Great Space Pirate III E-Book

Suzann Dodd

• Herausgeber: BookRix
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021

Beschreibung

This is the final book in the series The Great Space Pirate.  Sharon, an anachronism from the past. Abducted and despite effort,  unable to fit into a society five hundred years in her future,  becomes the Pirate. 

Leseprobe

Suzann Dodd

Great Space Pirate III

Part 3 of the Sequel to The Right Thing

BookRix GmbH & Co. KG81371 Munich

Chapter One

DOCTOR'S STORY

Jill Chin See

I'd always wished to meet Commander eDapktchoy. He was the only ZerShaziemn member of the Terran Space Fleet.

I have an interest, an affinity for the ZerShaz. When I was five, the Z.C.F. invaded my home planet of Shalimar.

The War had been a fact of life. It began before my birth, before my mother's birth, before her mother's birth. The War was an integral part of being.

My father was a soldier, as were most men and childless women. He was customarily far away, no doubt, defending some other colony the day we were invaded.

My mother was a prominent veterinarian, Director of the largest Zoological Sanctuary in the galaxy. We lived far into the forest. Far from industries, politics, excitement.

I didn't own interest in the war. It was a distant adult concept which was supposed to explain just about anything. War was a story told to keep children quiet and adults committed to a purpose beyond themselves.

My curiosity, at the time, was a litter of puppies. I'd been told the puppies were mine.

Sitting in a straw filled corner of the barn,  there were the men.

I suppose other children might scream and run, but there'd always been strangers visiting the Preserve. I was not afraid of strangers. I glanced at them and they at me.  I didn't appreciate they weren't human. They were just big men, similar to my father.

They spoke and I remarked, "These are my puppies, but you could have one."

One of them neared and stooping, examined my puppies.

"They all have names." I told him. "This is Flopjuice, he's my favorite, you can't have him."

The man touched another puppy.

"That's Scratchy, you can have him."

Then, my mother entered.

In retrospect, I appreciate she was terrified. She perceived the ZeSha, a group of 'non-human' enemies, tall, broad and dangerous, near her daughter, her only child.

Staring at me in this tight voice, "Jilly, honey, come to me."

I didn't look up; "I'm showing them my puppies, Mommy."

The ZeSha observed her standing alone by the door. She must have been horrified, for my mother is and was very shy.

One of the ZeSha spoke to her, I wasn't listening, his voice soft and gentle. Perhaps he advised, 'we won't hurt you'.

It's so odd, for if anyone could be presumed to run shrieking from the sight of the warriors it would be my mother. She was extremely introverted, uncommonly tall, and stuttered.

Debbie Chinn See is an outstanding veterinarian. Brilliant, intuitive, exact. Others, who might possess equivalent qualifications, would not suffer being six thousand kilometers from their closest neighbor, but my mother desired it. She never had friends, never wished to travel. The students who came for training were kept at a distance.

As I recall the moment in the barn, I think what calmed her was the gentle way the ZeSha beside me stroked the puppy and how the other puppies flocked his feet, crying and romping, as puppies do.

ZeSha were petting the horses, speaking softly to them. I think their kindness towards the animals communicated in language she understood.

We occupied a huge house of fifteen bedrooms, ostensibly for the Staff of the Engrevi Preserve. There were few residents. Only my mother and I, for the students and subsidiary personnel disappeared the day the ZCF arrived.

The ZeSha moved into the house, became part of the family, ate at our table. One was consistently present, even if the others were patrolling.  I never was afraid of them. It seemed normal for them to be here. Eventually, they spoke English and we spoke Shaz.

I remember one morning my mother put her hand on the shoulder of one as she passed. He turned and touched her hand. In my mind, he was my new father. His name was uReglimi. I called him Reggie.

My mother got fatter and had my sister Steffie. There was nothing strange about this. I had witnessed many animals born.

There was no one to fill my head with unacceptable or acceptable. There were no neighbors. I did not attend school I learned online. My life went on as normally as I consider other lives. Then, Reggie had to go away. When I was eight the ZerShaz were gone.

All of them were gone.

There were visitors to our home then. Lots of people I didn't know nor like. A great deal of loud talking, crying, I used to go into the Preserve when they came.

Then my father returned.

Dad was with us a short time, then gone. Consequently, he sent for me. Almost unwillingly I left my Home World and traveled to Earth, where, for the first time, I was entered in a school.

My father never asked about the time we were a colony of the ZerShaz Empire. I never spoke of it to him.

I did well at school and attended University, returning to Shalimar when able. Steffie was an artiste and I always brought different media for her to use.

When people came to visit, ask advice, bring sick animals for treatment, Steffie would go into her room. There were people who might of accepted her and no doubt, those who would not. To avoid mistaking one for the other she stayed alone. She did not find being alone, lonely. Silence was not threatening.

When she was no longer a child, she built a little studio about a klic from the house and lived there. Just herself and an old dog, maybe, one of the puppies I had shown to her father that day in the nursery.

I loved my sister and she loved me. It didn't matter she was half-ZerShaz, anymore than Reggie was full ZerShaz.

Though most saps hated ZerShaz shouting about how they rape and murder, their 'savagery', giving gruesome details of how 'Zerks' tore humans apart as if they were rag dolls, I never responded.

My mother had taught me never to speak of Reggie or the Zees, to pretend I didn't know Shaz, and to say nothing on the topic.

At Cambridge University, one of my instructors was the famous Professor Jarufsky. She'd studied ZerShaz culture for over seventy years, considered the expert. Her classes were small as she accepted no student who failed her entrance exam.

The exam was designed to separate those who blindly hated ZerShaz from those who were neutral. One could not express favourable opinions towards ZerShaz.

Towards the end of term, I consulted her privately and asked why she had, in class, disallowed most reports of 'rape' made by human women against ZerShaziemn.

"Miss Chinn See," She began in her strangely accented voice, "the information I dispense has been banned by the Administration of this University. All of my publications which have referred to this particular aspect, have been banned."

She paused, examing me carefully and continued; "No doubt, if I were of lesser import, I would be banned. The fact my husband was the Chairman of the Terran Secretariat and I have been the Governor of Xenos III, has afforded me toleration. If, at the end of my statement, you wish to report me to the Chairman of this University, I will only consider my abilities to read character declining."

She perused me a long moment as if testing. Then, with some defiance, spoke.

"The ZerShaz male is incapable of sexual arousal unless he feels what we term absolute trust and emotional fixation upon a female who reciprocates this feeling."  And emphasising; "She must reciprocate. In fact, she must actually initiate. For the aspect of trust is paramount. Further and obviously, based on the foregoing, aggression and sexuality are not linked in the ZerShaz. "

Watching me, perhaps looking for signs of disgust or disbelief, finding none, she continued; "There is no testosterone in their blood. Their aggressive behavior is linked to a non-hormonal chemical, similar to our production of natural pain killers. Therefore, sexual arousal, sexual intercourse can not be performed when the male is aggressive. The male must be submissive. Only when the male gives over his will can he experience sexual arousal and perform."

I kept my features bland, I remember being conscious of doing so. Accordingly, she continued.

"Females initiate in their society and I hazard human females have also made the first move. If a female rejected a male, she would destroy his ability to perform sexually, therefore, there can be no rape."

And in a distant voice; "I'm sorry if I've shocked you, Miss Chinn See, and sorry if you will report this to the Dean. There is one thing I grade highly, it is the truth. And this is the truth."

I made no reaction.

"Do you understand what I am advising you?" She asked, then stronger, "Do you understand why this information is banned?"

Woodenly, I nodded. To publish, to admit, would mean any woman approached by a ZerShaziemn would be able to reject him. The possibility of rape would be obliterated.

How could he attack her, how could he rape her, if he could not be aroused unless he absolutely believed beyond a doubt he could trust her?

I remember remarking to the Professor that I suspected reports of rape were cultural necessities as ZerShaz were not considered human and an intentional relationship with them would be perversion on the part of the human woman.

"You're very wise for a young student, Miss Chinn See. Wise and perhaps may one day be able to do what I have not done; expose the hypocrisy, the pernicious blindness, which has cost so many lives."   And stronger; "The birth of a child of mixed blood proves the ZerShaz are human; we are one species, although neither will accept it. We face each other in horror as if shown a magic mirror. They are us and we are them. They are all we fear in ourselves, we are all they abhor."

"Is it the wars between us which make the hatred"? I asked. "We don't feel this way about Limogyenes, nor Tricoyna, nor-"

"Limogyenes are small, easily dominated, overly affable, allowed themselves to be colonized, consider Terrans gods. We can not fear them, we do not even respect them. "Note, our pejorative term for them is,'deformed babies', but our term for a ZerShaz is 'Monster."

She considered; "The Limogyenes could possibly mate with Terrans, but as Terrans find them beneath contempt no mating has occurred. The Tricoyna are not sexually compatible--"

"Then, why do humans mate with ZerShaz, whom we hate, or are supposed to hate, and not with Limogyenes whom we befriend?" I ask.

"Hate is a marvelous emotion, Miss Chinn See. It is intense, it is consuming, it is aggressive. It is close enough to love to fool the eye. It is not surprising the greatest hatred is usually between persons who once loved each other. Indifference rarely achieves the status of either."

I never revealed that conversation to anyone, except my mother who admitted it's truth. But she never lied to me about her relationship with Reggie.

As I was attending Cambridge on a Military Scholarship I was to enter Space Fleet. And it was there, as a cadet, that I learned of the ZerShaziemn, eDapktchoy.  I saw him, but never spoke, never came close enough.

When I was commissioned, I hoped to meet him. Over the years, he became an exceptional soldier and principal test pilot. I met a few who served with him and though none could point to a specific incident, they expressed dislike. He was, invariably, called Monster.

About four years ago I heard the story of Sharon Feinstein. I was interested in meeting her. I heard she held Earth status but had become a pilot and was often Off World. She did not associate with anyone. She had no acquaintances, nor friends. They said she was a loner, cold, ugly, aggressive. And they called her 'Zersy whore'.

They would have called my mother that, if she hadn't made it appear she had been raped and unable to obtain an abortion.

It would have been easy for Sharon Feinstein to have advanced the same. But she never had.

My mother lived in society, even a colony as Shalimar had it's society. She could not admit she wasn't raped, except, perhaps, to my father.

When the Firestone accepted the lifeboat and the ZerShaziemn were brought to Sick Bay, I wondered if any of them had been on Shalimar, if any of them would be Reggie.  I tended them and did not allow debate with the hospitalmen.

"We are dedicated to preserving life." I reminded.

Being a doctor, it was not agreeable to maintain the ZerShaz were not human. Outside of subtle physical differences, we were the same species.  To allege was heresy and one never dared advocate the 'seeding' hypothesis; one species with geographical differences.

When transferred to uMerickya I encountered the unique Commander eDapktchoy. I stared at him, but he was unaware of me. He had developed insulation from human interest. My patients, as injured as they were, showed more interested in me than he did.

I judged him about thirty years of age though records specified his age as thirty eight. According to my studies, ZerShaziemn do not reach full maturity until what would be our equivalent of forty years.

He was about two meters tall, muscular. His hair thick and very black, not worn as long as the ZeSha, it fell beneath his shoulders.  His eyes were large and a disconcerting bronze colour. His complexion a deeper bronze than his eyes.

He stood as a ZerShaziemn; very straight, his large chest pushed forward defiantly, his legs apart. his hands before his body. Humans usually hang their hands parallel to their bodies. ZerShaz usually forward.

I had a fairly good view of him; dressed in the thin undersuit there was little left to the imagination.

As we docked, I hurried to the ZCF version of Sick Bay which was all but primitive. I'd little time for contemplation. I had been able to get three of the ZerShaz patients stabilized, the last would need serious Re-An treatment.

Then, another patient was brought in.

A ZerShaz Warrior carried a tiny body in a green EVS. I assumed, by the suit, it was an Army private. The suit was functioning; the private still alive. I removed the helmet.  The face was blue.