Page 3 of The Royal's Bumblebee
“I could improve it.” I am confident I can. It all depends on the code and how well I can interface with the Ucfeni technology. I won’t know how much I can improve it until I take it apart. If I’m not allowed to, I’ll petition Alaric until he gets me permission. He was eager to give me anything I wanted back on Earth to get me to agree to come here. I’m sure he would get me permission to experiment on the com-gem.
“You could wear this model, and improve another one with approval and funding from Allico.” I smile with my eyes. Hannah knows me so well. “That way you could follow the rules, which you signed compliance with before we left Earth,andtake another necklace apart to study.”
“…fine.” I agree, for now, but I’m still going to ask Alaric to get me formal consent. I don’t want to break the rules. I gingerly put the necklace on and it takes me a while to lower it to rest around my neck. Hannah started rubbing my back and I close my eyes to take in the feel of the necklace. It’s cooler than my skin, but I know the metal will warm up as I wear it. In fact, as long as it doesn’t irritate my skin or catch on anything, I will habituate to it and forget it’s there. I push out most of my environment to focus on my breathing and settle my buzzing mind for a while, but Charlie stands in front of Hannah and I, and starts talking too loudly to ignore. More importantly, why is he wet? I look around and it isn’t raining. I narrow my eyes on his white cryo-suit and there is a water line all the way up to his shoulders. He’s talking to Hannah, rather than to me, as is usual practise where I’m concerned. Hannah can give him eye contact after all and engage him. I can’t. I’m too busy trying to figure out why he is wet, and why he isn’t doing anything about it. Are there any towels he can use? Are there spare clothes on the Jeeps? I saw vehicles lined up ready to collect us after this lecture was done.
“It’s pretty clear that the Ambassador doesn’t know what Aspergers is—” I hyper-focus when I hear the A word. Normally that means they’re talking about me, after all.
“—and it didn’t even translate into their language. He was insistent that she would be having a sponsor. Non-negotiable.But?”Hannah tensed beside me. Is she bothered about Charlie’s clothes too? Water is dripping down around his feet and darkening the stone beneath his shoes. “Alaric said thathehad been expecting Billie. That he hand chose her and would make sure her needs were catered to. He even said he was going to fill in the Ambassador on the way to wherever they were going.”
“Alaric Fitz petitioned me three times in total before I would agree to join the mission.” I comment and push my glasses up my nose. I have to shut my eyes to stop myself from staring at the puddle forming around his feet. “He said he needed me to be part of the team that created an infrastructure of secure communications and information sharing on AU-471.”
“Like phones and the internet? Super cool.”
“Thank you.” I can’t take it anymore. I have to make him aware he is soaked through. I lift my chin and look at his chest. “You are wet.” He sits beside me and I realise that he could have gone and found a towel and clothes, but instead came to inform me and Hannah that I was to be well cared for. “Thank you for being uncomfortable for me.” Normally only Hannah would put my needs first. “Are you and my sister friends now?”
“I hope we’re becoming friends.” Charlie smiled at me, and I saw his lips curve, but I didn’t look any higher. “You too kid.”
“I am not a kid. I am human. Kids are baby goats.” His smile grows and he opens his mouth, so I look away. “I don’t want more than one pet name, and only you get to call me Bumblebee. My name is Billie.”
“I’m sure Charlie will make sure to avoid pet names from now on. Since you’re friends now.”
“Got it. No pet names. So, erm, we need to get to transport bay 2…so…?” Charlie looks to Hannah and I tense. Just when I got used to sitting on the dusty stone seating, we’re going to leave again.
“Billie. Remember that shower you want to get?” Hannah speaks softly to me. “Well, we’re getting closer to getting you to our new home. You get first dibs on the shower and which bedroom you want.”
“That is what we agreed.” I nod and my bob of hair bounces and I have to push my glasses back up my nose. I know what she’s doing. She’s trying to change what I’m fixating on so I find it easier to transition. It’s working. Hannah knows me so well. “It seems quieter now.” I look towards the path leading to the transporter bays where I saw the Jeeps earlier. Hannah is gentle as she uses my hand holding hers to coax me to my feet. Charlie lingers to follow behind us. I hear the wet sound of his feet on the stone. It’s distracting me. He needs to get dry soon.
Chapter 3
Prince Izule
Izule.
I am perched high up on a reclining branch. My bulk is draped across the purpose-built furniture, jutting out of the wall and several feet above most of the guests. Ambassador Rerasha is slithering below and doing the rounds. I recognise his orange spots before I hear his voice as he hisses and laughs with the other sponsors. I have witnessed enough of these gatherings to know exactly what he is saying. He’s reassuring the nervous sponsors and answering the common questions that always come blundering forth in a panic before the humans arrive. No, they aren’t as delicate as they look. Humans don’t have scales but they are more durable than a leaf in the wind. Yes, their weapons are more advanced than ours, but none of them are armed in Orna. It’s rude to stare at their legs, so please don’t. Yes, they will probably stare as we look just as strange to them as they do to us. No, they will not start lactating or shedding hair all over the place. They don’t shed their skin as we do, and yes, you read that right. Human females will bleed from between their legs once a month for a week anddon’tdie.
I’ve heard all of this before. The first time with as much anticipation and excitement as the Ucfeni below me. However, I have been passed over so often now I am numb to it. I taste the anticipation on the air with my black tongue and sigh. My powerful arms are crossed over the branch with my neck extended and my cowl resting on my elbows. I blend in well with the many resting branches in this corner of the room. The scales of my back and all the way down to my tail are brown. My underbelly is the colour cream, as is the cowl on either side of my face. Two large brown circles give the illusion of eyes, level with my neck. The Humans I have met in my father’s court compare me and my family to King Cobras. A species of reptile on their homeworld we apparently resemble.
A fitting comparison, as we are the rulers of the Ucfeni empire. My father is the King, but that doesn’t make me important. Not unless he and my 37 siblings are all killed first. I will never rule, and I am content with that. I have the title of Prince, but only to serve as a reminder of who spawned me. My mother succumbed to infection from a hunting wound years ago, so I never knew her, but I was the last of her hatchlings and have always been treated as the precious babe of the brood because of this. The last living link to the late Queen. My brothers and sisters treat me just as delicately, which irks me because I’m bigger than all of them. Only my father is larger, and given time, I will be stronger than him as well. If our society wasn’t based on the idiotic need to inherit titles by the order you happened to hatch, I would surely be next in line to rule. I can out track and hunt all my siblings. I can beat them in a fight too. Unfortunately, they know this. On the one hand, I’m the youngest royal hatchling, so they want to dote on me. On the other hand, they feel threatened by me, so they keep their distance.
Mine has been a lonely existence. It’s why I was so intrigued by the arrival of the humans a decade ago. Of course, father didn’t permit me to get too close to the aliens when they first arrived. He didn’t approve my candidacy to become a sponsor for the first year of the program. Just to make sure they could be trusted. The day he finally said yes was a joyous one. My own little alien to befriend and ask about their homeworld. I am a Royal Ucfeni. We lead and we protect. I will never lead, but I could protect a scaleless little human. It was exciting. I prepared my home so my charge would have their own living area and their own private nest. I prepared gifts and books to exchange. I wanted to demonstrate I was smart, not just bulky with more than enough muscle beneath my sales to protect their tiny body from harm. I’m no scholar, but I wanted to have reference materials ready for any of the questions they would likely ask about the Ucfeni and Thelia. I was so excited to finally have a driving purpose after being in this lonely limbo for so long.
Unfortunately, I soon realised I was the most horrifying thing the little humans had ever seen.
I scan my yellow eyes lazily over the crowd of eager and nervous Ucfeni. Tail tips rattled and twitched with anticipation. As far as my eyes could see there were vibrant colours. Blues, greens, browns, yellows, reds and oranges. Not to mention the various patterns such as spots, stripes, chevrons, smooth and rough scales, with and without rattles and ridges.
I am not so beautiful. I am a Royal. We are not meant to be pretty. We are hardy and strong. My scales are plain, but my kind are still attractive to others because of our size and strength. Our prowess on the hunt and our more sensitive pheromone receptors for tracking. My cowl is wide and striking, framed with small spikes to make me seem even bigger. Most of the beasts in the jungle would take one look at a Royal like me and flee in the other direction in terror.
As did the aliens, apparently.
Whenever I tried to approach one of these little humans in the past they always screamed. Always. They ran, threw things at me, and startled the others to do the same. Like a stampede of legs and feet. It wouldn’t matter if I started to spout poetry, or if I was holding so many precious jewels they spilled over my elbows. Humans find royals terrifying, and I am one of the largest. It’s why after a decade of this alliancenoneof my kind has ever been the sponsor.
I don’t know why I still come to these pairing parties. Thus named as they are where the freshly awoken alien and the sponsor candidates can mingle and get a feel for if they are a good match. Chemistry is important to my people. If we didn’t like the scent of the human we would suffer from being uncomfortable for months. If we don’t enjoy their company, we might lash out, and they are far too small to withstand even the most trivial of tantrums.
I remained unmoving and ignored high up on my perch. The resting branch is allowing me the opportunity to observe and play a mental game of matchmaker. There was little else to do. I wonder if that’s why I still come. Otherwise, I’d be bored out of my scales. The only enjoyment I have is hunting, but my longing for companionship draws me back to the palace. I am bitter and sneer. I would make a good sponsor. I am big and strong, with the patience of a hunter. My nest is large and I’ve embraced every technical advancement brought to us through the alliance. I would dote on my human. Listen and learn from them. Provide for them. I am a prince. A Royal! I glare at the room below me. I recognise self-contained clusters of various Ucfeni in the hall below me. Members of the court, politicians, and wealthy members of the trade unions. Even well-respected commoners. But none are of royal blood like me. My jealousy starts to rise in my pheromones so I close my eyes and focus on being calm. The last thing anyone needs is to start cowering from me when the aliens arrive.
I lift my head and cowl up from my folded arms curiously when I hear the doors open. It’s begun. Aliens walk in, fully encased in white fabric and already I scent their anxiety on the air. The humans that arrive are always afraid. I understand why, of course. They are tiny and we are large. They have no scales and we do. They don’t even have fangs. This is why we believed them when they said they make up for their lack of natural defenses with technology. They’d have to, otherwise, they would not survive on Thelia. I couldn’t imagine them surviving anywhere, truthfully. I have seen the metal beasts they ride within and I am persuaded they are worthy allies to have.
Ambrosia!
