On Another World Ch. 02

"First General Guerrae, M'lord Dee-Ess. He is a warrior and a leader, almost without equal.

"How may I ask will you get this information to him?"

By special courier. He will receive the message in about three days.

I shrugged. "That is a bit faster than I expected. Also, tell him to set up a strong defensive perimeter. That will be all for now. My thanks to you, Gilliam."

"It is my pleasure, M'lord."

I changed into my combat gear and returned to the practice field. I sparred with Falko until nearly sunset. I then returned to my quarters to find the 'Q-girls' waiting for me.

After a bath and still another marathon lovemaking session that left us all nearly exhausted, the three of us lay back to recuperate. It was everything Qij-jah had promised...and more. I said, "I noticed that they do not seem to have anything like condom here. No one seems to practice safe sex on this world. Is that not unsafe? Can either of you explain that to me?"

"Please, Master. Do not concern thyself with things that are just not of any importance." Qij-jah told me.

"And what happens should one of you turn up pregnant?"

"Master...." Qaj-jah said to me in English this time, "Terranians and Qoo-jans cannot procreate." She paused a moment, seemingly confused, then she said to me. "We are, ge...gen...genetically in....incompatible." She stumbled over the words. Her mastery of my language was good, but far from perfect. "As for the other.... The sicknesses spread by...intimacy do not exist here. The Grey Ones illuminated those many hundreds of cycles ago."

"If we are genetically incompatible, how am I to have children...a son to carry on my line? A family?"

"With thy wives, of course, Master." She giggled.

"Wives?" I looked at them both dumbfounded.

"Do not worry, Master. We will insist thee in finding suitable females for thy future mates." Qij-jah said, and then leaned over to kiss me softly on the cheek.

Qaj-jah giggled and said, "We already have one candidate in mind for thy first wife, Master."

I opened my mouth to speak, but shook my head and said nothing. There was still much I needed to learn. Having multiple women in one's life was a fantasy of many men in my previous life. Here, not only did I have that, but also they seemed quite happy and willing to share me with still more women. Again, I simply decided to go with the flow.

Qaj-jah looked at me questioningly. "Art thou not at least a little curious, Master?"

"Actually, I'm more than happy with the two of you for right now."

And we with thee, Master." Qij-jah said, "But, thou simply must have wives. Thou must mate, have sons...and daughters." She smiled sweetly at me.

Qoo-jah women apparently loved children and I guessed that the 'Q-girls' would automatically become nannies to my offspring if and when I had any.

Many more memories...or to be more accurate, a lot more of the programming I underwent was coming back to me. While I knew this would be a great help to me, I did not want to lose my own past...or since of whom I was...originally. I might be Terranian now, but I as far as I was concerned, I was still a United States Marine! Force Recon to boot! My thinking was becoming at least a little more in tune with my new world. Owning slaves did not bother me quite as much. That was most likely because I did not treat them as slaves or really think of them that way. Hardly an hour ever passed without them showing me how much they loved me very much in word or deed. I too, was coming to love them as well. There was absolutely nothing either would not do to please me. And...there was nothing I wouldn't do for them as well.

I shook myself out of my musings and found the girls starring at me expectantly.

"Well...?" They asked in unison.

I sighed, smiled and nodded to them. "Very well, you may begin gossiping."

They giggled. There is no word for gossip in Terranian, so I said the last word in English. Having been educated in that language, they knew its meaning and found it amusing.

Qaj-jah spoke first. She was actually my second slave, but they were siblings and she was the eldest of the two.

"Her name is Verella, Master. And she is the youngest niece of the provincial governor. Her parents were both warriors and died in the war. She is an orphan."

"The provincial governor?"

"Yes, Master. He is Granahkt the Wise. He is also a warrior, like thyself." Qij-jah said.

Qaj-jah continued. "She was to be betrothed to one of the princes of Terrania, but he has turned out to be one of the soft ones."

"Soft ones?" I asked.

"Yes, Master. In thy tongue, he is gay."

"Hmmm. On a world where there are nearly ten women for every man that seems rather silly to me, but..." I shrugged. "...to each, their own."

She went on...Qij-jah seemed content to let her sister do all the talking. "Verella is as lovely a female as there is on this world, my Master. Thou wilt meet her three days hence."

"But what of my mission? Should that not take priority?"

"Thou hast more than enough time for that, Master. He Who Leads has said, according to his intelligence, there is much more time than we thought a few days ago."

"Why her?" I asked.

Qaj-jah hesitated a moment as if not sure what to say. She switched again to English. "She would be a near perfect match for thee in a political sense. Granted Master, thou may be 'The One' but to be related by marriage to one such as Granahkt can only help thee. Qij-jah and I have selected her to be thy first wife with a purpose. Please Master; do not concern thyself about us. We will not... cannot be jealous. It is not our way. Besides, such a union will grant thee nearly immeasurable political power."

Politics!I groaned inwardly.Not here too!I thought for a bit, then slowly nodded and said. "Very well then, set up the meeting and one or both of you explain the customs on this? There are a few things; the Grey Ones seem to have forgotten about."

Those words had no sooner left my mouth than the room plunged into the deepest black darkness I had ever witnessed. Then after a few seconds, an incredibly bright light came from the ceiling in the center of the room. The 'Q-girls' went to their knees, with their foreheads pressed firmly to the floor.

Then, the lighting returned to normal and everything was as it was before...except....

In the middle of the room stood a short gray figure. I recognized what he was immediately. He was an Olygard.

I estimated he was about 4 feet tall, maybe less. His skin was grey. His eyes were huge for his head and black...completely. The eyeballs, irises, pupils, all of them! He wore what looked like a cross between a jump suit and a space suit in black. He waved a hand toward the girls and spoke to me in Terranian. "They will sleep for now."

"First, I suppose I should thank you for curing me and saving my life, but first I need to ask you a question. Why...? Why me?"

"We determined that you fighting skills and other abilities would be of help...of course we also enhanced you and your body as you well know by now."

"Again, why me? On a world of billions, surely I cannot be the best...." I searched for the right word to use, "...warrior for this mission"

"You were not chosen based solely on that. You were chosen for many reasons...mostly important was your ability to adapt to new situations."

"We have not addressed anyone on this world for a very long time. However, your situation warrants it. Terrania is in dire need of saving."

"I got that part. I'm here to save the world." I said, bringing my hands up to add 'air quotes' to the last part of my statement. My sarcasm was not lost on him.

"You were brought here completely in human form. In the past, others were relocated to here and other worlds converted to their new life form totally. Here, they become fully Terranian. With you, there was not time for the full conversion." He paused, "You are not the first...."

"There are other humans here from Earth?"

"Only one...."

"Only one? But, didn't you say...."

He cut me off. "Only one in full human form. There are a few others, but they are completely Terranian. Their memories were wiped clean first."

"So...what is the difference the humans of Earth and Terrania? They are both basically human, are they not?" I asked next.

"In appearance, yes. Only medical experts could be able to discern any of the differences. There is far less than one tenth of one percent difference between you and them."

I thought about that for a while in silence. We stood and starred at each other for a very long time.

Then finally, just to break the silence, I looked at him and asked. "What is your name if I may ask?"

"It is not pronounceable to your kind. But...you may call me Thor if you like."

I laughed. "You do kind of resemble that character from that old television show." I was referring to the Asgard character, Thor from 'Stargate – SG1', which was a popular sci-fi TV show a few years back. "Well...at least you are clothed." I chuckled.

He appeared to sigh. "The other...The one who is also from your world, like you was modified and brought here. It seems in hindsight that was a mistake on their part. He has become a power-hungry tyrant. And with the help of a few of our own, wants to rule this entire planet. He was brought from your Earth after being in stasis for nearly 800 of your years. Very little information remains on him. I can tell you this. He was a leading general for a ruthless leader on Earth long ago named Genghis Kahn."

"A Mongol...." I said. I was impressed, a little. In the history of my world, Mongols had a fierce reputation. But I had been Force Recon. We were tough too. The only advantage hemighthave was the total lack of regard for human life. Most especially among those, he would consider his enemies.

Then the proverbial light bulb came on then. "We...? Them...? What's going on here?"

Thor nodded. "We chose wisely. It seems that you are beginning to understand."

"It's beginning to sound to me like your race is having us 'lesser beings' fighting your wars for you." I said sarcastically to Thor, using air quotes with the words 'lesser beings' with my hands. "If so, you will most certainly go down in my esteem."

"No, Dee-Ess. We have not been at war for well more than five millennia. Our two factions may disagree, but we are too few to go to war. It would be the end of us. The other faction does quite often freely interfere with the lesser beings asyouput it. We do not. However, in this case, we had to make an exception. Kahn, the one you oppose on this world was created, in your words to conquer Terrania. Our faction cannot, will not interferedirectlywith this world. Yet, we cannot allow Kahn to succeed. You were dying on Earth anyway. Would you not rather live a long, full rich life year, than be as you were before.

I nodded, knowing the wisdom in his words. "I cannot argue with you on that count. Again, I like I should thank you for my life, or, should I say, my new life?"

Thor nodded and remained still for a long moment, and then said, "Rest assured, you will earn it. Know this though, although we have made you into a very powerful being on this world, you are not immortal. Also, you are not indestructible. You can be killed, though not very easily.

Thor looked at the girls kneeling on the floor. "I see that you have both of the sisters now. The elder was our first choice however; she was not available when this project was started. So, we chose the younger. May I ask how this occurred? Contrary to what the people on this world think, we are not omnificent."

I explained about the assassination attempt on Qij-jah and Gilliam's insistence on doubling my guard and then assigning her sister, Qaj-jah to also become my slave. I also told of him my misgivings on slavery. "This was abolished, nearly 150 years ago on Earth." Then I asked, "Would you happen to know why the attempt was made on her life?"

Again, he nodded. "Kahn knows that someone will be coming here to try and stop him. He does not know who or when. He may have found out that Qij-jah had been selected to serve and protect him." He looked at me again. "Perhaps he thought, by eliminating her, he could make your job much more difficult. If not impossible."

Next, I asked the next obvious question. "How long will it take for him to know that I am here and attempt to kill me?"

"At least one cyclo, maybe two. But, you should know that he does learn of your arrival, he will try to stop you in any way he can." He looked at the 'Q-girls' and said, "Take care of them. They are more important to you than you know." He raised his hand; the room was again filled with blinding light. When the lighting returned to normal, he was gone and the girls were awakening.

"Master?" They both asked in unison.

I went to them, and got down on one knee. "Do not worry. It is nothing for you to concern yourselves with." They were both very clearly worried about me. In the short time I had been here, I had come to trust them completely. I decided to tell them the truth. "I was just visited by one of the Grey Ones. He somehow put both of you to sleep. He told me more about my mission here. Have either of you, heard of a man named Kahn?"

They both looked up at me fearfully. Whether they feared Kahn more or the Olygard, I do not know. Qij-jah nodded to her sister, then Qaj-jah spoke. "Yes Master, we have. He is an evil man...a dangerous man." She said. Although Qij-jah was my first slave chronologically, they had apparently decided that since Qaj-jah was the elder of the two siblings, that she would be considered 'first girl' in my home.

"I am relatively sure that it was he who sent the assassin after you, Qij-jah. We must all be on our guard. He will soon learn that the assassination failed and that I have finally arrived."

They both leapt to their feet, rushed to me and then hugged me tightly. "Do not worry, Master. We shall protect thee." Worry filled their now grey-white eyes.

"And who is going to protect the two of you?" I asked, annoyed.

"That matters not, Master." Qaj-jah said. "It is you who are most important. We are but just slaves."

I lost my temper. My anger caused me to slip into English. "You will not ever say that to me again, Qaj-jah! Do you understand?" I said loudly without shouting. "The Grey One that was just here told me that both of you are of much greater importance than either of you know."

Yes, Master. It shall be as thou sayest." They said as one.

"Now...." I said. "...where were we?"

Qaj-jah said. "You had asked about the customs for your courtship of Verella, Master."

"Continue...."

"I shall take care of most of it, Master. But, before the betrothal can be official, you must take her to your bed and you must share the pleasures with her."

"Have sex with herbeforewe officially engaged?"

"Yes Master, it is the custom."

"Why?"

"As your wife, she will be required to keep you happy in bed, as well as out of it. She must be pleasing to you in every conceivable way. The laws and customs of Terrania demand it."

My curiosity got the better of me. "What happens should I reject her? That is not likely, but I'd like to know."

"She would become outcast and would most likely become a slave girl, the same way as Qij-jah and I are. That almost never happens, Master. Last time was over a hundred cycles ago."

"After the betrothal does become official, you must meet with Granahkt to arrange to receive her dowry. I will see to the rest of it, my Master."

"Very well, you may proceed." I said to both of them. Then, I asked. "Is there anything like a library on this world? I wish to do some research on the customs here."

"Yes, Master." Qaj-jah said. She nodded to Qij-jah, who turned and left. There was no doubt in my mind now that Qaj-jah was the 'first girl' in my home now. That was one of the things I wanted to research.

A short time later, Qij-jah returned carrying three large books. I had actually expected her to come back with an armful of scrolls. I very quietly breathed a sigh of relief. There was a brief moment when I wondered if I could read Terranian but then, I figured that the Olygard would not 'program' me to speak a new language without giving me the ability to read it. Qij-jah set the books on a small table next to where I was sitting. I picked up the first, then opened it and began to read.

It was illustrated with near photo quality pictures. Most of the first few chapters were a condensed history of Terrania. It went into a brief explanation to the reason for the 10 – 1 female to male ratio. There was something lacking in the male sperm...it was all rather medically technical and I understood little of it. I also learned that the birth rate was somewhat less than on Earth. An average Terranian male with three wives (the norm) could expect to have two and maybe on rare occasions, three offspring in his lifetime. I learned that over the last millennia or so, there had been basically zero population growth on Terrania.

Then I got to the part about the mating and marriage customs and found that Qaj-jah had been absolutely correct in everything she had told me. Based on what I was reading, with Granahkt being a provincial governor, I could expect a sizable dowry for Verella. I read further and found that my station on Terrania made me a rather wealthy individual. Then came to what I thought of as the good stuff.

Slavery on Terrania is not the same as on Earth. I found that the 'Q-girls' were actually paid a modest wage from my apparent vast holdings. I also learned that they could ask for and receive their freedom, though no one could ever remember the last time that occurred. The Qoo-jan, it seemed were quite happy to remain slaves. This, I simply could not understand.

I continued to read. As Qaj-jah had told me, Terranians and Qoo-jans were genetically incompatible to create children. Though, as in many cultures, there were such occurrences in rumor and myth. However, there was no documented case.

As I read, I become more knowledgeable of my unique position here. Much, if not all of my 'programming' by the Olygard or lost memories as I referred to them came flooding back. I now fully understood my mission here and ideas of how to accomplish it were already racing through my mind.

I asked Qaj-jah for some paper and something to write with, which she obtained quickly. I thanked her and started taking notes. I began planning.

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To be continued....

As always, constructive criticism and comments are welcome.

Chapter Three has already been started, but given my writing style, it may take a while to finish.

DS