5

CAPT. CULL POV

   I nod once toward yet another elder staring at me before walking past him. Many have stopped me to congratulate me this morning, but I can not waste anymore time. I have an appointment to see the home I believe will be mine. It's description was perfect and so far none of the homes I have seen have been the one.

I no longer have a transport bracelet strapped to my wrist. I am a retired soldier. I have to travel how most of my people travel, which takes some time.

I smile to myself as I join the line at the communal teleport pad. My mind has wondered back to it's new favorite past time, my future mate.

I keep imagining all the different colors of each planet. I have always found the more colorful people to be beautiful. Everyone here on Shikaz is the same boring brown as one another.

We are the most uniform people. We all have dark green eyes. We all have brown skin. We all have straight black hair. We are all tall. It helps us during hunting. We can blend in with the tall trees. But on other planets there are different colors. Sun shine yellow for example with light brown hair and blue eyes sounds amazing or even green skin with red hair and brown eyes. The fact that my mate will be a Harvest female makes me feel practically giddy.

  Finally after about a four minute wait it is my turn to use the teleport platform. I plug in the coordinates for the home on the other side of the planet and move to the middle of the small round platform. A quick whoosh sound greets my ears and I immediately  find myself on a different teleport pad. This one being close to the coordinates I plugged in.

Platforms are different then the bracelets I have grown used to. While my old bracelet could take me to any location that wasn't protected by a security wall, a platform can only teleport you to another platform. It chooses the closest one to the coordinates you put in and then you walk to your destination. Not as efficient as the bracelets, but lower in cost and still handy.

  I inhale deeply and sigh.

This home is in the perfect location. Hundreds of acres of prime hunting land surround it. My mate and I would be well provided for here. I could hire a proper security crew and they too would have ample hunting space. I walk the half mile to the house and smile when I see it.

  The house is tall and looks as if it belongs. Its' siding reflects the trees around it giving it the perfect camouflage. Its' windows mirror the view around the home so no one could possibly see in.

  "Yes. This is what I wanted," I whisper before grinning.

  Town and city life isn't bad and many civilian Shikaz enjoy that way of living, but I have had my fill of other beings.

I want seclusion. I want my mate and a single offspring. My parents only had me and like many Shikaz couples one was enough for them.

Shikaz as a whole like to keep our population down. Our planet isn't massive like Vaal. We can't breed like wild beasts and still think our food supply can be maintained. We respect our planet.

I grin as I think back to one of my fondest friends. His dark skin matched mine, but that is where our similarities stopped. He was loud and unafraid of anything. He came from a large family and enjoyed every minute of his short time with them...

All seven of his siblings came to his funeral and I spoke to all of them about our arguments. I would tease him about his people, the Vaals, and their customs and he would tease me about mine. We drove one another crazy, but he watched my back and I watched his. He was a good male who deserved a long life. Instead a Jahn cut him down in the sands of Cok while I was on a different uninhabited planet dealing with a small band of Gafrops.

  I shake my head to rid it of the melancholy feeling and head for the front doorof my dream house. It slides open and I am met with the smiling faces of four older Shikaz females.

  "Capt. Cull, welcome," the oldest says as soon as I step through the threshold.

  I bow my head in respect and she smiles.

  "My name is Yson, the head attendant. The females beside me are Peela, she manages all meals. Daun, she handles cleaning and Jasz works under her. Look around for as long as you please. We will be waiting here. The price of the property and us has been sent to you. If you wish to purchase this property all you need to do is inform me. I will handle notifying the appropriate people," she says and I stand there unmoving.

  The light space and the furniture is screaming out to me. Every inch of the room is reminding me of the property I grew up in. The property my father, who was an ex-soldier too, bought for his mate after retirement. Memories of playing in a set up similar to this very one fill my mind and I begin to smile.

"I will take it. This is perfect," I whisper and Yson's black eyebrows lift for a quick second before she beams back at me.

"Excellent, sir. I will send over your request. We are proud to be the employees of a Harvest Champion. Please let us know if we can assist you in any way," she says as she herds her companions out of the room, their looks of surprise still etched on their faces.

*****

ZURI POV

We stop outside another door not far from the one we exited and the green alien looks through the thin clear window.

"She is almost done. Your female was the first to arrive, Baalee, but two more popped up for transport right after. I got a couple of regular nurses from the next hall to aid them while I contacted the other correspondents. There must have been an issue," the green alien says quietly while watching the inside of the room.

  Baalee nods and all of Kimberly's weird statements come zooming back into my mind. An issue in Ireland... the Irish girl has been sent... My superior normally handle this, but there was an issue in Ireland.

"There was something wrong with the girl from Ireland," I say quietly and their attention turns to me.

  "Ahhh. Yes. The girl was unconscious. She couldn't sign. The human agencies took issue with it," Baalee says as she looks at me waiting for further explanation.

  "Umm... the lady with the transport device she was dealing with the problem. So the three of us were gathered in one spot and then we met with her when she was finished with the problem. She said it was abnormal to send more than one, but not against the rules," I explain trying to sound more confident than what I feel.

Baalee nods.

"It isn't against the rules at all. I know Earth's females need to arrive as fast as possible. Especially in the unconscious girl's situation. She was actively taking her last breathes when she arrived. Jali was beside herself with worry when she saw the extent of her injuries... plus her advanced illness," Baalee says with a look of utter sadness in her beautifully strange red eyes.

"She is ready," the green alien says before she presses a button and the door slides open.

I immediately spot the feisty girl from the one of the other wheelchairs and a red alien with black hair standing by her metal bed. 

She looks so much better. She isn't mostly bald anymore and her cheeks aren't sunken. She looks perfectly healthy as her eyes connect with mine. I give her a small nod and she smiles back at me.

  "Hello, my name is Baalee. I believe you have met Zuri. We are heading to the meal hall and you should accompany us. Your body just went through a pretty drastic change and it needs sustainance," Baalee says and feisty girl nods eagerly before looking back at me.

  "We didn't officially meet, did we?... I'm Jia," she says focusing solely on me and I smile.

   "I'm Zuri," I reply and she nods before slowly sliding herself off the bed.

Surprise and happiness seem to take over her mind as she realizes she can stand on her own.

  "Thank you, Hursee" the green alien says as we go to leave and the red alien nods while shooting us all a smile.

  We move as a group a little farther down the hallway and the green alien stops at another door. When she looks through this window she immediately presses the button on the wall. The door slides open and the rather quiet girl with a thick Chinese accent looks up at us from her metal bed.

The alien in this room is actually a blue male. A darker hue of blue than Baalee is, but he also has red hair and eyes. When he sees his female comrades he heads toward them like he is escaping.

"I will leave the rest to you, sister. I don't think she likes having a male attendant," he says discreetly before leaving the room at a fast pace and my mouth drops a little as Baalee's brother leaves the room.

  "I am sorry for the disorganized way your arrival is being handled. We were not expecting three human females at one time. My name is Baalee, and I am Zuri's correspondent. Your correspondent is on her way and will meet us in the meal hall. Please join us in going there," Baalee says and the young woman gracefully climbs to her feet.

  She bows her head a tiny degree toward Baalee before looking at Jia and I with critical eyes. Jia gives her a smile, but my face stays neutral. She doesn't seem as friendly as Jia and I. Once she is done looking us over she flicks her dark eyes back toward Baalee.

"Hello, my name is Xiu. Please lead the way," she says as if we aren't on an alien planet surrounded by alien people.