A knock on her chamber door had the Oracle composing herself. She adjusted her hood, because no one ever saw her face. Her robe fanned out, hiding her crossed legs. Clasped hands rested in her lap. “Come in, Yolenca’sur.” She didn’t need to ask to know who disturbed her meditation.

The young acolyte entered and then visibly stiffened before shaking herself and huffing. “Goodness, the ancestors are loud today. What has them in such a frenzy?” A young woman of promise, she could almost hear the voices clearly. Almost. Meaning the Oracle’s search for a replacement continued.

“They know we are at a crossroads that will decide if the Xamian shall rebuild bigger and stronger than ever, or if we will fade into obscurity.” A tragedy of years past had decimated the female population, leading to lower birthrates and too many unattached males, which led to all too many altercations. Without the gentling hand of a mate, the males fought over the stupidest things and had almost managed to eradicate themselves as a species.

With the help of the spirits, the Oracle had been instrumental in ensuring some of their best warriors found their true mates. However, the number of the unmated had become more than she could handle alone, and with a new threat on the horizon, the Oracle sought a way to shift the burden.

Yolenca grimaced. “Your success thus far has not gone unnoticed. The unmated have recently been increasing their attempts to bribe me and the other acolytes for an audience with you, or to move their request ahead of others.”

“If all works as planned, then soon they won’t need me at all.” A prospect that annoyed the spirits, who wanted a say in the future of the living. Every time they started their angry buzzing she reminded them of the looming blank spot in their future and the fact they’d run out of options. “I assume you’re here because the warriors I’ve requested have arrived?”

“Yes, Oracle. They currently wait in the antechamber.”

“Send them in.”

“At once.” Yolenca bowed before scurrying off to fetch the males the Oracle had requested. It had taken much arguing with the spirits before she’d decided upon this pair. Now she could only hope she’d made the right choice.

In short order, two warriors entered, both tall and fit, their flesh a healthy blue hue, their bodies well-toned but older than the usual males she dealt with. While they’d proven their worth, they’d never been matched because the Oracle didn’t usually waste time with those who wouldn’t increase the population. But it turned out they had a very important task to accomplish.

The males stopped a few paces from the Oracle and bowed.

“Thank you both for coming on short notice,” the Oracle stated.

The one on the left, Jaspar’uilla Var Jannu, spoke first. “You honor me with your summons, Oracle.”

“Is it an honor, though?” interjected the other male, named Cade’krinno Mer Acadu. “Maybe you submitted a request for a mate, but I most certainly did not.”

Jaspar cleared his throat. “Actually, I’ve not filed an application. Didn’t figure there was a point.”

The Oracle canted her cowled head. “It’s because you’re unmated that you’ve been selected for the upcoming mission.”

“Mission?” Cade’s expression brightened.

“How may we be of assistance?” a relieved-looking Jaspar added.

“You must depart immediately for the planet known as Earth.”

“Isn’t that the world where our warriors have been fetching most of our alien mates from?” Cade asked with suspicion.

“Yes. Your mission is to increase the number of bondings.”

“Us?” Cade exclaimed. “We can’t pair warriors and females. We’re not you.”

“I should hope not,” was her tart reply.

“What he means to say is, how can we aid you in this most important task?” Jaspar offered a diplomatic answer.

“You must find someone called Colette Wilson and convince her to use her expertise to match suitable human females with warriors.”

“Is this Colette an Oracle?” Cade asked.

“Not exactly. She is, however, an expert when it comes to pairing couples. Her aid is crucial if we’re to continue rebuilding our population.”

Relief eased the stress from Jaspar’s face. “Sounds easy enough.”

“It won’t be,” the Oracle stated plainly. “Convincing her is only part of the issue. This will necessitate revealing our existence to the entire planet. However, it must be done in such a way as to not frighten the Earthlings.”

“Any suggestions on how to do that?” Jaspar asked.

“Carefully,” the Oracle’s dry reply. “They are a volatile species. Easily goaded into war. You must find a way to show them we mean no ill will, which won’t be easy.”

“Understood,” Jaspar said with a nod, whereas Cade wanted to know, “How long will we be gone?”

“The length of your journey will depend on your success in convincing the human. You will depart just after the moon rises.”

“That quickly?” Jaspar’s brow rose in surprise.

“This task is of vital importance, and I am counting on you to ensure its success. Earth females have proven to be the most compatible when it comes to mating, and if our kind is to survive, then we need them. You cannot fail.”

“Fear not. We shall do our utmost to succeed,” Jaspar promised.

Cade gave a nod of his head.

The whispering ancestors began to shout, and the Oracle knew she had to satisfy them. “As a reward for your service, should you come across a female that suits you as a mate, then you have my blessing to bond.”

Jaspar shook his head. “While you do me honor, it would be a waste of a nubile bride.”

“And I, quite honestly, would prefer to go on missions and not be bound to family and hearth,” Cade added.

“That is your choice, of course, but if you change your mind…” The Oracle left the sentence unfinished and closed her eyes as the spirits grumbled.

Only once the warriors left did she reply to the voices. “I have done all I can. Now it is up to them to succeed, and, if they do, realize the gift they’ve been given.”

A gift they’d have to share.

Chapter 1

Jaspar didn’t need long to pack. Truth be told, he didn’t own much, the place he called home more of a temporary shelter to rest in between missions. He preferred being off-planet. Unlike others, he didn’t have any living relatives, being the only son of a male who’d not been interested in raising a child once his mate passed on from the viral attack launched on the females of Xaanda. When his father died, Jaspar honestly didn’t feel much, as it was hard to care about a stranger. He did, however, follow in his paternal progenitor’s footsteps, training from a young age in the combat arts and enlisting for military training as soon as he became eligible.

Decades later, Jaspar continued to go on missions, the longer, the better. The military needed someone to man an outpost at the far reaches of their galaxy? He volunteered and even extended his deployment, the tiny planet he’d been assigned providing excellent hunting until the asteroid that hit—his fault. He’d been playing with the planet’s defense system and shattered a large comet passing by, which led to the stray chunk that smashed into the surface, starting a chain reaction.

He'd been reassigned to a diplomatic mission that required him staying on a busy and chaotic space station, which, after the blessed quiet of his last posting, left him stressed and disgruntled. So many entities crammed in the intergalactic hub. He ended up being redeployed after frisking a dignitary in an inappropriate spot. In his defense, he’d not realized their sex organs were in their armpits.

A stint on the Xaanda moon base as a teacher for their training facility bored him to the point he begged to be sent anywhere. Guess the ancestors were listening, seeing as how the Oracle summoned Jaspar and assigned him a most important task. A task and not a mate, thank the moons.

The mission would be intricate, as it involved diplomacy rather than subjugation, making him an odd choice, as peaceful deals were not exactly his strong suit. Usually, he preferred to shoot the things that didn’t cooperate. However, despite the fact he wouldn’t get to show off his combat skills, the thrill of visiting the alien world he’d heard so much about did excite. He looked forward to sifting truth from fiction, like the fact humans chose their own paths rather than having an Oracle and their ancestral spirits guiding them. There would be new cuisine to try, and not the replicator-made kind. Earthlings still actually cooked using ingredients. And he found this the most difficult to believe: apparently the citizens of Earth bathed with water! Exactly how wealthy was this planet to waste such a valuable resource?

“You are cleared to board,” stated the attendant at the space port, startling Jaspar, who’d been sitting and waiting patiently.

“Which vessel?” he asked, standing and slinging his pack over a shoulder.

The attendant pointed to a sleek craft, and Jaspar’s jaw almost dropped. One of the new Cosmonians, named Bekke, featuring the latest in innovation, including the Beta 690, the upgraded computer model of the Alpha 350.

Jaspar practically drooled as he boarded the new spacecraft. He couldn’t help but trail his fingers along the smooth panels on his way to the bridge. Upon entering the spacious room, he gaped at the simplified control panels, which reacted to touch instead of the many toggles and dials of the older crafts he’d learn to pilot on.

“Welcome, Commander Jaspar’uilla Var Jannu,” a female voice said. “I am Beta 690, and I am pleased to assist you.”

“Hello, Beta 690. Ready for our mission?”

“I am, Commander. However, I have not yet been cleared for departure.”

“I’m aware I arrived early. I wanted to familiarize myself with your capabilities before take-off, as well as run some system checks.” Jaspar knew the ground crew would have already verified the vessel as being spaceworthy, but he liked to do his own inspection. Never knew what they might have missed. He’d once piloted a very rickety Golgian tri-wing that had an infestation of bugs that bypassed organic scans due to their metallic exoskeleton.

“A system diagnostic has been run, and nothing is amiss.”

“That your sensors could detect,” he pointed out. “I’m going to perform a more visual inspection.”

“Will ogling my parts really allow you to find fault?”

The sassy reply surprised and didn’t. He’d heard of Alpha 350 and the way its innate learning module allowed it to develop a personality. He’d just never experienced it before, having only ever used early and very basic AI models.

Before he could reply, Cade, his partner on the mission, also entered the bridge. “Can you blame him for wanting to admire how well put together you are? You are one beautiful ship.”

“I am.” A reply with a hint of smugness. “I have many enhancements that will make our voyage together pleasurable.”

“I can’t wait for you to show me,” Cade purred in reply.

The control module glowed briefly red before returning to its previous flat gray.

Jaspar glanced at Cade. “Hello, again.” This would be their first mission together, having only met earlier that day. He knew nothing of the other warrior. There hadn’t been time to speak, since they’d needed to prepare for immediate departure.

“Hey.” Cade flashed him a smile. “Looks like we’ve got quite the mission.”

“Indeed. Do you have any experience with Earthlings?” Jaspar had seen a few from afar on his brief visits to Xaanda, but he’d never spoken to one. What he did know he’d gleaned from a few articles and rumors he’d run into over the years.

“Never met one, but my understanding is they’re not as advanced as us. They’ve barely achieved space travel and have yet to even leave their solar system.”

“Which would explain why they’re unaware of other species.” The Oracle had stated they’d have to reveal their existence to humanity. Hopefully it went better than the beings on the planet Kneeanderfal, who’d decided the Xamian were evil entities trying to kill their imaginary gods.

“Any ideas on how we should introduce ourselves?” Cade asked, flinging himself into one of the commander seats.

“Carefully. We need their cooperation.”

“Nice and polite is one way, although, given I’ve heard they can be a violent bunch, I’m wondering if a show of force might work better.”

“Threatening them isn’t likely to make them want an alliance,” Jaspar pointed out.

“Being too nice might make them think we’re weak.”

The argument went back and forth even after they left their home world, and it proved to be the first of many disagreements. Given their very different personalities and views, the voyage was spent mostly avoiding each other. Jaspar followed a routine during his rotation. Wake. Exercise. Cleanse. Eat. Go over Beta’s reports to see if anything interesting happened on Cade’s shift—nothing did. Research the planet Earth—and wonder how much of that was true. Surely humans didn’t actually strap blades to their feet to dance on ice?

He studied the file on the female whose aid they needed to enlist. Stared overly long at the images provided. Got annoyed with himself for his fascination. Make up for it by doing some more training in the physical fitness chamber while trying to think about how they could convince the many governments on Earth to ally with them.

The daily repetition on the voyage soothed Jaspar, who liked a set regime, unlike Cade, who tended to play a lot in the simulator and, when he didn’t, declared himself bored, which led to him wanting to talk.

“How much longer until we get there?”

“Hey, want to stop off at that little planet with the bug infestation and stomp a few multi-legged critters?”

“What do you mean we don’t have time to pop into the Cosmic Bordello?”

Jaspar really had to wonder why the ancestors, via the Oracle, had chosen the two of them for this mission. They agreed about nothing, especially when it came to how to handle the Earthlings, and, more specifically, the female that was supposed to help them.

Jaspar thought they should exercise caution, initially introducing themselves via a virtual conversation. Cade, though… “We’re here to sway her to our side. A bunch of emotionless messages will hardly do that.”

“Humanity has odd, and violent, notions about those not from their world.” Beta 690 had shown him many video clips of how Earthlings treated visitors from other galaxies. True, most of those came from fictional movies and depicted species that didn’t actually exist, but Jaspar knew for a fact that humans thrived on conflict. Just look at how they treated each other!

When they entered Earth’s orbit, Cade and Jaspar still argued about how to proceed. An exasperated Cade threw up his hands and exclaimed, “Fine, we’ll do it your way. Super slow.”

“It’s called wait and watch. Once we’ve observed for a period of time, we can devise a plan of action.”

Cade reluctantly agreed, and with the ship cloaked to hide its energy signature and blend in among the many satellites junking the space around the planet, Jaspar went off duty. It was only when he rose and entered the bridge for his daily report that he discovered his partner had lied. Beta sounded almost gleeful as she announced, “Commander Cade’krinno Mer Acadu has made contact with the target.”