"Are you worried, Master Rio?"
"Worried doesn't cover it, Kyle," Riordan replied as they navigated the maze of hallways Tu'lek was. He had gotten used to it already, and he had Kyle with him so he had no fear of getting lost. Others things were bothering him. "What do you think of Cario Hamen?"
"He is one of the good guys, as you'd say, Master Rio," his bot offered courteously.
"Yeah, that's what I think, too. Only that he's not like the rest of these dolls. He's pretty damn smart."
"Not every human bearer can captivate his Xeno master the way he did," Kyle said.
"Damn, you're getting wiser by the day. Do you remember how you told me about that thing with the contract Xana made me sign with my DNA, that it's like a marriage contract?"
"Of course, I remember. Unless my memory is destroyed, I will always remember everything."
"Not the point, dude. Ah, don't tell me you're making fun of me."
"A bit, yes. But everything I say is true. And Master Xana secretly searched for information on the bond Earthians create between themselves when they decide to become a couple and spend their lives together."
"Secretly?" Riordan asked with a snort.
"That was his intention."
"Nosy bot," Riordan said under his breath and smiled. "This whole business with Gamni Gafilos is bad, not gonna lie. I have no idea what to expect. I know you weren't made for combat or military strategy, but what do you think Gamni's chances are, when it comes to taking over Tu'lek?"
"I don't have sufficient data--"
"Right."
"But I can tell you the following. Tu'lek is a ship that comes equipped with the latest weapons, so a direct confrontation will certainly lead to severe damage and with a high probability of casualties."
"On both sides?"
"Particularly on the side of the attacker," Kyle explained. "The way Tu'lek is built, the living quarters cannot be damaged unless most of the ship is already overcome by enemies."
Riordand munched on his lower lip and began thinking. If what Kyle said was true, and it had to be because his bot always worked with facts, that could mean that they were supposed to expect a different type of attack. "Wait," he said slowly, "does that mean that they might try to infiltrate the ship like last time?"
"That would be the sound strategy on their part, yes," Kyle confirmed.
A wave of uneasiness moved through him, accompanied by cold chills down his spine. Riordan glanced around as if he was expecting enemies to jump at him from every corner.
"The high commander has upgraded the defenses since last time. No authorized Xeno can gain access to the ship now, unlike last time," Kyle continued his explanations.
"That's reassuring," Riordan mumbled. Yet somehow, he didn't feel that assured.
***
It was late in the night, according to the time Kyle measured with his bot-like precision, that Xana returned to their quarters. Riordan had fallen in and out of sleep, his mind plagued by nightmares of Gamni Gafilos -- an enemy without a face -- coming to take over Tu'lek and kill everyone.
"How is everything?" he asked sleepily.
Xana covered him head to toes with his muscular snakeman body. "The ship is well protected, Riordan."
"Okay. Wait, isn't this the time when you tell me that everything is going to be alright?"
Xana's silence was only getting more unnerving with each passing moment. "I have learned lately that you cannot easily be fooled, Riordan. So, I will tell you how things are."
"I'm listening." Xana seemed to be taking his time. Hopefully, not to serve him any more lies.
"Gamni Gafilos is the most accomplished general Xeno has given to our world. He was in charge of taking over Earth, and his military campaign was a tremendous success."
"So, he practically made us eat dirt. But wait, how old is he? Like Marn's age?"
"No, younger, but all his life has only been war."
Riordan pondered over the questions he needed to ask. "If he was the guy to conquer Earth, why is he so much against human bearers?"
"Earth was supposed to be just like all the other planets we conquered. No one prepared us for meeting a species like yours."
"Wow. I mean, Gamni had no idea what the consequences would be, right?"
Xana kissed the crown of his head and pulled him close into his arms.
"No. You are very smart, my beautiful bearer. The general believed that we would use you just like we had used dozens of other species across the galaxies. There was no reason for him to think that things would stand otherwise. Encountering your species was seen, for a while on Xeno, as an anomaly."
"Anomaly. Yeah, I suppose that it does feel like that."
"It wasn't His Royal Chancellor's opinion."
"What did Marn say about the whole thing?"
"At first, he lent his ear to the general, in whom he had the utmost confidence at the time. You must understand, Riordan, when these things happened, I was yet to be born."
"Right, of course." It was difficult to think that these guys weren't already eternal. But Earth had been taken over less than half a century ago, in human years, of course. And since then, a lot of things had happened. Riordan felt suddenly small and insignificant. However, as he touched his large belly, his thoughts changed. That was important, the life growing inside him, a beautiful Xenolite almost ready to meet his parents.
"Turning Earthians into bearers was a long process, compared to other species. We've been drawn to your beauty from the beginning," Xana continued. "You see, before Earth, we've never encountered another species to be so like us."
"You mean the upper part of the body?" Riordan asked and turned to look into his master's beautiful eyes.
"Yes. You see, you call us half-snakes, but we call you half-Xenos."
"Right, it's how you look at things, right? And how did that change things?"
"Xenos are, by genetic makeup, designed to put their eggs inside the most adaptable hosts. The pleasure of the act was almost non-existent. We go through a great deal of pain to transfer the egg into the one that will nourish it until it is ready to be born. We used to. The reason why our bodies produce so much seth is to alleviate such pain."
"And that also makes you so good fighters, right?"
"Yes, that is correct," Xana confirmed. "But you changed everything. Before you ask, yes, even before, we used copulation with other species for pleasure, but it wasn't common. Our entire willpower and desire was sublimated into the need to conquer planet after planet."
"And then you met us, and you realized how awesome fucking is?" Riordan asked.
"Only three brothels existed on Xeno before conquering Earth. They contained several species which we considered reasonably attractive for copulation, but the ones frequenting them were very few. That was one particular industry that knew a tremendous growth in size once we got to know you."
"Damn. So we really are that irresistible to you. Go figure." Riordan had known that, of course, Xana had made it very clear to him ever since he had set foot on Xeno, but it still felt like an incredible revelation to learn that they were so compatible with this strange species of conquerors of galaxies.
"Yes, you are. We've grown increasingly sensual because of you."
"Yeah, you fucked like a one hundred dudes before me," Riordan said and pouted for show.
