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27
“Hello, I’m Maurra. I worked on Bal. She’s going to be fine. She’s lost some blood but the bullet missed her internal organs and only broke a rib. We got all the pieces and bonded them back in place. She’s going to need to take it easy for a month but she’ll fully recover.”
“Can we see her?” Jack asked.
“In a few hours. She’s still sedated and needs to recover from her blood loss. If you’ll excuse me,” Maurra smiled and moved away.
“Thank you doctor!” Jack called out and received a smile as she went back behind the doors.
There was a commotion from down the hall near the elevators and they watched two ebony furred agents moving in their direction followed by the Minister of Security Hellna, a light tan furred female he didn’t recognize, and three male Altarians.
Jack was surprised as he’d never seen more than one male at a time. Aside from the male schools he didn’t think they liked to be near each other. It was some kind of competitive instinct. He noticed they were each wearing a necklace with a small metal ball containing what looked like leaves. To Jack they looked like those tea leaves infuser you dunked in a cup of hot water. Maybe the smell let them tolerate other males.
The group stopped before Jack and Gee and he saw Hellna looked uneasy.
“Hello Jack.”
“Hi Hellna, what’s up?”
She glanced at the three males who were looking rather smug.
“These three males represent ‘The Enlightened Consortium of Male Altarians’ also known as TECOMA and in light of the fact that the Queen has announced you as her Consort-”
“OH MY GOD! I forgot Elissa was having our child! How is she? How is the baby?” Jack interrupted.
Hellna held up her hands to calm Jack and smiled. The three males lost their smug expressions and were beginning to look indignant at being ignored.
“Queen Elissa is well and blissfully happy. Your… second son is doing very well. Perfectly healthy and absolutely beautiful!”
The males made impatient sounds to get her back to their point.
“Don’t get your panties in a bunch boys, Hellna and I are discussing important stuff here. We’ll get back to your COMA party soon enough. When can I see her?” Jack was looking away so he missed the look of outrage on their faces.
The woman he didn’t know stepped forward. “Hello, Ambassador Danner. I’m Narelle, Minister of Justice. That’s actually what we’re here to discuss. Your right to be Queen’s Consort has been challenged. It’s an ancient law but the challenge has been legally registered and we must follow it to the letter.” She gestured to the male in front to step forward.
“I am Lunnae, lead speaker for ‘The Enlightened Consortium of Male Altarians’. We do hereby serve notice of challenge to one Jack Danner of Earth that he must defeat us in unarmed combat to prove he is worthy of being the Queen’s Consort.”
Narelle nodded. “The challenge has been properly issued.”
Gee took that moment to step forward and stare down the males. “Do you realize we’ve just returned from Earth where Jack challenged an armed and battle trained Human soldier in body armor and Jack defeated him? That streak of silver on his horn? The remains of a silver bullet, the fabled ammunition used against Earth’s most feared monsters! Jack. Will. CRUSH. YOU!” Gee screamed and Jack reached over to pull her back to his side. He was stunned by her rage. He’d never seen an angry Altarian and it was just a little bit frightening… and strangely endearing. Gee breathed in pants as she glared at the males who all looked like they desperately wanted to be somewhere else right now.
Lunnae finally got control over his flight impulse and turned a weak smile towards Gee. “His brutish size is not being disputed. He must complete the challenge or face the consequence.”
Jack was getting impatient. He wanted to go see Elissa. “OK, fine. Line up and I will knock you three down and we can be done with this.”Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.
Narelle had an uncomfortable look on her face. Jack looked to her. “What?”
“I’m sorry Jack. It doesn’t work that way. The challenge was registered by TECOMA. You must defeat all of their members.”
“How many is that?” he asked.
“We are 245 members strong,” Lunnae grinned.
Jack looked at him incredulously. “You managed to get 245 males to join your little boys club? Wow! Good for you!”
Lunnae smiled with pride then he heard the insult. His smile turned to a look of anger. “How I loath you!”
Jack grinned then his grin got really wide. “Wait a minute! You’re Denee’s Lunnae, aren’t you! You already have an axe to grind with me, don’t you!”
Hellna stepped forward with an outraged look at Lunnae. “Axes are NOT allowed in this challenge! Seize it!” she told the guards.
“What?” Lunnae squeaked.
The two ebony guards moved to him and roughly searched his person while he screeched and yelped.
“Sorry, ‘axe to grind’ is just an Earth phrase that means he has an ulterior motive. He has an issue with me because he didn’t meet Denee’s… sexual expectations. I mean after she’d been with me. Denee was indiscrete and told him this.”
Hellna smirked and looked back at Jack. “His reasons for filing the challenge do not matter in this instance. The challenge was legally registered and issued.”
“Fine! Let’s do this!” Jack barked. He stood a ways from the group and gestured for Lunnae to come at him.
“First Challenger?” Narelle called out.
The male hiding behind Lunnae was pushed forward until he stood facing Jack.
“State your name for the record,” Narelle said.
“Liolla” he squeaked, trembling. Jack dropped his fighting stance. This was pathetic.
Narelle looked at both of them. “Begin.”
“FORFEIT!” Liolla screamed and dropped to the ground in a ball.
Jack looked at him incredulously then looked over at Hellna.
“First battle goes to Jack Danner of Earth,” Narelle intoned officially.
“Well… that was easy,” Jack mumbled. Liolla was still trembling on the floor. “Next,” Jack said.
Narelle’s expression became pained again. Jack rolled his eyes. “Now what?”
“The challenge was registered for each battle to be scheduled on their own day,” she stated.
“One a day?!? That’s 244 more days!” Jack growled.
“On behalf of the remaining 244 combatants I hereby register the requirement of the Abstinence Clause,” Lunnae said springing his trap. His face split into a wide evil grin.
Jack looked at the male in confusion. Then he looked over at Hellna whose face was going through a series of emotions. Shock, dread, rage, and finally despair. She looked over at Jack with sad eyes.
“I’m sorry Jack. He’s legally able to request this and it must be complied with. She looked at Narelle who continued the point.
“I will assign you a Judge who will remain with you during the remaining 244 days. They are never to be outside of your immediate vicinity. If you are separated from your Judge you will forfeit. The clause which has been enacted requires you to remain on Altaria and refrain from sexual congress. Should you have relations of a sexual nature with a female, you will default and forfeit.”
“What exactly is the penalty of forfeiting?” Jack asked. He had no idea what being a Consort was so maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to lose it.
“Banishment from the lands owned by the female the challenge was issued for,” Hellna uttered.
“You MONSTER!” Gee leapt at Lunnae but Jack caught her.
Hellna nodded sadly. “Yes Gee, in this case the female is the Queen so Jack would be banished from Altaria and all Altarian worlds. To return would mean his death.”
“You didn’t see the mob on Earth wanting Jack to be killed just because he’d had sex with an Altarian. Earth is no longer a safe place for Jack either,” Gee growled. Jack was really starting to worry about her state of mind. Gee pulled away from his hands but she remained by his side.
“Hey! I don’t know why there are so many gloomy faces. It’s just 244 days. I’ve gone without sex for longer than that before. It wasn’t fun but I did it!” Jack grinned.
Hellna walked up to him and took his hands. “Jack, were you told that you’re emitting male musk? It tells us how healthy you are, how you rate as a mating companion, and sometimes as in your case it’s a score card. We know you’ve been very, very… very popular. Going from that to nothing is… well, it’s not possible.”
Jack looked at Lunnae and saw his vicious glee.
He pulled his hands back from Hellna’s and walked over to the male who looked up at him in defiance.
“Go ahead, strike me. Forfeit now!” Lunnae said with a tremor in his voice.
Jack grinned at Lunnae. “I’m not going to hit you. I’m going to outlast you… again.” He grinned at the look of suppressed rage on the male’s face. He turned his back on the male and walked back to Narelle. “Hook me up with a Judge and let the games begin.”
Narelle spoke with someone on her phone and once she hung up she turned to Jack. “Judge Aaros will meet you at your apartment tonight.”
Jack snorted. “Did you say Judge Eros?”
“That sounds similar but I said Aaros. What is Eros?” Narelle asked.
“It’s a word from an ancient language on Earth that means the expression of sexual love. Seems kind of contrary to have a Judge named that considering her job will be to ensure that the expression of sexual love doesn’t happen.”
Hellna looked like she was ready to leave. “Gee, you need to be debriefed about today’s activities. You will come back to headquarters with me,” she said. Gee frowned then nodded and walked over to her boss. Jack shared Hellna’s look of concern about Gee.
Then her worried look was for him but she shook his hand and headed back to the elevators with Gee.
Narelle got Jack’s attention. “These agents will be your chaperones back to your apartment. They will ensure you do not default. They will also be your protection detail until Gee and Bal are both able to return to service.” She hesitated. “Whenever that will be.”
“I want to see Queen Elissa,” Jack said.
“That won’t be possible tonight. She is back at her residence and you need to go to your apartment to meet the Judge. You should call her when you get home.”
Jack looked at the three males. “I don’t have to bring these wankers with me do I?”
“Why did he call us wankers?” Liolla whined at Lunnae.
“What’s a wanker?” the quiet male finally spoke.
“Shut up fools! Don’t give him the satisfaction! I don’t know what a wanker is… but it can’t be good!” Lunnae spat.