Still, the women screamed, and some started stripping off their clothes. All of them were tainted. Ginsburg had fallen to a single hologram. 90% of the population would be tainted in a matter of weeks.
Yifar’s screen took the spot of Garuk’s, and it showed a map of the solar system. “Here,” he said, do you see all these tiny little asteroids?”
I nodded.
“They aren’t asteroids,” he said, “they’re pirate ships.”
“Pirate women,” Taykar said, grinning wide, “I want a pirate woman.”
“They aren’t women,” Yifar said. “They’re men from other systems. They used slow ramscoops to get here, and they pick off ships that move across the system—mostly targeting mining rigs and stuff like that.”
“To steal the resources?” I ask.
Yifar shook his head. “No. To steal the women. Women from the Virgin Planet are valuable on some of the less honorable sectors of human space.”
“So there are men to kill,” Garuk said, perking up. “Let’s slaughter them then!”
Yifar nodded. “They are forming a battle formation. They probably think we’re just another group of pirates from another human system.”
“We use this,” I said.
“Use?” Garuk asked.
I nodded. “Let the pirates get close. Let the women on Eden feel afraid. Wait for their High Command to beg us for help.”
“We could kill the pirates before they got within a few light minutes of Eden,” Yifar said.
“These women don’t trust men,” I said. “They need to see that we will protect them. That we are not evil like these human men. So we use this opportunity.”
“How do the human pirates get the women they capture to consent?” Taykar asked.
“They don’t,” I said. “It’s called ‘rape,’ and humans are the only species we’ve found that are capable of it. It means breeding by force.”
“Why would anyone do that?” Taykar asked, furrowing his brows.
Disgusted muttering broke out all around the room. Yifar bristled and growled.
I shook my head. “Maybe these women were right to found this world? Maybe they were right to leave the men of their species behind forever. If their men were capable of forced breeding, then perhaps High Command was not misguided. Still, we will set an example. We show these women what happens to any man who tries to take a woman by force. We prove to them that we aren’t like the human men they fled from. These women on this planet are confused and afraid, so we need to be their rock. We show them that we are strong, and that they can rely on us to keep them safe. They’ve never had that. They’ve never felt the strong touch of a man. It may be easier for us to seduce these virgins, but it’s going to take more work to gain their trust. Don’t think this is easy, and don’t let your guard down.”
“I think you should give Emissary Eve to Eriok,” Garuk suggested, “she’s higher ranking, and I feel like she’d make interesting sounds while breeding.”
Taykar grinned, but Yifar frowned and crossed his arms.
“What, Yifar?” Garuk said, leaning forward and showing his gleaming white teeth. “Do you thinkyoushould get her?”
“There are higher ranking women on Eden,” Yifar said, dodging the question, “this Emissary is only on our ship by happenstance. If you think Eriok needs a powerful woman, then surely we can just wait a few days for the tainted to come to us in droves. There’s nothing special about this Emissary Eve.”
“So then you’ll have no issue if I offer her to Eriok,” I said, meeting his eyes.
He ground his teeth together, but nodded curtly. “Whatever you feel is best, Scion.”
I laughed. Maybe Eriok would be willing to share Emissary Eve with Yifar. Yifar was not a Scion, but he was extremely capable. He was smarter than he was strong, but he was still stronger than most men in the pack. I’d keep it in mind, perhaps suggesting it to Eriok after he Grasped into orbit around Eden and joined the breeding pack.
I stood up. “Continue with the tainting. The ejaculating holograms seem especially effective, so continue using those. These human women seem to respond favorably to smirks and heavy eye contact, so get the holograms to keep up with the eye contact. Yifar, deploy a probe swarm to the pirates. I want to know exactly how many of them there are. How many ships. How many men. What kind of weapons they have—everything. We’ll want to ration the kills, saving some fighting for Eriok when he arrives…if we can really stretch it out, we’d like to save some for Tschenkar as well.”
“A suggestion,” Yifar said, “broadcast the data about the pirates to Tschenkar. He may be Fifth, but we could let him jump ahead of Eriok when it comes to killing pirates. It might make him less determined to betray you.”
I mulled the idea over, but shook my head. “I’m not going to reward him for threatening me and then skulking off alone. He’ll wait behind the others. I’ll give him no special treatment. Any update on Therak?”