"Your conditions are acceptable." The leader said via Kallanna, hefted his strange staff, and ran forward to meet Allan head-on.

"Whelp," Allan grunted under his breath and stepped forward to meet the leader of the four men.

The leader extended the tip of his staff, and Allan saw a faint light—seemingly building from the top. Moving instinctively, Allan ducked under the staff's tip, his forearm rising across his body to force the staff over his head and point toward the ceiling.

Allan felt a tingle run through his arm, making it numb, and he heard a strange electronic zipping sound, looking back over his shoulder. On the ceiling, where the tip of the staff had been pointed, there was a black mark.

"Ohh, so that's how we want to play?" Allan said, quickly pulling his weapon from where it waited in his waistband. Simultaneously, he grabbed the leader by his neck and choked him, using him as cover from his compatriots.

Allan leveled the Glock at the nearest of the red-band-wearing Jeglithin and fired a single round into his head. The entry wound was small, but judging from the amount of splatter that got on the other two, Jeglithin Allan had to assume that the 9mm hollow points he had picked up on Earth had done their devastating work.

Everyone froze, and Allan said, "So, as I was saying, I will use all necessary force. Before you go and think of shooting me with those strange staff weapons, just know that I can and will kill one of you. Jalla here will deal with the other, and then I will take great pleasure in dismembering you—killing you slowly to get as much information as possible." Allan looked to the leader, who had dropped his weapon and was using both hands to desperately pry at Allan's hand around his throat.

Kallanna's eyes were wide, listening to this all and translating it. Each of the princesses had their mouths hanging open. Allan, still holding his gun on one of the two remaining Jeglithin, turned so that Kallanna was also in sight. "If I let them live, will it be a mistake?"

"What?" Kallanna said, finally tearing her eyes away from the corpse with the hole in it.

"If I let these other three live, is it going to put my family, ship, or life in danger while we transport you?" Allan said, speaking quickly yet clearly as the woman was shocked at seeing someone die in such a fashion for the first time.

"I mean, probably. Though they are not the only ones." She responded. "If you let them go, they will return with better equipment."

"Understood," Allan said, looking back at the two still standing Jeglithin. Jalla's weapon barked once. Even as the last of the three who had not fought, Allan turned to see his companion with a hole in his head. Allan's weapons roared again, and he crumpled to join the other two on the ship's cargo bay deck.

"Jalla, take this," Allan said, thrusting the last living enemy toward her and finally letting him draw a full breath once Jalla had a solid grip. Allan quickly approached the bodies and searched them, taking the weapons and red armbands. He found little by way of personal property.

Next, Allan searched the leader Jalla was restraining, finding a small disc-like object Allan had come to know was a dat-chip, essentially a high-tech, high-capacity thumb drive. He pocketed the dat-chip and continued patting the leader down. Once satisfied, he had Jalla take the man to an airlock and toss him in.

"Now, Princesses, please start talking and explain everything that is going on," Allan said with a tone that caused the young women to shrink back.

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[Aly and Tillia, orbital ring AI procurement]

Aly and Tillia walked from the ship, quickly realizing they needed to get to the opposite side of the orbital ring to find the AI procurement facility. AI was not a controlled object, per se. Still, the overuse and overcrowding of AI had been found to cause more problems than it solved, so AI procurement facilities were created to ensure that ships had the minimum required memory and power available to handle the AI.

They boarded a highspeed tram that ran the ring's circumference and enjoyed the ride as they talked.

"What are we going to do, Tillia?" Aly asked, her mind running from one solution to the next. How could she make the princesses see Allan was not a bad person? The two of them being together was not something to look down on.

"May I ask why you are concerned about this?" Tillia asked, confusion running across her face. The Aly that she knew was not concerned about things like this.

"So, for a while, it was just Allan and I," Aly said, and Tillia nodded. Aly then referenced the events that introduced Tillia and her sister to Allan, causing her to blush brightly. "After you and Jalla kidnapped Allan, I panicked. I thought for the longest time I would die alone, and after having Allan help me—demonstrating time and time again that he was there for me, I did not think I could be alone again. It nearly killed me the first time."

Tillia shifted uncomfortably next to Aly. "Again, sorry about that. We just wanted the music for our brother." Tillia mumbled, looking ashamed.

"I understand, and honestly, I am glad things happened the way they did. Because I realized when I was looking for Allan that I needed to be more than I was." Aly stopped and thought momentarily, "Until that point, I had been many things. But for Allan, I had only been a pretty face and someone to explain the things he did not understand."

Tillia looked thoughtful at Aly's words. The shuttle stopped, and they continued talking as they walked the remainder of the way to the AI procurement facility. "Do Jalla and I need to be more?" She asked.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

"That is something that you and Jalla need to decide for yourself," Aly said. "I think you are more than you know. You are on par with him in combat, and he knows it. He does not think you need protection, and you both understand his thoughts about tactics. Those are things I can never be. I am not built for combat. I will help where I can, but Allan excels far beyond anything I can do, unlike you and Jalla."

"I think you are wrong. Allan is scary, and he can find humans who are arguably scarier than he is on such short notice. I pray that no one ever tries to mess with Earth." Tillia said, thinking momentarily, "At the end of the day, Jalla and I may or may not be combat-oriented like he is, but you are his wife. I am sorry for seeming insensitive, but what does this have to do with wanting the princesses to get along with Allan and not worry about you and Allan?"

"Yes, I am his wife and will support him in every way I can. But I think it is important for two reasons. The first is that the Jeglithin are known for a few things, but most notably, they are more open-minded than most races. If we can't convince them, we may not be able to convince anyone." Aly was quiet for a moment before she continued, "On top of that, I get the feeling that Kallanna and I could be good friends. It would be good for me to have a connection." Aly was quiet once more, "I guess you could say all of this is important because I want to do my best to support Allan in every way possible."

"You have put quite a bit of thought into this." Tillia said, raising her arm to point, "Look, there it is."

Aly and Tillia walked in and watched a young Quillinar with black scales and red stripes run through the facility. A familiar voice hissed after the young girl, "What have I told you about running in here when I am working!"

A Quillinar woman with shades of bright red, orange, yellow, and specks of maroon stepped forward.

"Jilnitequa?!" Aly said, and the other woman turned around to face Aly.

Jilnitequa smiled. "Alyniqual! Tillia! It is good to see you both!"

Aly and Tillia smiled at the woman.

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[Allan and Jalla, onboard the Solstice]

Allan finished cleaning the dead from the opening of the cargo hold. All of the princesses except for Kallanna had found some reason or another to filter away into the ship.

"Why don't you go see what your sisters are up to? Other than avoiding the reality of the situation." Allan said, looking around for a mop or something to remove the blood.

"Because this was my fault." Kallanna said, looking at the blood that remained of the four who had come for her life, "You asked me if they lived, would they be a problem. Part of me knew what you would do when I said yes. Especially after I saw how easily you stopped the one that attacked you. But still, I answered."

"You answered a question. You did nothing wrong," Allan said. He paused from his cleaning and looked up, "Aren't you about to become the ruler of an entire race? Won't you make decisions that send people to die on occasion?"

"I am, and I will—I just did not think that my first decision resulting in someone's death would be played out right in front of me and with such cold, calculated efficiency." She said, watching as Allan finished wiping up the blood, "Are all of your people like you?"

"Many of them, yes," Allan said. Seeing her genuinely interested, he followed this: "Okay, try me. Ask me what you want to know."

[Aly and Tillia, AI acquisition facility]

Jilnitequa smiled, welcoming Aly and Tillia into the facility. "It is so good to see you both." She looked around expectantly, "Where is Allan?"

"He is well," Aly responded, "He is back on the ship with our current charges. It is good to see you as well, Jilnitequa. How did you end up here? Is your husband here as well?"

"He is, but since the council's fall, Hil'Vanq is not appreciated. So he spends most of his days at home and plans to stay there until it all dies down." Jilnitequa explained.

The three women talked for quite a while, interspersing their need to acquire a comms AI with their conversation. By the end of it, Aly agreed that they should all sit down for a meal the next time they returned, and Jilnitequa had asked they provide transport at some point.

"Well, that was pleasantly enjoyable," Aly said, and Tillia, who was carrying the black cube that housed the AI, agreed.

They returned to the ship and came into a scene of Allan in the cargo hold, which smelled conspicuously of blood, doing his best to explain something to Kallanna and her younger sisters.

"Well, you see, humans were not the strongest or fastest creatures on earth, but we dissipate heat better than anyone," Allan said, smiling.

"That is not possible. I saw how fast you moved when…" Kallanna said, stopping when she saw Aly.

"Hello, beautiful," Allan said, stepping over to kiss her quickly.

"What are you explaining here? And why does the ship smell of cleaning agents and blood?" Aly asked. Tillia took the cube and worked on installing the AI to the bridge.

"Ah, I was explaining pursuit predation, and we should go meet our newest guest," Allan said, and Aly gave him a quizzical look. "He tried to kill our guests, so I killed his compatriots. Jalla is watching him."

"By all means, let us go meet this seemingly charming man!" Aly said, raising an eyebrow at Kallanna, "I assume you know this will raise the price of things?"

Kallanna nodded, and Aly smiled, following Allan as he led the group to the room where Jalla was sequestering the attackers' leader.