It was very difficult trying to get Asurah onto his ship. He kept trying to go and talk to others, and kept stumbling all around. Even I was beginning to feel the effects of the drink I had took from him. And I only had a small portion of it. Their alcohol was mighty strong to have even me getting a little fuzzy. After a small bit of it.
“Asurah, come on. I need to get you back to your castle.”
“I don’t want to. I want to-hic-tell that lady over there-hic-that she has pretty hair. Like-hic-it’s purple. Purple is my favorite color, other than-hic-blue. Though, not like the boring dark blue that my people wear, but the very pale shade of blue-hic-that is the color of the sky. I think it’s very pretty.” Asurah responded, stumbling as I tried to gently pull him to the direction of his ship. I could see the gleaming, sleek silver metal not too far from us, however, getting there was quite a challenge.
“You know-hic-this is the first time I have had fun at one of these things. Usually I leave-hic-feeling all sad and stuff because of Delkele, but-hic-I actually had fun. Tell me, what are balls and parties like on Earth?”
“Noisy,” I answered, giving up on the grab on Asurah’s arm and moving to his waist. “Crowded. I never really liked going to those kinds of parties. I always end up having girls trying too hard to get into my pants.”
“Ah, so you-hic-are very adept with the ladies, huh? The only thing I’m adequate at is making love to the wonderful world of loneliness.”
“First off, women who try too hard to get sex, is actually quite a turnoff for me. I like a woman who is very sedate and comfortable with herself. Or guy. Either way.”
“I agree with you. I’ve had-hic-so many people trying to become my consort, and it’s beginning to get-hic-annoying.” He paused and stumbled into me, making me curse as I tried to make sure he didn’t hit the ground. And once I caught him, I subconsciously thought about how warm his skin was, weird considering the dude lived on a planet of ice. I pushed the thought out of my mind as Asurah continued, as if he didn’t nearly fall to the ground. “Just a week ago, I had this princess try-hic-asking me to marry her and stuff, but I told her off because I don’t do the love stuff. Not after what happened to my mitéra and patéras.”
“What happened to them?” I asked, assuming that he was talking about his parents.
“They died because their-hic-love blinded them. My mitéra was captured by these cruel vindictive bastards who wanted to take our planet as their own, and-hic-my patéras went and tried to rescue her and stuff, and they both-hic-ended up dying and stuff.”
So he didn’t want to love because of what happened to his parents? Was that really the only reason? Or was he...scared? Scared to be so overwhelmed by someone he truly cared about? Was he scared that he was going to end up as his parents? Maybe it went deeper than that. He could be scared to give his heart to someone. He might be terrified at the fact that if he gives his heart to another, it may be shattered completely.
As a human, this kind of thing happened more often than not. I’ve heard countless stories from cadets who had their heart broken, and they were completely devastated from it. They were so depressed that they allowed their scores to drop, and even some of them took their own life from the grief. Even I had felt that way when the woman I was going to marry, up and left me in the dust without telling me why. What had I done wrong? I often wondered what had been going on in her mind to leave me so easily. We had never fought, never had a disagreement. We had been happy. Then I woke up and she was just...gone. Vanished in thin air, her stuff all gone from our apartment. The only thing she had left was her dog Pippy, whom she adored. I could never understood what I had done wrong. And I probably never would.
“You look sad. Did I make you sad? I’m-hic-sorry.”
Tearing me out of my thoughts was the sound of Asurah’s voice, which made me blink and glance at him, directly in his completely white eyes. His brows were lifted up, a pout on his full lips. I sighed, scratching at my beard with my free hand. “It’s nothing. Come on, let’s get you home.”
Asurah nodded silently and finally let me get him to his ship without any problems. I sat him down on one of the large pilot seats, watching as he passed out completely. He must have passed out from the alcohol, I thought absentmindedly, sitting in the main pilot seat. I turned the ship on, releshing how it began humming in excitement, with the promise of an adventure. Asurah’s ship actually wasn’t that difficult to pilot, thanks to the simplicity of the design. And unlike a human ship, which had too many buttons to count, this ship only had around thirty, each with a distinct purpose.
I swiveled in my seat towards the gps, punching in the coordinates for Glacion, waiting as the ship processed the code before blinking green. The ship rose high above the trees, higher until I could see the stars of the universe, the planet now below us as the ship prepared itself for a hyperjump.
As it did that I glanced over at Asurah, watching as he slept peacefully, his mouth slightly open to reveal a row of extremely sharp looking teeth. I raised my eyebrow, wondering how I had not noticed this before. His kind probably had it in order to be able to eat the meats of their planet. I would probably have them too, if I lived on a cold planet where the animal’s skin was extremely thick. Though, I probably wouldn’t let Asurah get anywhere near me with those sharp teeth. I mean, those things looked like they could rip through my flesh as easily as a heated knife could go through butter.
The mere thought made me shiver, goosebumps raising onto my flesh. I could have easily drugged Asurah if I wanted too, since he was completely oblivious to the world. But, I couldn’t do it. Not while he looked so at peace with himself, eyes closed, long thick lashes resting onto his sharp pale cheeks, lips parted slightly. I couldn’t do it while he was so defenseless.
Not like he would be when you do finally drug him, I thought distastefully, tearing my eyes from his form as the hyperjump was completed.
Besides, it was considered cowardly to attack someone in their sleep. I would have to wait until a better time. When I retrieved more information about him and his kind. I sighed, still loathing the mission at hand. I would have to call General Issak when we arrived back on Glacion, and give him the little information I had gathered today. It wasn’t much, but it would let Issak know that Glacic’s were capable of human emotions, as were some of the other species I had ran into while on that planet. Especially Delkele’s jealousy and devotion, weirdly enough, to Asurah. As well as Asurah’s aversions to love.
It was so surreal knowing that aliens like Asurah or Delkele could experience what we humans experience on a daily basis. They could love things, could hate things, they could even be afraid. Even as a child, I had always believed aliens to be this overly intelligent race, with no emotions. I was surprised, and frankly...relieved that I was wrong. However...with that knowledge, it would be hard to betray Asurah like Issak wanted me to. I didn’t want to make the king hate me...no, I didn’t want him to loathe me. I didn’t want him to see me as a vile villain in need of execution. I didn’t want to see the look of betrayal in his eyes as he spits curses at me.
And that scared me. I was doubting myself, when once upon a time, I did my missions without hesitation. If I was told to execute someone, I did so without even blinking. If I had to capture someone, I would do it. But, for some reason, I was doubting myself now. I couldn’t understand why. Was it because of Asurah’s innocence and naivety? Maybe because he had that addicting personality that kept dragging me in. I couldn’t let myself get attached, and it seemed like I had to keep telling myself that, lately. I had to keep reminding myself that my mother could be viciously murdered if I backed out of this mission now. And I couldn’t let that happen. Not to my own mother. Not when she was the only thing tethering me to sanity.
