Nanny For The Alien General by Athena Storm
Serafina
The way this large Kiphian is propping himself up is definitely not a good sign. I’ve seen that look before. It’s a look that says ‘whatever it was you had to say, no matter how legitimate or real, doesn’t matter because I’m superior to you.’
Gathering what little strength he has, he draws himself up. And, like clockwork, he begins to lecture.
“As I’m sure you are aware, this is an illegal settlement. Humans have not been given the ability to control or run their own settlements. It must be shut down immediately.”
Just as I feared. Though he bleeds just like any other creature, his haughtiness is all his own.
But what choice did I have? Was I really just going to leave him to die on the shore, with his kids watching? My fear may be coming true but I couldn’t live with myself if I had just abandoned him.
Though he’s not doing his best to convince me to keep helping him.
“I am very well aware of the law. It’s a law, that frankly, makes no sense and has failed to realize the very real—-“
His voice cuts me off as he sits up even more in bed.
“The law is clear as day. And it was passed as a direct result of destruction at the hands of humans. If they weren’t so hellbent on destroying the environment around them, of clearcutting forests and damming up waterways—“ he cuts himself off as a new thought enters his mind.
“Is your settlement doing those things? Destroying everything around you?”
Anger flares up within me. He knows nothing of my village or how its built or run. And what we, as the inhabitants of Telleli believe or hold dear.
Typical Kiphian. Just making wild assumptions.
Biting my tongue, I counsel myself to patience before responding.
“Tell me, what other choice did we humans have? Since we have been denied ion stones, how else could we light our fires, have light and heat? Did you all hope we’d just disappear?”
My voice, calmer than his, cuts through his bluster for a moment. It’s then that I notice that Emex and Belanna are hovering near the bottom of the bed. They make no effort to disguise their fascination with this conversation.
Wide-eyed and slack-jawed, they stare at the two of us, eager to hang on every word. I could be wrong, but I get the distinct impression that they’ve never seen grown-ups speak this way to each other. Or, perhaps they have never seen their father spoken to this way?
Though he was in rough shape when he arrived, those rich clothes did suggest he was some important muckily-muck.
Well, muckily-muck or not, I’m not going to let him run rough-shod over me. There is too much at stake.
It seems, too, that my words may have had a tiny impact. He stops talking for a moment, letting my question sink in.
He turns his head to inspect my cabin, looking specifically for something. Instantly, I know what he’s about to say.
“Do you have ion stones in this cabin?”
“Yes,” I reply, drawing out the word. I’m not about to lie.
“And do others in this…settlement, also rely on ion stones for energy?”
“They do.” I draw myself up to my full height.
“And where did they steal them from, exactly? Since you are all no strangers to illegal activity, I would assume this also to be the case,” he says coolly.
I’m not sure what it is exactly that sets me off. Perhaps it is the assumption that we are all thieves and liars or the absolute certainty in the way he said it, as if there could be no other possible explanation.
Whatever it is, I lose all pretense of playing it cool.
I’m done being nice.
“How dare you?! You would do well to remember a few things. First, you completely forget that every law passed has only one purpose: to benefit and enrich Kiphians! The unfairness alone is enough to make anyone see red. And why is it so hard to believe that humans might - just might - be capable of taking care of nature! Of actually caring about the world around them. Do you think Kiphians have cornered the market on that? Or have you utterly failed to ever give it another thought?”
My words spit at him and I can tell they land as he shrinks backwards into the bed. Part of me wants to laugh at seeing this bandaged, heavily tattooed, seven foot Kiphian get smaller as he leans away from me.
But he has made me that mad. You’d think a near-death experience would have given him a healthy dose of humility…
I turn away from him, unable to look at him further. I’ll need to calm down first.
Just then, Emex, his face calloused in anger and toddler fury, leaves his station at the end of the bed. From what little time I’ve spent with them, I know that he is the gentler of the two children, meeker than his sister.
But it’s obvious he has a deep sense of right and wrong and that, when provoked, he’ll come out swinging.
Clearly, he’s provoked. The question is, to whom will he direct his considerable anger?
I don’t have to wait long to find out.
Grunting with frustration and effort, he pulls himself up onto the bed where his father lies.
“Stop it! You stop it right now!” His little lion’s roar would almost be comical if he didn’t have a wild streak of rage in his eyes. The target of his anger, I am somewhat grateful to see, is not me but his father.
“You’re upsetting Sera! Stop it, bully daddy!”
His father looks just as surprised as I do and attempts to supplicate his son.
“Emex, come now. That’s not what happened…”
The words backfire. Quickly.
“Stopitstopitstopitstopit!” The boy furiously yells a drumbeat of anger at his father, accompanied by swift little punches to his father’s body.
“No, Emex. That’s enough. Stop now, sweetie!” My voice is getting shriller as I realize that, though he is small, he might do some real damage to his injured father.
How right I am.
Somehow, Emex’s blows have found a wound in the man’s abdomen. A strangled cry escapes the man and his eyes roll swiftly back in his head. With a dull thud, his whole body twitches and he falls in a dead faint on his pillow.
A surprised hush falls over us. Emex, his rage gone, starts to cry silently.
“Didn’t mean it,” he groans.
Wrapping my arms around him, I look to the injured Kiphian. He looks to be okay but the was one hell of a punch.
Maybe he deserved it a little?
Soothing the small boy, I allow myself the smallest hint of a smile.
Maybe just a little.
