The Varkari

Pet

When I finally woke back up, my hand immediately went to my side, which felt tight, but no longer stung. I realized that I was in a bed with deep navy blankets made of soft and fuzzy wool.

A green flashing light drew my attention to a tall white cylinder standing beside the bed with a small circle pointed in my direction. I slowly reached my hand out to touch it when the door to the room opened and I jumped.

There stood an alien, wearing off-white clothes flowing off his tall frame. This male was not quite as tall as the soldiers had been, and was much heavier with a considerable belly to him and a flush to his face. Like a human, he had features like mine; two eyes, lips, a nose, but that was about all. Skin the color of light ash, with eyelids and lips pigmented a slightly darker shade, and nostrils that were thin inside a more feline nose, were different enough to have me staring. It was like Santa and Krampus had a baby and it grew up to take over a planet.

If that weren't enough, two short silverish horns curled out from his head and his eyes were an orange-red color, with pupils that were a little too reflective and slitted like a cat's. By the glow in them, I'd say he seemed very excited to see me.

The feeling was not mutual.

"Hell-o," he said quite slowly and distinctly in accented English. "My name is Exer."

I put my hands to the mattress and pressed myself into a sitting position, getting ready to spring up and get the hell out of there. This alien in the flesh was cool to look at, but not cool enough to stick around. I glanced toward where I thought there was an outline of a door.

He held his hands palms-up toward me and I paid extra attention to his small, but apparent, claws. "We. Are. Friendly!" He said it again in that way like I would have trouble understanding.

"I can hear you," I snapped, my voice cracking.

"That is a relief," he breathed, dropping his hands to plop against his sides. "They said they gave you a translator, but nuances are-"

I tried to roll out of the bed quickly, but my breath caught in my throat as residual soreness lanced up my side.

"Woah! Wait, wait. Before you scream or...or fall on the floor...or whatever scared humans do...let me explain. I am not here to hurt you, despite what rumors you may have heard. It is the opposite, in fact. We are going to help each other."

Was he stupid? How the heck was that going to happen unless I was some specimen to be poked and prodded. Help him get an heir? f**k that. "Help? You?" I licked my chapped lips and stared at him.

"You see, I must take a mate..."

I continued to face him, unsure whether I was too dumbfounded to move or too interested in letting him nervously finish his pitch. Something about this Varkari was different. He seemed much more passive and gentle than the soldiers, perhaps a regular civilian alien. I could see the others jumping on me and rutting me like and animal or ripping my throat out, but here he was, acting like he was trying to convince me to cooperate with the idea of either.

His odd eyes flicked to the ceiling as he clicked his claws on the rough surface of the opposite forearm, considering his next words. "However, I have no interest in...females. Since there is currently somewhat of a shortage, human females are being distributed to the Varkari with Teckict Tokens first, then Covus Tokens, but not everyone with Tokens have enough credits, so sometimes there are brawls and fights. Luckily, I ran a fine arts business back on Vakar and was able to purchase you after the first pass. My store was extremely well-known and once even the Prince-...Oh, I'm rambling. Apologies. Ah, um, you were quite ill, but I hoped that if I saved your life, you might save mine...in a manner." His eyes took on a guarded sheen.

"Me? Save your life?"

"You pretend to be my mate and I keep you housed, fed, and away from the other males that seem to be going insane about you human females. Does this work?"

I gaped at him, my dry mouth dropping open and closing a few times. This was too much to process and I pressed my temples with the tips of my fingers. "I'm sorry, what?"

"My chosen mate is Konderick, but it is not an accepted practice now to have another male as my mate, especially considering the extinction-"

"No, no, no. That's not what I mean. I don't care who your partner is and I understand what you are asking me to do. It's just a lot right now. I mean, I don't know where I am, or what's even happening to our planet!"

Exer's mouth formed a small "o" and he advanced toward the bed which had me tensing up. He plopped down on the corner, the mattress sinking in his direction as he rolled his eyes and patted the blankets. "I see. I'm sorry. I definitely could have introduced myself better. Oh, I can't imagine the shock this must be. I will explain everything to the best of my abilities." He paused, seeming to wait for my approval.

I nodded slightly, unable to pass up a chance for additional information.

"My people, the Varkari, have been traveling for decades in space because our home world was struck with a virus that killed every female, young and old. This happened when I was a kit, so many of us do not remember our mothers at all. While we are long-lived, it was unknown if we would find a compatible species in our lifespans. Most of us on the ships went into cryo until a solution could be found, a few dedicated years of their physical lives to manning the nonautonomous parts of the fleet before trading out for another. Those that stayed on Varkar to protect the planet utilized our cloning technology to replicate males. We are now down to half of our initial population in our world and in our fleets."

"Why didn't you just use genetic material from your females to clone them?" I asked, propping my chin on my hand. It was difficult not to marvel at the tech they had developed and spoke of nonchalantly.

"It was attempted, but the female kits perished shortly after creation. The virus is airborne and replicates in soil, so we were unable to eradicate it permanently. We were losing hope when we came across your planet. The scans reported human females as viable genetic matches, meaning that you were the answer to our prayers. Unfortunately for me, I never had an interest in women to begin with, so the mandatory repopulation order will be a bit tricky, but I'm sure we can figure something else out-"

"The Varkari just expect us to willingly bear the offspring of a bunch of murdering aliens?" My face was scrunched up with abject anger and disbelief. What were they thinking?

"This is a matter of extinction for our people. It must be done. We were under the impression that humans would understand and wish to help, but your males and then government immediately began attacking without warning, sneaking into our city to assassinate us. Then, you all began fighting each other and we had to intervene to capture any females we could before you killed yourselves off entirely."

"And the men? What happens to them?"

"The males are obviously more violent. The protective suits of the soldiers have reflected many bullets. The standing order is to euthanize and harvest aggressive human males at this time," he said, warily.

"Harvest?"

I was sure he gave me a pitying look and pressed his gray lips together. Sighing, he seemed truly regretful to be telling me something I clearly did not know. "The Varkari are a mostly carnivorous species. We do eat meat, but derive most of our nutritional value from blood, which is replenishable. Since we have no use for human males aside from their blood, the best are given the option to become donors..."

My throat was suddenly too dry to swallow properly and I looked down at my hands in a daze, seeing how pale they looked. Had they drained me, too?

"Oh, dear," he ticked, rubbing his large belly. "I knew it would go badly, what did I say?"

The second part was not directed at me and not in English, but somehow I had understood the hissing elven language. Then, I noticed a pair of pale red eyes peeking through the cracked door, eavesdropping, clearly Exer's partner.

Sheepishly, he smiled and shyly entered the room. "Sorry. I'm Konderick," he said. Where Exer was fairly tall and bulky, not to mention overweight, Konderick was lean and thin, smaller than the soldiers or any other alien I had seen. In fact, he had a sickly pallor and did not seem to be very healthy. I was positive even I could overpower him.

I watched as he reached out and took Exer's hand, leaning his cheek against his shoulder in a loving manor. A true smile turned Exer's skin a pinkish purple along his cheeks and forehead, a blush I realized.

"We will abstain from the blood if it would make you more comfortable," he said, voice meek and mouselike.

I rubbed my face, dragging my palms over my cheeks to rub the shock and numbness from them. "It's just...insane to me...I mean, how are there going to be more humans? If there are no men, there will be no human children for you to...ugh." It was a balance to hold back my disgust enough to communicate with them, but if there was a chance I could live a semi-normal life without being a broodmare, I could not blow the opportunity with curses and flying spit.

Exer patted Konderick's little hands. "Hybrids will be fertile. There will be no requirement to have pure human offspring."

"Does this work for you? T-to be a fake match to Exer?" Konderick asked suddenly. He was scared, I could tell, and wanted to get to the point. They definitely wanted to hide their secret and I was the convenient cover up. This was, after all, more of a business transaction and I needed to take my feelings out of it.

Honestly, it was the best outcome I could hope for given the circumstances. I could be safe and live a relatively normal life instead of running, hiding, and constantly fearing that another human would shoot me to save me from misery. Any other Varkari would expect me to reproduce from what he was saying, so this situation was one in a million.

"Aside from the fact that I was kidnapped, tied down, and sold? And that you are trading your extinction for ours?" I blurted before I could stop myself.

Konderick made a worried face at Exer who steeled himself for my rejection.

My shoulders sagged and I deflated. Even cornered I could not hate them for trying or ruin any more lives than were already impacted. "I'm grateful you treated my wound and that you are the first to actually give me a choice since the world started going to hell. I would happily agree to pretend for you as long as you give me your word that I will not be violated or touched."

"Repulsive! No, no. In no way would I ever, could I ever, do such a thing. You have my honor," Exer said, placing his fingers lightly to his forehead. Konderick imitated the gesture.

"Now, I know this is all very new and scary, so I researched things human females enjoy and procured some sweets called chocolates and a bomb for the bath. It is a circle that is supposed to make some fragrant foam?"

"I'm familiar with these," I almost laughed.

Exer breathed a huge sigh of relief and clutched Konderick's hands with so much hope in his eyes that I felt compelled to forgive their part in all this. They were not responsible for their race's dwindling numbers, nor their government's orders to correct the issue. Humans would probably pull the same thing if taxpayers were not providing.

"There are bath fabrics that you are accustomed to in the room," he said, pointing to the door to my right. "Though, I will show you how to use our nano tech and drying tube eventually."

I frowned at his unusual words. "How can I understand you when you speak in your language?"

"The Varkari are able to communicate telepathically, but this is expressed in images like memories. We could speak to you that way, but since we have a verbal language, which humans are used to, it was just easier to implant Universal Language Chips or ULCs in captured females. This way, you understand us as we could understand you," he pointed behind one of his pointed ears where I assume his and my chip were located.

I nodded, absorbing the information.

"What is your name?" Konderick asked, his smile gentle and shy. "I missed the first part of your conversation."

"Oh, I didn't say. I'm Ellie."

"Thank you for saving us, Ellie," he whispered.

"We will leave you now. When you are ready, you may explore the compound. It is as much yours as ours. The fridge has food in it that I'm sure you will find suitable for humans. Please let me know if you require anything," he said, beaming at Konderick again.

It was clear that they had only dreamed of being able to freely be together. While I was the key to that future, it made me hurt because I was only a tool in this. I was not "in" on their happiness, just a brood mare out to pasture that may one day still have to pull her weight.

I did take a shower, my first in weeks, since the last had been under the cold spray of a locker room nozzle at a Gold's Gym by grace of a dying generator. The one before that had been a swimming pool. Clean clothes were easy to find in discarded luggage, ravaged superstores, and homes, but to actually scrub the dirt and grime from my skin was heaven.

Could I do this? Could I live with these aliens and pretend to play my part as a loyal s*x slave while other women were living the nightmare? Would I be able to deal with myself? It was for a better purpose, to help a couple that couldn't be together any other way. Maybe it was what I deserved. Maybe humanity was finally getting its penance for being so destructive and my price was a life of serving another.

It was justice.

Heaving a sigh, I put on what I believed to be the uniform I would wear for the rest of my life, a beige dress that almost felt like spandex except it had a band of support beneath and around my breasts and hugged my waist, outlining my ass for all the world to see. Undergarments were not provided.