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.“And I suppose the ambassador was a perfect gentleman.”“He was more than that.He — ” She hesitated, then said, “I would be dead if it weren’t for him.He saved my life on more than one occasion.”“How very noble.And so of course you felt drawn to him out of gratitude.”“Again, my feelings for Ambassador Lirzhan are not a topic for discussion.”“I think they are.” Melinda opened a leather case lying on the tabletop and drew out a tablet.After bringing the screen to life, she tapped a button or two, then pushed it across the table to Alexa.“You might want to take a look at this.”Puzzled, Alexa picked up the tablet.Displayed on the screen was a pretty young Gaian woman with reddish-brown hair.She looked to be around twenty or twenty-one standard years old.“I don’t understand.Who is this?”“That is a young woman named Annika Jespers.Her family has a homestead on Lathvin IV.”“And?” True, the Gaians and the Zhore had been arguing over the rights to that obscure colony world for some years now, but Alexa couldn’t begin to see the connection between Lathvin and her current situation with Lirzhan.Melinda Ono sipped at her tea again.“Her family’s homestead was very close to a property owned by a Zhore named Sarzhin.”“I still don’t see the point.”“Then let me spell it out for you.” She set down her teacup and folded her hands on the polished granite tabletop.“We have gathered intelligence that not only did this Annika Jespers cohabit with the Zhore Sarzhin, but they also recently had a child together.”Well, that answered one question.Thank God she was up to date on her contraceptive shots.Alexa leaned back slightly in her chair and raised an eyebrow.“I suppose congratulations are in order for the lucky couple, but I still don’t understand what this has to do with me.”Melinda Ono’s smile returned.This time it had an oily quality that made the hair on the back of Alexa’s neck prickle.“Maybe it will be clearer once I tell you that for some time the Zhore have been experiencing a near-catastrophic collapse of their birth rates.They’ve done their best to keep the situation secret, of course, but there are limits to how much these sorts of things can be concealed.As far as we have been able to determine, the Zhore are now attempting to keep their race from slowly dying out by interbreeding with other races — especially Gaians.”Forcing her expression to stay neutral was one of the more difficult things Alexa had ever done, but she thought she’d managed it.Barely.“That is unfortunate for the Zhore.But if they were simply attempting to find another female to impregnate, surely I’m not a very likely candidate.”“One would think that, on the surface.” She pushed her teacup to one side and fixed Alexa with a penetrating stare.“However, the Zhore are patient…and choosy.We do not completely understand the mechanics of the process, but it seems they must have some sort of emotional bond with the mate they choose.What better way to bond with you than through days of hardship and isolation, where Lirzhan could function as a protector and guide, and conveniently ‘save’ you as necessary?”“That’s — ” Alexa broke off.She had been about to say “crazy,” because that’s what this whole situation was…completely insane.Drawing in a breath, she finished, “That’s not very plausible, Ms.Ono.Our ship was pulled from subspace and fired upon.Surely you’re not accusing the Zhore of manufacturing that entire situation?”“I am,” Melinda Ono replied without blinking.Somehow Alexa managed to prevent herself from bursting into laughter.“All so I would be driven into Lirzhan’s arms? Please — even if he does believe that he shares some sort of bond with me, how on earth could the Zhore have come up with such a plan at such short notice? We’d never even met before he stepped onto that shuttle!”“Not that you know of,” the other woman said darkly.“After all, how can you really tell the difference between two Zhore by just looking at them?”All right, she had a point there.Alexa had crossed paths with one or two Zhore on Eridani; it was the Eridanis who had given the enigmatic aliens subspace flight, and so you did see them around, although they were not great travelers and generally did not leave their home world
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