Page 3 of The First Alpha on the Planet
Zurok glanced over. “He is perfectly fine. He caught a drulinith earlier and quite enjoyed himself.”
“One of the bird things? Is that sanitary? Is it going to give him some kind of parasiiiii—is that offensive?” Doc glanced around as Noel moved to grant Doc visibility.
“Not offensive at all. And no, there’s not much that can survive the Naleucian digestive system.”
“Not much isn’t nothing.” Doc glared.
“The only thing that can survive it isusand spermatophores, if you must know. Andusis dependent upon if we’re mated or not.” Zurok clasped his hands and smiled. “We’re all so veryeager to wait and see if any of us take. I anticipate a bit of a hatchling wave.”
“Excuse me? Noel, get your ass in here. I’ve not checked you in over a week. Holy shit. And bring Noah… I want to give him a cuddle.” Doc sighed heavily, and Zurok dismissed himself for a moment, returning with Noah in his arms, wiggling excitedly.
Zurok gave a polite whisper, letting him know that Nexus had been toileted.
“On my way.” Noel rolled his shoulder to release his wings and wandered off as I stood in place among fading screens of medical data.
“So, like, is anyone going to tell me about this alpha situation?” I held up my hands, and Zurok gave me a bright smile.
“I’m not having sex with you.” I pointed at the magenta omega and stalked off to my bedroom.
Zurok didn’t seem the least bit bothered by the rejection, though.
“I’ll be in the joy room if you change your mind! I do find you attractive,” Zurok called out, and I locked myself away.
Chapter Two
Roan
Twin hearts beat in my chest to a strange rhythm that I treasured in a way I’d treasured nothing else. I reached a scaled hand over my bare chest and scratched at colored scales transitioning from tawny flesh.
My body hummed with new life as my senses overcame me. “Laticia, would you check my messages for me?”
“Which message in particular, sir?” My operating system sighed, its artificial intelligence bolstered by the human life given up for her hundreds of years ago. “You’ve thousands of them.”
“Something from Vil!” I slapped the arm of my grav lounger and closed my eyes. My tail, so new and alien to myself, swished lightly. The gentle brush of scales against synthetic material bounced off industrial walls, slightly muted by artwork hung sparsely over bare walls.
“Oh, him. No, but his operating system did send a message stating they’d found the homeworld, and it wastotally rad,” she grumbled, and I sat bolt upright, doing my best not to breathe through my nose. Stale laundry, body odor, anddepressionhung in the air.
“Trace it. Where did it come from?” My claws creaked into the faux leather of my armrests. This sort of news might be worth showering for. Or at least putting on clothing. My gaze traveled to the trash chute where several tissues had missed the port… Too many.
“How the fuck should I know? I’m notallowedto hack data. Remember?” Her snarky tone ground against my last nerve.
“You and I both know you have zero problem circumnavigating your own limiters.” I drummed my fingers on the crisp leather.
Silence stretched.
“What temperature did you change my shower to this morning? Don’t you have an Asimov protocol that prohibits you from harming a human?” I waited.
A sheepish voice responded through my overhead speakers like a child’s. “You’re not really human, now, are you?”
“I am sentient life. I am a life-form. Are you or are you not permitted to—”
“Fine! It’s TD-586 prima.” The huff in her voice, all programmed in, made my upper lip curl. “Apparently there’s nothing there, though, according to interstellar mapping.”
“There’s something there. The Naleucians haven’t hidden this long without something cloaking them.” I opened an interface and my email, asking for one of my interstellar vessels to be readied.
In the middle of typing an email, a viewscreen appeared before my eyes: an incoming call from Bishop Sonderson. “Fuck!”
“Roan speaking.” I answered it with a click, keeping my camera off.
