Culture Clash

It had been six months since Xelli first crawled from her incubation chamber. As her ship plummeted through Vorinis' thin atmosphere, she doubted she would reach seven.

Warning lights cast a sickly yellow glow over her command console, which spat sparks and ichor as the bio-mechanical interfaces holding the Keshirr together failed under the stress of planetary entry. Keshirr was an old ship, repaired and refurbished with synth-steel and electronics bought from the Corporates where its biological systems had degraded with age. Xelli could feel it bucking and shuddering with pain as its carapace began to burn and gritted her teeth, yanking back on the main control stick to level out her descent. Another rumbled passed through her, this time accompanied by a deep groan of pain from somewhere deep in the ship, audible even over the warbling alarms.

Xelli blocked it out. She had been bred with more empathy than most of her kind, but to indulge in sympathy at that moment would be suicide. Keshirr was doomed, but she might yet survive.

One of the jelly-like lights on the console lit up as the ship's long-range scanners finished sweeping for landing zones. Xelli punched a sequence of keys and a flickering holographic map of the planet below sprung into life before her. Her eyes roamed hopefully over the grainy topographical readouts. Keshirr lurched again. A nest of clammy arteries burst free from the ceiling, drizzling fluids. Another warning light came on, helpfully informing her the aft stabilisers had just broken away.

Xelli cursed under her breath, torn between trying to find a landing zone and struggling to keep her decaying vessel intact. The control stick rocked in her hands, fighting her every attempt at turning Keshirr's downward path into a controlled descent. Finally, the topographical readout chimed, zooming in on a low valley between two of Voronis' prime mountain ranges, not far from one of the small mining colonies scattered across the planet.

It would have to do, Xelli thought. She input the co-ordinates, trusting the ship's neural clusters could handle the fine course corrections so long as she could keep it level. There was another ominous groan, but this time she felt Keshirr's mass shifting as the vessel rolled towards its new, final destination. She leaned over the console, control stick in-hand, eyes flitting back and forth between the map and the endless stream of damage reports and system failures scrolling across Keshirr's screens.

The ship had no external viewports, but she could imagine the hull glowing red hot, venting clouds of steam as its carapace ruptured and pockets of super-heated blood evaporated into the atmosphere. So too could Xelli picture Voronis' rocky surface growing steadily larger, eating up more and more of her view, towering peaks and vast, muddy oceans slowly coming into view. Keshirr lurched as it penetrated the planet's inner atmosphere, the sudden change in pressure detonating one of its mechanical retrothrusters and throwing Xelli against the console. The control stick slipped from her hand and the ship began to sway drunkenly, proximity alarms screaming as she struggled back into her seat. Half a dozen red lights flashed on the topographic display, each picking out a mountain that threatened to drag her ship out of the sky. Xelli dragged the ship to her left, swinging its heavy bulk around the first peak and narrowly skirting the second. But the third came up too quickly, tearing open the lower decks with a horrid squeal that reverberated through the flight deck.

The few remaining green lights on the control deck turned red or died completely. Xelli rattled the stick back and forwards, her hair-tendrils writhing in sudden panic as the ship failed to respond. She fled, sphincter-like doors sighing open to reveal corridors slick with biochemical fuel and ichor, feet pounding down chitinous walkways and ladders of knotted bone towards the cargo deck. The ribbed chamber was full of secure, reinforced crates packed with military salvage, mineral samples and recovered technology. Xelli made for the closest and upended it, spilling its contents across the floor and climbing inside as a monstrous crashing noise ran through the ship.

She had done all she could. Xelli slammed the lid closed, hugged her knees to her chest and hoped.

---

It took three kicks to get the crate open again. The lid burst off, spilling Xelli out onto the valley floor. Scrubby yellow grass covered the ground, broken up by wiry clumps of brush and ugly, twisted trees. Ochre clouds swirled overhead, while birds shrieked in offense at the dirty trail of smoke and oxidising ship-blood her descent had carved through their domain. It was unpleasantly hot, and Xelli soon found her clothes growing sticky with moisture as she stood and checked herself for injuries. She ached from toe to tendril, but nothing seemed broken.

Keshirr's hulking carcass lay nearby, biochemical gore pouring down its ruptured hull. The blunt front end of the ship was little more than a blackened, crumbling mass of carbon. Maneuvering tendrils and solar sails had been shorn off, while the ship's few remaining mechanical components had fused into solid chunks of metal.

Further down the ruined hull she spotted the damage which had killed her ship. Three neat puncture wounds bored into the central combustion organ, the edges of each wound smouldering with acidic burns. Xelli nodded grimly, content there was nothing she could have done to save her ship. If Keshirr hadn't become caught in Voronis' gravity, she would have been left helpless and adrift, with no engines and limited power. Xelli looked up again, cursing the sky.

"Bastard didn't even come down to pick the bones clean," she muttered, turning back to her ruined ship. Life was not especially valued among her people, so the attack by her erstwhile ally Jertriz hadn't been a complete surprise. Xelli sighed, making her way back into the giant corpse. The stink was awful, all burned meat and rancid ichor, and she wrinkled her nose as she set to work salvaging what she could. Perhaps the dirty little genetic reject had planned on looting her ship, but assumed anything of worth would be destroyed on impact when he saw Keshirr begin its death spiral into Voronis' atmosphere.

Blisters of emergency supplies lined the main spinal column walls. Xelli ruptured each in turn, sorting through the ration packs, medical kits and camping equipment that spilled forth, taking only what she needed for the hike back to civilisation before turning to her quarters. She grimaced as the sphincter-door sighed open. Her six months of life had afforded little chance to amass a horde of keepsakes, but what few mementos she did own lay smashed across the floor. Her spine rifle, at least, had survived. Xelli checked the sleek organic rifle's ammo supplies and slung it over her shoulder, taking some comfort in the weapon's familiar weight as she left Keshirr's corpse. She paused on the threshold, placing a hand on the fleshy interior wall and looking sadly back over her shoulder.

"Thank you, great one, for doing what you could," Xelli said. "Rest now, and know you will not be forgotten."

It was a strange thing to say. Empathy, Kindness and sympathy were little-known traits among her people. The Nephilim were the cast-aside remnants of a terrible war, a bio-engineered race of monsters set loose upon the galaxy. Their fleet of living warships had been unstoppable, their armies ravening and endless. But with his enemies dead, their creator X'ion had vanished and the Nephilim abandoned to starve amidst the ruins left in their wake.

That had been a century ago. Now, the survivors of the war and their descendants were clawing their way back to the stars. A fragile peace existed, but while the Nephilim bore their old enemies no personal grudge, the same could not be said in return. Xelli was one of the newest generations of Nephilim, speed-grown in a laboratory and given a head full of false memories to provide context for her actions; an Emissary.

Where the Pureblood Nephilim were towering, bestial monsters, Xelli was merely tall and slender. Like most Emissaries she was female, designed to be as visually appealing as the Nephilim genetic template could be twisted into; a delicately-featured humanoid in her mid-twenties with pointed nails and teeth, her glossy grey skin cut with deep grooves where each dermal plate met the next and a squirming mass of banded green and black tendrils woven in amongst her dark hair. She wore an old, patched-up leather duster over a suit of light mesh armour - light, simple, and less macabre than the parasitic biosuits most Pureblood Nephilim favoured.

If she was beautiful, it was the cold, machine-like beauty of an artificial thing, marred by the predatory aspect of her genetic forebears. Thousands of Emissaries like Xelli had been sent out into the galaxy to act as the new face of her species. They had no goal, no purpose, beyond mingling and convincing people that the free Nephilim wished for peace rather than conquest or genocide. Though they had the minds and bodies of adults, the most veteran of them were only three years old. Progress had been made in that time, though Emissaries were still targets of suspicion and prejudice.

Xelli sighed, the thought still haunting her as she set out for the nearby settlement. Keshirr's corpse would at least give her shelter if they turned away, and her rifle would let her hunt game...if there was any to be found. The largest living thing she had seen was a six-legged lizard clinging to a sandy rock. Xelli pulled one of the rations from her pack and tore it open, chewing the bland bar of nutrients in resignation.

As she drew closer, the settlement began to resolve itself against the haze of heat distorting the horizon. It looked like a dense cluster of low-lying prefab buildings, thrown up around a trio of crumbling towers and a few larger structures. Legion, she thought at first, recognising the blocky, distinctly utilitarian shapes of the shelters. Which would explain why they haven't come for the ship yet. Probably still arguing over which squad would get the honour of dragging any prisoners back for interrogation...

Her thoughts were interrupted by a low droning sound. Xelli looked up, pulling her spine rifle down from her shoulder and releasing the safety valve. The rifle gurgled in response, its ammo cylinders bulging in readiness. It was, like her ship, another permutation of Nephilim, albeit an extreme one. But useful. Xelli ducked beneath a rocky overhang as the droning sound came closer, resting the barrel on a large rock and bringing the ocular lenses up to her own eye, waiting for a target. Soon she heard fragments of a conversation, voices shouting to be heard over the chug of straining engines.

"...ooks like it came down over that way. Mik, can you get those scanners working? I want to know what we're up against in case it comes out shooting."

"Sorry Lizz, this thing fried its sensors long ago. It's a wonder we could even get the engines working. Besides, you've got binoculars, right?"

Another voice cut in. "She lost 'em trying to spy on Marco, ain't that right, Lizz? Honestly, the poor boy has a hard enough time without you creeping on him."

A gale of laughter echoed through the valley. Xelli winced. Too casual for Legion, too earthy for Corporates. That meant Kaltorans.

The Kaltorans had suffered more than any other race during the war. X'ion had hated them with a passion, and unleashed the most vicious Nephilim broods at its disposal against every world the Kaltorans claimed. When X'ion vanished, the Nephilim had claimed the Kaltoran's old home world Eden for themselves, crashing the bulk of their fleet into it and constructing their megacity Necronus from the wreckage. The other races had suffered too, but the Kaltorans were blessed - or cursed, perhaps - with a genetic memory. They inherited the memories of their ancestors, and the Nephilim had given the Kaltorans a great many bad memories to dwell upon.

Xelli chewed her lip as she thought over her options. She could stay where she was and hope the Kaltorans passed her by, but what good would it do? They would find her ship eventually, and would be more likely to assume she was hostile if they found her sneaking about. No, Xelli decided. Better to be upfront and hope they responded well to her honesty. After all, that what she had been bred for.

Letting her rifle hang loose from her shoulder, the Nephilim stepped out from her hiding place with her hands raised and whistled. The Kaltorans - six of them, packed into a decrepit anti-grav speeder kept afloat by what looked like a crude fossil-fuel engine - turned, their teasing abruptly halted at the sight of her. They were humanoid, their four pointed ears almost hidden beneath thick mops of dreadlocked hair. Six pairs of wide, expressive eyes stared at her in horror.

Xelli tried to smile.

"My ship went down, about a mile east of here. It's not salvageable, but I have cargo - do you have a spaceport? I can barter for transport off-world."

One of them screamed and pitched backwards, wailing as a sudden torrent of nightmarish memory overtook him. The others went for their guns.

"No, no!" Xelli cried, stepping backwards and shrugging her rifle off. It hissed and chittered as it hit the ground. "I'm not - I don't want to hurt you, look! I'm unarmed!"

"Don't listen to it!" one of the Kaltorans shouted, thrusting an ancient solid-slug revolver at her. "It probably spits acid! That's how my Grandfather died!"

Xelli dived aside as a hail of shots rattled off the cliffs, running for cover as the Kaltorans' second volley punched holes in her coat and nipped at her heels. There was a brief argument and the gunfire stopped abruptly, another of the Kaltorans slapping his companions around the back of the head or pulling their weapons out their hands.

"Hey, Neph?" he called. "You said you've got a ship? And cargo?"

Xelli poked her head up over the rock. She flinched instinctively, half-expecting a trick, then slowly emerged.

"Well, I had a ship, but the cargo's still good," she said. "Salvaged tech and minerals, mostly. If you take me back to your settlement, perhaps we can work something out?" She gave them a hopeful look. "I don't want to impose. All I want is to get off-world again."

The gaggle of Kaltorans muttered darkly to each other for several minutes. Xelli shifted uncomfortably, her tendrils twisting in upon themselves. The Kaltorans seemed better adapted to the climate than she was, or at least more used to it. Most hadn't bothered with armour, and only the women wore clothes above the waist. They were richly tanned and spotted with freckles, shining with sweat and muscle. Xelli glanced down at her own hand as they bickered, watching the smooth, ceramic-like skin-plates sliding over one another as she made a fist.

"Alright," their spokesman called, turning back to her. "Four votes to two gives you a chance to explain yourself to Matron. Lizz, Kili, tie her hands and get her on the speeder. Any funny business and we put a bullet to you, alright?"

"Sure. No funny business," Xelli repeated. Two women jumped down, pulling a spool of rope out with them. Xelli sighed as they tied her hands behind her back, then allowed them to pull her up into the speeder. It creaked ominously and wobbled under the extra weight. Lizz and Kili dropped back into the struggling machine next to her, making disgusted faces as they passed the spine rifle back and forth between them. With a pained groan, the speeder lurched around and shot back towards the settlement, the Kaltorans whooping and laughing as they went. Their fear had vanished now, and they eagerly began sharing old stories amongst themselves of the things their ancestors had done to captured Nephilim during the war.

As they entered the settlement, Xelli saw she had been right - the squat little prefabs were definitely Legion design, though they had long since been cannibalised by their new occupants. Washing lines criss-crossed madly between buildings and coloured bunting hung from each window, drowning their militaristic trappings beneath a tide of ragged colour. Crude and ramshackle as things were, the little town thrummed with life. The air was thick with music and laughter, and the scent of cooked meat wafted enticingly past on the breeze. Xelli tried to lift her head high enough to peer over the edge of the speeder. She had encountered Kaltorans before, but never a whole settlement of them. Her curiosity was rewarded by a sharp cuff to the back of the head.

"Keep down, Neph. You're in a heap of trouble as it is, so I wouldn't go scaring the locals if I were you."

Xelli bit back the sharp reply that jumped to mind and slumped down once more. The rotting towers the Kaltorans had built their settlement around loomed overhead, casting long shadows over their neighbors. They were ancient things, monoliths of carved stone that cast long shadows over their surroundings. Each was etched with pictograms depicting the Kaltoran's ancient history; their creation by the Archons, the gifts those beings had lavished on their favoured children, and the sudden downfall of both brought on by X'ion and the Nephilim.

She snorted under her breath as the speeder turned a corner, earning a suspicious glare from her captors. The Kaltorans of that age had been selective in their history.

The speeder pulled up to a halt outside a larger building, which Xelli realised was simply to prefabs welded together, one atop the other. Word had evidently spread as a crowd had gathered outside, the excited babble of conversation almost drowning out the droning speeder engines. Her escort spilled out and the noise doubled in volume as questions and boasts shot back and forth. Xelli was dragged out after them, dropped unceremoniously into the dirt so the crowd could get a good look at her. One of the children ran in a circle, waving her rifle over his head like a trophy.

"Lookit, lookit! Ma, lookit what we got!" he shrieked, bouncing up to an older Kaltoran female. Her face was tanned dark and deeply lined with age, the ears on the left side of her head chewed down to ragged lumps of gristle, but her eyes were as bright and sharp as any Xelli had seen before.

"Please, be careful with that," Xelli called as she was pulled back up marched inside. "Biotech weapons can fire on their own if agitated. I do not want anyone to get hurt."

The building turned out to be a town hall of sorts. A cluster of comfortable seats salvaged from luxury spacecraft sat in the middle of the room, ringed a respectful distance away by a ragged semi-circle of stools and benches. The metal walls were partially hidden behind colourful banners, each etched with a Kaltoran family's name and heraldry. Xelli frowned as she was marched inside, digging through her artificial memories like a library data-bank. Kaltorans revered the concept of family, but the display of clan-banners and totems was an old tradition, one most had abandoned since the war. Her captors ushered her before the central seats before retiring to the benches, quickly becoming lost as the crowd filed in after them. A handful of older Kaltorans broke away, the scarred woman she had seen earlier among them, and took up stations in the padded seats opposite her.

"Alright, alright, settle down!" one of the elders, an man with a metal plate riveting his skull together, shouted as he banged his palm against the chair. The rumble of conversation dimmed, though Xelli could hear dozens of people behind her still talking in hushed tones. "We ain't gonna be here long. You, Nephilim. You got a name?"

Xelli cleared her throat. "Xelliktalanii, sir. But most people find 'Xelli' easier."

"You callin' us stupid?" Someone shouted from behind her, followed by a round of angry shouts until the elder banged his hand and restored order.

"Fine. Xelli. Lezos over there says you crashed. As if your kind ain't ran enough spacecraft into our planets already. That right?"

"I was attacked and forced to crash-land, yes," Xelli said, ignoring the jibe. "It was not my intention to stir up old memories by coming here. I didn't even know this planet had a Kaltoran colony."

"Good thing too, or we'd probably have been invaded by now," another of the elders muttered under her breath. She was a wizened thing, short and frail, and glared bitterly at her. "You know we can't let her leave. Ain't no telling if she'll bring back a Nephilim fleet to wipe us out."

There was a low rumble of assent from the crowd behind her. Xelli glanced over her shoulder, a knot of anxiety twisting in her stomach. "Why?" she asked, turning back to the elders. "The war is over, a century finished. We won. Even if I bore you some grudge, what benefit would attacking you here have?"

Xelli knew she had misspoken as soon as the words left her mouth. Dark mutterings began to fill the room, most of the faces around her growing hard and angry.

"What - what I mean to say, is X'ion's grudge was with the Archons," Xelli stammered. "We were just instruments, weapons created and eventually discarded. The Archons did the same in turn with the the Legion. But now that our masters are dead or departed, there is no need for further conflict. All I want is to go."

"You killed our gods!" A woman cried. Xelli saw one of the elders nodding and looked around, desperate for any sign the Kaltorans might not be entirely turning against her. Most of those faces not black with anger were pale with fright, but one stood out. He was tall but not as heavily-set as some of his peers, with a strong, angular face bisected by a narrow scar. His thick mop of hair had been pushed back by a pair of welding goggles which clung to his forehead. He watched her with a deep, thoughtful frown, avoiding her eyes despite the pleading look she shot him.

"Look, I brought cargo - valuable scrap and salvage. You're welcome to it, just put me on the first ship out of here and it's yours." Xelli's voice grew higher and thinner, her nerves finally starting to fray. "And I'm a capable pilot, competent in a fight and knowledgeable in several fields of research. If you need me to earn my keep until a starship arrives, you have my word I can be useful."

"More useful to us dangling from a rope," one of the elders muttered. "Might keep the scavengers busy, if there's any of them that'll touch you."

"But I haven't done anything!" Xelli protested. "I didn't - this isn't fair!"

She turned again, this time making eye contact with the Kaltoran she had spotted. He looked back, then glanced at the crowd pressing in around him. "Please!" she called, shouting across the growing clamour that filled the hall. "Please, do something!"

He looked back, his jaw tensing as he gritted his teeth. Just as Xelli thought he was about to slip back into the mass of bodies, he sighed and stepped forwards, waving for the other Kaltorans to pipe down.

"What do you want, Kallis?" One of the elders called, leaning forwards in his chair. "Weren't you supposed to ship out two days ago?"

"That was the plan, but family business intervened and I was delayed. You know how it is." There was a general muttering of assent from the hall. "Maybe it ain't my place to say, but you don't think you're all being a bit hasty here? I mean," Kallis turned to her, a lopsided smirk on his face. "No offense, miss, but if you're what counts as a Nephilim war fleet these days, I reckon I could kick your brood off Eden myself."

"She could be a scout, a spy or a saboteur. Her cargo might be poisoned. She could be here to spread plague. Many of out ancestors fell to such weapons."

"In that case, lynching her ain't gonna do much good, is it? You could be killing the only person where who could whip up a cure."

A low muttering began to spread through the crowd. Two of the elders slumped back in their seats and began to speak in hushed voices, occasionally nodding. Xelli opened her mouth, but shut it quickly as Kallis flashed her a warning look.

"How's about this," he said. "I'll take our little guest here back out for a sniff around the crash site. If everything checks out and the cargo's good, we'll split it. Half for me, half for the colony, and she can hitch a rift on the Wayfarer when I ship out. If there's anything funny going on, I'll put a radioactive bullet to her myself."

"Why should you get half her cargo?" the battered old woman snapped.

"'Cause that way, Mamaris, I'll have plenty of cargo to sell, and you won't have to worry about me coming home to look for work in a good, long while."

There was another round of grumbling from the elders. Xalli shifted from foot to foot, trying to ignore the anxiety still gnawing away at her insides. Finally, they nodded. "Fine, fine. Take her and get out of here."

Xalli let out a heavy sigh of relief, mouthing 'thank you' to Kallis as her bonds were cut. He led her outside, plucking her spine rifle from one of the onlookers and handing it back to her. The crowd was dispersing as quickly as it had gathered, the massed Kaltorans quickly filtering back to their homes and workplaces now that the show was over. More than one spat at her feet as they departed, but within a few minutes, Xelli and Kallis were left alone outside the hall.

"Of course, I'm gonna look mighty foolish if it turns out you are here to kill us all," Kallis said. "So if that is the case, be a darling and do me first, would you? Save me the embarrassment."

"I'm not going to kill you. Just just saved my life, why would I kill you?" Xalli stared at him in confusion. He was still grinning, his bright, brown eyes shining with amusement as he began to lead her through the town's streets. "Oh. Wait. You were joking."

"Yeah, I've never met a Nephilim with much sense of humour. Come on, let's get moving. The sooner we're out of here, the better. Most folks here'll do what their elders tell them, but there's a couple of rogues that might take a shot at you regardless."

Kallis led her to a small motor pool full of decrepit, salvaged speeders and cargo loaders. He selected a squat, four-wheeled flatbed and climbed into the cab, motioning for her to get in with him. The vehicle chugged and sputtered into life, belching thick clouds of smoke from its exhaust as Kallis rolled it out of the building and began guiding it through the streets. Like most of the Kaltoran's technology it was a marvel it still worked, but Xelli supposed that was to be expected. They had a knack for making things go.

"Damn bit of bad luck, you crashing here of all places," Kallis said. "Sorry about that mess back there. The folks here ain't normally so hard on outsiders, but what with the war and everything..."

He trailed off, waving one of his hands in a vague gesture. "I know," Xelli said. "But I don't understand why your people still take it out on us."

"Well, there was the whole 'galactic genocide' thing," Kallis said sardonically. The truck hit a rough bump, rattling the pair in their seats. "People tend to get a bit tetchy when you try and slaughter their whole species."

"That wasn't - "

"Killing off the Archons didn't earn you many friends either, what with them being the closest thing to gods we'd known."

"But - "

"Then you turned our home planet in a toxic hellhole covered in monsters."

"Yes, but - "

"And set up your own city there, so even if we had the technology to fix it, it'd do us no good until we'd fought another war to kick you off."

Xelli fell silent, her hands knotting uncomfortably in her hands. She stared out the window, watching the dull rocks and black, tangled bushes roll past for what felt like a long time. "I didn't do any of that, though," she said. It sounded feeble even to her, but she pressed on regardless. "The war ended years before the first Emissary left Eden. It doesn't make sense for your people to lash out at the newest generations of mine."

"Maybe not, but Kaltorans don't forget in a hurry. More's the pity, eh?" Xalli looked over at her companion. He smiled at her again, the expression free of malice or quiet insult, and for the first time Xelli realised how attractive he was. Emissaries were designed to be visually appealing, but she had never considered her creator might implant her with similar desires. She glanced away again, suddenly uncomfortable. The strong, clean line of Kallis' jaw, the breadth of his shoulders and the dusting of freckles that clung to his muscled arms refused to vanish from her thoughts, however, and she felt her dermal skin-plates growing hotter with embarrassment.

Kallis reached over and placed a hand on her shoulder, felt her twitch with surprise. "You okay there, Xel?" He asked.

"I'm fine. Fine," she replied. "Just still a little shaken. Those other Kaltorans though, they seemed eager to be rid of you. It was almost as if seeing you leave was worth letting me go. I thought your communities were supposed to be very close-knit?"

It had been a rather transparent attempt to change the subject, but when Kallis didn't reply immediately, Xalli thought she had offended him. The flatbed rumbled over another bump in the valley, bringing the greasy clouds of smoke billowing from Keshirr's carcass into view. The Nephilim was about to apologise when Kallis replied.

"Well, you know how I called the Archons gods a moment ago?"

"Yes. It's a common belief among Legion and Kaltorans, is it not?"

"That it is, us especially. Legion ain't got much time for religion, the Corp don't worship anything other than money, and you lot - well, you got X'ion."

"The Eden brood doesn't worship X'ion. We - "

Kallis interrupted her with a wave of his hand. "Point is, the folk here, they're even loopier for that stuff than usual. Comes with growing up around them towers there, I think." He jerked a thumb back towards the settlement. "And they ain't shy of making their disapproval known if you don't join in. Way I figure it, if the Archons actually were gods, they wouldn't have gotten themselves killed when you lot showed up."

The Kaltoran leaned over the wheel, peering at the wrecked bioship as it emerged over the horizon. His expression darkened and as he spoke, Xalli had the impression it was to himself rather than her. "Funny thing about family. First ones to have your back in a crisis, but damn if they never get off it outside of one."

"Is that why you saved me?"

"Something like that. I figure enough people got killed in that war. Ain't no sense stringing each other up about it now, not like it's gonna change anything." He fell silent for a moment, then shook his head and turned to her, the lively grin back as if it had never left his face. "So, what about you? You're an Emissary, right? You got family?"

Xalli shook her head. "No. My progenitor used his own genetic template as a starting point and educated me after I emerged, but I don't consider him a father."

"Sure sounds like one to me. He raised you and you got his genes. That's good enough for us, at least."

Xalli settled back in her seat, watching the wrecked ship rapidly grow in size as they approached. "It's not that simple. Nephilim don't form family units like other species do. I was a..." she trailed off, searching for the right word. "A product. Built to fulfill a specific purpose. Like my rifle - I gene-crafted it from my own flesh and tuned its behavior, but that doesn't make me its mother."

Kallis gave her a sideways look, his face knotted with confusion. It was rather fetching, Xalli realised, pressing a hand against her lips to hide her smile. Something about the way his ears perked up when he knotted his brow. "Damn, but you sound like a cold people. Guess I thought things would be different with Emissaries, since you look - hey, what's funny? Are you blushing?"

"No! No. It's just the heat. Come on, look, we're nearly there," Xalli said, pointing out the window.

She had only been gone a few hours, but Keshirr was already looking worse for wear. Decay had yet to set in, but the ship's blood and biochemical fuel had bled continuously, mixing into a stinking, bilious slime that sunk into the earth around the wreck. Already the plants were starting to die, and Xalli could see the tiny bodies of those scavengers that had tried to feed on the ship's softer internal flesh and organs. Kallis' words echoed uncomfortably as they climbed out of the truck and took took the sight in. Eden had been poisoned in much the same way when the Nephilim fleet beached itself there. Kallis put a hand on her shoulder.

"Hell, it's only one ship. How much damage can it do, right?" Kallis said.

"To the colony or my reputation?" Xalli shot back.

"Fair point. Best see what we can salvage then, huh?"

Digging the cargo out of the wreck proved to be hot, unpleasant work. The sun was at its apex and while the clouds provided some welcome cover, they also trapped the heat, leaving both the Kashoran and Nephilim tired and dripping with sweat. Each crate had to be individually disengaged from its cargo clamps and negotiated past the stagnant pools of reeking chemicals that littered the path between the ship and their truck. Xelli had spent most of her brief life inside climate-controlled laboratories, starports and spacecraft, and by the time the third box had been loaded into the truck, her head was spinning. She called a halt and unbuttoned her coat, throwing it unceremoniously into the vehicle's cabin. Her mesh armour followed a moment later, leaving her in the slim, black undersuit she wore beneath. She turned to find Kallis staring at her, his eyebrows raised.

"What? It's hot," Xalli said.

"Yeah, I noticed," the Kaltoran muttered under his breath, not quite meeting her eyes. He stepped past her, tugging his own top off as he did so and slinging it on top of her own discarded clothing. Xalli's breath caught in her throat. His naked skin dripped with sweat, shining as if it was oiled, taught muscles bunching under his bronzed, freckled skin. A dozen thoughts assailed her at once, as if fighting for space in her mind. Was his skin as smooth as hers? Was it hotter or cooler? What would his muscles feel like? How would it feel to be held in his arms?

She squirmed in discomfort. Xalli's progenitor had given her a vague understanding of mating practices both in her own species and outwith it, but like most of her artificial memories it was a cold, scientific thing. She understood neonatal diseases, pregnancy times, gametes and spermatozoa. She understood that what she was feeling right now was arousal, signified by an increased blood flow throughout her body and the production of lubricant in preparation for intercourse. None of that knowledge, of course, was worth a damn outside of a laboratory or classroom. When Kallis turned back to her, the two found themselves standing almost chest to chest, close enough to feel the heat radiating off one another's bodies.

"Um. We should go back to the, the boxes," Xalli stammered, pointing vaguely. Kallis just grinned, and she cringed inside at the idea he might have realised the source of her nerves.

"Yeah, but like you said. It's hot." Kallis stepped past her, stepping jauntily off back towards the wreck, leaving the Nephilim flushed and confused in his wake. Xalli collected herself as best she could, took a breath, and hurried to catch up.

Things went a little easier with the risk of heatstroke averted, and Xalli's brief, confused flurry of arousal soon faded somewhat. Even so, as they worked through the heap of cargo boxes, she still found herself admiring the lean strength in the Kaltoran's arms, the way his body tensed under the burden of a particularly heavy load. They made small-talk as they worked, but as they maneuvered the last crate into the truck and went back to strip the wreck of any useful supplies and components, one of Kallis' questions jolted her from her idle daydreams.

"So, they cook you Emissaries up in a lab, right? What about everyone else?"

"You mean, how do we reproduce?"

Kallis nodded. Xalli hesitated for a moment, studying the man's face for any sign of mockery, before shrugging. "We lay eggs. The male excretes a genetic cocktail over them, which is absorbed through the shell. If we wished our offspring to inherit the traits of an extreme Nephilim breed, like a weapon or starship, they are immersed in a tank of fluid which patterns their DNA, and that is used instead."

"You can have kids with your spaceships? Or your guns?" Kallis laughed, staring at her in disbelief. A small smile tugged at the edge of Xalli's grey lips.

"During the war, it made Nephilim broods extremely difficult to exterminate. Our young grow quickly when supplied with ample foodstuffs, so even a depleted unit could replenish their numbers quickly in the field. An isolated unit could turn itself into a small army within months if not rooted out."

"Does that go for you too?" Kallis wrinkled his nose as he rooted through one of the burst supply blisters, peeling aside the clammy skin and salvaging the ration packs sitting within. "You lay eggs instead of bumping uglies like the rest of us?"

"No. Emissaries are designed to, um, integrate with other species," Xallia said, her tone growing more awkward. "If I chose to reproduce, I would do so much as a Corporate or Kaltoran female would. 'Bump uglies' as you so elegantly put it."

"So you only do it to have kids? You don't just fuck for pleasure? Emissaries, I mean."

Fuck. The word sent a thrill through her, an electric jolt that left her hands trembling. Xalli turned the word over in her head, sounding it out. It was a casual obscenity, used in this context to mean intercourse, that was all. She could feel the heat blooming inside her as well, coupled with a tension in her stomach...and beneath that, an ache, faint but growing. She swallowed, concentrating on the mechanical air processor she was disengaging from Keshirr's hull.

"Some of us probably do. Like I said, we were designed to integrate. In some ways we have more in common with you than we have with our own species. But if you mean me, I've only existed for six months. It's not something I've ever really thought about."

The air processor came away with a wet sucking noise and a squirt of fluid. Xalli grimaced and tucked it under her arm, turning to find Kallis leaning casually against the wall, watching her. There was a look in his eye she hadn't seen before, in him or anyone else. Or, at least, one she'd never noticed before. Xalli realised she was being admired; he was looking at her as someone attractive, someone desirable, and not as an unwelcome reminder of a war best forgotten. She tried to smile, her sharp teeth gleaming in the light.

"I, uh, I think we have everything," she stammered. "We should go. Go and split up what we're handing off to the settlement."

Kallis nodded and ducked outside the wreck, heading back to the vehicle. As she followed, Xalli realised something else about the way he had looked at her. She had enjoyed it.

---

The sun had started to dip by the time Xalli and Kallis returned to the Kaltoran settlement, turning the ever-present haze of clouds a brilliant orange. What they hadn't been able to stack on the back of the truck had been lashed on top of the cab or, in the case of the ore samples, tied to the bumper and left to drag along the ground as the groaning vehicle lumbered back to the vehicle pool. The mechanics there looked faintly irritated to see them return, but their sour expressions soon lifted when they noticed how much salvage had come with them. Xelli watched in amusement as another crowd began to gather around them, eagerly pushing and shoving for a chance to start sorting through the spoils.

"Is this common in your colonies?" she asked. "Word certainly seems to travel fast around here."

Kallis chuckled and waved the mob back. "Yeah. Comes with being such a close-knit bunch, I guess. Everyone feels entitled to poke in on everyone else's business. Hoi, you two, put that down!"

He waved a spanner at a pair of Kaltoran youths busily trying to make off with a bag of machine parts cut from Keshirr's command room. They scattered, their laughter ringing in the air as the settlement's elders began pushing through the crowd. Kallis sighed.

"Doesn't take long for the buzzards to catch the scent either," he said, gesturing for Xalli to step back. "Best let me handle this."

She did as she was told, retreating back into the flatbed's shadowed cabin and chewing thoughtfully on one of her ration bars while Kallis negotiated over the spoils. At first she tried to follow the back-and-forth argument in the hopes of learning something about how Kaltorans did business, but the more she thought about it, the more resentful she became over her cargo being bartered away for her life. By the time Kallis was finished, the light was fading and the worst of the day's heat gone from the air. Xalli shivered, pulling her duster back on.

"Aw, I was enjoying that. You rock the slinky-bodysuit look," Kallis said, tapping his fist against one of the remaining cargo boxes. "Some friends of mine are gonna load our share onto my ship overnight. We can get out of this dusthole first thing tomorrow."

"Our share? I thought you were keeping the other half," Xalli replied. She wondered if the long shadows filling the garage hid the flush she felt creeping over her face at his compliment. "All I negotiated for was passage off-world, I don't expect anything more."

"You thought I was gonna dump you at the first spaceport I came across? C'mon, Xal, I'm hurt!" Kallis laughed. "From what I've seen, you'd just get yourself killed by the next bunch of thugs you fell foul of."

"That's not true. I spent four months surviving on my own after I left Eden, and I was only mugged twice, shot down once, and..." she trailed off at Kallis' raised eyebrow. "...almost lynched, yes. Maybe you're right."

"Besides, from what you said back in the hall, you've got a good head for science. Archons know I don't, and I can always use an extra pair of hands. If they come attached to a pretty face, even better."

Xalli cleared her throat and pushed a lock of hair behind her ear, smiling awkwardly. "That's settled, then. Would you like me to go to the ship with the cargo?"

Kallis clapped a hand around her shoulder and swung the Nephilim out into the street, kicking up a spray of dust. "Nah. I've got a room not far from here. Should be big enough for two, and it's only for one night. Someone can always sleep on the floor."

The words 'or share the bed' slithered unbidden through Xalli's mind, almost springing from her lips before she caught herself. Kallis didn't seem to notice as he led her through the streets, still holding her close to his side. Xalli glanced at him every few steps, her heart thundering in her chest, wondering what he was thinking about. He seemed so calm, so nonchalant about being seen with her, despite the disapproving looks the other Kaltorans still haunting the streets shot their way. Did he feel the same heat she did, the same tension that spread through her body, robbing the strength from her legs and filling her head with confusing dreams?

Xalli knew, again, what was happening to her body. Arousal. Sexual urge. Her progenitor had seen fit to equip her with that knowledge. What he had not taught her, either in her false memories or their short time together, was how to express that urge. So she walked along in awkward silence, feeling her body's chemistry rage out of control, her thoughts turning again and again to how Kallis' body had glittered under Voronis' dim sunlight.

The Kaltoran shook her from her thoughts. "Hmm?" she murmured, blinking rapidly at the door in front of her.

"You okay? You were shaking, and you've gone..." Kallis frowned. "Green? Don't Nephilim have green blood? Are you blushing?"

"No, no, it's fine. It's just been a long day," Xalli stammered, looking away. "Is this it?"

"You're a bad liar, Xal, but yeah. Come on in."

Kallis' room was a barren little affair, lacking most of the colourful touches most Kaltorans had decorated their houses with. An unmade bed sat in one corner, opposite a small table and a battered metal chair. A refrigeration cabinet was set into one wall, next to a multicooker and a door which led into a small bathroom. Strings of drying laundry ran across the ceiling, and the floor was littered with junk in various stages of repair. Xalli supposed he didn't use it much, probably only for brief stop-overs before flying out again. All of his personal belongings would be on his ship.

Kallis stepped in first, kicking some of the larger pieces out of the way. "S'cuse the mess, I don't have guests in here often. You want something to eat? I don't think either of us have had anything but those ration bars all day."

Xalli nodded her assent, sitting on the end of the bed as her host fussed over the multicooker's hotplate. He returned with two steaming bowls of reheated stew; some local tuber boiled up with stringy, over-salted meat and vegetables. Still, she ate ravenously, as eager for the distraction as she was for a filling meal. When they were done, Kallis set his bowl aside and belched.

"I'm gonna grab a shower," he said, jerking a thumb towards the bathroom. "If you wanna crash out early, go ahead."

She nodded mutely as he vanished into the next room. The gentle hiss of a shower unit filled the silence, followed by the sound of clothes hitting the floor. Xalli blinked. She was sitting very still, her legs pressed tightly together and her fingers knotting in her lap. He hadn't closed the bathroom door. She stared at the empty doorway for long seconds, her hair-tendrils curling and uncurling. He's in here, Xalli thought, less than six feet away, naked. Should she tell him? Quietly get up and close the door? She frowned, wracking her implanted memories. Most people, she had been taught, respected privacy. Washing was a private experience.

But. That was the thing. But. Xalli squirmed. It felt like the tension in her gut had spread, worming its way into every aspect of her being, leaving her trembling as if with a fever. She slipped her coat off, running her hands over her arms and wondering if other Nephilim breeds felt the same. Doubtful. Most purebloods were instinctive creatures, powerful and domineering. Her tongue flicked out, wetting her grey lips. Maybe that would help. To just...go with her instincts.

She slid along the bed, as quietly as she could, until she could just peek through the doorway. Thick clouds of steam billowed out, making it hard to see. Slowly, moving as if she was in a dream, Xalli rose to her feet and slipped over to the wall, pressing herself up against it and peering into the bathroom. Now she could see the Kallis' form outlined from behind amidst the steam; bereft of detail, rendered down to the simplest of shapes. The strong line of his shoulders, the curve of his biceps, even the little points of his four ears emerging from his slicked-back hair. He turned sideways, and Xalli had to stifle a sudden breath at what she saw as her eyes tracked down past the dim shape of his torso.

The Nephilim turned, grinning nervously. Her undersuit suddenly felt tight and restrictive. She slid the seal down from her neck, past her bust and her navel, letting out a thin sigh of relief as the black synthweave loosened its grip on her body. Droplets of water formed on her skin where the steam flowed over it, trickling down just as the sweat had run off Kallis' sculpted muscles. Just as the water must be doing now. Xalli leaned back, a small gasp escaping her lips. She felt tight, tense...strung out, desperate for something she didn't quite understand. With Kallis' form locked in her mind, Xalli slipped a hand beneath her undersuit and let it roam, her breaths growing heavy as she caressed herself for the first time.

"I can hear you out there, Xal. You can just come in with me if you want."

Xalli screamed and yanked her hand back as if it had been scalded.  "I didn't do anything. I didn't, I mean, I'm sorry - " she gabbled, panic overwhelming her. Kallis sighed.

"We've been eyeing each other all day, Xal, come on. I'm no expert on Nephilim, least of all you Emissaries, but I can guess some stuff. You got the mind of an adult, body of one too, only no real experience with either, right? Just a head full of whatever memories your dad thought you'd need, and from the purebloods I've met, none of that is gonna be of much use right now."

Xalli eyed the doorway. She could hear the Kaltoran splashing about under the water. "If you just wanna sit out there and fumble around until you get your rocks off, that's fine. Or you can come in with me, and we'll see what happens, yeah? You won't have to do anything you don't want to."

His voice trailed off, lost in the hissing water. Xalli stared at the opposite wall, the burning ache that gnawed within her warring with the uncertainty that lingered at the back of her mind. She knew what would happen if she joined the Kaltoran, just as she knew how much she wanted it...but she also knew it would be a line which, when crossed, she could not return to. Part of her rankled at the hold Kallis had over her, at the distraction her new urges had become. She wondered this might have been his plan from the start, and he would abandon her if she surrendered herself to him.

But though she had known Kallis for less than a day, he didn't seem the type. There was an openness to him, a simple charm that had worked its way under her skin-plates and taken root. Her body screamed with need, and though she dimly knew she could sate it herself, every instinct she possessed begged for something more. She wanted his hands, not her own. His body, not the pale product of her imagination. Xalli gulped for air, rolling her shoulders, the synthweave undersuit slipping away. It pooled beneath her as she stood, her slim, naked body rising from it like an insect pulling free of its shell. The Nephilim's skin was doll-like almost perfectly smooth, bereft of hair, pores, or other imperfections beyond the indentations where her plates met. Then, her chest tight and her body tingling with arousal, she stepped into the bathroom.

Like the rest of Kallis' quarters it was a small, practical affair. Dark metal walls ran with condensation and a tangle of pipes dripped overhead. The shower had been built into the far wall, a simple overhead unit with an opaque, built-in energy field to trap the water and provide a measure of privacy. Xalli could see Kallis' silhouette behind it, but little else. He didn't seem to have noticed her entrance. Then again, he had heard her lingering outside even over the rush of water and the low, static buzz of the privacy field. Her heart kicked as she realised the Kaltoran was waiting for her to take the initiative. She took a breath, steadying herself as best she could, and felt the energy field give way before her.

The water struck her first; a hot, flowing torrent that plastered her hair to her skull and left the tendrils woven through it writhing in satisfaction. Then she felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her waist and pull her in close, crushing her sleek, artificial body against a wall of steely muscle. "Finally made up your mind, huh?" Kallis said. His fingers stroked over her hips, the gentle, teasing motions easing her nerves and stoking the need growing inside her. "For a moment there I thought you weren't gonna show."

"Evidently I did," Xalli pushed forwards, her lips brushing the Kaltoran's. "You know, I never thanked you for stepping in, back at the hall." Her hands worked their way up his back, her nails dimpling his skin, muscle straining under her slow, exploratory touches. Kallis chuckled, one of his hands sliding around to cradle her buttock. Xalli gasped as his fingers dug into her, marveling at the strength of his grip.

"That what this is, then? The blushing maiden come to reward her dashing savior?" Water cascaded down, flowing from one body to the next as if it sought to bind them together. Kallis leaned in as Xalli began to reply, silencing her with a deep kiss. The Nephilim first shank back in confusion, then pushed up to meet him, her tongue dancing clumsily with his. Slowly, almost hesitantly, their hands began to roam, exploring one another's bodies. Xalli's fingers wandered over ridges of taught muscle, littered with the marks of a hard, frontier life; dimpled scars, skin fused smooth by plasma-burns, old sunburn. Even his more natural imperfections fascinated her. Every mole, every stray hair was a sign of Kallis' physicality. He felt real in a way she was not, vital, a natural-born creative alive with passion and energy.

Even as Xalli marveled at the Kaltoran's physique, she felt his palms wander up and down her own body, following the grooved lines where her skin had been assembled. He went slowly, sweeping up and down her flanks, gradually drifting closer to her chest as she relaxed and their kiss broke. Heat bloomed and spread until it felt like she was melting into him, the warmth of his body, her own arousal and the water that surrounded them blending into a beautiful, passionate haze. His fingers first skimmed the sides of her breasts, then cupped them, gently massaging the smooth flesh as the Nephilim rolled her head back and whispered her encouragement. Her nipples pressed into his palms, each pert little bud a high note of pleasure amidst the warm glow that suffused her. Kallis gripped each between his thumb and forefinger, grinning at Xalli's sudden yelp.

"Funny. Didn't think you've have these, what with the whole egg-laying thing an' all. They do anythin'?"

"Yes, and they're doing it now!" she said, pressing his hands back to her chest. The sharp feeling that had lanced through her nipples as Kallis pinched them lingered in Xalli's mind even as the Kaltoran returned to his gentler ministrations. She wasn't sure if it had been pleasure, pain, or something of both. "They're erogenous, I suppose, but I don't produce milk. And I don't lay eggs either, remember?"

Her hand worked its way down Kallis' torso as she spoke, spread fingers dancing over his abs, circling his bellybutton. "Ah, now that's something I don't have," she murmured, repeating the motion and grinning at how her partner shuddered under her touch, his body flexing and twisting under her touch. She drifted lower, then broke away and glanced down as something poked her in the thigh. A tall pillar of hard flesh, pale next to the bronze, tanned skin around it, foreskin pulled back from the smooth head which tipped it. Xalli laughed, watching in fascination as Kallis' organ twitched and shook from the water falling upon it.

"Is that your - " she started to say, trying to hide her grin.

"Oh come on, none of the other girls complained. Maybe your boys are all hung like pack mules, but - "

"No, no, it's just, I've never seen one outside of a textbook before. It looks funny!" Xalli ran her fingers over the tip of Kallis' cock, delighting in the way it pulsed beneath her grip. Some deep, primal part of her stirred in response, her gentle haze of arousal giving way to a strange hunger for something she couldn't name. "But I'm sure it's very adequate. More than adequate, in fact." She blinked and looked up. "I don't have a lot of experience with men's genitalia. Kaltoran especially. Would you like to show me?"

The last part surprised even her. Kallis raised an eyebrow, a lopsided grin on his face. One of his hands slipped lower, trailing over the small of her back before nudging against her thigh. "Well you sure warmed up fast. Still, after all this touchy-feely it'd be damn unkind to turn you down. Just wanna make sure you're ready first." He nudged again, and this time Xalli got the hint, easing her legs apart to give him access. His fingers slipped into the cleft and, for the first time, over her sex. The Kaltoran's calloused fingers parted her lips and ran over her entrance, the slickness there something quite apart from the water that coated their bodies.

Xalli moaned, the sound long and indulgent, drawn up from deep in her chest. It was like sweet fire rushing through her veins, a surge of raw pleasure that made her fevered imaginings seem pale by comparison. She sagged forwards, her legs going weak as Kallis found the hard little nub of her clit and began to rub it back and forth, rocking her with sharp bolts of ecstasy. She would have fallen had he not caught her under the arm and steadied her, his questing fingers never ceasing for a moment as she slowly adjusted to the sensation. "Good, right?" He said.

Xalli murmured something that might have been a yes, clasping herself against him for support. The sense of hunger that had grown inside her only swelled, expanding like a flower opening its petals for the first time, desperate for something more than Kallis was giving her. She could sense how it could be pleasurable to resist that hunger, to be kept waiting and find satisfaction in the yearning itself, but those thoughts were distant and hazy things to be kept for a day where she understood herself and her desires more acutely. Her nails bit into Kallis' back, drawing a small grunt of surprise from the Kaltoran.

"I - I need more. I need you," she hissed, grinding herself down onto Kallis' hand, her eyes narrowing as his fingertips slipped over her entrance. Her stomach lurched at the feeling, an almost painful feeling of desire overcoming her. "I want to - what was the word? The word you used back on my ship?"

"Fuck? You want me to fuck you?"

Xalli let out a long groan, the sound almost feral, her tendrils curling and twitching like fronds of seaweed. Words swirled through her head, bland peices of implanted knowledge that struggled to rationalise her body's reactions; endorphin rush, pair bonding, nerve response. But they meant nothing; cold, insectile terms for something her creator had not understood, but instilled in anyway her to better mimic the people she would meet. She looked up, her eyes wide with hunger.

"Yeah. Yes. That's what I want. Don't most people do it in a bed, though?" Xalli shuddered. "No. Forget that. Here is fine."

"The bed really would be easier, but hey, if that's what the lady wants." Kallis said, swinging her around and pressing her back against the slick metal wall. He suddenly seemed to be everywhere at once; one knee slipping between her legs, a hand under her thigh, raising her and opening her - and oh, what a wonderful feeling that was, to open her legs and know it was so her partner could fill the sudden void - while his body pressed in closer, pushing her tight against the wall. Xalli moaned and writhed as Kallis struggled to get into position, fighting the awkward position and slippery footing, desperate for whatever it was that lurked beyond the plateau he had brought her to.

"Ancestors, Xal, you're cute when you squirm like that," he rasped, his lips skimming hers. She pushed up and he pulled away, just out of reach. "Last chance. You sure you want this? You ain't just thinkin' I deserve a reward for hauling your ass out th-?"

"Kallis, shut up and do it," Xalli groaned. "And kiss me. But just do it."

Their hips met. She felt him butt against the crevasse of her thigh, just for a moment, before their bodies aligned and he slipped inside her. There was a single moment of - not pain, but strangeness, confusion - and a great swelling sensation as she was spread, parted, filled. Xalli's moan was lost in the depths of Kallis' mouth, but she could feel every inch of him as he entered her. She clutched herself tight against the Kaltoran, trying to etch the moment into her memory; the fullness, the heat, the gentle pressure, the waves of warm, glowing ecstasy that radiated through her. Xalli opened her eyes, staring at Kallis in shock as she slipped down the last few inches and felt her hips meet his own. Then they laughed, the Nephilim's head rolling back and thudding against the metal wall.

"Yep, first time's always a doozy," Kallis chucked. "For you ladies, at least. I shot my bolt clear across the room first time a girl put her hand on my cock."

"You certainly seem to have improved since then." Xalli shifted, shuddering as her partner twitched deep inside her.

"Well, I've had plenty of practice. Kaltorans, ah, we don't put much stock in prudishness. Or monogamy. Speaking of which."

He rolled his hips, pulling out and thrusting back into the Nephilim's sex. Pleasure spiderwebbed through her, flaring like bright lines along her nerves as Kallis settled into a comfortable pace. She felt herself clenching down, silken walls clinging desperately to the Kaltoran's organ as they made love under the water, the steady slap of flesh against flesh soon drowning out the hiss that surrounded them. Each thrust was a revelation, a moment of hollowness as he receded and a surge of joy as he sank back inside her, her toes flexing and back arching in time with his movements. Every stolen glance, every lustful thought they had shared had led up to this, and Xalli soon found herself gasping words of encouragement in Kallis' ear.

"More," she said. "Faster, harder." And finally, as he pushed her against the wall and sank his teeth into one of her tendrils, flooding her system with pain and pleasure combined, she added in a hoarse whisper; "fuck me."

It was an instruction Kallis was more than happy to obey. He plunged into her, her virgin passage yielding before him, Xalli's words devolving into a litany of eager sighs and moans. She ground her own hips down on him as best she could, his every movement both soothing the ache of desire that gnawed inside her and coaxing it to new heights. Xalli could feel herself growing tighter and tenser, a drunken, delirious sensation spreading through her core, driving her deeper into the throws of passion. The Nephilim slipped a hand down between their bucking, writhing bodies and grasped Kallis' shaft for a moment. She was pressed too tight to look down, but she could imagine the sight of her pale, grey lips split by the Kaltoran's length, joyously accepting him inside her.

She gave his organ a playful squeeze then moved on, letting out a thin gasp and bucking in shock as she found her engorged clit. Water ran down her arm, channeled onto her sex, the sharp twinges of sensation from her bud blending into the beautiful, deep pulses of Kallis' thrust and the warm haze of his body and the shower that surrounded them. It was like music, a symphony of pleasure, each note played in harmony with the others. The tightness inside her spread and became almost painfully acute, words swirling through her head; orgasm, climax, come...

And then she peaked for the first time, and the world went white, then black, stars exploding before her eyes as her body lit up. It felt like she was being pulled in every direction at once, every muscle tensing as a thunderous rush of pleasure swept through her. Xalli heard Kallis let out a muffled grunt as her fingernails dug into his back. Their lips met again, tongues dancing under the flow of water as she felt his thrusts become erratic, losing their rhythm and stabbing jerkily inside her, and then a new feeling joined the chorus in her body; a rushing sensation, liquid heat inside her, the Kaltoran's seed flooding her body as she writhed and danced through the last stages of her first orgasm.

The shower beeped and clicked off, ending the flow of water and deactivating the privacy screen. Xalli released her death-grip on Kallis and sagged in his arms as he slid back from the wall, finally giving her space to move. "First time is a...doozy, yes," she murmured, then looked up at the Kaltoran. "Actually, I don't know what that word means."

He let out a deep breath, wincing and rolling his shoulders. Blood welled up from the cuts she had left there, mixing with the drops of water that still clung to his skin. "C'mon, after a ride like that, the first thing you do is ask about vocabulary?"

"After an experience like that, I'm not sure I have all my faculties remaining," Xalli said.

"But did you enjoy it?" She looked up, detecting a hint of concern in Kallis' voice, and smiled.

"Yes. Very much so. I appreciate the concern, but you don't need to keep asking if I'm okay." She licked her lips, untangling herself from the Kaltoran as he found a pair of towels. "More pressingly, what does this mean for us?"

"Us?"

"Namely, is there an 'us'?" Xalli began to dry her hair. "My progenitor gave me some information on pair bonding, relationship dynamics, and so on. Intercourse often happens within a relationship."

"You're quick off the mark. Looking to go exclusive after the first day of meeting someone?"

She shrugged. "If I'm going to be working on your ship, it seemed a prudent matter to discuss. For what it's worth I don't have any great emotional stake in things..." she trailed off, catching Kallis' expression and cutting him off. "I mean, Nephilim don't pair bond. I like you, I enjoy your company, and your, ah, other things." Xalli ran her toes up the inside of Kallis' leg. "But if you were to look for something deeper than that in me, I don't know if it's something I can return."

"Your brain just don't work that way, huh?"

"Like you said, we're a cold people. I've heard of Emissaries forming relationships, but always assumed it was for show, a calculated act to put people at ease."

Kallis sighed, leaning back against the opposite wall. Even now, she still found it hard to take her eyes off him, and a thin little echo of desire passed through her at the sight of his organ, still half-hard between his legs. "Honestly, Xal, I dunno where we stand either. I like you a lot, and I sure wasn't gonna let you get lynched, but I still got all the usual junk up here." He tapped the side of his head. "If my ancestors could speak, they'd be howlin' in anger right about now."

"But this isn't going to cause difficulties?" Xalli gestured between them. Kallis shrugged.

"Don't see why it would. Least not for now. If one of us starts getting more emotional than the other's happy with, maybe we can have this talk again."

"So...we can keep doing it?"

Kallis laughed, the tension that had formed between them disappearing in an instant. "You really don't mess about, do you? Yeah, if you like."

Xalli eyed Kallis' bed through the dissipating steam. Her tendrils curled thoughtfully. "How about now?"

"Oh, Archons," Kallis groaned. "I've created a monster."

---

Xalli had wondered where the Kaltorans had built their spaceport. None of the colony structures she had passed on her way into the settlement had been large enough to house a spacecraft, let alone the massive stores of fuel, power, ammunition and spare parts necessary to ready one for its next trip into the stars.

The answer came as Kallis led her through the streets. The sun was rising behind Voronis' ever-present cloud layer and there were few other people on the streets, leaving the pair free to trudge, bleary-eyed, towards their destination. In the end, neither had gotten much sleep that night. Xalli winced and stretched, trying to work out the cramp that had taken root in her shoulders. Despite their best efforts Kallis' bed had proven too small for two, and once they were finally too tired to go on, she had fallen asleep in a pile of his old clothes on the floor.

It had been a strange thing to wake up to. Something in her had changed, something small but vitally important. She felt different, though the Emissary struggled to put exactly how into words. Yesterday, and for all the six months leading up to it, she had regarded her body as a tool. It sheltered and protected her mind and its cargo of engineered memories, and it helped ease tensions with the other races, but beyond that she hardly regarded it as worthy of thought. It wasn't an unusual opinion. Most pureblood Nephilim paid little attention to their exterior shells, devoting themselves to scientific pursuits or indulging in the instinctual, predatory impulses X'ion had engineered into them.

But that had changed. For the first time Xalli felt genuinely aware of her body, from the soft drag of clothes over her skin to the stale morning air on her cheeks, the graceful swing of her limbs as she walked with Kallis and the serpentine tendrils that curled through her dark hair. She understood its wants as well as its needs, the desire for intimacy as well as the necessity of food and air, and the feelings it could stir in others if she presented herself correctly. It was a pleasing sensation, one that helped banish the lingering ache and tiredness in her bones when she concentrated upon it.

"Alright, here we are," Kallis said, coming to a halt outside one of the settlement's prefab shelters. It was on the very edge of town, a flat expanse of wasteland spreading out around them. "Our ancestors built their spaceport underground to keep it safe from orbital fire. If someone attacked, they could seal themselves inside and ride out the worst of it. Or evacuate in a hurry if things got real bad." He smirked and gave her a sideways look. "Guess they were still afraid of you lot coming calling."

"It would have done them little good," Xalli stated. "We won because of the sheer range of combat bioforms at our disposal. Burrowing Nephilim were far from unknown during the war, and the Eden brood still retains the ability to breed them." She looked at the dust beneath her feet and frowned. "They would have been trapped and defenseless. An attacking brood would have broken in and flooded the chambers. Poison, acids, viruses. Any ships that launched could be picked off and eaten by our fleet."

She caught Kalli's grimace and winced. "I'm doing the thing again, aren't it?"

"Yes, Xal, you're doing the thing. Tends to creep people out when you come over all manner-of-fact about how easily your folks could kill everyone if they had the mind to."

"It's fine. Come on, I've had enough of this planet anyway." He led her inside, punching a five-digit code into an access panel and summoning an elevator. It creaked and groaned as they entered, the metal rusted and discoloured with age. An amber hazard light flashed intermittently above the door. "Do your ships really eat people?"

"Oh yes. A lot of them went feral and devoured their crews when X'ion abandoned us," Xalli said. The elevator lurched into motion, sinking rapidly into the earth. "New ones birthed from the Eden shipwombs aren't considered fully grown until they've digested their first pirate vessel. I hear their progenitors are sometimes moved to tears with pride when it happens."

"Digested their first pirates. I'd ask if that was a joke, but knowing what I know, it probably ain't." A dull thunk echoed through the elevator as it came to rest and the doors opened, letting the pair out onto the starship floor. The chamber was vast, an enormous rocky cavern re-purposed for more practical ends. Striplights hung from the roof, casting long shadows over everything that moved beneath them, and the walls ran slick with moisture and condensation. Most of the space was filled by a trio of starships that squatted like lumpen metal toads in the center of the room, each attended by a handful of ancient maintenance robots busy performing checks on their hulls. Xalli made a small noise of excitement as she spotted the last of her cargo clustered around one of the ship's loading ramps.

The Wayfarer was a typical Kaltoran cut-and-shut job, which meant it had been built from several salvaged wrecks hacked together into a single lunatic contraption that managed to avoid fitting into any easily defined starship category. Xalli recognised the front half of an Kaltoran sprint trader, married to the engines from a Legion military carrier and the hindquarters of an ancient, pre-X'ion mining ship. It was perhaps half again as large as Keshirr in all, encrusted with roughly-patched metal plates and heavy rivets.

Kallis clapped her on the shoulder, staring up at his ship in paternal pride. "Yep, she's a real beauty, huh? You see that work there?" He pointed to the welds holding the Legion engines in place. "Did that myself after I lost the originals to a Mechonoid raiding party. Took me the best part of a month working solo, but she ended up flying better than ever."

"It...is impressive, in its own way," Xalli was forced to agree. Kallis' people had produced a working starship from a collection of wrecks the other races would have written off as unsalvageable. "Kaltoran ingenuity at its finest."

"You said it, girl. Come on, let's get aboard." They ventured up the ramp and through the cargo bay before proceeding through a tangle of industrial workshops crammed full of metal salvage in various stages of disrepair. Xalli noticed a small bed shoved into one corner and pointed it out.

"Ah, that's Sahbitha's bed, my engineer. She's away doing some work with the Corp on one of their orbital platforms. Picking her up'll be our first stop."

"Oh."

Kallis grinned. "What, worried you and her'll be fightin' for my attentions?"

"No," Xalli said, though Kallis hadn't been entirely wrong. "Just worried we won't see eye to eye. She's Kaltoran too, yes?"

"Yep. Ah, don't look so anxious, it'll be fine. I'll send her a message explaining what's up."

The Wayfarer's forward components were, thankfully, in better state than the maze of rust and metal that made up its hindquarters. Polished synthsteel clashed with the ruddy red alloys favoured by Legion warships, and Xalli had to duck several times to avoid clusters of cables that hung from the roof, but the corridors were smoother and more rounded, the metal in better condition. It lacked the comforting background pulse of a Nephilim bioship, of course, but it was at least livable. Kallis shook his head when she asked if the ship had a laboratory set up on board.

"Nah. That important?"

"I can be of more use to you if you have one. There's a great deal of salvage out there many traders don't recognise as valuable or are unable to properly utilise. Archons or X'ion tech, Mechonoid components, even old artifacts from the human age."

"Fair enough. We'll see about getting you set up once we've collected Sabby." Xalli fought to contain her smile as the door to the bridge hissed open. Unlike his dwelling above, the Wayfarer's cockpit was an untidy jumble of trophies, knickknacks and mementos, with coloured ribbons strung around the ceiling and discarded food wrappers littered across the floor. She kicked aside an old beer can and slid into the co-pilot's seat at Kallis' encouragement, giving him a questioning look as he flopped down next to her.

He met her gaze, then snorted with laughter. "Hell, what can I say, I've been livin' for a while out here with no other crew. If I man can't wallow in his own trash on his own time, what can he do?"

"I see," Xalli said, turning to peer out the cockpit window. "Looks like the last of our cargo's been loaded."

"Your cargo, you mean?" Kallis began flicking switches on the control deck, bringing the ship back out of hibernation. Lights came on, cycling from red through to blue, a deep rumble building from somewhere in the ship's guts.

"No, our cargo." Sand and dust began to pour in from above as a vast pair of concealed hanger doors opened, letting in the dim rays of Vornois' sun. Xalli briefly wondered how her sensors hadn't picked anything up during her crash, then shrugged the notion off. The Kaltorans probably had jammers to help hide their concealed hanger. She leaned back and caught Kallis' eye, feeling the ship's power building up for launch. The engines coughed throatily, something banging down in the aft ventilation. The Kaltoran held her eyes for a moment, just as he had in the chamber when they had first noticed each other, then nodded.

"Alright, our cargo it is." He reached over to the dashboard and slid a lever into place, slowly coaxing the Wayfarer out of its hanger and angling it up towards the stars. "Now, let's go see what's out there."