The Naked Truth by Lily Cain

paced the short room twice as he tried to grasp the underlying current of the surprising desire. The woman wasn’t even Inarrii. Perhaps he really had been too long without the comfort of his kind. Without sexual release. His eyes trailed over Susan’s sleeping form again. He turned to make a third silent pass through the room when his communications desk beeped.
    He strode to his desk, grateful not to have to question himself again. The communication panel slipped open to his touch, extending the seat and flashing the visual panel open to show him the Confederacy logo from the Inarrii outbase that had been secretly established on one of Jupiter’s minor moons. Very few of the humans were yet aware of its presence, but they would be grateful of it if the Treaty was passed in time to protect them from the approaching Ravagers.
    He signaled his acceptance of the communication to the desk and watched with unease as the face of one of his Inarrii commanders and an old friend, Jannii Finar, filled the screen. Lines of stress radiated across the man’s face.
    “Inar tel sahiir—” Asler began the formal greeting to his superior, but the Inarrii cut him short with a wave of his hand.
    “Examiner Kiis, do you have the human Starforce Captain Branscombe?” Jannii asked intently, his voice taut with tension. The words were automatically translated to the human standard by the computer, Asler having programmed constant translation to aid in his fluency.
    “Yes, she has been physically healed, and we have begun the process of deep m’ittar connection. What is wrong?”
    “Is there any problem with your bond, since she is human? Will you be able to find the truth?” Jannii pushed. “Will you be able to discover exactly what she told the terrorists?”
    Asler stared at the screen. Something was seriously wrong. “What happened?”
    “There’s been another attack. This time they hit our outbase on the Jupiter moon. It was well planned, Kiis. There were two deaths, both Inarrii, and more damage than we expected. Hydroponics were affected, communications partially shut down.” His eyes bore into Asler’s. “There was more damage than we would expect from human weaponry. And they shouldn’t even know we are here. Only the mobility of the small fighters saved us.”
    Asler’s heart thudded. His commander’s implication was clear. Some other race could be involved. It was possible an unknown entity had powered the attack under the guise of human anti-alien terrorism, someone strong enough to be a real threat to them all. The Ravagers could be here, although this kind of calculated subterfuge wasn’t their usual style.
    That the small fighters had aided the base was of special importance, as they had been provided by the human Starforce Marines, guided by the very officer who had made first contact with the Inarrii. This aid would allow the Treaty negotiations to continue, despite the taint of any human anti-alien dissident group.
    “There will be no difficulty. When we touch, m’ittar is possible. I took her under, mind to mind. Our bodies are…similar.” Asler shifted uncomfortably as his ridges hardened under his chammiss robes. He hoped in vain that they didn’t show above the neckline. “The more we touch physically and mentally, the easier contact becomes.”
    Tension drew away from his commander’s face, although it remained in his eyes. “I wish I could hear more about it. Your L’inar are rising.”
    Asler cleared his throat. So much for the hope that Jannii wouldn’t notice. Memories of Susan’s body against his pushed at him, hard. “It will work.”
    “You have to get answers, Kiis. We need to know her involvement and what she told them. We need to know who they are. I know this attraction will not pull you from the truth.” Jannii was once again the commander, and his tension was back. Asler felt as though he’d been shaken.
    With a short salute and a formal well-wishing, they signed off.
    Asler