Gingerbread Man: 2109, Chapter 9, Feelings Revealed
This story is meant for those 18 years or older.
9: Feelings Revealed
Matt stood guard over their unconscious prisoner by a small stream near the pass that would take them to what he hoped would be the rendezvous with his forces, while, behind him laid Feih's discard suit. Further to his rear she rinsed off the dirt and dried blood from the battle.
The four hours of their journey to this nearly idyllic location had allowed him to go over what she had done since he met her. Her display of strength with the log that had blocked their path, the way she made her brother back down when he captured him, the ease of which she destroyed those fighters and the Soriss outpost with only one survivor and what she had done with him back at the Soriss camp when he was dressing her wound had him ask an uncomfortable question; "Has she been trying to come on to me all this time?"
Yes, there had been, and probably were still, several relationships between humans and the Ring Tailed Lemur-like Mendall, but they at least they were of comparable size. Feih, on the other hand, was way too large and, with what he now knew of her heritage, far too dangerous to even consider such a relationship possible.
He also had thought back to his adolescent days and once more remembered the, since then, confirmed rumors about Freerah and Jason. Even though she was larger and definitely more dangerous than Feih at least she was had metamorphic powers and could assume a human form, thus making most of the classical arguments against such relationships moot. All the data he had on the Dorzeli-Ki and Mu indicated no such abilities, therefore, he felt there was no chance of something serious ever developing between himself and Feih. And even if it were possible there were still several questions he had about her behavior and people that still bothered him.
He tensed when he heard Feih exit the water, walk up to and sit behind him.
He heard worry in her voice when she asked, "Matt, what's wrong? You haven't said a word since we left the Soriss outpost."
Without turning to face her he asked, "How did you do it, Feih? How did you bypass all of my security protocols without my knowledge?"
She gave his head a gentle caress with one of her fingers and answered him. "I want to tell you everything, but I can't let all of my peoples' secrets out yet, but I can tell you that I couldn't break through your personal, you call it a firewall?" He nodded yes. "Nor would I want to. I only wanted to access the information that you allowed out on purpose or inadvertently. That's how I found out about your passion for Freerah."
That was the last thing he wanted to hear, "Please, Feih, I'd rather not talk about it."
She ignored him and continued. "I know I don't have wings like her, or her coloration, or her ability to adapt my body to match yours, but my form is still basically the same and I know that you find it pleasing." When no reaction came from him, she became insistent, "I can be just as loving as her if you give me a chance."
He could not believe his ears! How or why would a creature such as her come to love or even care for a weak being such as himself?
He felt as if his soul was being torn open by the beautiful creature that sat behind him. "Even...even if I wanted that type of a relationship with you, and I...I do, the size difference between us is just too great."
Without warning, his helmet, which he had dropped on the ground when they arrived at the stream, was placed onto his head and its visor's display came back to life. It still showed the three-minute hold on the self-destruct countdown, but he was surprised that her T.A.L. was now a four: she was now no more dangerous to him than his mother, father, his sister or a...mate. He canceled the display and dropped his weapon so that he could remove the helmet, but was stopped when Feih grasped his body, pinned his arms to his sides, lifted and turned him so that their eyes met. As when she had bitten him he could not move and this time he could not turn away from her.
Back at the destroyed Soriss outpost, the communications array powered up and changed its frequency and directional settings and relayed a coded transmission into space.
Aboard the Earth flagship, The Thresher's Kone, in orbit around Mendall, an alarm alerted the communications officer on duty that some outside entity had made contact with the ship's systems and that the code that accompanied it meant that the fleet's supreme commander, Jason Monroe-Talbot, was to be contacted as per his standing orders. When he saw the code he told her rout it over a secured channel through his personal terminal in his quarters so that he could monitor the intruder's progress.
He held his finger over a preprogrammed emergency abort key and watched as the ship's database was searched. When the outside entity found what it wanted, a massive download started and the smile that was already on Jason's face grew and exposed teeth that had no business belonging in the human genome when he recognized the type of data that scrolled across his monitor.
He moved his hand to another control and ordered an emergency meeting of his chiefs of staff and allied commanders; then leaned back and reviewed the pieces of fiction and graphics as they were copied and downloaded from his personal folder.
"Whatever turns you two on," he thought as he watched his original plans bear fruit.
Matt's mind reeled from the large amount of information that Feih had fed into it since she took hold of him. Once he recovered his sense of where he was and what he had just experienced he looked at Feih with amazement. "I haven't seen most of that stuff in years! Where did you get it?"
She smiled, loosened her grip on his body, licked him on his left cheek, an action he now knew was a sign of deep affection among the Dorzeli, then said, "Does it really matter?" She did not give him a chance to respond. "I first suspected that you were attracted to me when you tried to comfort me when I told you about my people's condition on this planet." Her smile broadened, "I also assumed that you would have been familiar with some of what I just showed to you some of which revealed that size should be no barrier between us."
He grew thoughtful then reviewed some of the stories and pictures; all involved romance and love between different sentient species, most of which involved humans as willing partners, all were very explicit in their content and some nvolved acts that would be fatal to him and others... But even with the possibility that she truly wanted him as a lover he still found it hard to believe that she would actually want such a relationship with him, as much as he desired it.
"Why me? I can't possibly give you what you really need; and what about the others in your clan?"
He saw her become sad. "I may have their love and respect and maybe even fear from some of them, but it's not the same. And as I told you before I've been unable to find a new soul mate. That is until now." She started to grin again.
"But I can't possibly..."
She started to frown but did not appear to have become angry at his continued protest. "Matt, what I need is a male who is not related to me that can love me, if not physically, at least emotionally, for who I am. I also need someone who will stand up to me on the rare occasion when I'm wrong and you showed me signs of that back on the lake this morning." Her smile returned and she brought her face to within centimeters of his, "And anyone that is good enough for Freerah to choose as an alternate mate is definitely good enough for me."
He was shocked to hear this new revelation. "Is that what she was doing those last few days on earth?" She nodded yes. "But she also visited females during that time. She couldn't possibly..."
"You'd be surprised at some of the things Dorzeli Primes can do." She grinned at his astonishment. "You know they can reshape any part or their entire bodies into any fully functional form so almost nothing is impossible for them." and finished with, "You'd also be surprised at what I can do too if you'd give me a chance."
He thought back to when he first saw Freerah's naked form in a picture someone had managed to take of her when he was young, imagined her as a hermaphrodite and found that that vision turned him on as much as any other. Then he looked over Feih's and saw no difference except for the lack of wings and overall size.
He decided to ask her one last question that, up until now, he had been too afraid to ask before he made a decision that could affect the rest of his life, or end it right there.
"Feih I-I have to know if you or your people had anything to do with the disappearance of the two missions before mine." This was the true basis of all his fears and why he had pushed her away back at the base when her true feelings for him surfaced.
She looked him directly in his eyes; "I can assure you that no one in my clan had ever seen a human before three days ago, and if any of the other clans had anything to do with their disappearance I have yet to find any evidence of it, but if they did I will help your people in seeking whatever justice they see fit." He saw sadness come over her face. "If your people landed on the eastern continent they're lost forever. The Dorzeli-Mu that live there kill anyone that trespasses in their territory. Even I wouldn't be safe among them."
Through some unknown instinct he knew that she was telling him the truth, if not all the fine details. He gave in to all of his suppressed secret longings and hugged Feih's snout in his arms.
She caressed him in response then placed him on the ground. He looked up at her for an explanation as to why she had released him.
"We're still too close to the base to completely relax our guard." She left him to retrieved the lower half of her suit.
He watched her walk away from him and realized how deeply he had always wanted her. "If only she wasn't so big" was his only remaining complaint. He sighed and resigned himself to having to leave without ever getting to really know her. He did his best not to show how he felt on his face when she returned and picked up Hatelo. He was surprised that she had not stop to put the remains of her suit on when she lowered her free hand in front of him.
"If you don't mind I can carry you until we find a place to rest."
"I won't mind as long s it's not too much of a burden, considering your injury." He was still very concerned about her health considering the blast she took and the other minor injuries on her body.
She scooped him from the ground and said, "You'll never be a burden for me Matt" then kissed him in her unique Dorzeli fashion. He hugged her neck and did not relinquish his hold as she carried both him and their prisoner deeper into the forest.