Zac and Oliver
Zac left Tanya's, his hands shoved deep into his back pockets. His mind was whirling with all the information he has just absorbed.
He couldn't believe Taylor had killed people. He couldn't believe it.
Taylor needed some serious help.
Zac got into the elevator.
He hadn't meant to come across so strong - he hoped that Taylor didn't think he hated him or anything. It was just... the shock. It wasn't every day you found out your brother - your very own brother - was a serial killer.
"Okay Zac, you have got to stop thinking about this," he told himself. "Get some fresh air - well, that's assuming it's possible on this station."
Although he had to admit it was a lot better than he remembered. Guess the 'fresh air commitee' was doing a good job.
Zac stepped out into the commerial level, and for the first time took a note of all the Adigeis on the station.
There were certainly a lot of them.
He scratched his leg - suddenly feeling rather itchy - then walked out to the eatery. Food should do him good. He bought himself a pizza and sat down at a table by himself.
Halfway through his pizza, he felt a tap on his shoulder. Zac twisted around and looked up at an Adige.
"Umm, hi," he said.
"Are you Zac Hanson?" asked the Adige, obviously male.
"Uhh, yes..."
"Don't tell me there are Hanson fans amongst the Adigeis already!" Zac thought to himself.
"Would you consent to marrying my daughter?"
It was a good thing Zac didn't have any pizza in his mouth at that moment, else he would have choked.
"Umm, excuse me?" he gawked.
"I am Drayi-tan. My daughter, Sari-Lyka, is almost 39 and we would be most honoured if you would -"
"My appologies for interupting," Oliver said, butting in.
He only just found out that Zac was on the station, and it looked like he had found him just in time!
"Oh that's okay," Zac said hurriedly, grateful for it.
"Good sir," Oliver said to Drayi-tan, "I'm afraid, now is not the best time. Zac isn't going to be on the station for very long - certainly not long enough for a marriage to take place. But perhaps if you would get a formal proposal ready, I can send it to Zac if he leave before you can give it to him in person, and he can have something to think about while he's downside."
Drayi-tan didn't look very happy about this.
"This is rather important."
"Of course it is," Oliver assured him. "That is why Zac must be allowed time to consider your offer. Especially as we both know there are many others who would like to propose marriages with Zac."
"What?" Zac gaped, eyes wide.
"And that is why I wanted to say something now," Drayi-tan said. "Sari-Lyka must have a chance!"
"And your eagerness isn't misplaced," Oliver replied. "I'm sure that Zac will put Sari-Lyka at the top of his list. First in, first serve, as humans like to say."
"I ahh, I think I should go..." Zac said, standing up.
This was too weird.
"Yes," Oliver said, grabbing Zac's wrist. "Please, send Sari-Lyka's proposal to me and I'll make sure that Zac gets it."
Drayi-tan paused, then gave a little bow.
"Very well," he said, and moved off.
"Come on, Zac," Oliver said. "Not safe out here, what with all the Adigian vultures."
"What's going on, Oli?"
Zac made himself at home in Oliver's quarters:
"Here's the thing... in the Adigian language sex and marriage are the same word. If you have sex with someone, you're married to them," Oliver began by way of explanation.
"Really?" Zac asked. "Wow... I must have a lot of wives then..."
"Exactly. And in Adigian society, the more spouses you have, the higher up in society you are. Of course, there are plenty of people who sleep around, but we don't keep records of that. We do, however, keep birth records. And given the number of kids you've had to different women, well, they seem to think that you're very high up in society. Although their average number of spouses is like, eight... and you've got... four or five to their line of thinking..."
"Actually, I probably have a lot more than that... Wait... so is that why that guy wanted me to marry his daughter?"
"Yeah. Sari-Lyka would make a bit of a name for herself is she could marry you - and have a child to you too. Number of kids is also very important, although, they usually spread them out a bit... one or two kids per couple. I think what's happened is that something terrible occured that wiped out a lot of them, so in order to maintain the genepool they became pologomists."
"And now they're going to dilute it with Dathrian blood?"
"Something like that. Well... Dath and Sem bodies are adaptive... According to tests we're probably biologically compatible with them. Well, you could. Being a Dath/Human hybrid it might be a bit iffy with me. Actually some of the Adigeis you've seen around are Daths and Sems!"
"Really?"
"Yeah," Oliver nodded. "It's really odd. Some people change, some don't... Sometimes it takes a few days and sometimes a matter of minutes. I think it depends on your exposure."
He paused.
"Itchy?"
"Yeah."
"If you're here long enough, you'll probably change."
"I hope I can change back!"
"Oh sure. Second you get back on earth, you'll return to human. Some people have been theorising that one day Daths and Sems will have two mutual powers - the second being shape shifting."
"Really?"
"Yeah... but it probably won't happen for a few generations anyway."
"Hmm," then Zac shook his head. "So... now all these Adigeis are going to be out for me to marry their daughters?"
"And wives. And sisters," Oliver nodded. "And if you don't accept any proposals, sooner or later they're going to get offended, and the YIRAAS don't want that."
Zac looked up at him.
"So basically, what you're saying is that I have to marry one of them?"
"What I'm saying is that the YIRAAS have made it clear to everyone on the station that they think it's in our diplomatic best interest for us to marry into Adigian society."
"Ahh I see. And what about the bigomy laws? Hmm?"
"Well... technically the YIRAAS don't have such laws. Mostly out laws are in regards to security and for everything else we've just followed human laws."
"Sooooo... they're just going to let us become polygomists too?"
"Well, Leroy says there's much debate going on in council about how we should deal with this... but general consensus is that we can have as many Adigian spouses as we want."
"What if we don't want any?"
Oliver threw his hands up.
"I'm not going to pressure you," he said. "Fact is, the Adigeis can't go downside - they'd never blend into human society like we can. Sari-Lyka - if you want to use her for example - probably won't have a problem with it if she only sees you once a year or something. As long as she has a child to you, all is good."
"That's so sad."
"Well, y'know. That's how it is. Matter of fact, she'll probably be hunting around for other husbands. If it helps you can always just think of her as a one night stand or something."
"That's so comforting. Now I'm just using her for sex. This was a path I've been trying to get off you know, and now it's being encouraged?"
"Something like that."
"Dude," and Zac shook his head. "This is insane. We've just met the alien sluts of the universe."
"Well... I wouldn't say they're slutty... They've very picky about their partners."
"Whatever. Point is, I only got divorced a few weeks ago. I'm not at all inclined to get married again any time soon. ANd certainly not without having a relationship first. I mean, c'mon!"
Oliver was silent for a moment.
"Y'know..." he said slowly. "There is no Adigian word for divorce."
Zac looked at Oliver.
"Soo... in a way... I'm still married to Faith?"
"In a way."
"Huh."
Oliver grinned.
"When I send you Sari-Lyka's proposal I'll send you all the details of how this works, so you don't offend anyone," he teased. "Y'know, in case you decide to go ahead with it."
"I make no promises."
"That's okay."
"Still... I might pass on Sari-Lyka. She's 39, for goodness sake!"
"Actually... 39 Adigian years is somewhere between 16 and 17 our years."
"Oh. Oh hey, wasn't it your birthday soon?"
"17th of next month. I'll be 18. I'm applying to become a YIRAAS agent as soon as I am."
"Cool. Hey, weren't you already one?"
"A junior one. And the only qualification for that is when you're in the custody of a proper agent."
"Ahh. Well, good luck."
"Thanks."