“Something very bad is going to happen today.”
Jaki had an insatiable sexual appetite.
We were in her quarters again, or at least it was the quarters she was using; there were no photos, trinkets, or personal effects whatsoever but it was the same room we always met in. I’m not even sure what floor it was on; per her instructions I simply stepped into an elevator and said, “Jaki’s room.” I had experimented with whispering it and once I even just mouthed the words. It didn’t seem to make any difference; I always ended up in this hall with loud Rock ‘n’ Roll blaring from the same open doorway.
Today’s lovemaking seemed a little more frantic; perhaps a little more desperate than usual. It could have been my imagination but I really had the feeling that she was making one last effort at convincing me of… something.
“Mark,” she said once we’d caught our breath. “I want you to be our spokesperson to the leadership of earth.”
This definitely caught me by surprise.
“Jaki, I’m honored but don’t I seem like a strange choice? You’ve got the leadership of our mission that probably carries more weight than I do and they seem to be gung-ho on accepting Noridia with open arms.”
We were still lying on her bed and she reached-up to touch my face. “You should know by now that titles don’t mean anything to us and if I was speaking through you we would be able to spend a lot of time together—and you’d like that wouldn’t you Mark?”
Actually I wouldn’t like that at all. Jaki had one of the most perfect bodies that a man could imagine and her response to my touch and the ease I could bring her to orgasm would feed the ego of any man; yet there was a huge void in our relationship that just soured everything. I think it had something to do with sincerity, trust, honesty, and respect but that was just a quick guess.
“Of course I would,” I lied. “But I’m not really sure what it is you want from us or what the cost is going to be for your help. I can’t agree to anything until you tell me more, Jaki—I’m just not wired that way. Besides, we have a lot of mission left before we have to make those kinds of decisions, right?”
She paused for a long moment and then said, “Earth is going to have to make a decision sooner than you think, Mark. We have detected a sharp increase in Coridian activity in your sector. You can’t expect us to protect you and expose ourselves to danger if you won’t commit to us in return; surely that’s reasonable?”
“What is it you want from us Jaki?”
“What we’ve always wanted; your respect. We want you to join us. We want earth to be a part of Noridia so we can all share our knowledge and mutually benefit each other.
“Mark,” she continued with growing enthusiasm. “We’re not going to make you slaves or restrict your access to technology—we’re going to improve the standard of living of every single person on your planet. Your people have some tough social evolution confronting you; there’s going to be violence Mark. We have the experience, resources, and technology to help you survive those transitions and if you’re with me I can make sure that your rewards are everything you could personally or professionally ever want.”
“What does that mean,” I said honestly curious.
“A transition takes time, Mark. If you’re working with me you’ll be one of the most respected people on the planet. While there’s still currency you’ll be rich; you’ll have immense power just because people will want to be close to you. You won’t be just studying history, you’ll be creating it—leading mankind in a new direction. You and I will have the respect of the entire planet at our fingertips.”
“You’ll need more than me,” I said. “Is this what you’ve offered Helmer and Memphis?”
“Power and riches yes,” she laughed. “But you don’t need to be jealous Mark. They’ll have nothing like what you and I will have together.”
“That sounds great,” I said with as much artificial enthusiasm as I could muster. “It’s just a lot to take in and I really need to absorb it all.”
“What is there to absorb Mark?” she said with an undercurrent of steel. “You either want to stand with me and usher in a new era for your people or you don’t.”
“It’s not that simple Jaki; I just need to think things through.”
I guess I wasn’t very good at the false enthusiasm stuff because Jaki obviously wasn’t buying it. There is a certain look and voice that every scorned woman in the world uses—come to think of it, it must be every woman in the galaxy. When a woman says she wants to have sex with you and you turn her down that’s a woman scorned and like the saying goes, hell hath no fury like it.
I tried to placate her by saying that I really wanted to go on the excursion tomorrow and meet the people that had experienced a Noridian partnership and that I really wanted to talk to her about all this once I’d returned. I knew I’d failed just by listening to her, ‘goodnight.’ To my ears it sounded far more like, ‘goodbye.’
In retrospect I really should have done a better job of letting her down lightly or at least kept her guessing for a while longer about my true intentions, but it was one of the few times in my life that I was truly freaked out. To have someone offer me that kind of power and know they could probably pull it off was… well it was insane.
What happened next was probably inevitable, and even though my abruptness with Jaki could be responsible for it happening much sooner than it would have I could hang my hat on one thing; I had passed a test that few men ever had. I had said no to being King of the Earth.
I was pretty sure Jaki could monitor anything inside the ship at will, and because I was still holding out foolish hope that she was buying my indecision I didn’t run straight to the Major with the confirmation of Helmer’s and Memphis’ complicity. Instead I went back to my quarters and went to bed. It took me a long time to find sleep and it was a long, lonely, restless night.
I awoke the next morning telling my slave girls to draw my bath as I was trying to untangle my toga. I couldn’t seem to decide if I should wear my gold or silver breastplate today… What was the proper dress when granting the President of the United States an audience?
That damn toga… or, maybe it was my bed sheet that was tangled in my legs? That would explain why I was on the floor next to my bed—it might also account for the lump I felt growing on the side of my head.
Once I gained my bearings I shaved and took a shower—I still haven’t gotten over how unique an experience that is. After I dressed I ordered a tray for breakfast and carried it out into our squad’s hub.
Before I could sit down I saw Hiromi sprinting across the hub to the platoon hallway and Toni was close on her heels. Just then my earpiece buzzed.
Chapter 23
Major Mathew Reagan, US Army
With the general’s death and our suspicions, not to mention the excursion that we were scheduled to take the next day, it was the perfect time for my head to start hurting.
With so much at stake I didn’t take any chances this time; I took one of my special headache pills immediately. Unfortunately it still took time for it to take effect and although it wouldn’t make me sleepy, impaired, or immobilized I still had to get to that blissful point where it kicked-in.
I was picking over dinner in my room when Dr. Schein showed up at the door. It would have been really easy to start thinking of her as ‘Julie’ and she’d asked me to call her that a number of times, but I was becoming increasingly aware that I might have to ask these people to do some dangerous things; a little distance seemed a good thing.