The Last Omega in the Galaxy (Scales and Tails of Fate #1)

Chapter Twenty-Two

Noel

Three days had passed since meeting with the space pope, whom we’d come to know as High Citizen Dirk Ingman. The Alignment didn’t regard him as anything close to a pope, but he had enough pull in financials to meet Vil’s needs. And with my vouching to come, he’d gain more power to help me even more.

Dressed in those silly ceremonial garments once more, I strolled the empty expanse of what they called a bio-observation museum. Creatures from a hundred and seven planets had been promised and at least 80 percent of them had been variations of cockroach.

I’d heard old theories of carcinization, the process of evolution where everything ends up as crabs in the end—but cockroaches seemed the most logical. As those thoughts flitted by me, I glanced up in time to see a four-foot-tall bipedal cockroach waddle by, a trail of little nymph roaches following behind. They wore a fanny pack on their waist, occasionally chirping at the little ones.

I dipped my gaze to the egg in my arms that had grown stronger in the few days since his birth and imagined myself in tow with the little one.

Vil rested a hand on my shoulder, squeezing to warn me not to say a word. I said so internally, and with such conviction that he must have felt it through our bond. Space cockroach.

We passed from one exhibit to the next, eying the swarms of bugs in one, the seventeen different types of mosquitos in an Earth exhibit, and a hallway that showcased microbes of different galaxies.

I peered up curiously as we passed an exhibit with strange, spindly tall trees with broad heart-shaped leaves of a somewhat blue-greenish hue. Amid them, pale shapes wound around the leaves, a glimpse of spidery legs here and there. A plaque at the bottom declared them to be mamarian tree crabs .

Carcinization at work, I stared at the creatures, squinting until one came out of hiding and scuttled down the trunk.

They had somewhat squat, round bodies, buoyant and plump in a color a few shades lighter than Caucasian. Atop their heads , for lack of a better word, was a single bud of pinkening flesh that the label declared to be an electrosensory organ. I glanced at my own chest, pondering my own electrosensory capabilities, wondering if they too emanated from my nipples like these breast-shaped creatures.

“Well?” Vil put his hands on his hips, staring at the creatures with mild interest.

“Space tit.”

He snorted and laughed, his hearty voice booming for a few seconds before he calmed himself, much to the nervous glances of other patrons. Though, it wouldn’t matter. The Alignment had security on me no matter where I went. People couldn’t get within fifty feet of me, not that I wanted that.

And while no official announcement had been made of a Naleucian returning—nothing had stopped the rumors from swirling about. I drew curious onlookers as people saw hybreeds accompanied by members of the Alignment. They saw my dress, my features, and while I did not draw my wings like Raziel and Nirem often did, my presence and esteem drew looks of doubt and curiosity.

Many people looked at me and understood what I appeared to be, but few understood I was of the pure Naleucians. I was born of an omega, laid on a planet so many light-years away that no other race in this galaxy had seen them in many hundreds of years, nor could they find them. Some even stared at me with contempt and disdain, assuming me to be a hybreed. I was, at best, a poorly kept secret.

When we passed one wing, a woman glared at our procession, spitting out some message of hostility that I missed as Vil froze and rested a hand on my shoulder. “Were you speaking to me?” My question caught the woman off guard.

“Your kind shouldn’t be allowed in here during these hours! Savage beasts! The Progenitors themselves have called you the bane of their existence!” She huffed, pointing a finger at us as she shook with rage.

“I am a Progenitor. I am no hybreed.” I blinked and tilted my head, trying to gauge her reaction.

“Noel…” Vil’s warning whisper urged me to leave her be, but I had a particular streak of anger I’d held onto for some time.

I turned my head and smiled as I rested my fingers over his. “Hold our young. I’ll deal with Space Karen.”

Vil choked, the reference not too old for him. I smiled, and he took our egg in solid arms as I approached. There was little she could do but stagger back and scream that I had threatened her.

“Miss. Please do hear me.” I used my calm voice, the one inundated with the accent of my people that I had learned so easily from Raziel and Nirem. And for a moment, it seemed to work.

“You are not allowed in this building during daytime hours—hybreeds are allowed two nights after dark!” She bristled and tensed up at me, eyes darting about for security or an employee, no doubt.

Two security of my own ran to my sides, shooting the woman death glares as they flashed their Alignment of Divinity tattoos, proving to her their business. “You will speak to our Lifebringer with respect.”

“Are you serious? This is a hybreed! He’s not even got wings or a halo or—” She gestured at me, but I cut her off as my wings pushed free of their dorsal slits.

“I assure you, I am Naleucian. I will submit myself to one of the scanners by the gate if you like,” I said, but my offer fell on deaf ears when one of my security flashed a paper from an Alignment spokesperson declaring my statement as truth.

“I highly doubt this. They’d have made an announcement! Just you wait until my husbands hear about this!” She backed up and stormed off, huffing as she went.

“Space Karen,” Vil agreed, and it brought warm joy to my heart.

“And since when do humans tolerate having multiple mates?” I frowned and glanced around, earning a few shy coughs in response. “I thought the standard for them was a male and female pair, with homosexual couplings being the outliers.”

“Uh, well. Polyandry became a noble thing a few years ago, as lifebringers are paired with life givers… It’s an—erm—tribute to the Progenitors.” One of the guards cleared his throat nervously, and I nodded.

“I think I shall fare well with one mate.” I gave Vil a half grin. Staring him down as he stood there with our egg cradled in his arms made my heart flutter and my tail curl as if it wished to entwine with his in a lover’s embrace.

From the zoo, we toured the station, watching architecture and grounds with interest, taking in the foreign nature of a world that resembled nothing I recalled. The entirety bore some resemblance to a giant mall, sparse and foreign plants in pots shoved everywhere as if the aesthetic needed to have organic components.

The language hadn’t changed. English still seemed to be the standard, as it was spoken, too. Though, translations hovered nearby for many other things, and English lettering for foods I’d never heard of flashed by with scents not dissimilar to Earth.

“See anywhere you wanna stop?” Vil gestured around, prompting me to stare at different stores that set my nerves on edge. I’d never gone in them as a child, and, while I’d always told myself I’d go one day, this day was not it. Mild unease echoed from our egg, and I offered my arms up to take him from Vil, pressing the shell to the bare skin exposed on my chest. It calmed, somewhat.

“I figured. At least let’s get some measurements, okay?” Vil walked with the others, brazenly out in the open in a way I feared that our kind hadn’t been allowed to in so very long. It made me sad.

There were whispers and glares that settled into unease and fear when people stared at me in doubt. But when I went to a higher-end clothing store, and they escorted me in, Vil took our egg back while Doc, hovering nearby, fawned over the pale shell. Our little one didn’t seem to mind, as content to know I was nearby as he was with Vil to hold him. Doc’s contact even brought a flicker of amusement.

A flustered shop owner dressed in what passed for the styles of the time drew me into a back room, reluctantly ushering in a guard and Vil. But, since he was holding our egg, the male relented, a brief hesitation in his dark eyes. A half scent that surrounded him told me of a small portion of Raziel’s lineage. Less than Doc, even. Though, Doc smelled stronger by the day.

He kept his head down between stolen glances at me, trying to pick apart my features, to guess whether I was truly Naleucian or some cheap trick. So, when I smiled for him and shook out my wings, he revered me and seemed ever so honored to be able to measure my limbs and tail. “My Progenitor! You honor me.”

I shook my head in dismissal. “I need clothes, and the Alignment recommended you before I leave again.”

He aided me in extending a hand to measure my arms and waist, the lanyard hanging low and loose on my hips. I’d only had a single short cycle since awakening, bore a fertile egg, but it passed too quickly. Unlike the original intelligent Earth species, humans, we bore closer to our reptilian roots. I would never know the sensation of having a child develop within me. My egg was all that remained.

As if sensing my thoughts, Vil made a noise that caught my attention, giving me a cheeky wink that warmed my heart.

“You like the hybreed, my Progenitor?” He cast his gaze downward, but I gestured him to look toward me as I turned away from Vil’s advances.

“I do. Every Naleucian is born with an innate sense as to who their mate is, and he is beyond a doubt the most perfect specimen for me.” I tried to give Vil a demure gaze back, but he had his head turned, cheeks cast in a fair shade of lavender from blood under his skin.

“No offense, but I always assumed they were abominations.” The man dropped his tape measure, and I slid back to allow him to pick it up.

“And call yourself one?” I drew his attention back to me as he knelt. “We gave you the tools to create what you are and in return, you gifted us with the hybreeds. I’m sure unethical things happened along the way, but I appreciate how the hybreeds have treated me. They offered me my first kindness.” I made a show of turning to rest my hand on Vil’s arm.

The shopkeeper nodded and swallowed hard. “So, it’s okay to be part… To have stolen blood?”

I stared him down for a long moment. A quick answer would go against my newfound benefactors and a wrong one would alienate my graces. “The Alignment has been recently made aware, upon my return, of how I wish to accept atonement. They’ll announce and proceed in the most proficient manner. My favor grows for the hybreed.”

His eyes widened, breath hitching. “Thank you.”

I waved my hand dismissively. “Treat the hybreeds well. They’ve treated me well. Atonement will come.”

I hated the religious prattle, the fa?ade, but the ends would justify the means. I couldn’t jerk centuries of rhetoric from beneath the feet of people who’d stabilized on our lies. It’d be up to me in small ways to make changes, especially as the Alignment had made arrangements to stay in communication with me. Also, they’d given Vil a pass to skip the sermons on his broadwave, so that made him happy. He doubted the Alignment would change. They’d hated him since he was a child.

As the shopkeeper took payment, however reluctantly, I sat to the side while Vil helped him pick things to suit my color, barely any blue in my plain scales. Sure, I held notes of blue, but I was drab.

I smiled for a moment, cheeks warming until I spied Vil holding up a pink crop top. “No.”

He peeked over, lips pursed.

“No.” I punctuated my word with a hiss and pretended not to see Vil sneak the clothing item into the pile of purchased goods. The merchant, eager to please me, took my lackluster protest as an opportunity to be playful and the unity between them made me smile. And for whatever reason, I knew that I’d make a difference and I’d be as desired as my patrons had been.