Educating the Alien: Raedyn (The Azurite Series Book 1)
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Authors: Sara Hotchkiss
Educating the Alien:
Raedyn
The Azurite Series, Book 1
By Sara Hotchkiss
Contents
Copyright © 2016 Sara Hotchkiss. All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical method, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
Author’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.
To: Rosa’s, Chik-Fil-A, Papa John’s, and Sonic, thank you for feeding my family when I am shoulder’s deep in writing or reading.
Lexi opened the leather folio and read over the documents she had already committed to memory. In less than an hour she would be arriving at the Pentagon for her first meeting with an Azurite. Aptly nicknamed for their piercing blue eye color, the Azurites made contact with Earth only two short weeks prior.
Lexi shook her head; the past two weeks had begun with a phone call from the President of the United States inviting her to be an Earth ambassador for the new race. Invitation. Right. When the President personally calls you for a task, it isn’t as much a request as a command.
“Dr. Phillips, I would like to personally extend an invitation for you to be our Earth Ambassador and interpreter. Your credentials are astounding and I feel that you are the best choice for the job.”
Lexi spent most of her days interpreting and translating policies in pajamas from her home computer. Linguistics was not the most fascinating of careers and was sometimes very isolating. Thankfully, the Internet had made her career much more enjoyable since she was able to practice her now thirty fluent languages with live conversations.
Growing up an Army brat, Lexi was fascinated with the languages she heard around the world. By the time she was in Junior High she was fluent in five languages and could get by with twelve. When she graduated high school she knew twenty and already worked part time as an interpreter for relay calls.
Now, at thirty-five, Lexi was the official interpreter for the United Nations. She boasted to a reporter once that she could learn a new language in two weeks and the President had now put her to task. While the Azurites had interpreter technology and were able to communicate with Earth through communication link ear buds, Earth enlisted Lexi to learn their language as a measure of good will and live aboard their spacecraft for one year as ambassador to Earth. Her job was to absorb their culture and help bridge the gap between the two races.
For two weeks Lexi had lived and breathed Azurites. That wasn’t their given name, N’hith’lip’thia’ns, too hard for most Earthlings to pronounce. She listened to recordings, studied their written word and immersed herself in the culture of the aliens. It was the most difficult language she had yet to learn, but she loved it. They spoke lilt like with vowels similar to Gallic or Celtic, but also used tongue clicks for hard consonants.
Not having spoken yet to a live being, Lexi had some trepidation about her first encounter. She returned to the folio:
Azurites: Humanoid in form, heights from six feet tall to eight feet, named for their azure eyes all members of the race have. Tan skin, no visual body hair, ridges above eyes where human eyebrows would be, elongated ears. Slightly forked tongues. Six fingers including thumb on each hand, similar structure on feet.
Internal organs: unknown
Lifespan: unknown
Reproduction: Unknown
Lexi shook her head. So many unknown’s and it was her job to help fill in the blanks. Since the Azurites made first contact, the United Nations did not feel it was appropriate to poke and prod at them. The Azurites had been gracious in handing over thousands of pages of documentation detailing both the history of their people as well as biological information, but it would take years for translators to sort through.
All the information in the folio was purely based on visual inspections. Lexi stared at a picture of the Azurite she was scheduled to meet with.
Raedyn.
Tall boots covered his feet, stretching up his calves to his knees and he wore tight pants, almost like leggings, that accentuated both the muscles in his legs and the bulge between them. There was no information on his male anatomy and Lexi wondered if his pants contained a codpiece or if it was all man underneath. His shirt was form fitting as well and the deep maroon color highlighted his café au lait colored skin.
No. Lexi wasn’t interested in him as a man, no matter how tempting he may be. She was there for a job.
She packed away her things as instructed by the flight attendant and closed her eyes as the plane landed. Knowing she was going to live abroad for at least a year, Lexi had a difficult time packing until she was informed her items would be transported from her apartment. She only had her carryon bag with her and she was able to exit the plane quickly from the first class seat. Favors for the President had its perks.
She spotted her driver in the valet area of the airport and he carried her bag to the town car waiting outside. Lexi was shaking with anticipation. This job would put her name in history books. She began practicing what she would say to Raedyn. The words flowing over her tongue, she caught the driver looking at her in the rearview mirror.
Would Raedyn be as intimidating in person as his picture? Did she have the diction clear enough that he would understand her? Or, would he laugh at her human attempt at his language? She was good. She knew she was good, but this was a huge challenge.
The car door opened and a man popped his head in the opening.
“Dr. Phillips?”
“Yes?”
“I’m Craig Miller, your guide for today.” Craig extended his hand and helped Lexi out of the car while the driver retrieved her bag. “If you need anything at all, please let me know.” He smiled and Lexi felt at ease.
After several security scannings and screenings, Lexi and Craig approached a conference area of the pentagon.
“Mr. Raedyn is already here to escort you to the Firthford. Your apartment has already arrived on the ship. We want you to have this,” he said handing Lexi a large flip style cell phone. “This is a satellite phone that relays through the International Space Station. Should you need anything from Earth on an emergency basis, this is your best means of communication.”
Lexi nodded and added the phone to her bag, unsure why she would have an emergency that would require it.
“Here we are,” said Craig, opening the door to a comfortable room setup more like a living area than a conference room.
Inside, Lexi found plush sofas and a large hearth fireplace drew her attention. It was the perfect place to curl up with a good book in Mandarin. Movement from across the room drew her attention and she looked up and up at the man near the far window, into his azure eyes.
2.
Raedyn hated being on Earth. He couldn’t tolerate the unpredictable weather that irritated his skin. One minute it was cool and refreshing, the next it was hot and humid. He longed for the temperate climate of the ship that he had come to know as home. He had no patience for this trip today with other responsibilities awaiting him upon the Fier’the’yi Fho’rd, babysitting an Earth Ambassador was not his idea of fun. The man in question was already late and trying Raedyn’s temper. He disliked nothing more than his time wasted.
The conference room door opened and the man in question appeared. He didn’t look much like a linguist with his slicked hair and smarmy smile. He looked more like the reporters that appeared on Earth television, or worse like some of the political representatives that resembled the exotic snakes of his home planet.
Clasping his hands behind his back he strode toward the man, trying to give his most imposing glare. Reluctantly, he extended a hand in Earth greeting. Disgusting. He had no desire to touch a hand when he didn’t know where it had been. Another Earth ritual he detested.
“Dr. Phillips. I am Raedyn. Now that you have finally arrived we may depart to my home ship.” The smile faded from the man’s face and he shook his head.
“Mr. Raedyn. I’m Craig Miller. This is Dr. Phillips,” he said gesturing at the small woman Raedyn hadn’t even noticed in the room. She was petite, no more than three glip’thhaans high. Her hair was pulled back tightly in some sort of ball at the back of her head and her eyes were golden brown and appeared large and owlish behind thick rimmed glasses. Her clothes fit her snugly where her curves were prominent and Raedyn felt a twitch in his nether region as he appraised her. She was very different form the many printed and video images of Earth females. They were all cookie cutter representations tall and lithe, blonde and boring.
“Dr. Alexander Phillips? I apologize. I had the understanding that Alexander was a male gender name.”
“Ca’nnthip ha facilee and’ittho Ra’yed’n.”
Raedyn blinked in surprise. He reached for the translator bud still in his ear and pulled it out, analyzing the device and processing what he had just heard. He had been using the translator for all his interactions with Earth and had become used to hearing the monotone mechanical voice of the small computer. A smile spread across his face as he realized the small woman had spoken his home language. Her voice was deeper than her small stature dictated and husky with the perfect rhythm and clicks known by his people.
He took her hand in his automatically and returned the greeting.
“May the eyes of gods shine upon you too, Dr. Phillips.”
Her hand was soft and warm and slightly damp in his and for a moment he didn’t care about the germs that may plague her skin. A sweet pink color crept up her neck and cheeks and Raedyn tilted his head at the interesting display.
Lexi sighed in relief at Raedyn’s words. She had done it. She had learned the alien language in two weeks and hadn’t made a fool of herself. Yet. If she could only stop the blush that fevered her skin at the alien’s touch.
“Please, call me Lexi.”
Raedyn nodded and dropped her hand from his grasp. He then proceeded to wipe his palm on his pants.
And the moment passed. He’s so repulsed by my touch he had to wipe the alien off him. Nice.
Raedyn reached up and wiped his brow with the back of his hand finding a sheen of sweat there. His heart began racing and he closed his eyes for a moment taking deep breaths.
What was happening to him?
“If you are ready, we need to board the ship.”
Lexi’s eyebrows drew together. “Are you feeling unwell?”
Raedyn shook his head. “I have a difficult time acclimating to the climate here.”
Lexi nodded, “I’m ready.” She hated to cause him further discomfort even though the room they occupied was quite temperate.
Raedyn placed a small button on Lexi’s temple and pressed a button on his wristwatch. In the rush of only a moment, the pair transferred to the ship in orbit around Earth. Lexi fell to her knees after their arrival and clamped her hands on the sides of her head. The room was spinning and Lexi tried to brace herself from the vertigo. She sank to the fetal position and was vaguely aware of the strong arms that picked her up cradling her against an equally strong chest. He smelled like Grandma’s oatmeal raisin cookies with a dash of pepper.
“Hummana, hummana. So yummy.” She whispered before nuzzling her cheek against his neck.
Raedyn froze statue still, suddenly not feeling well himself. Lexi’s hot breath grazed his skin and he fought the feelings of revulsion that slithered throughout him. Why he had decided to pick up the waif of a human he was unsure. Bodily contact was not a trait found among his people. But, when Lexi collapsed to the ground he was overcome with guilt. In his own plight with the Earth atmosphere he had failed to prepare Lexi for the travel to his ship. He should have at least warned her.
Shit.
He didn’t even give her the epidermal patch that Earthlings needed to make the travel less intense on their bodies. Now she would suffer a migraine at his mistake.
Her tongue laved his neck, slathering his skin in saliva. He shuddered. He would need a decontaminating shower after this episode was through. How did he always seem to get stuck with the disgusting jobs?
“I’ll take you to your room. I will have a doctor come and administer something for your headache.” Raedyn grimaced as Lexi’s hands began exploring his chest and upper arms. A man could only take so much.
“Okay, okay, now,” he said, lowering her hands to her lap. He continued quickly through the maze of hallways to the visitor wing and deposited the linguist on a couch in the main area. After assuring the ambassador wouldn’t fall off the couch, he left the room and stood outside the closed door for several moments.
His heart raced, his palms were damp, and his pants were constricting his erect member.
Perhaps Lexi isn’t the only one who needs a doctor?
Raedyn immediately walked to the hospital wing, sure he had become infected by some Earth plague from his contact with Lexi.