The two wives gave Lex curious looks, and then motioned for her to follow. Lex didn't know enough about the Yautjas to make an accurate guess, but she figured these two wives were younger than her by a few years. They walked up a number of stairs to the second floor, and then more stairs to the third floor. They then walked down a hallway, and then opened one of the doors by punching in the combination on the door. Opening the door, Lex saw a comfortable looking room. The room itself was the size of her apartment back on Earth with a large bedroom, a living room, and bathroom. The only thing that detracted from the room were some of the skull trophies of wild beasts on the wall. Thankfully none of the skulls were human or else she would have to remove them.

"Do you approve?" Talutah asked.

"It's very nice," Lex said, as she looked through all the rooms.

Talutah sat on a couch while Kachina toured the house with Lex. "The water temperature is voice command, so if you desire it hotter or cooler you merely have to say it," she said to Lex.

"On," Lex said to the shower, and immediately water started pouring. "Off," Lex commanded, and the water stopped.

"If you need to increase or decrease the temperature in the room, you can change the settings here," Kachina pointed out the device.

Lex fiddled with the red symbols on the device, and then put the temperature at the equivalent temperature of 70F. Princess (6) eyed Talutah as Lex worked the thermostat to her liking. "Earth must be colder than here," Kachina speculated.

"It depends. In some places ice covers the surface permanently, and in other places deserts can extend for thousands of miles with no rainfall for years. This place reminds me of the tropics," Lex commented.

"Activate hologram of Earth," Talutah ordered a projector on a table.

The projector showed an image of the Earth with the moon rotating around it. "With the oceans so large, the weather must be more extreme than here," Talutah speculated.

Lex shrugged, and then opened a closet filled with dresses. She wondered if t-shirts and pants were too radical for the Prince's tastes. She opened the second closet, and found her armor, but her weapons were missing. "You have killed?" Kachina asked.

"Yes, quite a few," Lex said softly.

Her lack of enthusiasm for killing was easily detected by the two wives. "We will need to get some rest," Talutah excused herself.

"Thank you for everything," Lex said graciously.

The two wives exited the room, gave Lex a curious glance, and then closed the door. Lex was alone to consider her thoughts. She looked out the window, and saw the sun still high. She wondered why the two wives would need rest, and then it hit her. No doubt each wife would take her turn with the Prince during the night. Lex was sure she was against polygamy and feminine submission, but it seemed to work for these people. Considering all the things the Prince had done, polygamy was not much of a big deal.

Lex took off her robes, and took a nice bath in the tub. Unlike the ship, not everything in the bathroom was metallic. Resting in her bubble bath, she tried to forget about her troubles.

The next morning, a guard awoke Lex by knocking on her door. "Be right there!" she shouted at the door. She put on red robes from her closet, and was escorted down to the first floor. The Prince was not there to greet her, which concerned her. "After your breakfast, you will be transported to the city," the guard told her.

"I see," she replied.

Breakfast was not the typical orange juice and cereal. Instead it was an assortment of meats, and milk from some creature she had no idea about. "Our bodies require protein to remain strong," the guard told her upon seeing her dismay.

Lex sat down, and looked for a fork. Seeing none, she reached for the meat. Tasting and chewing it, the meat reminded her of fish. The guard watched, as she ate the meat and milk to make her full. "Okay, I'm good," she said.

"This way," the guard led her outside.

Walking outside, she saw a larger than usual sun appear just over the horizon. She went inside the hover craft, and accelerated down the mountain towards the city. Once she got to her lawyer's office, she approached the clerk at the front desk.

"I'm here for an appointment," Lex said uncertain of herself.

"Place your hand on the pad," the clerk instructed her.

Lex placed her palm on the pad, and the clerk immediately knew her identity. "He is expecting you," the clerk said. The clerk then led her to the lawyer's office where she waited for attention. The lawyer eventually opened the door for her. "Come in," he said.

Lex went inside the room, and noticed how normal it appeared. She didn't see any skull trophies; the room reminded her of the captain's quarters on a ship. It was entirely metallic including the desk and chairs. "Take a seat Miss Woods," the lawyer smiled at her.

Lex simply stared at him. "I have reviewed your case, and I have contacted the family of the deceased. They are willing to settle for 100 pds of gold or equivalent currency," the lawyer said.

Lex did some calculations in her head. Gold was around $1000 an oz, so 100 pds would be $1,600,000. "That's 1.6 million dollars!" Lex expressed her dismay.

The lawyer simply stared at her, as he had no idea what she was talking about. "It is on the high side, but that might have something to do with my employment in this case. Due to my involvement, the family assumes the Prince will pay up on your behalf."

"Yeah right," Lex said scornfully. "I can't afford that kind of money."

"A female of your skill level may possibly receive two pds of gold a year in this economy. You would work for the family until the debt is paid off," the lawyer explained.

"I would be a slave…for fifty years!" Lex said incredulously.

"Yautja life spans are longer than humans. You will have many more years to live after your debt has been paid off. The family may even forgive your debt for loyal service," the lawyer said.

"There is no way I am going to be an indentured servant for that creature's family for fifty years," Lex refused.

"Our other option is to take it to trial. Of course, if we lose you may have to pay even more in damages at the judge's discretion."

"I think a judge would be fairer than that," Lex said.

"Settlements of this amount are not uncommon, and indentured servants are treated well in our society. That being said, the Prince wishes you to take this case to trial. If taken to trial, it will create new case law that will establish a precedent for your unique situation."

"Are you on his side or mine?" Lex asked annoyed.

"I follow the Prince's instruction to defend you in Court. The Prince and I both support your interests," the lawyer said defensively.

"Then I want to take this to trial," Lex decided.

"Very well. The trial will begin in a few weeks time. During that time, we will review the events of what happened that led to the warrior's death. I have a strategy in mind that may work in our favor."

"What strategy?"

"I will bring up the biological data collected on the Prince's ship indicating your lack of metal development in several areas of your brain. Despite your transformation, you still have the mental capacity of a human. We will work to prove that you were mentally incapable of knowing the consequences of your actions, as well as being incapable of having empathy for your species."

"You're going to argue that I am retarded?"

"No, that would be disrespectful towards them," the lawyer said. "We will also prove that the warrior went to Earth of his own volition, and took many risks while present there. We can thus establish the argument that he was literally asking the gods to strike him down due to the risks he took. We will also attempt to downplay your actions in his demise. We will also hope to shame the family by implying their son or husband was defeated by the likes of you," the lawyer continued.

"You're making me look bad here," Lex said annoyed.

"Exactly. The more pathetic, ignorant, and foolish we can make you, the more sympathy we will be able to get from the judge and public opinion."

Lex left the lawyer's office not too enthused with his services. She was then taken by the driver to conduct a number of tasks. Her first objective was to get her hair treated by a salon. She went inside, and a number of female Yautja's chatting. Upon her entering the room, they stopped talking and stared at her. The driver talked with the salon owner on her behalf.

"Come with me," the salon owner said to her.

Lex was sat down, and immediately they began to work on her. "A male must have done this," the beautician remarked upon seeing her hair. Her locks were unbraided, and then her hair was placed in a liquid solution. After a few moments of that, the beauticians cut her damaged hair, and began the process of tightly braiding her hair. Using a tool, they twisted her hair as tight as they could. Lex tensed up, as she felt a painful sensation from her scalp. She felt like they were ripping the hair from her head. Once they were done twisting, they carefully placed golden locks to keep her hair in place. After they were done, Lex looked in the mirror.

Lex wasn't so sure about this hairstyle all Yautjas seemed to have. She wondered if she could experiment with her hair by having it flow down her shoulders, tie it in a bun, or cut it short. "It is acceptable," the driver said.

After leaving the salon, Lex was driven to a clinic. As before on the outpost, a doctor checked her vitals and gave her a detailed analysis. Another brain scan was done on her, but unlike before the doctor noticed a few changes in her brain activity. "There is increased activity here," the doctor pointed out.

"What does that part do?" Lex asked.

"It is the part of the brain that desires to mate," the doctor answered.

The doctor then conducted blood tests. He showed her a visual image of her DNA on a hologram. "Your DNA still has human genes, but they have all been turned off. Your replacement genes are all functioning correctly," the doctor pointed out.

"What would happen if I had conceived?" Lex wondered.

"The male's genes would be dominant against the human genes, but there is the possibility of mutation. I would not advise it," the doctor said.

"What could happen?"

"The child could have serious birth defects. For example, it may not grow its mandibles," the doctor warned.

Author's Note: The price of gold is based roughly on 2005 exchanges between gold and the US dollar. It is a bit higher now than it was then.