Page 24 of Temple

“She had every right. She held to her contract. Did you give her anything that wasn’t returned? A token, some property, anything outside the contract?”

Zell scowled. “No.”

“What did she talk about when you were in bed together, after you had sated yourself.”

“I told you. I left.”

Symo stared at the elder Hmrain in front of him. “You didn’t hold her?”

“I held her down when needed.”

Symo couldn’t help himself. He punched Zell in the face.

Zell sat and rubbed his jaw. “What was that about?”

Symo relaxed. “Did you, by any chance, find the energy output decreasing over time?”

“Yes. Was she getting tired?”

“She was putting energy out and getting nothing but food and water in return. She was receiving no emotional stimulation. When you are with a consort-rated Terran, the smallest kiss can give you a jolt of power. If you take that power and don’t reinforce the effort it takes to create it, they begin to fail. They grow cold. None have died yet because the Hmrain in question pulls his head out of his ass, but you seem to want to wear your ass as a hat.”

“Your speech is strange.”

“I have a number of Terrans on my colony, and they have a particular turn of phrase. What you were doing was sending your Terran into a state of mind that may have ended in her leaping off that tower you are so proud of.”

Zell went quiet. “What?”

“They are hypersocial. That includes sexual relationships. They are defenseless during gestation and birth, so they need a partner they can depend on.”

“She wasn’t pregnant. I never gave her semen.”

“So, by her species standards, you never completed and, therefore, were just engaged in a physical exercise using her body.”

“She completed frequently.”

“And when she didn’t, did you leave her alone or move her around until she gave you what you wanted?”

Zell paused. “The second.”

Symo sighed. “I really want to punch you again.”

“That was all my previous companion wanted. She wanted me to keep the contact brief. I fed and left.”

“You do know that no two women are the same, right? I have been to your world and met your people. They are stuck-up and ice-cold. I am amazed you have any population expansion at all.”

Zell sat back. “We pay breeding bonuses and import a lot of other compatible species for population maintenance.” He paused. “I am beginning to see the issue.”

“My people are cuddling and coupling at every opportunity. Their strong mate bonds are reinforced by touch. It has filled me with envy for some time. Then, I met Bailey while she was transporting equipment for the new Terrans I adopted. My senses sang, my heart thudded, and I wanted nothing more than to hold her next to me into the ages.”

“What happened?”

“She used the stun gloves, kicked me in the groin, and ran back to her ship before I could explain.” He chuckled. “I may have grabbed her and kissed her, swearing to shower her with jewels and care for her forever. To quote the humans, I came on a little strong.” He sighed. “It spooked her, and she ran, and she had the equipment to go very far, very fast. I have been pursuing her since, with small visits to my home to keep my people calm.”

“Why does she run?”

“Well, the first portion is that she struck me with stun gloves and kicked me in the groin. The second regards her personal history, and that I will not share with you. I got it from the Education Station. If you want to know about your Terran, I would start there.”

Zell frowned, and Symo walked him through it. He paused when he needed to put his companion’s name in. His face fell, and he typed in the first name. Sage. He could not answer points of interest, and brown hair and brown eyes didn’t narrow down the eleven records with that name. He had to look at images of gaunt women with terrifying scars and bruising. When something was familiar about one woman, he accessed her file. Farmer. The woman was a farmer. No relatives. One social connection was listed, and when he accessed it, he saw a male listed as Norman Albert. Details displayed him as her ex-fiancé. He was currently listed in a pair bond with another Terran survivor. He had been in a pair bond with Sage.

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