Gannor’s brow arched. “That is an excellentresponse. It shows we have two things in common. Our admiration forQuito and our hatred for Alluva. We will fight well together.”
“Great.” Rem’s eyes danced. “When do westart?”
“You start when I say so,” came a loudvoice from the direction of the staircase.
The Malaran pilots’ fists pounded theirchests again, and they bowed as though fearful as well asrespectful.
Humber stepped forward. “General Carrak, itis good to see you. I have brought honored guests. This female isCaptain Zia Quito. And this is Captain Jeremiah Stone, a pilot ofgreat talent and courage.”
“It’s an honor to meet you, General Carrak,”Zia said, slightly awed by the sight of a Malaran hero. Carrak’sfur was blue-black and lustrous, and she was every bit as tall asthe male warriors. Her dark gaze was fixed on Rem, as though hewere an oddity, and Zia wondered if these Malarans had ever seenhumans in person before. Rem was definitely a great introduction tothe species with his strong build, thick hair, and sparkling eyes.And while he was a foot shorter and a lot less bulky than theMalarans, that didn’t detract from his ability to look them rightin the eye, equals and allies.
Rem saluted Carrak smartly. “We’re at yourservice, General.”
Carrak shrugged. “The question is, do youhave anything to offer, other than as propaganda? And so our firststep will be to gauge your training level in the simulator. Unlessyou are too fatigued from your journey.”
Zia smiled. “We slept for two weeks straight.So gauge away.”
“Not you,” Carrak said dismissively. “Youwill rest. We will test the real pilot first. Eventually,you will be tested too, but just as part of the charade. CaptainStone? Follow me.”
Rem cleared his throat. “Will you be okayhere, Zee?”
“Our soldiers are here to protect her,”Carrak reminded him. Then she turned to the female pilot who hadset a tray of drinks on a nearby table. “Maryak, you will entertainQuito’s granddaughter. Is that clear?”
“Yes, Carrak.”
“Ambassador, you may come with me. As may youthree,” Carrak said, motioning toward Gannor and the remainingMalaran pilots. “You are anxious to see if this Earth pilot canhandle elementary simulations, are you not?”
“Yes, Carrak,” they all murmured, then theytrailed after her, along with Rem and Humber, leaving Zia alonewith the four Malaran guards and the pilot named Maryak.
“Wow.” Zia exhaled sharply. “General Carrak’spretty tough.”
“We all hate her,” Maryak confirmed with alaugh. “It is fine if you hate her also.”
“Whew!” Zia grinned and took a seat near thetray. “This looks good. What is it?”
“The juice of fruit. It is sour, but I haveput some sweetener in yours. I am told Earthlings enjoy theirdrinks that way.”
Zia took a sip and felt her cheeks puckerfrom the tartness. “Refreshing,” she managed to whisper.“Thanks.”
“You are welcome.”
“I’m sorry you got stuck babysitting me.”
“It is a tremendous honor. Only Carrak woulddare treat you badly, when you have come here so bravely to fightwith us. Like your ancestor.”
Zia smiled. “At least she can tolerateCaptain Stone.”
“She prefers males. Her poor treatment offemale pilots is as legendary as her victory against Zellot.”
“That’s crazy. She’s a female pilot herself.You’d think she’d want to encourage the rest of you. Of us,” Ziaadded quickly.
“She berates us when we do not defeat themales, yet she gives them preference in all honors and privileges.And she mates with them indiscriminately.”
Zia burst into laughter. “Did you just callher a slut?”
“Pardon?” Maryak turned off her translatorand motioned for Zia to do the same. Then she asked in haltingEnglish, “What word?”
“Slut.”
“Sllllllut.” Maryak nodded. “Huss, Carrakslut.”
Zia kicked herself for not having learned anyMalaran over the years. Humber’s English was so impeccable, it hadnever seemed necessary. And so except for a few words—hussfor yes, narl for no, sesh for please—she was out ofher depth.
Turning her translator back on, she askedcarefully, “Will she try to mate with Captain Stone?”
Maryak giggled. “He could never satisfy her!He does not have enough body parts.”
Zia grinned. “True. I saw some Malaran pornonce back in senior grade, and it was pretty elaborate compared toours.”
Maryak turned off her translator again.“Porn? Porrrrrn. Good word.”
Slut and porn? Nice going, Zee. Could youtry to have a little more class? You’re representing Earth. AndGrandpa! Yeesh . . .
* * * *
For almost an hour, Maryak and Zia answeredone another’s questions about their schooling and training, aboutthe culture of the rec center, and about warrior challenges ingeneral. Maryak was particularly intrigued by the fact that Earthfought its battles with huge forces of relatively unarmored men andwomen.
“I understand that your people were ignorantabout mech warfare until Alluva attacked. But after that, why didyou not build your own robots?”
“In our galaxy, we need armies, not mechs,”Zia explained. “After we defeated Alluva, we could have spent ourshare of the challenge bounty on robots, but there was so much elseEarth needed more. We hadn’t completely harnessed solar energy yet,so we used most of the money to build a planet-wide grid,revolutionizing our way of life. Some of the bounty was set asidefor international defense. And the rest we put in a fund for globaldisasters. Earthquakes, famines, and all that.”
“Was Quito the Great richly rewarded atleast? On Malara, such a hero would have been given one-quarter ofthe bounty.”
Zia laughed. “It doesn’t work that way onEarth, unfortunately.”
“Strange.”
“I guess so.”
Maryak’s huge eyes began to sparkle. “IfMalara defeats Alluva in the first challenge, the bounty will bedoubled. Every pilot will share in the glory and thewealth.”
Zia grinned at the unapologetic greed in thefemale’s voice. “Ambassador Humber says the target never wins thefirst challenge.”
“Not yet,” Maryak agreed. “But perhaps thistime will be different.”
Zia nodded. “The riches don’t matter as muchas the penalty. Right? If the challenger loses in the first round,the target can destroy all of the opposing mechs. So at least we’llknow Alluva can’t bully anyone else for a while.”
“Yes,” Maryak conceded. “That is alsoimportant.”
“But if the Alluvans win—”
“They will not win. Especially now, becausewe have the granddaughter of Quito the Great to help us.”
Zia winced. “Thanks. But if they did win,they wouldn’t be allowed to destroy Malara’s mechs, wouldthey?”
“No. As the
