“In business, what is it that every person wants?” he asked in return.
“There are two schools of thought on what every person wants in business. Innovation is sometimes the answer, but the truth, and most popular answer, is more. It has always been the goal of business to acquire and gain more. Innovation is only one of the many seeds that can lead to growth.” Betta was only partially surprised to hear the words come out of her mouth with a confidence she had never known. They were amongst a million others that whirled about on a constant loop that she suppressed and put to the part of her brain that was still in stasis, waiting.
The man lowered himself in a squat. Now they were eye to eye. “And there we have it. Word for word from the Pilo Corporation Handbook. I wonder what other little founts of knowledge are hidden in there?”
Taking a slow breath and sighing, the man studied her one last time. “How would you like to come work for Pilo Corporation, Betta Reganta?”
It was a fraction of second, though her recall brought wetness to her eyes. Betta gritted her teeth and faced the agent on the wall console that had suddenly started speaking. Her mind recalled the words so that she could respond.
“You have performed your duty to the Federal Entity for mission fourteen thousand seven hundred and thirteen. Betta Reganta has achieved the rank of Field Operator by completing the prerequisite number of successful assignments. This is recorded in the Official Standard.”
The stasis pod behind her closed abruptly and sank into the floor. At another section of the white room a crude bunk was molded. It was made of a pliant material that barely gave when she laid on it. Still, it was better than a box, and she’d had more than enough of boxes.
“You have been green-lighted for a field assignment, Betta Reganta. Details will follow,” the agent said in his mechanical voice. The screen vanished, replaced by the endless white walls that revealed no exit.
Betta moved to the bunk, laying back with a sigh and replaying the last memory of her mother in her head.
Jadis Ter felt true freedom when he was swimming in the murky ponds of Sidesa Four. The oxygenated waters were calming and his gills didn’t itch like they did on land. It was harder for him to understand the speech of the reptilians when he was underwater, though he found understanding based on the scents and tastes they released into the water. It was also an easy place to hide his deformities, close his eyes, and pretend he was just like everyone else.
Bobbing up to the surface, he was greeted by the face of Sidesian royalty. Their green scales were slick from the moist air and glinting the purplish hue of the stars in the sky. They wore no clothing, which made Jadis even more of an outcast as he pulled on a robe to hide his misshapen body. He immediately huddled at the corner of the pool.
Several reptilians lay openly across the pond area, their scales drinking in the light radiation that came off the purplish stars. Most of them were children of the royal court, though, to any eyes besides a reptilian, it would be difficult to tell the royalty from the servants. The differences in scaling was subtle. Many of the servants lay at the outer edges, massive legs and arms clutching the cobbled stone, awaiting a call, or a wave, from a royal claw.
His best and only friend, D’yanna, crested the pool, crawled close to him, and collapsed in a heap.
“I don’t know how you handle this heavy gravity. I cannot wait to get back aboard the Vesper,” she said softly.
“I suppose I was built for this,” he replied.
The silence between them was familiar and neither made an effort to disturb it for a long while. In the end, Jadis thought it best to say out loud what truly troubled him.
“No one swims the ponds with me any longer.”
D’yanna sat up, swaying slightly on her haunches before she settled.
“Not even you.” Jadis said.
“You’ve changed. In the water, you’ve changed. Some of them are shocked, though if you were true reptilian then it would be normal. You are becoming a man, and so you have begun excreting the Dilum av num.”
He’d heard the word whispered, but it was not said very often amongst children. “Isn’t that only for adults?”
“It is a pheromone the males produce to excite the females into breeding.”
Jadis swallowed. His gills twitched against the gesture, seemingly wanting to open and drink in the pond that he had just exited. Controlling the impulse of his constantly conflicting nature was always a battle. Now he was releasing pheromones for breeding. Great.
“The others tell me it is strongest when I am present.” Her voice was different now. Controlled.
It made sense to Jadis. Even though he never thought of breeding with D’yanna, she was the only person he felt comfortable and relaxed about. It wasn’t necessary to have as steady a control over his body when she was nearby. D’yanna gave him such permission years ago when her father first brought him to their family. He was treated kindly, like a treasured pet, but not like his offspring. Never like royal offspring.
“Breeding with you has been forbidden.” D’yanna met his eyes now. There was something to them. Perhaps she was pleading with him, but he couldn’t be certain.
“You want to breed with me?” Jadis had to swallow again.
“Your taste is very unique and very strong. I say that others have taken note, but I was the first to drink it. This was my mistake. I told no one and reveled in our swims where I tasted your Dilum av num. The sensation was so exhilarating.” D’yanna’s lids fluttered against her eyes. “And you are my best friend and my closest companion.”
“But our children would be freaks. If we could have children. I don’t even know if that’s possible.”
“Which is what my father said when he heard.”
“The king? Your father knows?”
“And it is now forbidden to swim the water with you.” She sighed. “It is also forbidden for you and I to be companions any longer. This place, Sidesa Four, is one of the last reptilian planets that have gone untouched. Many reptilian travel here to die, or before making a difficult decision. I thought it the best place to have one last swim with you. Then I can send you away.”
“But,” Jadis said in a small voice, “now that I know, I can work on controlling it.”
D’yanna reached out a shaking claw that dripped violet water. “But I would not have you control it. If we continued to swim together, I would beg you for it. I would find a way for you to give it to me, and then I would force you to mate with me, Jadis. For the sake of what remains of the monarchy, I cannot give in to these impulses!”
“I wouldn’t let you. We are friends, D’yanna—”
“You wouldn’t have a choice, Jadis. Come swim with me, and perhaps you will understand.”
“But you said it was forbidden.”
“This day, I break the rules for you, Jadis.”
With that, her heavily scaled body plopped into the murky pond and disappeared.
Jadis expelled the air from his lungs, tossed the robe that covered his naked form, and dove in after her. The taste of the pond was immediately changed. He could taste D’yanna now, and he could feel her desire for him, an urgent need that he began to mirror. Before he could control himself, something was releasing from him, something from the glands under his forearms. He felt it now, the violent spurting that clouded the water. Immediately, D’yanna was there and they swam close together, circling their growing pool of pheromone infested water.
The more they circled, the more they drank. Jadis felt something tugging at his abdomen, begging to be let free. D’yanna was reaching for him now. He pulled away, terrified, yet wanting her more than he had ever wanted anyone or anything in all his short life.