Gingerbread Man: 2109; Chapter 12, The Meeting
This story is meant for those 18 years of age and older.
12: The Meeting
Three hours had passed since Matt and his prisoner had left Feih and since his sensors had not detected any sign that they had been followed he decided it was safe enough to stop for a short break. He had Commander Hatelo sit on a nearby fallen tree and, after tying off the rope so that she could not escape, he sat near her and rechecked his database on the Dorzeli-Ki. He was stunned to find that the data that had been inaccessible to him soon after meeting Feih had somehow been restored and that it included information pertaining to Dorzeli mating habits.
Everything from her treatment of him in her pseudo virtual reality, her method of destroying the two fighters, her display of speed and grace on the shore of the lake, and the destruction of the Soriss outpost was characteristic of a Dorzeli attempting to impress a potential mate; offering Hatelo to him was just short of an outright proposal.
He could not fathom why she wanted someone not of her species as a mate except for the fact that Feih had mentioned that Freerah had chosen alternate mates to Jason in case he was killed. "And why," he asked himself, "the hell was she pleasuring Hatelo after telling me how much she hated the Soriss?" He decided to try to get some answers from his prisoner.
He turned toward her and asked, "What did you mean by, 'But you promised', right after Feih bit you yesterday?"
She looked into his eyes and surprised him by her lack of hesitation; "A year ago, I was the last one of my patrol left alive after their attack and when her brother Daihas carried me off..." She stopped and looked downward. He could tell that she had been traumatized by the experience and allowed her some time to recover. "I...I gave into his demands and in return for successfully pleasing him, he promised to spare my life if I gave him information on my people's movements in their territories so that they could avoid them, which I did."
Matt was shocked. "How did you and he...?" He thought back to what he and Feih had done the previous night and decided to change his question. He was also glad she had stopped Dahais from carrying him off. "You gave up your people to them just like that?"
She looked him directly in his eyes and angrily snarled, "I never intended for it to happen that way!" She calmed down a bit. "There were many of us that never believed in what our commanders were doing to the Dorzeli despite what they have done to my race in the past. Many of those that voiced such concerns were either arrested for treason or, if they had connections in the Hierarchy, were transferred off world, so I kept my beliefs secret and resolved to do whatever I could to stop the killings." She paused and shook her head. "I never thought he'd use the information I gave him to launch a feeding frenzy on my people.
"When I tried to meet him at one of our pre-arranged sites in hopes of getting him to try and stop the raids, Feih accidentally found me and forced me to reveal to her what I was doing there. After I told her everything she promised not to kill me or anyone under my command as long as I didn't tell her brother that she knew about my dealings with him." A slight smile then came to her face, "Then she attacked me in the same manner as you saw this morning."
Matt thought long and hard about his next question before asking it. "Are all the Dorzeli-Ki like that, I mean both sexes?"
"From what I saw of their behavior when I was their prisoner, yes." He was again glad that Feih had stopped Daihas from carrying him off. "I'm not in love with her if that's what's worrying you. Feih did what you saw today out of gratitude for what I've done for her people." She turned and looked back along their path. "Even if I didn't betray my people, they would've killed me on sight in a few weeks after what Daihas and Feih have done to me."
Matt was confused; "What could they have done to you that..." It was at that moment that he felt as if he knew the answer to all the questions he had about his situation, but all of the information he had on the Dorzeli indicated that only the Primes had that kind of power.
Hatelo smiled. "I see that you know what they've done to us." She looked to the path in front of them and added to his distress by giving her assessment of the present situation. "Now that they have what they want I believe they'll rid this planet of all of its invaders." She turned back to him and smirked, "You might be leading them to the biggest feast they've had in a long time."
Matt shook his head in disbelief. Even though he hated to admit it, at one time he did have thoughts similar to hers. "But she promised me..."
She startled him when she stood up and screamed, "She promised me that she wouldn't kill anyone under my command if I cooperated and they're all dead now!" She slumped back down onto the log and sobbed, "Everyone that I knew is gone because I trusted that Dorzeli-Ki to keep her word. The only solace we have now is that our families will be immune from attack for as long as we live."
Matt did not know what to think. Was Hatelo playing mind games with him or was she telling the truth about Feih's true intentions? And was she right about his parents and sister being safe no matter the state Dorzeli-Human relations would be in the future?
He did not get much time to dwell on these matters; his visor's display, vacant since leaving Feih, had came back to life; its proximity alert icon flashed, but it was green instead of red. He checked its diagnostics and found that Dorzeli life signs would still result in a red alert and that this new anomaly was mechanical, not a living organism.
He ordered Hatelo to take cover and switched to passive monitoring. When he heard a familiar high pitched whine pass above him head he looked up and saw through the tree tops the outline of a Mendall atmospheric transport; it was going in the same direction in which they were traveling.
He tried raising it on the preset priority frequencies, but, when he did not receive a reply, he came to his feet and with Hatelo in tow, ran in the direction of the descending craft.
After a short run they broke through the tree line into a large open field where they halted and watched the ship land three hundred meters from their location.
Before they could take another step forward the ground around them rose up as if it was alive and they found themselves surrounded by over a dozen well-camouflaged and heavily armed soldiers. Matt dropped the Soriss rifle and raised his hands.
"At ease, corporal."
He turned to his right and saw their commander walking over to him. He saluted and the officer returned it, then held out that same hand to him. Matt brought his down to shake the officer's.
"Corporal Matthew Thorn, I'm Major William Harrison; glad to see you could make it to our little party here."
"I'm glad I could make it, sir" replied Matt as a lieutenant ordered another soldier to secure his prisoner. "Sir, how did you know who I was?"
"We received your transponder signal when you came into range, but as you can see we didn't want to take any chances. That's why we didn't answer your calls." He looked down at the Soriss pants Matt was wearing and asked, "Did you know you are out of uniform, soldier?" Matt started to squirm and tried to think of how to explain his present state of dress. The major gave off a short laugh and grabbed his shoulder. "Don't worry about it corporal. I wouldn't have been surprised if you had shown up naked after what you've probably been through."
Matt found his subsequent smile a bit odd, but also smiled as he tried to recognize the exact model of the transport that had landed. "It wasn't that bad sir."
He was astonished when the horizon behind the ship shimmered then cleared to reveal several hundred more humans and Mendall soldiers along with dozens of vehicles and large trapezoidal structures. There were also several of the large canine-like beings known as Cherrodons present along with what looked like smaller versions of Feih's people among them; "The Dorzeli-An!"
He was so engrossed by this extraordinary sight that he did not notice the arrival of several vehicles Major Harrison ordered that he, Hatelo and her two guards get into the one he was going to use; the rest of the soldiers got into the others.
As they headed toward the main body of allied force Major Harrison informed Matt of why and how the Alliance landed such a large force on the planet; "When he received your message Supreme Commander Talbot ordered this invasion despite the stronger Soriss forces that were in orbit, but I guess they didn't have the stomach to face him again and left when we approached with our reinforcements." Matt turned and stared at him in bewilderment. "Oh, we suspect it's a trap and we're ready for them."
"But sir, I haven't contacted anyone since landing on this planet."
Matt's statement puzzled him, but before he could inquire about this discrepancy Hatelo looked back at the forest and said something in her native language. The major, whose translator was not on, asked Matt what she had said. Matt, who had also felt what she sensed, turned and also looked back as the vehicle came to a halt near the left side of the field.
"She says, 'They're coming'."
Within seconds of translating her words an alarm sounded. Matt turned toward its source and saw that it had come from a building that, like the others present, was a modified multipurpose colonization lander adapted for military use. Over the P.A. he heard the details: "We have several dozen large life forms moving through the forest towards this position. Move all assets to defensive position 'B' and switch all communications to the assigned frequencies."
Major Harrison ordered Matt to get out of the vehicle with him and, as it sped away with Hatelo and her guards, Matt observed several large armored vehicles emerge from hidden underground enclosures near the edge of the forest and race backward toward the main body of the heavily armed contingent; many were converted earth tanks and mobile guns. Once they arrived at the front line they stopped and aimed all of their formidable weaponry toward their previous locations. He became aware that several layers of crossfire had been set up across the forest and the field before them when he heard a verbal command to lock and load.
Major Harrison saw the concern on his face and reassured him about the Alliance's intentions; "We'll only start shooting if they try something. That is why we," the major pointed toward the main body of the gathered troops, "brought them along."
As if on cue ten Cherrodons, who had the features of a vulpine/Doberman pinscher mix with much longer necks, at more than three times the size of a Clydesdale and an intelligence that equaled man's (in most cases), stepped forward. Six were of the red variety with slightly lighter socks while the rest had gray leopard-like spots against a dark blue-gray to black background. All had tall, hyena-like manes on their heads and necks and were in a four footed stance despite their impressive ability being able to comfortably walk and stand on their hind legs. Each wore a harness to which was attached an armored capsule easily large enough to contain a human or Mendall operator and the ammunition for its two heavy guns and missile packs.
"With their ability to project impenetrable force shields we should be able to handle anything."
Matt respectfully disagreed. "Sir, after seeing what the one that rescued me did to a Soriss outpost I doubt if even they'll be enough to stop a group of them."
The Major looked at him in surprise. "So you've met one of them?"
"Yes sir," he replied. He tried to keep down his enthusiasm at the possibility of seeing Feih again but only partially succeeded as his emotions weren't the only thing that was up as he had to shift his stance. "She saved me from the ambush that killed my squad and rescued me from a Soriss outpost a day's walk from here, by their measure, after they captured me yesterday."
Harrison looked skeptical. "Are you sure there was only one? The damage we saw from orbit led us to believe a whole group did that, especially when we weren't able to see any Soriss remains."
Matt nodded yes and silently hoped that the Dorzeli had used the results of Feih's attack as a food stop.
The officer's expression turned to one of astonishment then he pulled out a pair of binoculars and began to scan the forest's edge. "Well, we have one other card to play besides the Cherrodons if things should get out of hand." He handed the instrument to Matt and asked, "Is she the one?"
When he put them to his eyes and they automatically refocused on the edge of the forest where he saw a female Dorzeli-Ki step out into the open. He could not help but smile when he recognized her as Feih and that she was wearing a new uniform that was more colorful than the one that had been destroyed by the Soriss cannon: it had a two toned, light blue pattern similar to her original suit. For some reason he found its pattern vaguely familiar.
"Yes sir that's her."
He almost dropped the classes when Harrison said, "You have good taste Corporal."
He turned and saw that Harrison had not taken his eyes from the forest. Then he felt a familiar sensation when the officer turned back to look at him. "You don't think you're the only one do you?" He smiled and returned his gaze forward.
From the edge of his peripheral vision he thought he saw a female smoke grey Dorzeli-An looking at them, but when he turned to look directly at her he saw that her attention was focused on the forest like everyone else.
His attention was brought back to Feih when he heard a nearby Mendall soldier whisper to his human comrade, "This is it."
He put the glasses back up to his eyes just in time to see her look back into the forest, nod, then proceed to walk forward. She was immediately followed by a double column of over thirty other Dorzeli-Ki.
"To position 'C' people; slowly now, just as we rehearsed it."
Matt removed the binoculars from his eyes and watched the entire center of the front line closest to the approaching Dorzeli-Ki pull back from its center to expose a lone male human standing next to three large trailer sized containers and six all-terrain vehicles with red crosses on their sides.
He looked back to Feih's followers and saw that they were a good mix of both sexes and, he assumed, ages with most of the females having similar builds as hers; but she was the largest (by all measurements) of them all. When he observed that some of them were carrying what appeared to be large bundles of tied leaves and sticks, for a total of fourteen, a wave of sadness overcame over him.
Major Harrison confirmed his speculations as to their contents; "A condition for this meeting was that they had to return the bodies of any humans they found."
Once Feih reached the position of the human of African heritage she sat down and bowed to him while the others delivered the bodies to the vehicles. Once they delivered their burdens they lined up behind her and also bowed.
Matt could not positively identify him from where he was standing, but he assumed that it had to be Jason Monroe-Talbot, the Commander-In-Chief of the Earth's space forces and the one time so-called overlord of the Sol system.
Once the vehicles had left and all of the Dorzeli had lined up in pairs behind Feih she raised her head so that she could comfortably carry on a conversation with Jason.
They spoke to each other for several minutes in a language that none of the translators could match. At times their conversation became very animated, but everyone remained calm.
The moment their discussion ended Matt found himself addressed by the communications officer over an open channel. "Corporal Matthew Thorn, please report to Supreme Commander Talbot's side immediately!"
Then another voice, last heard by him during the newscast that covered the launch of the Thresher Kone spoke to him on a secured frequency; "Just calmly walk up and stand next to me Corporal Thorn. Everything will be explained when you arrive."
Surprised by this direct summons he hesitated, but when he saw that both Jason and Feih had turned and looked at him he walked toward them.
Several of the Dorzeli he passed glanced down at him. Some looked displeased, while others showed no sign of how they felt about the proceedings. He recognized that these last ones were those from the scene of the ambush: Feih's family.
When the male directly behind her who he recognized as Daihas started to growl in protest as he approached Feih she silenced him with an angry glare that was so intense that even some of the allied soldiers, who had been speculating on what might have occurred on the planet during the past two days, also went silent.
Once he reached Jason's position the commander of all of Earth's space forces smiled and held out his hand to Matt. "Welcome Corporal Thorn. I'm glad to see that you're alive and well."
Matt responded to his warm greeting and took his hand. "Thank you, sir." He noticed that Jason's body armor was not unlike Feih's in color and style except for its human fit before he looked to his companion of the past three days. "But you should thank Feih. If it wasn't for her I probably would have died with the others."
Jason smiled and looked up at her. "I already have in my own way."
She gave them both a courteous nod, but kept her eyes locked onto Matt who wondered in what way his leader could have rewarded her.
When he returned his attention to Matt, Jason commented on the fate of his unit. "I'm sorry to hear about what happened to your squad and the others in my absence and I assure you that those officers that prematurely ordered those missions will be dealt with in the most severe manner I can think of."
Out the corner of his eye Matt saw Feih crack a toothy grin.
Worried about their fate at the hands or claws of any Dorzeli he asked, "Are any of them here?"
"No. They're under arrest aboard my flagship awaiting court martial for violating my orders." His expression mimicked Feih's. "I wanted to make sure that the landing coordinates that were supposed to be used were confirmed with the secret contacts I'd made with the Dorzeli." Matt's reaction to this information caused Jason to grin. "I had covertly landed on this planet after I recovered from my first battle and gave Feih's people the advanced body armor that they and I are now wearing; the rules of their exile made any technologically advanced offensive weapons forbidden, but a loophole in their laws allowed," Jason touched his suit, "defensive technology.
"I also negotiated with them to provide assistance to any of our troops that landed here. In return I pledged to personally petition the ruling council of the Kroon Empire to rescind their exile, and that of the Dorzeli-An behind us."
Matt, at a loss for words, simply nodded to acknowledge that he understood his commander's reasoning and glanced at the smaller Dorzeli among the gathered crowd and was surprised to find that all of their eyes were on him.
"To prevent a reoccurrence of these disasters Chire Feih Desslat and I have decided that a representative of the Alliance should be permanently assigned to her people to help coordinate the final push against the remaining enemy forces on this planet." He leaned in close and asked, "How would you like to volunteer for that assignment?" Jason was grinning almost ear to ear at Matt's initial shock at his offer.
He turned to Feih and found an expression of what he thought was hope that his answer would be positive. He did not disappoint her when he smiled then said, "Yes sir!"
She smiled and bowed to them both.
Jason, also happy at his acceptance of the assignment, said, "Excellent decision; you should also know that the position comes with a field commission along with some other perks that I know you'll enjoy."
Their mood was almost broken when Feih and all of the Dorzeli of both subspecies looked skyward. Jason, Matt and several others imitated their behavior. When he saw nothing Matt started to ask what was going on, but was interrupted by Feih when she looked down at them and said, "Chire Jason, I think we should go now."
Jason nodded. "I understand."
She winked at Matt, turned and directed her people to return to the forest. He watched as she led them back into the forest at a brisk jog that would easily run down a world class sprinter. Before he could ask what was happening, a message over the address system provided his answer. "Red Alert, Red Alert. Soriss cruisers and destroyers have been detected: E.T.A. to orbit thirty minutes." The message repeated and was accompanied by low volume sirens. The majority of the troops and the Dorzeli-An scrambled from the area around them. Jason smiled as the outer walls of the structures behind him swung open and revealed several dozen heavy fighters with booster packs prepping for launch.
Matt, ignored this sight and with some frustration asked, "But what about Feih?" He turned back to look in the direction of the forest. "I can't possibly catch up with her now."
Jason made a hand gesture that signaled the controller to lock Matt's internal receiver out so that he did not hear the next order: "All non-battle duty personnel move to position 'D'."
Matt did not see the remaining troops to his rear move away from his and Jason's location. He also did not see that Jason had also backed away from him. "In a few moments, corporal, that won't be a problem."
Matt felt a familiar intense warmth flow over him along with a very large shadow. He turned to see what had happened behind him and was astonished by what he saw: at over nine meters in height, a light blue, winged Dorzeli form that looked very much like Freerah, towered over him; except that this one was a male and was wearing Jason's natural hairstyle and uniform which was modified to accommodate his two huge wings and single long tail that ended in two deadly looking curved blades. He smiled down at his subordinate and took two more large steps backward.
"W-wait a minute," Matt stuttered, "Y-you're not going to..."
The galaxy's newest Dorzeli Prime nodded yes stabbed his red glowing tail tip into the largest container and fired two beams of intense energy from his power horns into Matt's chest. There was no pain and his vision blurred for several seconds. When he was finally able to refocus his eyes he found that he was looking up into Jason's face from a less severe angle than before. He examined himself and discovered that he had the body of a male Dorzeli-Ki, the same one he had in his and Feih's shared "dream" and that he had flexible body armor similar to Feih's.
A smattering of applause came from the soldiers that were still standing behind Jason caused Matt to look in their direction. He felt a powerful urge build up from within his being and made to move toward them but was stopped when Jason placed his right hand on his chest. The were-Dorzeli Prime turned his head toward those same individuals and exposed his almost thirty-centimeter long fangs. They soon found other duties to attend to.
When he returned his gaze to Matt he saw a troubled expression on his face. "What...what was that I just felt?"
"It's a temporary but normal sensation that you should never experience again, especially since humans are not the Dorzeli's natural prey."
"My God." exclaimed Matt as he thought about what could have happened if Jason had not been there. Then he remembered the stories of when his leader had first revealed his new form to the public, he asked, "You too, I mean, after Freerah changed you?"
After a short pause Jason replied. "Yes, and I don't think that I have to emphasize that that information is not for general distribution?"
"I understand, sir."
He relaxed at Matt's acknowledgement of wanting to keep that aspect of their nature a secret. "I also hope you can appreciate how lucky you were to survive your little gingerbread man maneuver across that lake after you pissed Feih off."
Taken by surprise by Jason's knowledge of his movements from that day he asked, "How did you know about that, sir?"
He pointed a clawed finger skyward, "I had a cloaked spy satellite placed in orbit after the last battle to observe the Soriss outpost Feih destroyed and this general area when it detected human life signs in the area. Since it was programmed not to transmit with any Soriss ships nearby I didn't find out about that incident until we entered orbit. Feih told me the rest. And yes, I know that she's part Dorzeli-Mu."
Matt absorbed this information, but panicked when he realized that their voices were loud enough to be easily heard at a distance.
Jason guessed what Matt's fears were and assured him that, "I personally made sure none of the translators were updated to decipher Dorzel so don't worry, acting Lieutenant Thorn, you can talk freely."
The relief he felt at this information caused a delay in his reaction to hearing his new rank. He looked down at his shoulders and saw the lieutenant bars locater there.
His superior laughed. "I couldn't have a non-commissioned officer representing the Alliance, now could I?" Jason turned from him and moved toward the two remaining containers.
Overjoyed at his promotion he replied, "I guess not, sir." Then he noticed that where the third container should be could he only saw a burned patch of ground. "Sir, what happened to...?"
Jason had anticipated this question and answered; "It contained inert matter that I used to give you your present form. I can convert matter to energy and back and rearrange it to my liking, but I can't violate the laws of physics." He turned toward the remaining two containers. "I have something for you before you leave."
Before he could open the nearest container a change in the wind's direction brought a familiar scent to his nose. He spun around and just caught Matt by one of his tails as he began to run toward the edge of the forest where Feih had reappeared; his long foot claws tore up large chunks of dirt as he ran in place.
Jason's unexpected restraint caused Matt to react before he could think about the possible consequences; he turned and growled at his superior with teeth and claws bared. He realized that he had made a major error when he saw that his commander's eyes and horns glowed with threat. He bowed his head into a submissive posture.
"I'm sorry sir I-I..."
Jason released him and his features returned to normal as he gazed in Feih's direction. "It's all right, Matthew. I know from personal experience that their scent can be very powerful and...distracting."
Matt looked up and saw the manner in which his superior was looking at her and started to feel another dangerous emotion well up from within him, but when Jason frowned and turned back to the containers he calmed down and thought, "Feih must be reminding him of Freerah!" Aloud he said, "Don't worry sir. I'm sure Freerah will return soon."
Jason's response was subdued, "I know she will." He made no further comment on his missing mate, removed a huge, long barreled weapon from the nearest container and tossed it to Matt.
He expected it to be heavy and braced himself, but was surprised at his new body's strength when he caught it and discovered that it felt proportionately lighter than his original weapon. Jason removed an identical one from the second container and held it by its upper handle so that Matt could see its entire length.
"These babies are modified spare beam cannons from the Kone's stores. Like your original PB-29 it has a charge for ten rounds at full power or forty at minimum. It also has a detachable high-speed cannon that..." he looked up and saw that Matt had learned the one hundred and eighty-degree neck trick: his attention was elsewhere, or rather on someone. "Lieutenant Thorn!"
The raw power he felt in Jason's command caused Matt to turn his head back to face him. He was thankful that his commander was not displeased with him.
"I know what you're going through lieutenant. I had the same experience right after Freerah changed me, but since I don't have much time left so..." Matt suddenly felt as if the whole world around him was slowing down as Jason made a secure connection with his cybernetics. He also found that he could not remove his eyes from those of the larger Dorzeli. "I'm still new at this so bear with me and as you can see I don't have much time."
He was able to perceive that the interceptors were leaving their launch bays even though his eyes were locked with Jason's.
Over the next few seconds all the information that his commander thought he would need to survive among the Dorzeli was transferred into the electronic memory of his implant. Some of the data caused Matt to have second thoughts about his new situation, especially when it revived his memory of the slaughter of the Soriss soldiers by Feih's family. He expected to feel a wave of nausea at the thought of performing as they had that day, but Instead felt an eager sense of anticipation that frightened him more than anything else had up to that point.
When Jason broke off their connection Matt asked, "Is what Feih told me true? Did Freerah choose me and the others as possible mates?"
He could sense that Jason's struggle with some internal dilemma before he answered, "Yes. If I had been killed before she returned she would have chosen from among the other survivors like you. I feel that I should also tell you that I had assigned at least one of 'Freerah's Chosen' to each of the three teams so that Feih or any other Dorzeli could choose one of you as a mate: it was her principal demand in order to get her cooperation."
Matt look downward, "It was in her venom wasn't it? That was how she was able to access my implant without my knowing it."
Jason nodded yes. "The Dorzeli secrete nanites in their venom that re-sequence their surviving victim's DNA to match theirs. They also act as organic computer viruses that can access cybernetic implants. That's how she knew how you really felt about her and how she contacted me by using the access codes I had given her, combined with those of Commander Hatelo's for her outpost's communications system."
Matt looked at him in stunned silence. Then he asked a question that had haunted all of those Freerah had touched the week she had left the Earth; "Why us?"
Jason looked up at the fighters as they rose skyward, as if he was searching for something besides the enemy ship. Matt could just perceive that he was looking deep into near space, searching for her. "When I questioned Freerah about why she was attracted to me she said, 'Mars needs children'." He looked down at Matt and saw that he had not understood his misuse of that old cliché and decided to explain further; "She had discovered through her research that, besides a very few Soriss, humans were the only other species in the galaxy that could survive the transformation process and successfully mate with the Dorzeli: their overall population has decreased almost to the point of non-viability due to persecution by the Soriss and their enemies in the Kroon Empire."
Jason paused to let Matt think about what he had said. His response was not unexpected, but the lack of anger in it surprised him. "You're telling me that we're nothing more than a means to increase their population?"
"It's much more than that, Matthew," began Jason with the hope of salvaging the situation. "You know what you felt when Freerah and Feih touched you?" He nodded yes. "There's something about them, some connection between us that makes humans want to be with them in body and spirit in spite of the potential danger they pose. Even the other Dorzeli don't truly know why they feel the same way about us."
Jason assumed that he may still be troubled by this new knowledge and placed his right hand on Matt's shoulder. "Listen Matthew, I don't care what you think of me for what I've done to you, but you must forgive Feih because she acted out of true love, otherwise she would've left you for dead or worse. I believe you know this to be true as I did when Freerah first caught me aboard her ship, but if you want to back out of this assignment I'll understand and reverse the process. Just know that if you leave this planet now, for our own safety, you'll never be allowed to return: the Dorzeli don't take that level of rejection very well." He removed his hand and waited for Matt's decision.
He thought of the many times he and Feih had had physical contact and how the feelings of joy and happiness had increased each time. He also remembered what she had gone through to protect him over the past one hundred hours and how, through her sly encouragements they had wound up pleasuring each other. She had also treated him better than any other lover he had had in his entire adult life.
He made his decision. "There's nothing to forgive her for sir. I'd suspected some of what you've told me since a talk I had with Hatelo before arriving here. I love her and...I know that she loves me." He smiled and bowed as was the Dorzeli custom when dealing with a superior. "I'll stay here with her. Thank you."
Jason's relief was obvious in his next words; "You're welcome. I knew Freerah would've only chosen those that would have had the temperament and mindset to accept her or her kind as lovers and mates. You obviously fit that description exactly." Jason unfurled his wings to their maximum size and their undersides glowed with a yellow energy. "Review the rest of the information later," ordered Jason aloud and in perfect English. Then he smiled and gave Matt one last order. "Now go and have some fun. I'll call you when I have need of your services."
Matt responded with an enthusiastic, "Yes Sir!" when he once again detected Feih's scent. He turned and sprinted off toward her. She responded to his rapid approach by turning and running into the forest.
The sight of the beginning of a Dorzeli mating chase caused Jason to smile. It turned into a toothy grin just as he lifted off and followed the ground-based interceptors up to the coming battle above.