Page 64 of Hot Zone

Of a sudden, he felt much better. At least he wasn’t alone in his sexual frustration.

A bowl of steaming-hot stew made from the snake seemed to soothe Tessa’s bad temper somewhat.

He ventured a conversation with her. “Tell me of your people. How is human society in your time arranged?”

“I’m afraid it’s not so easily categorized as yours. I suppose you’d find it entirely chaotic. We are arranged into geographic and political divisions called nations. But people travel freely from one nation to another and work, live and marry as they wish. Traces of old ways—more like your layered society—linger here and there in the world, but for the most part, such views are fading.”

“What use are these nations, then?”

“The government of each is supposed to look out for the best interests of its people. But some governments are corrupt or paranoid or selfish, and fail to do so. Increasingly, Earth’s economy and political dealings are becoming more global in nature, and the importance of individual nations is beginning to diminish somewhat. I expect that when we join the intergalactic community, we will simply become ‘mankind’ and stop worrying about the various flavors of humans.”

He managed to keep the expression on his face bland, but just barely. Humans join the intergalactic community? The very idea made his blood run cold. It was that exact thing he’d been sent to Earth to help prevent.

Of all the indigenous races ever discovered, only humans had shown a widespread, if nascent, talent for star navigation. Worse, the talent seemed to reside in human females. They must not be allowed to develop it, or Centaurian primacy would be destroyed!

“And for the record,” Tessa continued, thankfully not seeming to notice his panicked reaction, “men and women are widely perceived as equals in my time. Earlier, women were thought to be second-class citizens, but that belief is disappearing fast.”

A shudder of horror rippled across his skin. Women were weak. Governed by their emotions. Totally incapable of acting as the equals of men! Except…

Images of Tessa over the past several days flashed through his head. She’d kept her cool this afternoon when confronted by that snake. She hadn’t run screaming or fainted or reacted in any other way a Centaurian female would have.

Back at the palace, when those randy boys had jumped her at the feast, she’d fought like a tiger.

She’d even absorbed the revelation that Rustam was an alien with relative calm, and quickly started asking intelligent and insightful questions of him.

Even now, she’d rapidly gotten over her snit at the way Centaurian society was organized and seemed to have accepted their differences with a certain grace.

She spoke reflectively. “I actually am a military officer. I command dozens or even hundreds of men at a time and am expected to be able to lead them in war as well as manage them in times of peace.”

He stared openly at her. “Truly?”

She nodded, grinning. “Truly.”

He shook his head, muttering to himself, “We not only failed, we failed colossally.”

“I beg your pardon?” she asked.

“Nothing,” he replied quickly. “Do you want more stew before I smother the fire?”

“No.” He caught her wistful look at the flames. It was already cold and the sun had set an hour ago. “We can’t leave it going, a beacon announcing our presence to anyone who passes within a mile or two of us.”

She sighed. “I know. But after that snake, I was rather enjoying the critter-repelling qualities of a nice fire.”

He chuckled quietly. “If you’ll sleep close to me, I’ll keep an eye out for any approaching critters through the night. The horses will let us know if any large predators get too close.”

Quick alarm flitted across her features. “I’m not sure that’s so good an idea, for me to sleep next to you.”

He quirked an eyebrow. “Why not?” he asked blandly, masking his amusement. His keen Centaurian sense of smell detected the quick surge of desire in her at the mere thought of lying beside him.

She surprised him by looking him square in the eye. “I want to make love with you again. A lot. But no way can we do it, especially knowing what we know now.”

He leaned back against his saddle, lounging casually. “What has changed that we could make love last night and we can’t tonight?”

“Well, we know who we are, now.”

He laughed. “I knew who I was last night, and I suspect you knew who you were, too.”

“You know what I mean. We’re not even the same race….”

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