Read Online The Ninth Orb by Kaitlyn O'Connor - Free Book Online
Authors: Kaitlyn O'Connor
Ads: Link
bulky electronic device that began to squawk almost the moment they walked through the door.
Baen crossed the floor in two strides and snatched up a palm sized object connected to the main device by some sort of cord. “Baen.”
Eden jumped when a voice responded, startled more by the crackling background noise than the voice--whose tone and pitch were such that it could have been either male of female vocal chords producing it. Worse, the voice spoke so rapidly her translator spewed a corresponding torrent that was more than half gibberish. About half way through the dialogue, Eden noticed a rectangle on top of the device began to glow. Nearly microscopic dots winked across the panel. As she moved closer, she discovered the dots formed an image.
The face was almost as androgenus as the voice, but the body wasn’t. Elongated globes hung almost to the female’s waist, which might at some time have been curved in a feminine indentation but now formed a roll beneath the breast roll and just above the belly bulge. The hips were enormous as were the creature’s thighs and every pound of flesh giggled as she spoke, breathed, made infinitesimal movements on the long chaise upon which she was settled.
She didn’t look like she could’ve moved from the chase without assistance.
The size wasn’t deceptive. Behind the female, Eden saw workers much like those she had already seen, moving back and forth industriously. Beyond the workers, three soldiers stood near the wall, stiffly erect, staring straight ahead.
The female looked to be at least a foot taller than any male in the room and probably twice as heavy.
Eden was revolted. She did her best not be, not to make a judgment on the creature when she knew nothing about her, or at least to keep from showing it, but it seemed fairly obvious that she did little beyond lay upon the lounge while the males scurried around her attending her needs and wants.
She discovered Baen had turned to her. He was holding out the rounded object he’d spoken in to. Blinking as if coming out of a trance, Eden took it.
The creature smiled at her thinly. “I am Sademeen. Most humble apologies tendered for encroaching upon your territory. We wish no conflict also.”
For several moments Eden wondered if the translator had completely malfunctioned. She smiled a little mechanically, searching her mind frantically for a response. It appeared, though, that Sademeen--indeed the aliens as a whole, were laboring under the impression that this world belonged to them, the interlopers from Earth. Her next words seemed to confirm it.
“We did not know the world below us was claimed.”
Eden reddened in spite of all she could do, uncomfortable about claiming the territory under the circumstances. She wasn’t about to admit that the world didn’t belong to them either, or that they were late comers when it came to staking a claim to it. “The facility here is merely a misunderstanding, then?” she managed to say finally.
Sademeen bowed her head slightly. “The young males discharged there are kzatha--creating problems with the mature males. We none wished to destroy our kzatha off spring, however, and sought to make peace among our males by separating two.”
Eden sent Baen a horrified glance before she could prevent it. Frowning faintly, she returned her attention to the female. “My device has not fully assimilated your tongue and fails to translate all of your words for my understanding. Baen is your off-spring?”
“One. I, myself, kzatha a small number there.”
“Discarded or possibly banished.”
A jolt went through her when the translator abruptly produced the meaning for the word, kzatha.
“You must send them away if they are a nuisance. We have not the capability to retrieve them. Or, if you must, we will understand if you destroy.”
Eden sent another horrified glance in Baen’s direction, feeling a shiver travel down her spine. Baen’s expression was very carefully neutral,
Baen crossed the floor in two strides and snatched up a palm sized object connected to the main device by some sort of cord. “Baen.”
Eden jumped when a voice responded, startled more by the crackling background noise than the voice--whose tone and pitch were such that it could have been either male of female vocal chords producing it. Worse, the voice spoke so rapidly her translator spewed a corresponding torrent that was more than half gibberish. About half way through the dialogue, Eden noticed a rectangle on top of the device began to glow. Nearly microscopic dots winked across the panel. As she moved closer, she discovered the dots formed an image.
The face was almost as androgenus as the voice, but the body wasn’t. Elongated globes hung almost to the female’s waist, which might at some time have been curved in a feminine indentation but now formed a roll beneath the breast roll and just above the belly bulge. The hips were enormous as were the creature’s thighs and every pound of flesh giggled as she spoke, breathed, made infinitesimal movements on the long chaise upon which she was settled.
She didn’t look like she could’ve moved from the chase without assistance.
The size wasn’t deceptive. Behind the female, Eden saw workers much like those she had already seen, moving back and forth industriously. Beyond the workers, three soldiers stood near the wall, stiffly erect, staring straight ahead.
The female looked to be at least a foot taller than any male in the room and probably twice as heavy.
Eden was revolted. She did her best not be, not to make a judgment on the creature when she knew nothing about her, or at least to keep from showing it, but it seemed fairly obvious that she did little beyond lay upon the lounge while the males scurried around her attending her needs and wants.
She discovered Baen had turned to her. He was holding out the rounded object he’d spoken in to. Blinking as if coming out of a trance, Eden took it.
The creature smiled at her thinly. “I am Sademeen. Most humble apologies tendered for encroaching upon your territory. We wish no conflict also.”
For several moments Eden wondered if the translator had completely malfunctioned. She smiled a little mechanically, searching her mind frantically for a response. It appeared, though, that Sademeen--indeed the aliens as a whole, were laboring under the impression that this world belonged to them, the interlopers from Earth. Her next words seemed to confirm it.
“We did not know the world below us was claimed.”
Eden reddened in spite of all she could do, uncomfortable about claiming the territory under the circumstances. She wasn’t about to admit that the world didn’t belong to them either, or that they were late comers when it came to staking a claim to it. “The facility here is merely a misunderstanding, then?” she managed to say finally.
Sademeen bowed her head slightly. “The young males discharged there are kzatha--creating problems with the mature males. We none wished to destroy our kzatha off spring, however, and sought to make peace among our males by separating two.”
Eden sent Baen a horrified glance before she could prevent it. Frowning faintly, she returned her attention to the female. “My device has not fully assimilated your tongue and fails to translate all of your words for my understanding. Baen is your off-spring?”
“One. I, myself, kzatha a small number there.”
“Discarded or possibly banished.”
A jolt went through her when the translator abruptly produced the meaning for the word, kzatha.
“You must send them away if they are a nuisance. We have not the capability to retrieve them. Or, if you must, we will understand if you destroy.”
Eden sent another horrified glance in Baen’s direction, feeling a shiver travel down her spine. Baen’s expression was very carefully neutral,
Similar Books
