Chapter 28 Protector and Property.

The next morning, as Andrew opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was the alien, who was supposed to be in the medical capsule.

She was kneeling next to his bed with her hands on her thighs and looking like she was waiting for him to wake up.

His first instinct was to grab the pistol that was under his pillow, but before he could do it the alien spoke, shocking him.

-Good morning, Master.

Andrew's jaw dropped when he heard the word master.

-How did you get here, and why are you not in the medical capsule?

He asked, still trying to figure out what was going on.

The only thing he was sure of, was that she was no threat to him.

If she wanted to she could have killed him in his sleep but she didn't.

-The capsule released me after I was fully healed and then I came to wait for you to wake up.

The alien said.

He was confused, why the hell would she do that?

-Ok, first of all, get up from your knees, that looks painful.

Andrew said a moment later, after a few deep breaths that he took to calm down.

She immediately got up, but it was obvious that her legs were numb from kneeling.

-Sit down on the chair and explain to me, why are you calling me master.

He said and got out of bed to put some clothes on as he slept only in his boxers.

The girl sat down with a sigh of relief as her legs hurt like hell from all the kneeling.

-I call you my master because I am your property.

She said like it was the most normal thing in the world.

Andrew was once again speechless, at her words.

-Slow down a bit.

He said once he got his voice back.

Then he remembered that he had just woken up and had to go to the sanitation module.

-Wait here for a moment.

He said and left.

When he came back, she was still sitting in the chair.

-Let's start from the beginning.

He said sitting down on his bed.

-Who are you?

He asked.

-I'm Aelita of Clan Charr, from the Cheroni people.

She introduced herself.

-I'm Andrew Sparrow a human from planet Earth.

He also introduced himself.

-Tell me, Aelita, why did you board my station?

He asked the question that he really wanted to get an answer to.

-I came here to ask you to become my master and protector.

She answered a bit surprised by his question.

-Why would you want me to be your master and protector?

Isn't it better for you to live free?

-I can't, the Cheroni people, can't fight, so we need protection to survive.

In exchange for that, we become the property of our protectors.

She explained.

-This is the way of my people.

She added.

Andrew was starting to have a headache.

He had just got rid of one slave and here was another one, offering herself for free.

-Then how did your people survive till now?

He asked.

This was beyond strange, but on the other hand, there were supposedly millions of species out there so anything was possible.

-Till now our males were the protectors, we the females were always medics, scientists, and the like, while they were warriors.

Once Cheroni, came of age she had to find a protector for herself.

It has been this way for thousands of years.

-You just said that the Cheroni can't fight, so how could your males be warriors?

Andrew asked, surprised.

-They are not Cheroni, they are Cherix, and they can fight.

Andrew thought about it for a moment and finally figured out that instead of two sexes like it was on Earth, Her people were divided as different species.

-I understand now.

But still, what made you even consider looking for an alien as your protector and why did you choose me?

-There are no Cherix here so I had to improvise, and my protector can only be a male, all other station masters are females, so that only left you, and when I approached in my station I witnessed the battle you had with the ship and since you won, that means that you can protect me.

The girl explained.

-Wait, did you say that you approached in your station?

-Yes, it's just outside of your station, but it's cloaked.

She said, confirming her words.

Andrew was once again surprised, the cloaking technology was of a special tier and no amount of research would allow one to get it, you had to either find it or buy it from someone.

-Did you find it in a chest?

He asked, hardly believing it.

-Yes, it was right next to my station when we arrived here so I got it and it had a cloaking upgrade to the shield module inside.

-This explains how you managed to get this close to the station without being detected, but why did you decide to enter the station without even contacting me?

He asked, wanting to know what was going through her head.

-It is customary, to ask the chosen protector, for their protection in person, but you surprised me, and while I was reaching for my tablet to explain what I wanted you kicked me.

She said touching her side.

-I thought that you were reaching for a weapon.

He explained.

-But I can't fight and I don't have any weapon.

She said.

-And how was I supposed to know that at the time?

It was her turn to be surprised.

She had never considered that she might have been seen as an intruder.

-Then was that thing you pointed at me a weapon?

She asked.

-Yes, and a deadly one at that.

He confirmed.

Only then did, she connect the dots and understand the whole situation.

-I'm sorry, I didn't know that you would consider me an intruder.

She shouted in panic and got back on her knees, pressing her forehead to the floor.

-Please forgive me, and don't reject me as your property.

She pleaded, with a panicked voice.

Once again Andrew's jaw hit the floor.

This was not what he was expecting.

The whole situation was rather comical or would be if it was not so serious.

-Get up, you do not have to kneel before me, as for the whole situation, it was just a misunderstanding between two different species, so you do not have to apologize.

It should be me asking for forgiveness since I was the one who injured you.

He said, trying his best to keep his voice calm.

-But you were just defending yourself, from an intruder so the fault is mine.

She said apologetically.

For an alien, she behaved surprisingly similar to a human.

Andrew sighed.

-Let's not argue about whose fault it was, ok?

He asked, hoping to change the subject, but the moment he said it she was back on her knees.

-I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to argue.

She was panicking again.

-Would you calm down already?

Andrew said a bit annoyed by her panic response every time she thought that she did something wrong.

Unfortunately, he said it a bit harsher than he intended and the girl was now trembling in fear.

Thinking that she had offended him.

He took a deep breath.

-Calm down, and stop panicking over everything.

He said calmly, trying his best to calm her down.

She was still nervous but otherwise calmed down a bit.

-Now explain to me how this whole protector thing works.

He asked, as till now she only told him the bare minimum and he needed to know more if he was going to agree to something like this.

-When one of my kind chooses a protector and is accepted by him, he has to protect her from any harm, while she becomes his property for as long as he can protect her.

If the protector dies or is unable to protect his property then the Cheroni has to find another protector, that is if she is still alive and the one who defeated her protector doesn't want her.

However, once we are accepted by a protector it is hard to find another since almost no protector would accept a property of a defeated one.

She tried her best to explain how it worked.

-I understand so far, but what are your duties as the property of the protector?

Andrew asked, but he doubted that he would like the answer.

-The property must listen to any order her protector gives her without any complaints, no matter what this order might be.

As long as she is the property she has to obey or risk being abandoned and left without protection, which is more or less a death sentence in my world.

The other duties require the property to work in a medical or scientific institute to either heal our people or to advance technology.

She explained.

Andrew didn't like this arrangement one bit.

-Why would the abandonment be a death sentence?

He asked, wanting to learn more.

-Because the abandoned properties and those who lost their protectors are exiled if they can't find a new protector within a specified time.

The exile is always left outside of our cities and they became prey to either the wild beasts or the Cherix who never got their property.

Either way, they usually don't last long.

She said with a lot of sadness in her voice.

-I understand.

But this is not your world and with the cloaking technology, you are almost untouchable in this system.

So why did you want me to become your protector?

-As I said before, you are the only one suitable to become a protector in this system, the rest of the station masters are females.

As for the cloaking technology, it indeed makes me safe for now, but sooner or later someone will figure out a way to find me.

Also, it limits the size of my station and I can't do much more than hide all the time and that's not a life.

She explained and he could only agree with her.

-So now that you know all of this.

I Aelita of Clan Charr, officially ask you to accept me as your property and become my protector.

She once again knelt and bowed her head to the floor, but this time it seemed more ceremonious than before.

Andrew thought for a moment before answering.

-Before I give you my answer, I need you to learn a thing or two about Humans and also about me.

He said surprising her.

-If you will still think I'm worthy of being your protector after that then I will consider it.