The Saran Plague

Chapter 2-2

Bane remembered the first time he had a real conversation with Flagen since the early academy risings. It was morning, just after rising…

He had jolted up into a sitting position when he heard the pounding. He shook his head and tried to toss the sleep from his fogged brain.

“Bane, open up!” Flagen shouted his name into the com, banging loudly on the door of his rooms. “Open up,” said Flagen.

“All right, all right.” Bane leaned over to grab his trews and padded across his small room. “Admit,” Bane spoke to the control console. “Admit Flagen. Laptard piss, Flagen. Come in and stop waking the dead.”

“I was just trying to roust you, twin of mine. Is it my fault that both tasks require the same amount of noise? I got the job, Bane.”

“What job?” asked Bane.

Flagen responded, “Co-medical officer on the Brightstar.”

“Oh,” Bane answered flatly. “You didn’t tell me you applied. I thought you disapproved of this whole Earthen fem business.

“Doesn’t matter if I approve, it’s going to happen anyway,” said Flagen. “This is a plum assignment. It will lead to better things. This kind of assignment is not usually handed out to Non Bonded personnel, but I’m not alone. Check your communicator,” said Flagen.

Bane touched his communication device. He usually turned it off while he slept, although the base main could override the off-duty mode of any officer, if necessary.

Bane laughed as he read the message. “I’m guess you know I’m going with you. Looks like I get to spend time with my baby bro. Maybe you will find a Bond on this trip and a fem to boot.”

“Bane,” Flagen interrupted, “I told you already. I will not pair. I will not Bond. I will not mate with an Earthen fem. I have no BondMate. There is no one out there for me. I’ve already accepted that. It has nothing to do with taking the opportunity to be co-medical officer on the Brightstar and having the chance to serve with my twin. I don’t have to like the mission. I just follow orders and keep the natives healthy. And cut out the baby bro bit, you’re only five mots older than I am.”

“Well, baby brother, I guess you’ll be serving under me,'' quipped Bane.

“Beside you,” amended Flagen, “co-medical officer.”

Something strange flashed over Bane’s face, “Yes, bro, right beside me. It will give us some time together. We used to be close. I haven’t seen you much in the last two cycles.” And not much the at all since the Academy, he added silently.

“Been busy doing research, like everyone else on the planet. We saved a few of the younger ones, at least. There will be some pure Sarrans left after this debacle. Maybe we should have taken up the Alliance’s offer of clones. Goddess knows, having no center for a Triad, or a center that can’t cement the Bond, would be the same as f*****g a corpse.”

“Sarrans don’t clone people,” Bane said.

“Yes, I know. Sarrans don’t clone people. Sarrans mate for life. Sarrans have only one Bond brother. Sarrans protect. Sarrans preserve. Laptard’s piss, Bane, you know how sick I am of that litany. How moral is the alternative?”

“What do you mean?”

“What we are actually doing? We plan to kidnap a group of primitive fems from a world on the outer edges of the galaxy. Taking them away from everything familiar, and let’s not forget, using them like breeding cattle. This is morality? Can we claim the moral high ground here?” Flagen asked.

“Sarran would only need to produce one generation of clones from existing DNA to replace our fems and grow them in the vats offered by the Galactic Alliance. Or, if that offends, use the Earthen women as incubators, pay them well, and send them on their way. After each of them has been pregnant a few times, our supply of women would be restored. We would have to wait a while for Triad, but we are a long-lived race and our males are fertile until death. One generation, and with enough clones, everything goes back to normal.”

“Flagen, that’s disgusting,” said Bane. “Sarran Warriors don’t treat fems that way, even Earthen fems. They are our hearts.”

“If we don’t clone our women, we might never have a heart again. Will those primitive aliens have the strength to make a Bond? Will they be faithful to the Bond? I’ll bet none of them are virgin either.” Flagen spat the word out.

“Are we virgin?” said Bane. “Most of the Warriors in the Fleet were sexually experienced with women and the occasional male before being BondStruck. Our fems explore their sexuality before Triad. Why would it matter if the Earthen fem are not virgin?”

“Because, Bane,” Flagen said slowly, “I want a strong Warrior to bond into a Triad with a virgin mate. Maybe I was a young fool. I dreamed of my mates. They were going to be everything to me, as I was to them. Did you ever feel a BondStir, Bane?”

“No,” answered Bane. “I haven’t.”

“I felt it once, the beginnings of it. I waited too long to make a claim. Someone else got to him first. He would have been a heroic mate. He was about three cycles my senior. I knew my call was stronger. Yet, I hesitated. I lost.”

“You could have challenged for him, contested the Bond before it fully formed. I’d have stood beside you,” Bane said quietly. “Who was it, Flagen? Maybe you still have a chance?”

Flagen shook his head. “It wasn’t to be. And I’m not the type to settle. It will be alright, eventually. I’m happy to be serving with you, bro. I’m excited. This is going to be our first trip together since we were kids,” Flagen said as he slowly smiled. “And the other thing, the Bond, I can’t miss what I never had.” Flagen crossed over to the door.

“Yeah,” said Bane, also grinning. “We’ll get to serve on the command ship Brightstar with the two best Admirals in the fleet. That is going to put our resume in the top of the top, Warriors and medical officers. Wow.”

“Sure, best Admirals in the fleet. We do have that left, don’t we?” said Flagen as he waited for the door to open, the panels slid apart, then he left.

Bane shook his head and came back to the present. And now, we begin. He watched Flagen’s posture as the Admirals came towards them. There was something else there. It wasn’t just that Flagen disapproved of the mission. Bane didn’t fully approve of this approach either. A different expression, helplessness, had flickered across his twin’s face and vanished. The Admirals passed. The sector two team gathered on the pads. Transport beams flashed blue, one, and then another. Bane and Flagen stepped up onto the pads from the cargo bay gridded floor. The mission was underway.