Lex went to the landing bays outside the capital city and waited for the cruiser to arrive. The captain of the ship came out to greet her alone as the Prince was not present. "How many humans did you bring?" she asked.
"We have twelve males and forty-five females," the captain reported.
"I want to see them in front of me," Lex ordered.
"As you wish," the captain said.
The humans were brought before Lex each wearing a ventilator mask over their mouths. The humans were a combination of different races and nationalities. "How many of you can speak English?" Lex asked with her own vocal cords.
Some of the humans raised their hands. "Translate to the others what I am saying to you," she ordered some of those who spoke English as a second language.
After clarifying this, she spoke of the reason for why they were here. "I am the one that brought you here and because of me you are still alive. We are creating a human colony here to breed the best fighters humanity can offer. I hope you can build a civilization free of war and slavery," she said in English.
"By now you know that you are not alone in the universe. There are many inhabited planets and moons in the galaxy. You are one of the few humans to ever visit another planet in another star system. Some of you are mercenaries and murderers while some of you are innocent victims. You will need to work together if you hope to survive. You are safe in so far as you will never be killed by one of us, but we will not provide for your welfare. This is not a zoo but a game preserve. You will have to survive on your own," Lex said.
"How do you know our language?" Jason asked through the ventilator mask.
"English is the most commonly spoken language on Earth is it not?" Lex said. She then used a few phrases in other languages she had picked up. Before her transformation, Lex had traveled all over the world to climb the highest peaks. It was necessary for her to know a few phrases of the local language. The humans couldn't tell she was American by her accent as her speech was harsh and alien coming from her vocal cords.
"You expect us to live in the wild and reproduce a colony?" Jason pressed.
"Each male can fertilize multiple females," Lex said. She hated the way she had to explain this but it was necessary to keep up the act. She was always being watched.
"What is the point of all this? You breed us to be slaughtered?" Jason asked.
"The strong may survive," Lex replied.
"I will not give birth to a child destined to be killed. I would rather die childless," a woman said to her.
Lex felt uncomfortable with this debate. "You will remain here for the rest of your lives. You will never go back to Earth. Make the best of your time here."
"What kind of life is that?" Jason said and then charged Lex.
The other Yautja warriors quickly grabbed a hold of him before he could get to Lex. "Let him go. Let's see what he can do," Lex said to her guards.
The guards released a struggling Jason. He immediately attacked her punching her to the midsection like a boxer and then an upper cut to the face. Lex felt the impacts and they hurt but nothing serious. Lex then caught his arm and the two struggled. Jason tensed up all his arm muscles as he tried to free himself from Lex's grip. Lex slowly but surely brought Jason's arm downward twisting it.
"You have been beaten by a weak female. What do you think will happen to you if you fought a male warrior trained his entire life?" Lex asked him.
"I have to try," Jason said as he struggled.
"If you continue to resist you risk the lives of everyone else. Are you that selfish?" Lex asked him.
"No," he said and then stopped resisting.
Lex released Jason and then motioned to the other Yautja warriors. They took hold of Jason and gave him a severe beating. Lex turned away as she saw red blood drip on the ground.
"I don't want the human permanently damaged. Take the rest of the humans to the preserve without incident," Lex ordered the captain.
The Prince greeted his brothers at the next council meeting. Despite half of them desiring to sterilize his wife and hybrid child, they remained civil to each other. Privately the Prince hated Wapasha as they rivaled for position among the nine. Ujarak and the Prince got along well and sparred often when they were young. Ujarak concentrated on brute strength, an ability the Prince could not compete with. So, the Prince worked on his speed to counter Ujarak. The Prince was fairly indifferent to his other brothers but if he had to choose which of his brothers to support for the Throne it would be Nahuel who above all the others took the hunting traditions seriously.
Citali greeted the Prince as he arrived. "Congratulations on the birth of your daughter."
"Coming from you I am honored," the Prince replied. "What is the subject of discussion? I feel unprepared."
"Do not be anxious brother. You are an expert on the subject," Citali said.
The brothers sat down according to their position. Ujarak was on one side of the Prince while Wapasha was on the other. Citali was positioned directly in front of the Prince with Maquinna on one side of him and Nahuel on the other.
"It is good that the council is complete once more. We all mourn the death of our older brother but now we must attend to the business of the empire," Citali said.
"Long live the Empire!" they all said in unison.
"The subject to be discussed are the humans on Earth," Citali revealed. A red hologram of the planet appeared in the center before them all.
"Within fifty cycles the human population will reach ten billion inhabitants. As areas of the planet modernize they will consume more resources. The planet's ecosystem cannot maintain this over population. The humans are also releasing high levels of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which will cause the planet's surface temperatures to rise. Current projections suggest mass extinctions of animal and plant life across the planet. If we do not do something the only life forms on the planet will be humans and domesticated animals they breed to eat," Citali said.
"May I speak on this matter?" the Prince asked.
"Speak brother," Citali encouraged.
"There are projections that would indicate that in fifty cycles the human population will peak and then gradually decrease towards sustainable levels. There are areas of the planet that have negative growth rates and some domestic policies actively discourage population growth," the Prince said. The red hologram map glowed areas of Europe, Russia, and Japan. "These areas of the planet have negative growth rates and have the highest technological development," the Prince continued.
"However, the nations of the planet that have the least technological development have the highest growth rates," the Prince said.
"What are you suggesting?" Maquina asked lazily.
"If we provide the humans with technological assistance and education their birth rates should go down. Their females will be in school or working rather than copulating," the Prince said.
"Providing our technology to an alien race is forbidden for many centuries. Why do we dare to undermine it?" Wapasha asked.
"We hunt beasts that provide us a challenge. The humans are also hunters. If we formed an alliance, Yautja and humans could hunt together. If our values are superior we should indoctrinate other alien races to follow it," the Prince said.
"The humans have only been able to visit their moon and now they can't even accomplish that any more. Only a few nations on the planet can even send a human into space. Their probes have not even exited their solar system. They are unworthy to be partners," Maquina said.
"If they were given faster than light propulsion everything would change. Within the last century, the humans have dramatically increased their technological abilities. Their technology is exponentially increasing. They will eventually be able to detect our planet," the Prince said.
"Another proposed solution is that we begin reducing the human population to what it was a century ago to preserve the planet's eco system," Citali said.
"That would require the deaths of five billion humans," the Prince calculated.
"That is correct," Citali said coldly.
"I believe the humans will be aware of our strikes," the Prince said.
"We know that some of their governments are already aware of our existence even if the general human population does not. We must reconsider the policy to remain cloaked to the human population," Citali said.
"It is possible that a biological weapon could reduce the human population to sustainable levels while not implicating us," Maquina suggested.
"I do not support genocide. The killing of a sentient race on this scale will curse us and our descendants," Ujarak objected.
"We cannot allow one species to thrive while all other species on the planet perishes," Nahuel said. "If we do not act now the humans will develop weapons that could kill many Yautja warriors."
"A military strike will kill the humans and the very species you wish to protect. A biological weapon is the only solution," Maquina said to Nahuel.
"The planet has had life on it for billions of cycles. The humans have only appeared for a few hundred thousand cycles. The planet's ecosystem will survive the human presence," Tiriaq said.
"The humans now have nuclear fission weapons and nuclear fission power plants that can contaminate the land for thousands of cycles with radiation. The humans have already done this once before," Maquinna pointed out.
"If we gave them the technology to use nuclear fusion reactors the threat of nuclear contamination would be gone," the Prince said.
"Brother, you are biased by the fact that you married a human female disguised as a Yautja," Wapasha said.
"I have been to Earth more than all of you combined hunting and learning about the humans before I ever met my wife. It is my opinion that an alliance with the humans will reduce their population and environmental damage to the planet," the Prince said.
"You want more than just an alliance. You want to create a new race of Yautja/human hybrids with you as the head," Wapasha said.
"My daughter's human traits were unexpected. I thought she would be a full Yautja," the Prince said politely.
"She is an abomination," Wapasha spat.
The Prince got out of his seat and extended a wrist blade under Wapasha's chin. "If I should die you would be that abomination's father," the Prince said. "I should kill you to ensure that never happens."
"Enough of this!" Citali said pounding the table. "You may choose any one of your brothers to take custody of your wives and children including the hybrid in your will. Wapasha has too many wives and children as it is," Citali said.
"I thank you brother," the Prince said sitting back down.
"When I am King, I will move against the humans to preserve the ecosystem of the Earth. If you believe we should do nothing or if you believe we should form an alliance with the humans the time to do so is now while our father is still listening," Citali said.
Citali then paused to consider. "The proposal before us is an alliance with the humans. Does anyone oppose this proposal?"
"Yes," Wapasha said.
"What is your vote?" Citali said.
The brothers pushed a button on their table to indicate their vote. Wapasha: No, Ujarak: Yes, Tiriaq: No, Shikoba: No, Quidel: No, Nahuel: No, and Maquinna: No. The Prince voted yes after he saw how everyone else voted. Citali tallied the votes and saw that only 7 votes were in favor. "I vote no," Citali said.
The Prince was not surprised and appeared apathetic as the vote went down. "The next proposal is an immediate strike on the Earth using a biological weapon," Citali said.
Wapasha: Yes, Ujarak: No, Tiriaq: No, Shikoba: Yes, Quidel: No, Nahuel: No, Maquinna: Yes. The Prince voted no. The vote was 36-49. Citali was the deciding vote again. "I vote yes," he said making the vote 36-74.
"It is resolved that we recommend to the King that a biological weapon be used on the Earth to curb the population growth of the humans," Citali said.