Sarai

house has been in our family for generations…they’llthink I died in the fire — ”
Alekyn shookhis head. “I cannot take you back to your home. “
Jamie staredat him blankly. “Cannot or will not?”
Alekyn’sface tightened. “Both.”
“I don’tunderstand,” Jamie said tersely. “Why the hell not? Why would youkeep me here against my will?”
The catman sighed.
I’m dreaming, Jamie decided,and I’m dreaming some weird trippystuff. Maybe he’d had a psychotic breakbut if he had, would he know?
That joggedhis memory. “At that place, that doctor, the healer —”
“Ah, themedcentre,” Alekyn supplied.
“Themedcentre,” Jamie agreed impatiently, “that doctor…what the hellwas he doing, man — he probed me, like a character in some badscifi movie —”
“I do notunderstand scifi movie,” replied Alekyn, “but I know you found theexamination…unsettling.”
“More thanthat. It hurt! He didn’t have the right to do that to me. It wasjust wrong.”
Alekynnodded. “I understand you found it unsettling and I am sorry it wasuncomfortable for you, but you must understand we needed to know asmuch as we could about you as quickly as possible.”
Jamie staredat him. “Why?” he asked finally. “What was so important that thedoctor, the healer, had to, darn it — stick a probe up myarse?”
Alekyn gestured to the chair oppositehis.
Jamie satdown and leaned forward, his faceearnest. “It was awful. He shouldn’t have done that tome.”
“I agree,but we did not know how it would affect you, Jamie,” Alekyn paused,choosing his words with care. “All of us were just so excited byyou, by how you looked — you are more than just my sarai — yourspecies represents hope not just for my kind but for other membersof PanGal.
Jamie staredat him, bewildered. “I understand the words you’re using,” hemuttered, “but I haven’t a clue what you mean. You need to explainfrom the beginning — what’s a sarai? Why am I one? Why did thosecreatures — the Zill and the…the Keinyn — attack me?”
Alekynsighed and sat down. He gestured for Jamie to sit beside him — he’dteach his sarai about sitting at his feet later. Jamie ignored hisinvitation, seating himself in a chair closer to the window. Alekyndecided to ignore his disobedience for the moment.
“This maytake some time, sarai, but I ask you to listen with an open mind.You know you are not on your home world?”
Jamienodded. “I think you told me that in the medcentre, when I woke up.I’ve got a choice between believing you or thinking I’ve gone mad,although I think I’d prefer to believe I’m nuts rather than this isreal.”
Alekynfrowned. “What is nuts?”
“Never mind,just tell me your story. Then I’ll decide whether nuts needs tofactor into it.”
“As youwish,” Alekyn leaned forward. “Jamie, your species is not asadvanced as ours, so some of this will seem strange to you —”
“No kidding,Sherlock.”
“Who is thisSherlock?”
“No-one youknow. Keep talking and make it fast.”

Chapter Five
ALEKYN RAN THE LAST FEW WORDSback through his mind. His sarai and he seemed to be using the samelanguage, but they were definitely not communicating. Maybe therewas something wrong with the language implant? Damn it, he’d justhave to do the best he could and hope that things sorted themselvesout as they talked.
“My speciesare called Naferi. We live on a planet similar to your own but farlarger. The Zill are our enemies — not just ours, but the enemiesof all sentient life in the universe —”
“Thisuniverse or all universes?”
Alekynblinked. “Ah, so your species knows about themultiverse?”
“The cosmosis unending — yes, we know. Get on with it, dude.”
“Dude? Myname is Alekyn, not Dude.” Alekyn sighed. This tendency his saraihad to cause distractions was…distracting. He pulled himselftogether and said patiently, “Throughout our universe the Zill areconsidered a plague species, predatory and expansionist. Althoughwe have tried to negotiate with them for more than fifty years,since we first became aware of them, the Zill have not responded toour overtures. They are a hive species, but they do not create,they take. We do not know where they came from, but it’s likelythat they migrated from another universe.
“Since they reached our universe,they have destroyed hundreds of worlds that we know of — consumingresources and all the species, whether primitive or technologicallyadvanced, that existed on those worlds. Whole solar systems nowconsist of dead, empty planets because of the Zill.”
Jamie’s eyeswere huge as he listened. “The Zill did that — those chitteringwasp things that attacked me?”
“Yes, I’mafraid so.”
“Which meansthey’ve discovered Earth — my home?”
Alekynnodded, his face impassive. “Yes, Jamie, they have.”
Jamie jumpedto his feet. “I have to get back. I have to tell people, warnthem.”
“No, Jamie,you don’t.”
“I damn welldo,” Jamie stepped towards him, his stance aggressive. “Get offyour butt and take me to your bosses, because I need to get homenow …”
Alekynbreathed in through his nose and exhaled slowly. “No, sarai, youare wrong.”
He raised ahand, as Jamie started to say somethingmore. “No, hear me out, please.”
Jamie glaredat him. “If they’ve already found Earth, we don’t have much time —I have to go home now!”
“Matters arealready in hand, sarai — your help is not required.”
Jamie gapedat him. “What do you mean?”
“I mean thatthe Adan and the High Council have already contacted thePanGalactic Federation, and it was decided at an emergency conclaveyesterday that your planet would become a protected world underNaferi rule.”
Jamie staredat him. “Naferi rule?” he whispered. “Like a colony? Earth is goingto be colonised? You’re going to invade my planet?”
“No, notinvade. Earth will become one of our protectorates,” Alekynresponded, as if this was nothing important. “The machinery for thechange is already in place — representatives have already contactedthe leaders of your world.” He paused, looking a bit confused. “Wehave had some difficulties working out who your leaders are. Nobodyon Earth seemed to know either.”
Jamieignored that. “So your people have already contacted my people totell them they’re going to be ruled by a bunch ofaliens?”
“Well, notaliens,” Alekyn replied. “Us, the Naferi, under the auspices ofPanGal; the Keinyn have also requested to be part of the mission.This is a good thing, sarai — your world will be safe, and at sucha small cost to your people.”
“Peoples,”Jamie replied, his eyes dark with emotion. “We may be one species,but we are many peoples, and we don’t