Disclaimer: I own nothing but Morrick and a fuzzy bath towel. 0.O
2. And You Are?
"Madam, perhaps I should introduce myself. I'm Morrick Evans." I hate my name. It makes me feel like I'm supposed to be a girl. Morrick is, technically, the masculine version of Merrique. I think my mother picked my and my sister's names from an Anne Rice book. (My sister's name is Claudia. Go figure.) Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
"I am K'ata of Pran'rel. You are human, yes?" K'ata looked uncomfortable in armor, I noted. I also saw that the armor was a bit too big for her. She shifted her weight constantly, and her fingers twitched uncertainly.
"Yes, I do indeed happen to be human. And what are you?" And then I blushed, feeling a bit foolish. Bravado is a wonderful thing, but too much of it is nauseating. "Er, never mind. That was rude of me. Something more important: why are you here?" I felt giddy. "Is Earth being invaded?"
She made a sound half between a snort and a grunt. (I was trying to remember the Predator movies. Knowing the correct terms for whatever they do might be a bit of a reassurance to me.) Shaking her head, she said, "You are vain, human." She paused. "Morrick. You are vain to believe that we-- that the Elders would have any interest in this planet. Your kind has nearly destroyed it. You will destroy it soon." She gave a mocking laugh.
I crowed jubilantly. "I knew it! I knew it! Ha ha, I knew it knew it knew it! Oh wait." Something was odd here. "Are you an Elder, then?" I asked, uneasy.
She looked down and away and said, "No. I am not." Returning her gaze to me (I thought anyway, she was wearing a mask), she said, "It is not your concern."
"Lovely. Why are you here?" If mother dearest caught me with K'ata, I was certain we'd both be dead. Well, I'd get grounded, but she'd be dead. My mother is squeamish. I had to hurry this up.
"You would not wish to know. It is a very… cumbersome story to grasp."
"Try me." To me, I sounded reassuring.
"Very well then. Sit."
"Better yet, let's go into my room. Watch your head," I said in a tense whisper. In lieu of a proper bed, I had a trampoline. I'd covered it with all the comforters I could find. It was really rather pleasant after you got over the fact that most of the comforters were pink. K'ata followed me into my room, ducking the door and making a growly purring sound, her version of muttering, I supposed. "You sit," I directed her. I did a funky sort of leap thing to the far side of the bed.
She sat, and slid as the trampoline took her weight. She was two hundred fifty, maybe three hundred pounds, and like I said, all of it seemed to be muscle and height. I was one thirty or so, with a fair bit of muscle from weightlifting in gym - it was that or sex Ed, go figure - and five foot six. I was a sparrow next to an eagle - a big eagle - compared to her.
She reached up to the side of her mask and fumbled a bit searching for the tube-things there. Finding them, she disconnected them. She pulled the mask off, revealing her face to me. I fought to stay calm as I saw that face. She was considerably different from the monsters on television. The mandibles were pretty much the same, only the teeth were much sharper looking in real life. Her eyes were sand colored with lavender veining and dark purple pupils instead of black. A half healed cut marred her cheek, and tattoos of the same design as the ones on her palms bordered her hairline. I found myself thinking that she was pretty. Where had that come from?
A sigh, and she began, "Are you certain you wish to know?" At my nod, she continued, "I am K'ata of Pran'rel. That's a clan," she said, being purposefully condescending. "I am first of the Cre'merean Order, with more of that ability than anyone of my generation."
"What's the Crematorium Order?" I asked blankly.
"Cre'merean Order. It is an order of what you call -" she paused to find the word. "Telepaths. The females of our species have the telepathic ability in a greater degree and more frequently than the males. I am able to speak your language because of my ability. I am surprised that you did not ask. Are all humans as absentminded as you?"
I blushed. It hadn't even entered my mind that she was speaking English and not… whatever language she normally spoke. "No, I'm just a particularly foolish variety of human."
She nodded, satisfied. "As I was saying, not only am I greatest with the ability, but I am also the youngest with it."
"How old are you, in Earth years?" I asked, and winced because I had interrupted her again.
"I am roughly nineteen Earth years old," she said.
"So you're a prodigy," I said.
"Yes. If you have quite finished interrupting?"
"I just want to understand!" I said grumpily.
"Ask questions after I've finished then." I was silent. "I am a prodigy, as you put it. As you may know, my species is known for its violent behavior. This causes us to war frequently. You understand peace offerings, yes?" I nodded, still silent. "Well, I was one. As a young, intelligent, gifted female - you get my point here?" Another nod. My neck might start hurting if I kept on like this. "Now, there are not simply two warring clans in this. We had planned to form an alliance with this clan and destroy the other. However, the enemy was ahead of us in this. They had placed several operatives onboard our ship, how I do not know, to kill all but my guards and me. My guards were to be heavily sedated." At my snort of disbelief, she said, "Just because humans have nothing that can incapacitate us, do you believe that we are less capable than you?" I shook vehemently. "I was to be used as a weapon against both clans. The males seemed to think that they could convince me. They are foolish." I nodded agreement. All males are foolish, and no one knows why.
"So, all were killed. My guards did not like their attempt, and they fought to the death, killing all of the enemy's operatives. However, they sustained serious damage as well. All died." Cold grief held her voice. "Now, would you like being carted around like a pet?" Shake. "On a ship full of dead people?" Shake. "Right then. I took one of the smaller ships and left. I went to the nearest planet in the ship's log, which happened to be this one. I scanned -" she tapped her temple "for some form of compatible life form. I found you." She studied me for a moment. "That is it."
"So, are you hiding out on Earth?" I had digested all this with an open mind. I was sympathetic. And I didn't want to get killed. If she was a telepath, life was going to be difficult from now on.
"Yes, I am hiding on Earth. As it is forbidden to most, they should not think to look here for a considerable time." I swear on my grandmother, she sounded smug.
"Just how long is a 'considerable time' supposed to be?" I asked worriedly. So Earth was going to get invaded.
"Two hundred years, give or take a decade or two."
At this point, I was willing to faint. "Let me get this straight. You plan to stay and terrorize Earth for two hundred years? You must have a very, er, long lifespan? Just how long do you live?"
"I am not going to terrorize Earth. I plan to stay as hidden as is possible. Female Yautja - that's what we call ourselves - live for five hundred to seven hundred of our years. It is more on the human scale. Males live for four hundred to eight hundred years, though it can be more." She gave a little laugh. "My own father has lived for nine hundred thirty-eight years."
"Prestigious. How long are you staying with me?" Somehow, spending the rest of my life with K'ata didn't seem all that lovely. What would happen if I got a real girlfriend? (For the record, I have a girlfriend. We just don't admit it or act like we're supposed to.)
"Ten to fifteen of your years." At my look of horrified relief, she scowled. "Any longer and I would be forced by irritation to kill you."
"And take my skull and wear it, right?" I can be a very cheeky fellow if I put my mind to it.
"Female Yautja do not take trophies." Her mandibles clicked in either annoyance or disgust. "If I killed you, I would perhaps break your neck. It is less… messy." She laughed again. I felt nauseous.
Changing the subject, I said, "As lovely as that sounds, I have a lot of lazing about to do tomorrow. That means I need sleep." I looked over to my wall clock. It was past one already. "Er, do you sleep?"
"Yes. A lot." She did what must've been a grin.
"Okay, fine. We'll sleep now, if you don't mind. You've given me a headache." She nodded, and started to take off her armor. I was relieved to see that she wore halfway normal clothes under it. Before I turned the light off, I got my CD player and put Loreena McKennitt in on repeat. Better than Enya at making me sleep, this was.
The light off, snug in my blanket, I fell off to sleep instantly, my mind filled with dreams of highwaymen and mummers.
A/N: A bit longer chapter now. Yay. Something is making me think that I'm going to have to explain Morrick. Problem is, I haven't written that yet. -Riya