Page 31 of Vikingr
"Fabulous. We'll add that to the new brochure. Out-of-the-world sex guaranteed. Unless Njal is an exception among his people?"
"I can hear you," I said mildly. "And while I am particularly well endowed, I cannot claim to be an exception. Peritan females will be just as happy with the other males in my crew, I assure you."
"That's what every dating agency owner wants to hear," Pam said with a laugh. "Every Vikingr male on your ship who wanted to be was tested. The Albyans are still processing most of the results, but we have the first few. Other Vikingar from other ships can send their samples straight to Albya or any of their embassies. They've reassured me that they'll make testing a priority."
"Who wanted to?" I repeated, realising what that meant. "Did someone refuse?"
"One. I can't remember his name. He lost his wife and said he isn't ready to find a new mate."
There were several males on the Valkyr who'd lost their mates or kvenna. It could be any of them.
Voices and heavy footsteps announced the arrival of my fellow Vikingar. Four of them had come. Torsten, Errik, Rune and Klav. The latter waved a medical scanner at me before I could stop him.
"Just like I thought. Thefýst is abating. A few more days, and you'll be fully in control of your dick again." He slapped me on the shoulder. I growled at him in return. That was not how I wanted the females to see my crew interact with me. I was the captain, the leader, the most important male. I would not tolerate such behaviour anymore, not now that I had a mate to impress.
"When is the brullaup?" Torsten asked as he took a seat by my side.
"We haven't decided yet. We want to prioritise finding mates for everyone else before we publicly celebrate our own union," Steff answered in my stead. I had explained some of the ancient Vikingar traditions to her, and she in return had told me about Peritanweddings. We would draw from both cultures when planning our official brullaupceremony, but for now, we had other priorities. I was glad Steff saw it the same way as I. It would be disrespectful to the unmated Vikingar to flout our happiness while they still hungered for their own females.
"Does that mean you'll continue working for me?" Pam asked a little hesitantly. "I don't want to pressure you, of course, but you are the best colleague I could want. I was actually planning to invite you to become my co-owner, before you got abducted and all this happened."
Steff looked taken aback by that, but her surprise quickly gave way to genuine happiness. "That's really kind of you, Pam. We haven't really talked about what we'll do, where we'll live. For now, I will continue working at Hot Tatties and help find mates for the other Vikingar, but I can't guarantee I'll stay here permanently. Njal and I will have to see how things develop. So I don't think I should accept your offer, just in case I end up leaving in a few months. That would be a bureaucratic nightmare, I'm sure."
Pam nodded kindly. "I understand. The offer stands, no matter how you decide. Even if you leave, it would be good to have an ambassador among the Vikingar, just like our friend Jenny's role on Albya. Once we find women who're matched to the Vikingar, they will need someone who understands their situation. A liaison. So, thinking about it, I think you should accept the offer even if you don't stay on Earth. Hot Tatties will always be your home, no matter where in the universe you are."
My mate sniffed. Her eyes were suddenly very wet. I reached out and grasped her hand, giving her my unspoken support. She blinked several times, gave me a grateful smile, then turned back to Pam.
"Thank you. I really appreciate it. Now, before I get all sappy, Rune mentioned you found matches for the Vikingar?"
"We have. Three for now, but I'm sure there will be more. Do you want to do the honours?"
Pam handed Steff an old-fashioned paper envelope. I turned my attention to my crew. Their eyes were fixed on that envelope as if it contained the galaxy's greatest treasure. Only one male stood apart by lazily gazing at the ceiling, as if he didn't care at all. Errik. My heart sank. He had to be the one who'd refused to take the test.
He'd lost his kvenn, his female, during the destruction of our planet. They hadn't been true mates, as far as I knew, but his grief had been among the deepest of us all. He'd barely spoken a word in the first rotation, let alone eaten. He'd wasted away, a waif of his former self, until I'd had to take grave steps to stop him from self-destructing. I sometimes wondered if he blamed me for forcing him to stay alive.
Steff pulled a piece of paper from the envelope and studied it carefully. Then she looked up, focusing on each of the assembled Vikingar in turn.
"I'm afraid none of you are among those who we've matched. But I'm sure it won't be long until we find your mates. Njal, how do you want to proceed? Do you want to invite the three lucky guys down here? Or shall we tell them on the Valkyr?"
"Let's do it on the Valkyr. You can explain the next steps to them."
Steff shrugged. "I don't even know the next steps. With the Albyans, we organised a ship to take them to Albya, where they'd spend some time with their mates before deciding whether they wanted to stay. Do you have space for all these women to come to the Valkyr? Or would it be better to arrange the meetings here on Earth?"
"It needs to be space," Pam said before I could express my opinion. "We don't want the ladies to run back home as soon as they find out that they've been matched to an alien. If there isn't space on the Valkyr, maybe we can do the meetings in a neutral place? An IGU space station, maybe?"
"No, we will make space," I decreed. "We will turn the Valkyr into a temporary home for the females and their Vikingr mates. Everyone who isn't matched yet can stay here on Peritus until we get a second ship. Or a third. If you find mates for everyone, we will need lots of space."
Pam smiled happily. "We will try our best. Steff, I'm putting you in charge of making sure the ship is suitable for housing several human women for a month. That's how long we have as the mandatory stay on Albya and it's worked well. These women will be lucky that they don't have a month to travel to meet their mates. But maybe we should give them a day or two on the ship to acclimatise to being in space."
"Agreed," Steff said. "Let's not throw them in at the deep end." She shot me a sharp look. I didn't understand the expression, but I got the gist of it. She was reminding me of her abduction.
"I will clean your bathroom," I said immediately, which always made her laugh and pacified her whenever we breached the topic.
Once again, it worked. She chuckled, her eyes lighting up with mirth.
"Oh, you will, trust me. Including the toilet. That's the worst part. But anyway, Pam, I would quite like to put on some proper clothes. Then Njal can take me to the Valkyr and give me a proper tour. I didn't see as much of it during my last visit as I liked."
I sighed defeatedly."Bathroom."
