Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 Part 13 Accepting Dizyntk (FF, scfi)

   Had to change a couple of ages and such.  I messed up my time..lol.



   Michael Christopher sat with his eyes closed as he listened to the crew
around him go about their jobs.  He was still not used to the idea that he
rated a ship the size of an Imperial cruiser to transport him.  It was true
that he had been a Dizyntk ambassador for almost four cyankas but during
that time he had not really done anything.  He was supposed to be the
representative of the Empress to any humans that wished to settle in
Dizyntk space.  That made sense when one considered that he was the only
human currently residing within the Dizyntk Imperium.  The reality was that
for the past four cyankas there had been no human ships that had come
seeking entrance into Dizyntk territory.  One week ago that had changed
however.  An Imperial messenger ship had arrived on Sapphire with news that
a small group of human transport ships had arrived and had been escorted by
Dizyntk warships to the planet of Elishen.  This was the planet that he and
the Empress had agreed to bring any humans to during the meetings they had
held those two cyankas earlier when Michael had been made ambassador.  Now
he was on his way to finally do the job that he had been asked to do.

   The large sleek starship, whose name in English was Amber Lightning, was
brand new.  It had completed its' trial flight only three weeks before. 
The ship's captain was the same Dizyntk who had been in command of the
destroyer which had rescued Michael and his mate five cyankas before. 
Captain Lefarsa had served in the Imperial fleet since he had been 12
cyankas old.  He was now nearing his thirtieth birthday.  This made him
just a bit older than the human whom he was now transporting.  He still
smiled when he thought of how well this human had adapted to living among
his people.  He had not really thought that Michael would stay on Sapphire.
Lefarsa had been genuinely surprised when Michael had actually bonded with
Princess Feyalisa.  He had only to look at the young female standing next
to the pilot's station to understand one of the reasons why the human had
done so.  No male, even if he was human, would ever willingly abandon such
a beautiful and intelligent child.  It was obvious by looking at her that
both of her parents had done a fine job in raising her.

   Ariarisha was having fun watching the pilot guide the ship.  She had
been fascinated with piloting ever since she was a child on the uninhabited
planet she had been born on.  The fact that her father had been a starship
pilot probably had much to do with this.  She watched as the young ensign's
fingers rapidly entered information into the computer that altered the
large ship's flight path.  The Dizyntk pilot wore a helmet that gave her a
three dimensional view of the ship's surroundings.  It was almost as if she
was the ship.  Using this equipment a skilled pilot could maneuver the ship
through an opening no larger than a foot wider than the ship itself. 
Ensign Nalaria was most certainly a skilled pilot.  Ariarisha's presence
next to her was not distracting.  If anything Nalaria enjoyed having the
eldest daughter of the princess watching her work with such obvious
interest.  As she finished entering the last information needed to guide
the ship to the jump point she removed her helmet and turned to the
Captain.

   "We will reach jump point in ten minutes, Captain Lefarsa." she said. 
"The ship is responding well."

   "Very good Ensign, thank you." he replied.

   Nalaria looked at Aria and asked, "Are you going to learn how to pilot
star craft, My Lady?"

   Aria nodded and answered, "I have already learned a little of how to do
so.  I love it."

   Michael watched as his daughter and the ship's pilot talked.  It was
hard to believe that she would be eight cyankas old in just two months. 
Had it really been twelve years since her birth?  Had it really been
fifteen years since he had seen another human?  Yes, it was that long since
he had crashed on that fateful day so long ago.  That day on which he had
saved a young Dizyntk not much older than Aria was now.  He still loved
Feyalisa as much now as he did on the day two years after the crash that he
had first had sex with her.  The very day that Aria was conceived in fact.
He now had two more children.  His son, Kalenderan, was now almost four
cyankas old.  His birthday was only a month after Aria's.  His newest child
was a daughter by his other bonded mate, Velakari.  Asinalani had turned
three cyankas just a month ago.  Now Michael was on his way to meet other
humans again.  He had not intended to bring Aria with him but she had
insisted.  She had never known another human other than her father.  Being
half-human herself she was very eager to acquaint herself with more of her
father's race.  The fact that she was able to speak English as well as her
father would help him in his mission.  That had been her argument to him
when she asked to come along.

   About two hours after entering FTL, Michael and Aria retired to their
room and went to sleep.  This was the other reason why Aria wished to
accompany her father.  She knew that he would need a sleep mate during the
trip.  Aria loved sleeping with her father.  She did not get to do so
nearly enough as far as she was concerned.  For at least the next month,
however, she would be able to do so almost every night.

   As she snuggled next to him and felt his arms wrap around her, she said
in her father's language, "I love you, daddy."

   Michael stroked her hair and replied, "I love you to, Aria."

   The two of them then fell asleep.

   Back on Sapphire, Velakari was standing at the foot of the bed that her
daughter shared with Feya's son.  Even at such a young age, Dizyntk did not
like sleeping alone.  The two children were curled up in a ball with each
other and sleeping soundly.  Kari had her eyes closed and her hands crossed
over her chest as she offered a prayer to the Goddess for the safety and
health of both hers and Feya's children.  As she finished, she felt two
arms wrap around her and two hands come to rest on top of her own.  Kari
smiled even wider as she felt Feya's body press against hers and her face
nuzzle into her hair.

   Feyalisa breathed Kari's scent in and smiled.  She loved the way her
mate smelled.

   "How often do I thank you for watching over them every day?" Feya asked.

   Kari closed her eyes and felt Feya squeeze her tighter.  "At least once
a day." she responded.

   Feya then turned Kari around to face her.  She then cradled Kari's face
in her hands and leaned in.

   "That is not nearly often enough." Feya whispered.

   She then kissed Kari softly and deeply.  Their tongues intertwined as
Kari wrapped her arms around Feya.  They hugged each other gently as they
kissed.  Their tails were wrapping around each others waists.  Feya, who
was quite aggressive in her lovemaking with Michael, was usually very
gentle with Kari.  It was if Kari's own tenderness infected Feya when the
two of them were together.  Feya released Kari and walked over to the bed.
She bent over and softly kissed the two sleeping children.  She then walked
back over to Kari, took her hand, and then led her out of the room and down
the hallway to their own.

   After entering their bedroom, the two of them slowly removed each others
clothing.  Kari tilted her head back as Feya softly licked and kissed on
her neck.  Feya's fingers slowly stroked down the soft fur covering Kari's
spine.  As her hand reached Kari's tail she gently wrapped her fingers
around it and slowly stroked its length.

   Kari gasped as she felt her tail being stroked.  The feeling of Feya's
fingers running down her spine had already started to get her wet.  As the
hand slowly went up her tail, her pussy began dripping.  Kari then felt
Feya's other hand slide between her legs.  Feya's fingers began softly
stroking her pussy.  Kari could feel her entire body tingling as Feya
continued playing with her.  Feya then gently pushed her down onto the bed.
She then began stroking one of Kari's ears as she continued to play with
her pussy.  Kari reached up and petted Feya's face.  Feya then leaned down
and kissed her.  Kari felt Feya slide her tongue into her mouth.  She then
slipped her own tongue into Feya as she returned the kiss.

   Feya began licking her way down Kari's body.  She could feel Kari's
hands running through her hair.  As she reached the pubic area, Feya softly
rubbed her nose against the soft layer of fur.  Feya breathed in deeply
through her nose.  She was intoxicated by the scent coming from Kari's
soaking pussy.  She then buried her face between her mate's legs and slid
her tongue completely inside of her.  Kari's body arched upwards as she did
this.  Her hands pulled Feya's head tightly against her wet slit.  Feya
continued to lick her friend for several minutes.  Just as Feya sensed that
Kari was about to climax, she stopped her licking.  She then waited for the
approaching orgasm to recede and then continued licking.  She did this
several more times over the next hour.  Finally she slid up Kari's sweat
covered body.  She kissed Kari as she felt her lover's arms wrap around
her. Feya positioned her tail at the entrance of Kari's drenched pussy and
slowly pushed it inside of her.

   Kari was almost incoherent by this point.  Feya had rarely teased her
for this length of time.  Her entire body was shaking.  The sensation of
Feya's tail plunging into her made her hips buck up.  She squeezed her arms
around Feya's body pulling her tightly against herself.  She could feel the
tail pumping in and out of her.  It moved slowly at first, then with
increasing speed.  As her orgasm raced towards her, she unconsciously dug
her claws into Feya's arms.  Feya then wrapped her arms around her head and
pulled her face against her chest.  Kari then felt Feya's tail change its
angle.  As it continued to pump in and out of her, the new angle caused it
to brush rapidly against her clitoris.  Kari felt her body lock just before
her entire mind went completely blank.

   Feya felt her friend's body tense.  Then Kari howled so loudly that,
even with her face buried against her chest, it echoed off the walls.  She
could feel Kari's claws as they drug slowly and painfully up her arms. 
Starting halfway to her elbows, Kari scratched all the way up to Feya's
shoulders before her body went limp.  As Kari collapsed on the bed, Feya
could feel the claws retract.  Feya then released her arms from Kari's head
and gently laid it on the bed.  As Feya waited for Kari to regain her
senses, she withdrew her tail and began licking Kari's juices off of it. 
She loved the taste of her mate.  She looked down and saw that Kari was
opening her eyes.  Feya took a finger and ran it through the blood flowing
down her arm.  She then took the finger and softly traced the blood onto
Kari's lips.  Kari was still in a daze but slowly licked the blood off of
her lips.

   The taste of Feya's blood caused Kari to come back to full awareness. 
Her eyes widened and she shakily sat up and looked at Feya's arms.

   She then looked into Feya's eyes and said in a shaky, halting voice,
"You...did that...on purpose."

   Feya nodded her head.  "Yes I did." Then she kissed her.

   Feya then smiled and said, "I love the way your tongue feels when it
cleans my wounds."

   Kari laughed at this.  She then leaned forward and began licking the
blood from Feya's arms.  She kept licking for almost half an hour.  Finally
the cuts she had made on Feya's arms slowed their bleeding.  Then Kari
continued her licking on the rest of Feyalisa's body.  Feya was in such a
state of arousal that it did not take long for Velakari's skilled tongue to
bring her to orgasm.

   Afterwards the two bonded mates wrapped their arms and tails around each
other, snuggled their bodies against each other and fell into a blissful
slumber.

   Amber Lightning arrived at the planet Elishen exactly on schedule. 
Elishen was the smallest of the planets in the Second Star Cluster,
population wise.  Even so, there was nearly one billion Dizyntk on the
planet.  Elishen contained four major landmasses.  The majority of the
population was located on the largest two.  The human refugees had been
taken to the smallest, and most remote, of the four.  It was called
Oleestrin.  Oleestrin covered nearly three million square kilometers, just
less than half the size of Australia on Earth.  It was a rugged land. 
Almost half of it was covered with mountains.  Its location in the southern
reaches of the planet also meant that it was a cold land.  The northern
coast was the most hospitable region but even here summer was short. 
Because of this, the Dizyntk population here was only about 50,000.  All
but about 5,000 of these were divided evenly between the two largest towns
on the northern coast.  The rest were spread out among about a dozen small
communities scattered across the remainder of the land.  The reason for
bringing the humans here was twofold.  Firstly, the small local population
meant that the new arrivals would have a chance to get used to their new
home without having to interact with large numbers of Dizyntk, whose
language and customs they were not yet used to.  Secondly, Oleestrin
contained a small vacation residence owned by the royal family on Sapphire.


   As the shuttle approached the residence that Michael would be using, he
thought that he would not use the word small to describe it.  While it was
certainly not as large as the palace on Sapphire, it was still three
stories high and had a footprint of almost an acre.  The surrounding wall
encircled almost a square kilometer.  The small ship landed right in front
of the building and Michael could see about 100 dizyntk waiting for him. 
About thirty of them were military personnel who were there as security. 
The rest were the staff needed to maintain the house and surrounding
grounds.  As Michael and Aria exited the ship, the assembled Dizyntk bowed
in deference.  While he may have been human, Michael was both the official
representative of the Empress and the bonded mate of Crown Princess
Feyalisa.  The head of the staff approached Michael and Aria and bowed
again.  She was five feet tall with fur and hair that was a swirl of light
and dark green.  The hair was tied back and reached down to the bottom of
back.  Her eyes were a deep ruby red with an average amount of flecking. 
Her tail was quite long, almost 8 inches longer than normal.

   "Welcome to the Oleestrin Royal Residence, Lord Michael and Lady
Ariarisha." she said in a very formal tone.  "I am Iriatrosi; I am the head
of the staff here.  You may call me Iria if you like."

   Michael nodded to her and said.  "Thank you Iria, I will not be staying
long.  Could I ask you to look after my daughter till I return?"

   She raised her head and replied, "Of course, it would be my pleasure."

   Aria looked at her father and protested.  "I want to come with you,
father.  I want to meet them."

   Michael put his hand on her cheek.  "You will get to meet them, but not
today.  I need to talk with them first and explain things.  I promise I
will take you there in a couple of days, ok?"

   Aria was disappointed, but nodded her head in agreement

   Michael patted her head and said, "I love you, kitten."

   This made Aria feel a little better.  She liked it when her father
called her kitten.  She then went with Iria into the mansion.  After
talking with the head of the security detail, Michael re-boarded the
shuttle and left for where the human colonists were.

   As the shuttle approached the human transports, Michael immediately
recognized the ships.  They were old Baker class transport ships, six of
them.  If he remembered correctly they were capable of holding up to 500
people each.  By the looks of them, they had been through a lot.  Three of
the ships looked to have taken battle damage.  Michael could see that the
people from the ships had set up shelters around the outside of the ships.
He could also see about 200 Dizyntk troops in full battle armor surrounding
the area around the ships.  Dizyntk battle armor was a pretty scary looking
outfit.  It had a faceplate that did not show the operators face.  The
faceplate instead looked like a fierce feline mask.  The suits themselves
were dull gray and possessed "combat claws".  These were four inch long
blades that could snap out from the fingers.  The Dizyntk battle armor was
responsible for most of the descriptions among humans of what Dizyntk
looked like.  Michael sighed and shook his head.  He realized that security
was necessary, but he did not think that full battle armor was called for.

   He looked at the comm.  officer and said, "Contact the officer in charge
of those troops and have them withdraw three kilometers."

   "My Lord?  Are you sure?" the officer asked with a bit of worry in his
voice.

   Michael nodded.  Then he smiled and said, "It will be easier to talk
with them if they are not frightened."

   Michael waited as the orders were relayed.  As expected, the Major in
charge of the troops protested the idea.  In the end, however, she obeyed
the order and the troops began withdrawing.  He then instructed the pilot
to land the shuttle.

   Kristine Gerhardt, as the senior surviving Captain, was the nominal
leader of the 2200 humans who had made it to this planet.  They had
originally had ten ships and 4000 people.  In the three weeks they had
taken to get to Dizyntk space, they had been attacked twice by Protectorate
ships.  Thankfully, in both cases it was a single small vessel.  That was
enough to destroy four of their ships and damage three others.  The attacks
had also killed 1800 people.  Despite these loses she had to consider it a
success.  She had not really intended to stay in Dizyntk territory.  She
had simply meant to cross through it in order to shake pursuit.  She was
surprised and thankful that the Dizyntk warships that had intercepted their
transports had been able to easily translate basic English and had allowed
them entry.  She was even more surprised when they played a recorded
message that invited them to stay in dizyntk space if they wished.  After
discussing this with the other leaders of the group, it was decided to take
up the offer.  They had taken another week to get to the planet they were
instructed to land on.  That had been four days ago, and now Kristine was
worried.  They had been given foodstuffs and basic medical supplies, for
which they were grateful.  Then the Dizyntk soldiers surrounded them.  They
did not attack, but they were not exactly doing anything for her group's
morale.  People were scarred of what would happen next.  They had been told
that an ambassador would arrive to talk with them but so far nobody had
shown up.  She took note of the shuttle circling overhead but gave it
little thought.  There had been several that had done so over the last four
days.  She was having a meeting with the five other ships captains who,
together with herself, were in charge.  About this time they heard a
commotion outside of the large tent that they were in.  As they went out to
investigate they saw what everyone was excited about.  The Dizyntk troops
were withdrawing.  Kristine knew this could be good or bad.

   Just then her friend, Captain Richard West, called her attention to
something else.  "Hey, Kristy, I think that shuttle is landing."

   She turned to look and, sure enough, it was landing.

   "Maybe that's the ambassador we were told to expect." she said.  "I sure
hope so."

   The six of them then told everyone else to stay put and then walked out
to where the ship landed.

   As the shuttles door opened, four armed Dizyntk emerged and took up
positions on either side of the door.  At least Kristine assumed they were
Dizyntk.  She had never seen one outside of that terrifying armor they
wore. These four had simple body armor on and, for the very first time, she
could see their features.  She stopped for a moment and looked at them. 
One of the other captains, John Richards, said it first.

   "Those are Dizyntk?  They're kind of...I don't know...cute?" he said
quietly.

   Certainly she could agree with that assessment.  They were kind of
attractive; except for the weapons they were all carrying.  There was
nothing cute at all about those.  She did notice, however, that they were
not pointing their weapons at them.  All of the muzzles were pointed at the
ground.  Then two more Dizyntk exited the ship and walked towards them. 
They were both wearing clothing that looked not the slightest bit military.
It was also obvious that the one in front was female.  The two of them
stopped in front of the group and smiled.

   "Welcome to the planet Elishen." the female said in English.  "My name
is Kenatheri.  Which of you is in charge?"

   It took Kristine a moment to say anything.  She had expected some sort
of translating device to be used.  That was what had happened with the
Dizyntk ships.  This Dizyntk in front of her was speaking perfect English
however.

   "I am Captain Gerhardt, Kristine Gerhardt." she said with amazement in
her voice.  "You can speak English?"

   Kenatheri nodded and said "Yes I can, thanks to the ambassador."

   "You are not the ambassador?" asked one of the other captains.

   She shook her head.  "No I am not.  He will be out in a moment.  He just
wanted you to first see what Dizyntk truly look like."

   "I don't understand." Kristine said.  "Wouldn't it have the same effect
if he was standing here?"

   Kenatheri shook her head again.  "No it would not.  Please try not to
act too surprised."

   Then she and the other Dizyntk with her walked halfway back to the ship,
turned, and waited.

   When the next figure emerged from the ship and began walking towards
her, you could have knocked Kristy Gerhardt over with a feather.  She was
having a little trouble believing it at first.  There was no mistaking the
fact that the person walking towards them at that moment was Human.  He was
tall, just over six feet.  He appeared to be in his late thirties or early
forties.  He was also wearing what she believed to be Dizyntk clothing.  At
least the style and patterns of colors were not familiar to her.

   Michael was smiling.  He found the shock in the faces of the six people
he was approaching to be amusing but understandable.  He quickly recognized
the rank insignia on Captain Gerhardt as that of a Protectorate Fleet
starship captain.  An ordinary freighter captain she was not.  As one last
bit of amusement, when Michael reached the group he snapped to attention
and saluted the captain.

   "Welcome to the Imperium, Captain Gerhardt." he said politely.

   Kristine reacted out of reflex and returned the salute.  Then she
quickly regained her senses and said what all of her friends were thinking.

   "You...you are human." she said in amazement.

   "I was the last time I checked." Michael replied.

   Captain West then said, "I didn't think there were any humans living in
the Imperium."

   Michael looked at him and said, "There isn't, well except for me."

   There was a moment of silence as the six captains wondered what to say
next.

   Michael broke the moment.  "I suppose introductions are in order." he
said.  He then cleared his throat and continued.  "I am Michael
Christopher, formerly a lieutenant in the Courier Service.  I am currently
the ambassador to your group from the Empress Ziniadyra."

   Kristine looked him over.  He was pretty old for a lieutenant.  Captain
Alexis Jones, the youngest of the group at 32 said it first.  "Lieutenant?
How long have you fucking been here?"

   Michael chuckled at the surprise in her voice.  "Almost fifteen years.
Well to be honest, the first seven years were not technically spent in the
Imperium."

   He then held up his hand to stop any more questions.  "Explanations can
wait till later.  For right now, is there anything that you all need?"

   They did indeed need things.  They had already prepared a list of these
things.  Michael read the list over.  He smiled and nodded at them.

   "This shouldn't be a problem." he said.  "Most of this stuff can be here
by tomorrow." Then he added, "I also would like to apologize for the troops
earlier.  They will not be back, at least not in battle armor."

   Kristine nodded in thanks.  "Thank you, they were scarring the
children."

   "How many children are there?" Michael asked.

   "We would need to ask Doctor Winston for an exact number, but I think
that it's somewhere around 500 under the age of fifteen." Kristine
answered.

   Michael shook his head a laughed a bit at the thought of Aria learning
that there were 500 human children here.  He would have to chain her to a
wall in the basement to keep her from coming.  Even that might not stop
her.

   Alexis asked, "What is so funny about that?"

   Michael just said, "Oh nothing.  It is just the thought of my daughter's
reaction."

   "Your daughter!?" the six of them asked in unison.

   Michael hung his head for a moment as he realized that he could no
longer put off telling his story to them.

   "Do we have somewhere to sit down?  This is going to take a while." he
said.

   Kristine Gerhardt smiled at this.  "I bet it will."

   Michael turned and called out, "Virathea, come here please."

   Virathea was now a major in the Royal Guard.  She was here at the
personal request of both the Queen and the Princess.  She approached
Michael and bowed her head slightly.

   "Yes my lord?" she said.

   He explained where they were going and why.  He also said.  "A large
group of armed Dizyntk would make them nervous and isn't necessary."

   He could tell by the look on her face that she didn't like it.

   "What is the matter?" he teased.  "Are you saying that Sapphire's number
two Aishik master cannot handle a bunch of unarmed civilians?"

   Virathea sneered and then walked quickly back to the ship.  She took two
things from one of the guards and hooked to them her waist.  Aishik was a
Dizyntk martial art that specialized in using special gauntlets that were
the old fashioned version of the combat claws.  They were not powered but
still had three inch long blades over each finger that could slide out and
lock into place.  In the hands of a Dizyntk, for whom claw attacks were
natural and instinctive, these weapons could be devastating.  This went
double for someone like Virathea who had undergone extensive training in
the weapon's use.  She came back, looked Michael in the eye, and nodded.

   As they walked to the tent that was used for their meeting place, many
of the humans gathered around to watch them pass.  Virathea was the first
Dizyntk that any of them had ever seen up close.  While she certainly
looked serious, most of the people that watched her pass by had the same
thought that Michael had had all those years ago.  She did not look like a
monster.

   After everyone was seated, Michael told them to ask any questions they
wished.  By this time, the heads of the security, medical and other
departments among the humans had also gathered.  There were now twelve
people in total in the tent with Michael and Virathea.

   "First off, you mentioned something about a daughter." Captain Gerhardt
said.

   "Yes, I did." Michael replied.

   "But you said that there were no other humans in the Imperium." she
countered.

   "There are not." Michael explained.  "Her mother is Dizyntk."

   The group's doctor, Steven Winston looked shocked.  "Are you implying
that Humans and Dizyntk are genetically compatible?"

   Michael shook his head.  "I am not implying anything.  We are
compatible. That is a cold hard fact."

   "I find this difficult to accept." he said shaking his head.

   "Tell you what, doctor, when I return two days from now, I will bring
you living breathing proof of it." Michael said.

   "But how did this happen?" Captain West asked.

   "The same way it happens between two humans." Michael said with a smirk.
"You have sex."

   Michael then laughed at the shocked expressions.  "I suppose I need to
tell you all the full story."

   Over the next hour Michael explained how he had been marooned.  He told
them about his rescue of the young Dizyntk from the crash of her ship.  He
told them of the time he spent nursing her back to health and living with
her.  Then he went on to tell of how the two of them ended up mating and of
Aria being conceived.  The came the rescue by the Imperial destroyer and
that he was now living with his mate on Sapphire.

   "But I still don't get why they would trust you so much." Captain
Gerhardt said after several moments.

   "Ah, that's easy.  My bonded mate is also the Princess of the Second
Star Cluster." Michael explained.

   Again came a room full of shocked expressions.  Michael laughed again.
Then he turned to look at Virathea.  "Of course not all of them trust me."
he said in joking manner.

   Virathea looked at him in curiosity.  She did not speak the human's
language.  She had never felt the need to learn it.  Michael then told her
in Dizyntilin what had been said.

   She narrowed her eyes at him for a moment, then looked away from him and
said quietly, "I do trust you, Michael."

   It was the first time that Michael had ever heard her use his name. 
"Really?" he asked in genuine surprise.

   She looked back at him and explained.  "I do not like you but that is a
different subject.  For five cyankas I have watched you.  In that time you
have done nothing but those things that would make Princess Feyalisa happy.
So in matters of her safety and happiness I do trust you." She then bowed
her head to him.

   He thought for a moment and then turned back to the group.  "So, as you
can see, I am in a rather interesting position.  The only human in the
Imperium and, in our terms, married to the heir of the throne of the Second
Star Cluster.  You can understand why the Empress trusts me to do this."

   Michael spent the next hour answering questions and explaining the
basics of Dizyntk culture.  Things progressed smoothly until the subject of
Dizyntk bonded mating groups came up.

   "They actually practice polygamy?" Kristine asked.  The shock on her
face and of the others was pronounced.

   Michael took a deep breath.  He knew this would happen.  He had been the
same way once.  "Dizyntk see no good reason why more than two people cannot
be bonded to each other if all parties concerned love each other."

   He then went on, "Not all Dizyntk are bonded to more than one mate
however.  About twenty percent of bonding groups never have more than two
Dizyntk.  Even of the remainder the majority have only three or four."

   Alexis chuckled a bit and said, "Must make divorce proceedings a bitch."

   Michael laughed at the thought.  Then he added, "Yes, I suppose it
would. Except that there is no such thing among Dizyntk.  They bond for
life literally."

   Kristine just shook her head slowly.  "I bet you men just love this."

   This lead to the other thing Michael had yet to get to.  "You can't
really blame it on the men."

   "Why not?" She asked.

   "Because Dizyntk society is, and has been for several centuries, a
matriarchal one." Michael explained.  "The Dizyntk females are the ones in
charge."

   Kristine was shocked yet again.  She had not considered this
possibility.

   Michael then stood and said, "Well, it is about time for me to get back
to where I am staying." He then took three holocrystals from his pocket. 
"These contain all the pertinent information about Dizyntk that you may
need to know in case I have forgotten something.  I will see you all in two
days."

   He then shook all of their hands and left with Virathea to return to the
shuttle.

   Upon returning to the mansion, Michael found Iriatrosi waiting for him.
She bowed her head as entered.  "Welcome home, Lord Michael."

   "Please, Iria, you do not need to call me lord." he said.

   In fact Michael had told many servants this over the cyankas.  Many of
them refused as they felt it would not be proper.  Some did not mind doing
so however.

   Luckily, Iria seemed to be one of these.  "As you wish."

   She then said, "Dinner is waiting for you, Michael."

   It was late and Michael ate his dinner alone except for Iria and two
other servants who were there to see to his needs.  Afterwards he bathed
and then prepared for bed.  Iria led him to his room.  As he entered he
noticed that Aria was not there.

   "I believe she is with one of the servants, shall I go and get her?"
Iria asked.

   "I will go with you." Michael said.  "I need to get to know the layout
of this place anyway."

   "As you wish." she said.

   They made their way to the servants' quarters.  On the way, Iria
explained that Aria had apparently befriended a young maid named Triavetia.
Michael just smiled and nodded.  Aria was being as gregarious and friendly
as ever.  When they got to the door of her room Iria softly knocked.  When
no one answered, she carefully opened the door.  The light from the hallway
spilled into the small room.  On the small bed, Michael could see Aria
curled up in the arms of blonde Dizyntk female.  Both of them were sound
asleep.  Michael told Iria to leave them alone.  They then returned to his
room.

   Michael sighed as he entered.  It was going to be a fitful night of
sleep.  He heard the door close behind him and looked back.  He was
surprised to see Iria still there.  She was also getting undressed.

   "Pardon me, Iria, what are you doing?" he asked, although he suspected
he already knew the answer.

   She looked up at him after fully removing her servant's uniform.  "You
will need a sleep mate if you are to rest well tonight, will you not?"

   "Well, yes, I suppose I will.  Are you sure about this Iria?" he asked a
bit hesitantly.

   She stepped forward and pulled his head down as she stood on her toes.
She then slowly sniffed on both sides of his neck.  After finishing, she
took a step back and looked up at him, smiling.

   "Yes, I am quite sure." she replied.

   The two of them then got into bed, snuggled up with each other and went
to sleep.

   Michael would spend the next month on Elishen making sure that the human
colonists got their settlement properly started.  Michael hoped that this
small group of humans would help in a new relationship between his people
and the Dizyntk.  He knew that this would be but a small change so long as
the Protectorate held sway over all of human space.  He was unaware that
there were forces at work that would soon change that.

   Changes were coming that would change the relations between humans and
Dizyntk forever. . . . . . .