard before. The long drawn out notes held an almost surreal moment of time before weapons batteries on the strange ship opened up on two ships sent to investigate it.

    At the same time, doors on the underside of the ship opened up, and drop pods descended to slam into roads, buildings, and anything else in their path. From these pods poured forth strange bipedal spiderlike beings. As Tersh watched, anyone caught in the path of the creatures was killed, and he stopped running. Access the emergency channel to contact the planetary defense forces.

    "It''s Tersh again, that ship destroyed your investigation ships and is now dropping pods filled with strange creatures that are killing my people. I am activating the overrides on the evac systems. Authentication Tersh Yigvorn Kipplit." As he said this automated systems confirmed his voice print and mere moments later alarm horns blared to life and people began fleeing their homes, and screams began to permeate the silence.

    Tersh had done what he needed, and now he had only two concerns. "Noxa, Ul''Lana, I am coming."

    With a flex of muscles, his lower leg shifted foot joint down, and internal bone structures locked together, giving him almost an additional foot of height as his foot structure shifted from digitigrade to unguligrade. Tersh took a deep breath and leaned into his run, rapidly accelerating to his max speed of nearly forty-five miles an hour. He was terrified to see others trying to flee using the same trick, only to be run down by the strange creatures. So he did the only thing he could, lowered his head and ran as fast as he could to get to his wife and daughter.

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    After what felt like an eternity and watching hundreds of his people killed, all while dodging claws and taking a few gashes on his thighs and arms, Tersh finally made it to the shelter he knew Noxa would go to, as it was the one closest to her parents home. He was ushered inside and found his people huddling at the front of the shelter, and in the back were the human guards who had escorted the prisoners who were offloaded from the ship being repaired.

    Tersh was angry, as he had only gotten in due to his position and the hopes that he would be able to fix whatever was causing the backup; there were many of his people outside. He marched over to the guard captain. "What the hell are you doing here?!"

    "We heard the shots from the ship, so we moved to the shelter." He said, shrugging.

    "You are meant to be in your area; why are the prisoners here?" Tersh demanded, unable to process what was going on.

    The guard captain shrugged, "this was the closest shelter."

    "Why did you not stay in the area we appointed you! This is a civilian shelter!"

    The guard captain tapped a bracelet and then gestured to the similar-looking compliance collars that the prisoners wore. "I wasn''t going to hide in that warehouse and pray that I got overlooked, and I am not able to move more than a certain distance from all of the prisoners, or I will die as will the prisoners. So I brought them here."

    Tersh was about to start yelling at the man when a scream went up outside, the creatures had found them and were starting to tear into the back lines of people. Tersh turned and used his comms to speak through the PA systems. "Women and children, to the back. Men, Kar''ok Na Urn''dala."

    The phrase was one passed down through their people since times of antiquity, in modern times it had no equivalent, but roughly translated it meant ''Death comes only to be denied by the strength of the tribe.'' With no argument, the women and children rushed to the back, almost pressing into the lines of prisoners and the men rushed forward, claws that had been used for hunting and impressing mates earlier in their evolution put to deadly effect.

    At the front of the line, Tersh stood, his hand working a deadly dance; any creature that came too close found its throat missing. To see hundreds of Kishtallon men fighting to protect their families brought a sense of pride and primal joy to his heart, but he knew it would not be enough. He stepped back and rushed to the guards.

    "You must fight with us," Tersh said, expecting the guard captain to understand that they must work together to survive this.

    "That is not my job." The guard captain said.

    In a flash, a primal anger unlike any that Tersh had ever known welled up in his stomach, and with a primeval growl, he ripped the guard captain''s throat out. He pulled the compliance control off of the captain''s wrist and deactivated the collars.

    In an odd moment of silence, he spoke to the three thousand men who had been controlled and forced to take up so much space. "I do not know your crimes, and I do not know any of you. But I know that if you want to survive, you need to fight. Some of you might be thinking that you can hide here with the women and children; just know that if you do not fight, we all die. And if I survive, I will find that you hid, or worse. I will kill you myself. If you fight, I will do what I can to try to get your freedom."

    He turned and moved to the door of the shelter to fight once more and many of the mothers kissed their children, and turned to join him, even many of the older children moved to join him. There was a three year old child who was holding a newborn baby. Both began to cry, as they watched their mother walk towards the door.

    Suddenly the largest human Tersh had ever seen walked forward, and placed a hand on the head of the crying child, the mother bristled stepping forward, then the human spoke in a thick accent, and broken common.

    "You should not be of the crying, little one." The gargantuan man scooped up both children, smiling at them, and stepped forward to the mother and placed them in her arms, "You mothers, stay. Be mothers, I fight. What man hides with women."

    With that, every single prisoner walked to the door. As they all passed they nodded to Tersh, finally the large man looked down at Tersh.

    "You speak good. If we live, maybe we be friends. If you die, remember that women and children safe so long as Idrac is alive," the man thumped his chest and walked outside.

    <hr>

    [Galactic Collegium - Sigtarius VII, 3791]

    "What happened next?" The Dagnion girl asked, she and the rest of the class had been listening with rapt attention.

    Arthur shrugged, "People died; when my unit got there, we found the planet mostly barren and a single human man, Idrac Vorstov, guarding a vault containing four hundred women and nearly five thousand children."

    "Holy shit," one of the other humans said, his face going pale.

    "What?" asked another student.

    The Professor spoke up and pulled up an image of the man in question, "Idrac Vorstov, also known as the Terror of Tervix IX, is a mass murderer who killed seventeen thousand people and was charged with terrorism and a slew of other crimes after he beat two hundred people to death and then vented the bio-dome to the planet''s atmosphere. He did not, however, kill a single child. He apparently put the children in a number of large hermetically sealed train cars bound for other domes."

    Arthur nodded. "Idrac said that the creatures were still around, but the ship that had brought them had been gone for a day or two. After the last of the other fighters had fallen, he had sealed the door to the shelter and started bringing any food or other survivors to the shelter."

    "How do you know all of this?" The Professor asked, he knew that Arthur was part of the unit, but he had not expected to get all the details that they had.

    "I was assigned guard duty of the room where we kept Idrac as we transported him back to prison." Arthur said, "I spent a lot of time listening to him answer questions for the investigating officer."

    "Wait, they still sent him to prison after all he did!" The Dagnion girl said in shock. "And what were the creatures."

    "The creatures were the Vork," Arthur said, and everyone recognized the name of the species currently waging war against the Imperium. "And yes, Idrac was a terrorist and indicated that even though he had enjoyed his stint of freedom, it was only because he got to kill things. Even if the mayor had survived to recommend release for the prisoners, it would not have been granted. It is quite miraculous that it went that way, as the ship was carrying prisoners being transferred to Hades supermax in the Styx system."

    Just then the five minute warning indicator pinged softly. The Professor clapped his hands and spoke, "Alright, quickly to wrap up, what does this say about the ethics of the situation?"

    The Dagnion girl spoke up, "That even those who are, well, evil can sometimes make the right decision?"

    "True, that might be a good take away," The Professor looked thoughtful, "what else?"

    Several other students voiced their ideas, but the Professor smiled. "You are all so close. I want you to think about it and why someone like Idrac would do what he did. I want two pages by the next class."

    The notification system ended the class, and the students rose to leave. As the Professor packed his bag, Arthur waited to be the last one out. He turned to the Professor, "We are all capable of great things, both evil and good. It is up to society to judge the ethics of a situation after the fact, but it is up to the individual to do the best with what they are given at the moment."

    The Professor smiled, "I do thing that that is worth the two pages. Have a good weekend Arthur."

    "You too, professor."

 Chapter 14: Hostile Takeover

    [Earth, 2753]

    "On this day, we celebrate!" Erin Grotto, President of the Terran Republic cried out, "over two hundred years ago, we humans as a species made a choice! A choice to lay down our arms, and instead focused on developing ourselves and our allies."

    A large crowd of non-humans cheered loudly. Erin continued, "Where once we produced weapons, we now produce commodities. Where once we trained soldiers, children play. We have achieved something that many of our ancestors could never have dreamed of. Now, I would invite Empress Gulshik of the Horvan peoples to the stage."

    A slimy looking woman with eight sets of legs and two sets of arms crawled forward, and up the podium her diminutive form letting her stand on the podium and have the mic at the right height. She spoke in her native language of chitters and pops, and it was translated by the universal translators. "Thank you President Grotto."

    The Empress looked out across the crowd. "One hundred and fifty years ago, my people made contact with the Humans, not through war, but in commerce. We were frightened, and these beings who were so clearly built for combat surely would take what they wanted and leave nothing in their wake. Instead, they told us what they called a ''Peaceful acquisition.'' They had been eyeing a planet that bordered our space, and rather than capturing it, they wanted to buy it."

    Many of the political representatives on the elevated stage chuckled at the sense of d��j�� vu they had from their first meetings with the humans, The Empress let the chuckles die out before she continued. "We agreed to sell them the planet, and it sparked a long-lasting alliance with the Human peoples, as well as a golden age for my people and the peoples of the United Galactic Assembly as the humans became the leading financial power in the UGA."

    A cheer ran through the crowd. "So it is my honor and privilege to welcome you all to the two hundred and sixth annual unity festival here on Earth. Let the festival begin!"

    At that moment fireworks went off and recording began playing in each language, letting the attendees know that he festival would run all month and that free transport to the lunar transit hub was included with each ticket to the festival.

    "Now," the Empress said, turning to President Grotto, "I think we had best adjourn to our other meeting shall we?"

    "I suppose so," Erin said, looking longingly at his family who were headed into the festival, "let''s get this done so we can all enjoy the festival."

    The Empress, President Grotto, and the other political representatives all walked into a waiting shuttle and were taken to the lunar transit hub, where they took a teleporter to the massive space station halfway across the galaxy.

    [United Galactic Assembly headquarters, 2753]

    As the Empress and President Grotto materialized, they moved off the platform to join the streams of people walking through the UGA headquarters. They all flowed into a large room, where a single being of scales and teeth stood in the middle of the room.

    A viscous looking woman, stands after all the seats are filled. "I call to order the United Galactic Assembly, and call for the final vote on the induction of the Ur''Hullan to the UGA."

    The Scaled being in the middle of the room stood as a statue and waited to hear the verdict on his people''s induction. The votes poured in over the next fifteen minutes. Finally, it was announced by the viscous woman, "The final vote is seven hundred thirty-eight for and three hundred fifteen against. The United Galactic Assembly welcomes the Ur''Hullan people into its fold and welcomes Ambassador Tix as their first ambassador."

    A cheer ran through the crowd of dignitaries. The speaker relinquished the stage to Ambassador Tix, who was expected by tradition to make a speech and a request.

    The scaley man stepped forward and waited for silence. "Thank you, lady speaker, I am honored to be here, and my people, while shamed to be welcomed by one so weak, are grateful nonetheless."

    A murmur ran through the crowd, and there were rumblings about the universal translator AI still adapting to the language of the Ur''Hullan. Ambassador Tix continued, "I understand that it is customary for the newly accepted peoples to make a request, either of the UGA as a whole or to a singular people. My people have a demand to make of the species that you all kowtow to, the Humans."

    President Grotto got a sinking feeling in his gut. He stood to face the new Ambassador. "I will hear your request on behalf of humanity."

    Ambassador Tix chuckled, "Our demand is that you soft humans quit playing at having power and turn over the machinations of your economic power to the Ur''Hullan immediately."

    President Grotto quietly pressed a button inset into his wedding ring and then spoke. "That is quite the request. What happens if Humanity refuses."

    "Then my people will kill your people one by one until you accept." The scaled Ambassador said with a wicked smile. "Starting with your own family."

    Just then several more Ur''Hullan marched in with President Grotto''s Wife and three children. The Ambassador smiled, "What can you do Mr. President? I mean you said it yourself earlier today, that over two hundred years ago Humanity lay down their weapons."

    Empress Gulshik was in shock, and she was preparing to issue orders to support Humanity after President Grotto accepted the demand, she looked at the President. In all her many years of working with the man, they had grown to be good friends; their children played together, and she had never once seen anything but a warm smile from the man, even when he was upset.

    Now, all the Empress saw in the eyes of the man she called friend was a cold focus that made a portion of her brain scream in fear. The President stepped forward and slowly walked to the ground level, across the open space, and up onto the raised center dais. He stood there looking at the scaled creature that was roughly his height.

    "Tell me, Ambassador Tix, do your people hold to the old ways?" The President said, taking off his watch, and beginning to undo the many buttons of his dress shirt.

    "We do not follow the ways of a weak species such as Humanity!" The Ambassador roared.

    "No, I meant the old ways of your people," The President said, undoing the cuff buttons of his shirt, "your people follow the path of Ur Na Hallten, correct."

    A brief look of surprise washed over the face of Ambassador Tix, "Yes, we do, what is it to you, weak Human?"

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    "In your path, you have the concept of Ki''Gara." The President said, removing his dress shirt leaving his undershirt in place, "and I challenge you to Ki''Gara as is my right according to your own path."

    The roar of laughter that came from every Ur''Hullan in the hall was boisterous. Finally, after wiping the tears of mirth from his eyes, Ambassador Tix responded, "You would challenge me to single combat!? Very well, why not? As the challenge, I get to determine the stakes. If I win, Humanity will surrender its resources, as well as fifty thousand young men and women, to serve as slaves for my people. If you win, We will relinquish our claim, and my people will lay down their arms and become pacifists. Now tell me, Human, what are the conditions for victory?"

    The President finished stretching as he looked up at the Ambassador, "To surrender or death, of course."

    The Ur''Hullan warriors laughed again, and the President, already enraged, roared out at a volume that shocked all who were watching this happen, "Silence!"

    A shocked moment allowed President Grotto to regain a modicum of calculated composure, "you asked what the conditions were and I answered, now either forfeit or prepare yourself."

    The crowd remained silent as the two men prepared themselves. Finally it was time, and they squared off against each other. The President brought his fists up, and began to bounce lightly on his feet. As they circled each other, President Grotto spoke, "Tell me Ambassador Tix, did you happed to look at Humanity''s history prior to us laying down our weapons?"

    "Why would I care for the history of the weak!" Tix raged and lunged for the bouncing President, who dodged out of the way.

    "You should have; you would have seen that my people were not always weak as you say," The President punched the Ambassador in the face after dodging another bestial lunge. "you might have seen that we were athletes and warriors of an astonishing level. You might also have seen that when we lay down our arms, we made changes to our society."

    Ambassador Tix roared and launched a ferocious string of attacks, which President Grotto dodged most of, catching the claws of the Ambassador''s left hand on his right shoulder. The Ambassador snarled, breathing heavily, as he continued to rain down blows.

    President Grotto looked relaxed, dodging under sweeps and tossing counter attacks where he could, he spoke as they fought. "The changes that we made to our society, was to place the responsibility of safety and security onto the individual."

    The Ambassador was flagging, his breath coming in desperate gasps, his arms leaden. He lunged for one final attack, intending to end the fight, and instead found himself in a chokehold. He felt the shocking muscle density contained beneath the pink human skin flex and begin to tighten down on his throat. Ambassador Tix opened his mouth to signal surrender and found himself unable to do so due to how little breath he could get.

    President Grotto flexed, closing the chokehold tighter and tighter, and as the Ambassador rode the fleeting edge of consciousness, The President whispered in the Ambassador''s ear, "You think that just because we lay down our weapons, we are weak, we simply do not have any adequate challengers. And you think the move to make is to threaten my family. I should kill you."

    The President squeezes slightly harder until Ambassador Tix goes limp and then tosses him to the ground. "I think that I win. If you wish to wait for him to wake and surrender, I am fine with that."

    The Ur''Hullan warriors dropped their weapons and let The President''s family rush to him. Applause started quietly and rose to a roaring sound. As the assembled dignitaries cheered for him, President Grotto reassured his family he was okay and watched as Ambassador Tix Was woken up by the other Ur''Hullan.

    When he finally woke up, President Grotto stepped forward between the Ambassador and his family, "Do you yield?"

    Ambassador Tix, his teeth grinding brutally together, spoke with barely contained rage, "I... Yield."

    The Ambassador turned to leave, but the President stopped him, "Ambassador Tix before you go, there is the matter of what was promised."

    Every Ur''Hullan present flinched, and President Grotto continued speaking, "As is my right as victor of the Ki''Gara, I will absolve you of responsibility in upholding your agreement. Let this serve as a reminder that just because we have decided to be peaceful, does not mean that we will lay back accept a hostile takeover."

    The Ur''Hullan looked relieved as they left, and President Grotto was glad that everything had turned out as it had. Before he forgot, he pressed another button hidden on his wedding ring, standing down two-hundred-year-old protocols. President Grotto looked at his children, "Shall we go home?"

    They all nodded, and President Grotto left with them.

    [Earth, 2753 - the next day]

    As President Grotto stood with his wife, smiling at their children as they rode a traditional carnival ride, he heard a familiar voice.

    "Hello, Erin."

    "Empress Gulshik! What a surprise, I did not know you would be joining us today," President Grotto said with a smile, "to what do I owe the honor."

    "I was hoping I might speak to you for a moment of your time about what happened yesterday." The Empress said, unsure how to deal with this man who she was not sure she knew anymore.

    "Of course," The President kissed his wife on the cheek and began to walk with the Empress, her security group giving them a small bubble of space as they moved, "so what can I do for you my friend?"

    "To be blunt," The Empress said, deciding to cut through the bullshit as she usually would with him, "What the fuck?!"

    The President chuckled and the Empress continued, "What was that, I thought you were weak, as a people comparatively, I knew that there were powerful individuals among humanity, but I was unaware that you are one such person."

    "Oh, I''m not," The President said chuckling once more at the look on the Empress''s face. He took a seat on a bench seat, allowing her to climb up on the bench and situate herself before he continued, "when we lay down our weapons, we did so for many reasons."

    "Yes, because you had grown past your violent ways, all the history books say this." The Empress said dismissively.

    "That was part of it, certainly. What I am about to tell you is not necessarily a state secret, but it is something that we humans play close to the chest." The President looked amused at the excited look on Empress Gulshik''s face, "Humanity has a past that is far bloodier than anyone in the UGA realizes, and when we first encountered the UGA, we rapidly realized that very few, if any, other species manage to get to the point of interspecies relations if they have as violent a history as we did."

    The Empress was shocked; while she did not know much about human history before her time, she had thought they were always like the mild-mannered, kind, and caring people, she knew them as. The President continued talking. "We did some scouting and quickly realized that if we wanted to, we could take over the UGA through force quite easily. We estimated it would not take much longer than a week. At that moment, we decided that it was not something that we wanted, so along with some social reform, we mothballed our military weapons and ships, leaving only the planetary defenses in operation."

    Empress Gulshik''s eyes widened; she did not know that it was possible to have defenses on a planetary scale. She listened to the President talk for almost an hour about the social changes and how Humanity became a unified collective with peace as a goal, but also unilaterally decided that every man, woman, and child would train in combat and weapons usage under the guise of sports. When he was done, the sun had started to set, and the Empress felt like she was sitting next to a monster of some kind.

    "So what questions do you have?" President Grotto asked.

    "I have one question, why? Why do all this? What could possibly drive you to do this." The Empress was desperately trying to understand.

    "I have three answers for that. Firstly, because of that," President Grotto chuckled, gesturing to his children who were playing with a group of children from several different races, "the hope that our children could grow up in a world where their friends could be any race, and they could go visit any world they wished to."

    The Empress nodded, "And secondly?"

    "For things like today," President Grotto said, "we are prepared to defend ourselves and those we care for. As a species, we are prepared to defend all our allies."

    The President''s tone had grown serious, and The Empress was unsure if she wanted to know the third reason. President Grotto didn''t give her a chance to back out, though, and spoke. "The last reason is that the multiverse is a large place, and while we have been fortunate that almost every single race we have met has ended up being some kind of friendly, we hold no delusions. One day, the UGA will encounter a race that is hellbent on death and destruction. On that day, Humanity will take up arms once again and go to war."

    Those words sent a shiver down the back of the Empress. She didn''t know what to say, and was spared having to try and figure something out by President Grotto rising and bidding her farewell, and moving to join his family.

    The Empress thought only one thing as she made her way back to the lunar transit hub.

    "Thank the gods for Peaceful Acquisition."