The Cause

AN: For your enjoyment. This is an original piece of work, so please don't hesitate to leave feedback, positive or negative. Thank you!! -MS

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She did not know what to expect. Her interspecies relations class gave her a foundation to work with, but she never encountered any alien firsthand. Yet here she was, on a space ship whose course was set to the distant planet, Zulraius.

It was the seventh lunar day of the eight day journey and Summer was a ball of anxiety. Her research notes and the tiny bar in her cramped quarters were her constant companions. She only ventured out for meals and only socialized with the other female that was present for the assignment.

Twelve of Earth's scientists were allocated to this particular mission. They were the best in their field and hoped their efforts would forge a more concrete alliance between Earth and Zulraius. Their assistance with The Cause was sure to allow for shared resources and technology that was most desired.

Zulraians were a very technologically advanced race of humanoids and were wary of all outsiders. First contact was made by Humans and met with stilted curiosity and contained hostility. Once it was determined that Humans were not a threat, the Zulraians accepted a conditional alliance with Earth that was most beneficial to their own society.

Earth was amazed at the technology Zulraians possessed and was only able to persuade a fraction of it to be shared. After initial contact 200 years ago, Earth progressed by leaps and bounds. The small fraction of technology shared enabled poverty and famine to become close to nonexistent. National resources flourished and endangered species received reprieve.

The Space and Science Academy was created due to advancements in technology. It educated those interested in careers in extraterrestrial study. It groomed others to prepare for a life amongst the stars and it enabled those with exceptional mental prowess to research without bounds.

Summer Evans was a prestigious alumnus of the Academy and was individually nominated to join The Cause. When notified that her skillset was needed to assist with interspecies relations across the galaxy, she was extremely hesitant to join. Summer never saw herself amongst the stars. She was perfectly content with conducting local research experiments. Her main project dealt with extending humanoid life expectancy while combating disease resulting from hereditary, congenital and environment influences. Her independent research was groundbreaking and made Summer Evans an indispensable candidate for The Cause project.

Zulraians although peaceful considered themselves superior to all others. Their relentless scientific advancements placed serious strain on their society. There was a significant separation between social classes and sexes. Male children were highly favored. For generations many couples would conceive through In Vitro to ensure the birth of a male child. Their mental capability was determined centuries before to be far superior to their female counterpart. Male Zulraians had an eidetic memory whereas females did not.

Summer reviewed her notes again to determine the best course of action for the situation. All twelve scientists were briefed in detail about the severity of the situation. Many of them were in disbelief that the Zulraians let the issue progress to this point. The entire planet of Zulraius had a population of approximately five billion. Females only made up 15 thousand of the total. Healthy females without any defects and able to birth future generations were few and far between. Zulraians were essentially an endangered species.

"Cause and effect," Mindy stated, pouring herself another thumb of rum. She was a fellow scientist, her specialty being genetics. "Who would have thought that those damn aliens would need our help?" She shook her head before draining her shot glass.

"I keep reviewing the notes sent to me by their top scientist and I am in total shock. These people –"

"Aliens."

"Ok, aliens have no original thought processes! It took them centuries to come to the conclusions that they were destroying their own species." Summer was exasperated. She knew that this project was going to take time, but she was coming into the realization that it may take her entire lifetime to see positive results. Hopefully their technology along with the minds of her colleges could lessen the years spent on this project.

"The only reason why I agreed to come is so that I could have the opportunity to work with their advanced technology."

"I was coerced into coming. They threatened to cut funding to my research if I didn't lend my brain to The Cause."

"How cruel."

"I know. I'm 27 with no social life. No real ties to anyone. I have no siblings and was raised by my grandparents who are now long gone. All I had was my research." Summer was sitting across from Mindy at the small bar in her room. They had gotten together to review notes before the end briefing. The shuttle was a few hours from Zulraius' orbit. Zulraius High Command thought it prudent to brief the crew at the end of their journey as opposed to the beginning of it.

"What do you think that these aliens have to say to us?"

"I really don't know," Summer got up from her seat to put on her boots. "Maybe they want to scold the crew for bringing females along. I was told that the initial agreement was to send twelve male scientists. They didn't want any females to come."

Mindy made a face. No love was lost there. "What a bunch of sexist SOBs."

The two made their way to the conference room. The ship was compact and ergonomic, so little space was wasted. Therefore, the hallways were narrow - which only allowed one person to room to move through the corridors, walls shoulder to shoulder.

They were the first two to arrive at the conference room. Surprisingly, it was the biggest room on the ship. The chairs were large and comfortable and sitting in the middle of the room was a long oval table.

"Aha! I found it." Mindy lifted a wine bottle and two glasses. "It's nice and cool, too."

"Have you ever thought that you may have a problem?"

"Girl, I need all the alcohol I can get."

"You're going to have a serious hangover mixing spirits. You just got done drinking a third of my prized Jamaican rum," She stated, motioning Mindy to stop pouring. "I only need a little bit to nurse my nerves."

Summer sipped her glass as the other scientist started to enter the room. They were the best minds Earth could spare. Summer knew that Mindy didn't bother introducing herself to any of the others, but she did. She didn't remember everyone's name, but she made sure to be cordial. There was a possibility that they would be the only humans in direct contact for years to come. That thought alone was daunting.

"What do you suspect they need to brief us on?" Someone to her left asked. Summer turned towards the voice and instantly recognized him as Chein; a scientist from China whose specialty was xenogeneic and interspecies reproduction. He appeared to be in his mid-40s and completed several tours on other projects in the past.

No one answered, so he continued. "In my previous experience with extraterrestrials, concern has been expressed regarding our extracurricular activities. They probably want to keep us secluded from the general population and definitely do not want us mating with their own."

Mindy snorted, quickly covering it by stating. "Have you seen them? There is no way in hell would I mate with one!" Mindy looked across the table at one of the younger scientist, close to our age. "You on the other hand..." She winked at him.

"I don't think we have anything to worry about Mindy. According to the notes sent to us, the regular lower class Zulraian has never seen a female. This briefing will probably center on advising our male counterparts on staying out of heavily populated areas and carefully guarding their asses."

Mindy laughed outright while several other scientists chuckled. One or two looked sick.

"Personally, Zulraians are the only extraterrestrial humanoids that we encountered that actually look like humans." Someone stated, Summer couldn't remember his name. "They have two arms, two legs; ten fingers and toes. The only obvious difference that they display is their height and various skin... designs."

"Yeah okay, don't forget their fangs and claws. You would never catch me in bed with one of those things."

"Never say never," Another person interjected, he appeared excited about their current conversation.

"You hear that Mindy?" Summer joked, feeling a little loose. Blame it on the alcohol. "'Never say never'. I have been reviewing the hell out of my notes and have come to several conclusions about this cause. In order to preserve this species we'll have to gather all the females of mating age, no matter their defect and extract DNA from them. Engineer it to kingdom come until it's healthy then create test tube Zulraians. Or..."

"Don't say what I think that you're gonna say." Mindy moaned, covering her face with her hands. "As a matter of fact, you don't even have to say it. I'll say it. I've also reviewed the notes sent to us." She gathered her flaming red hair to the top her head and secured it. She then pulled her glasses from her coveralls and connected her tablet to the digitized screen above the conference table. The digitized screen was a brilliant item of technology gathered from the Zulraians. The screen was omnidirectional and had to ability to tailor its direction to every pair of eyes viewing it. "I have uploaded a strand of DNA from Humans and a strand from Zulraians. Can anyone guess which one is which?" Several mouths opened to reply. "Anyone besides the geneticists in the room?"

There was a few seconds of silence before Mindy continued.

"Both strands of DNA are double helix in structure. Both have the same bases which are adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine. The sequencing between the two is so similar that when I first encountered it, I really had a difficult time differentiating between the two... That made me very uneasy. There are very few differences in DNA between Zulraians and Humans. As a matter of fact, Zulraians are more genetically comparable with Humans than chimpanzees." Mindy paused, taking her glasses off and pinching her nose. "Don't ask me how this happened."

There was a pregnant silence after Mindy's proclamation. Summer decided to finish her previous statement.

"Or Zulraians could mate with human females. Any offspring from the union would of course be carefully monitored for any defects. Anatomy between both species are similar. Males have penises that are flaccid when dormant and become engorged with blood with aroused. Females have vaginas that expand to accommodate when aroused. The only difference is that Zulraian female vaginas do not self-lubricate. Their interior vaginal cavity is composed of several layers of hard membrane. This evolutionary breakthrough developed because..."

"Zulraians are known for destroying vaginas?" A young scientist interjected.

The room erupted in brief laughter. The young scientist that interrupted stood up to continue.

"Sorry to interrupt, but we have the streamline this briefing. My name is Adam Reiss and I have studied Zulraians for the majority of my life. I've visited the planet on numerous occasions. They are a very proud race of beings and for them to ask for assistance, is almost unheard of. I was given the task as intermediary for both sides. I will be directing the briefing once Gneim from High Command comes online." He made a move to the front of the conference room and dimmed the lights.

"The Cause has been an issue for Zulraians for many generations. The devastating effect on their society due to their rigorous genetic engineering program has gone unchecked for a very long time. Unfortunately, many of their top scientists have been unable to successfully resolve this matter.

"Our assistance was requested grudgedly. Their initial requirement was for an all-male research team, to lend individual expertize to the project." Summer had her attention solely on Adam, but she could feel Mindy scowling. "But we have been able to convince them of the brilliance that could be added to this project if they allow females on board. Now don't get offended by what I've said Dr. O'Malley. High Command has reviewed your work as well as everyone else's and they made the final decision on who should be able to assist in The Cause.

"I'm not at liberty to discuss the intricacies of Zulraian culture, but I can say that they had good reason for making an all-male request. Fortunately, Gneim can expound on that matter." He made several motions to bring the Zulraian in question on screen above the conference table.

The screen flickered a few times before a Zulraian appeared. As with many of the race, his age was difficult to determine. To the human eye, he appeared to be mid to late 30's, but the race could live for up to two centuries. His dark hair was worn long and pulled into a queue. His facial features were austere and he had a sharp jaw line. He was classically handsome and strikingly human.

"Greetings," He began in a slightly accented voice. "I am General Gneim of High Command. Your presence and assistance with The Cause is most appreciated. I am sure that you have been briefed about the matter in which you are here. I intend to inform you about Zulraian culture.

"We are a homogeneous race. The way of life exhibited in the northern hemisphere of our planet, will be exhibited on the southern hemisphere of our planet and so on. We have keen eyesight, hearing and sense of smell. Males of our species are known to react strongly to certain scents.

"Upon first contact with your species, a single female was present. Her arrival on planet caused an uproar. Outwardly, humans had little awareness as to the dilemma the female created. It is said that her scent was beyond alluring and her features highly coveted. She was eventually taken by an Admiral in High Command. He mated her and she bore many offspring, all healthy females."

Many people gasped and several swore.

"Why hasn't this story been publicized?" Chien asked. "Your population worries could have been solved a while ago."

"As stated before, we are a homogeneous race. We are also very proud. Outworlders, no matter how genetically close, will always be viewed as 'other'. Our race is set in its ways and very stubborn. Change doesn't come easy. Admitting that we need to change is even more difficult."

Summer sat in bewilderment. Although she never came in contact with one, she always viewed Zulraians as asexual nerds. To hear that they were ruled by their senses was astonishing.

"Then why are you so forthright? You say that Zulraians are full of pride and yet you humble yourself and speak of your races faults."

General Gneim tilted his head and regarded Summer. His eyes glinted before he replied. "I am related to the human and find myself able to admit certain characteristics my fellow constitutes cannot.

"You have been brought here to assist us with our dilemma and in exchange we will share resources with your planet." He turned towards Summer. "I am aware of your research and will insure that you receive several entities high in antioxidant properties to help further your studies.

"There has been an serum created that dampens our senses. This serum will be used by all who come in contact with the human scientist. Quarters have been designated for everyone. The two females will be housed in a secluded area, away from frequent activity. It is advised that an escort be with the females at all times. We have attempted to circumvent all unpleasant activity, but there is still a threat that remains. Please be vigilant in every situation."

The brief continued. Safety precautions were highlighted and maps of the compound were downloaded onto each tablet. Names and profiles of the 20 Zulraian scientists assigned to The Cause were also downloaded. Summer's anxiety multiplied tenfold. The warnings given to the group were only warnings for the females. It appeared that the men were free to explore the compound at leisure. They needed no bodyguards and had no curfew. They could even go into town and sight see. Whereas the females were secluded to their rooms, which were connected and had to call for security whenever they decided to leave their quarters.

'How convenient," Summer thought. 'That they wait to the end briefing to disclose all the pertinent information.'

The ship was in orbit around Zulraius, so shuttles were sent to retrieve the human scientist. Summer headed to her cabin to collect her belongings before departure. She met up with Mindy at the shuttle bay.

"Bastards!" Mindy gripped. "Sneaky bastards. I would have never come if I knew that those aliens had a human female fetish."

Summer nodded her head in agreement. The two shuttles that were sent appeared modernly futuristic in design. They were white and seamless. They appeared inconspicuous, without an apparent opening and no obvious windows.

When the scientist got closer to the shuttles, doors suddenly appeared.

"The gravity of this situation is just starting to hit me. These people have been on the cutting edge of technology for centuries!" Summer turned, wide eyed to Mindy. "How can we possibly assist them with their problem?"

The shuttle was silent for a few moments. They had just left the space ship and were making their way to the planet's surface.

Chein sat to Summer's left. He regarded her briefly before for replying. "From my understanding, they have an eidetic memory. At least the males do. That doesn't necessarily mean that they are geniuses. Without original thought, photographic memory is almost useless."

Summer nodded, absently before looking out the window. She wasn't sure how Zulraian technology operated, but she was very impressed. The shuttle gave the impression of no windows, but inside a window covered the entire top portion of the craft. Looking towards the front of the craft, it was obvious that it was self-piloted. Summer assumed that their destination coordinates where preset.

The landscape that she observed was breathtaking. The sun had just risen, so everything appeared in shadow. Mist surrounded trees and buildings alike and the morning bustle of workers was present. The time between their initial departure and their subsequent landing seemed very short. If Summer had to guess, she would say that the ride took approximately 20 minutes.

The shuttle landed without any turbulence.

"Look we have a welcoming party," Mindy motioned to the scene outside the window. A group of male Zulraians were standing near the landing pad. All wore loose dark clothing. Upon closer inspection, Summer noted that they were probably the group of 20 that were to assist with the project.

The door to the shuttle opened and Summer grabbed Mindy's hand, "here we go."