After everyone else in the hall finally woke from their alcohol-induced slumber, Cal and Nyla made their way down to take seats at the head of the hall. While they ate, the clan leaders of the second through twelfth clans all came forward, clearly nursing a hangover. Each of them made similar overtures of how last night was a grand event, and they intended to uphold the vows they had made the prior night.

As they continued this parade of insincerity as Nyla quietly called it, she began to wonder why she and Cal were not as affected as the rest. Even Pinetil seemed like she was doing her best to hide from the sounds of everyone else. 

"Artie, can you tell me why it seems like Cal and I are the only ones who did not end up completely inebriated?" Nyla asked, using the neural link. 

"Ah," Artie responded, "Well, it's a political thing."

"Please explain how it is a 'political thing.'"

"Well, your society is a strength-based society. iteral physical strength, so if you and Cal are seen drinking and eating more than everyone else, yet suffering no consequences it is a projection of strength. Now, the fact is I made everyone else's drinks much stronger. Except for Cal, his drinks would have killed you all, but one of the unfortunate side effects of all the nanite treatments he’s undergone is he can drink without getting drunk." Artie said all of this as Nyla watched him have conversations and help people to their feet. 

"That makes a lot of sense. Thanks, Artie. One more thing, why would it matter if I appear strong?"

"For much the same reason Nyla. While Pinetil might be more powerful than you in some ways, here on your homeworld, your people will automatically assume you to be the more powerful. They probably assume you to be Cal's mate." 

That made Nyla pause. It is true, if a clan leader has a weak mate, they are often looked down upon by others. It isnot uncommon for a newly elected clan leader to end their relationship if their  partner is weak.. Often becoming clan leader has stipulations such as who sould be the leader’s spouse. 

"Artie, you know Cal better than me. Will it bother him if people think I am his mate?" Nyla asked. 

"Nyla, I honestly do not know." Artie said, "What I can tell you is Cal has never interacted with women like that while I have known him. The fact that he has displayed any emotional interest at all is franklyquite shocking." 

Nyla was shocked, and she blushed deeply when she saw Cal look over to her and smile. "Thanks Artie. Back to reality."

"And oh, what a reality!" Artie said with a jovial impression. 

After the last of the other clans departed Pinetil drank her fill of water. The sun was high in the sky and Nyla thought it would be a quiet day until Pinetil spoke. "Cal, I have received word from my people. They have requested a meeting with you."

The words froze Nyla, she suddenly felt very small in the grand scheme of things. Cal must have seen her flinch because he smiled at Nyla and then addressed Pinetil. "I would be happy to visit your people. But I think this is something they should get cleared through Earth leaders. I am generally a walking declaration of war so we should make sure there are no hesitations about this."

Pinetil looked as if she would protest, then thought better of it. "As you wish." 

Nyla relaxed but she was unable to shake the gnawing in her stomach. 

Nyla spent the next several hours working with Cal and Artie to devise plans to begin incorporating the smaller clans into theirs. The ideas seemed simple enough, but Nyla could see this was not Cal's greatest strength. He was a man of war, through and through.  They were about to contact the first clan when Artie froze.

"Cal, communication from Earth." Artie said.

Cal sighed. "They approved it, didn't they?"

"Yes." 

"Very well, let us prepare then." Cal stood and turned, leading them to the ship. Moments later, Pinetil arrived wearing her best clothes. "I hope everyone can keep a civil tongue." 

Pinetil nodded as she and Nyla strapped themselves into chairs under Artie's watchful gaze. "They should. I have warned  them of their potential to launch us into war should they offend you."

"I can stay here if you want." Nyla directed her statement to Cal.

"That would be foolish." Pinetil said, surprising both Cal and Nyla, "If you stay here, the chances that Cal returns to find your head on a pike outside the Clan Hall is incredibly high. While I may find your people insufferable, I do so relish this game that is being played out by you and Cal. So please come with us, stay alive so the games may continue.  Maybe, just maybe, when you see more of my people, you will understand why you should simply submit to our will."

Nyla was unsure if she should be angry or flattered, or something else entirely, so she chose to remain silent. Cal checked her harness as Artie checked Pinetil's. Cal smiled at her reassuringly. "No worries. Quick trip, then we come back and really get to work."

Nyla nodded, and Cal went to his seat. Artie's walking frame seemed to meld into the floor slightly and then go slack. Suddenly, Artie's voice came from everywhere as it had when Nyla first met him. "Destination received from the Jix ambassador's office. Destination confirmed by FTL Scan from nearby vessels. Begin Jump Calculations... Jump in 5… 4… 3… 2… 1… Jump!” 

Nyla let out a gasp and gritted her teeth. Pain washed over her, emanating from her head. Then as quickly as it had built, the whine dissipated and finally fell silent alongwith the pain that she  felt. The sensation was identical to her twoprevious experiences. Cal looked like he was used to jumps. 

"Very well." Cal said and stood, quickly stepping into a side room of the bridge, and returning in the grey uniform that Nyla still found to be a good look for him. "Ambassador, lead the way."

Pinetil stood and nodded, standing tall and acting with a level of importance that once again made Nyla feel incredibly small. She felt slightly better when Artie's walking frame fell into step next to her.

The first thing Nyla was shocked by was the complete lack of isolation of the Jix. For every Jix she saw, there were at least four others of different alien species. The second thing Nyla realized was that every non-Jix she saw wore minimal clothing, looked miserable, and wore some kind of red and black collar. As they walked, she saw the collars being used to cause drastic pain in the non-Jix. 

The third thing she saw that made her realize she hated the Jix idea of 'submission,' was a man. A male Jix to be precise, who wore something Nyla could only guess signified some kind of religious or governmental importance. As he sat at a table eating food, a female of some other species was under the table, performing fellatio on the Jix male. He turned his body, forgetting what was happening under the table. In his movement, apparently, he felt some sensation of pain to his nethers. The response to this was instant.

"Useless, whore! Guess I will have to buy another." The male Jix said as the female who was under the table began to make pleading sounds. The male Jix snapped his fingers and the female convulsed and dropped dead, the flesh around where the collar rested was smoking.

Nyla walked faster to stay close to Cal. She already noticed people looking at her in disgust when they realized she wore no collar. 

As they moved through the crowd, she tried to ignore the abuse taking place around her. In doing so, she  focused her attention on the surrounding buildings and realized that despite the horridness of the people around her, they lived in a beautiful city. The architecture was sweeping and flowed like water from the ground toward the sky, giving the impression of hapless hands reaching toward the heavens. 

They walked for what seemed an hour before Pinetil finally pointed out an exceptionally tall building. "There it is."

"Finally." Artie said under his breath, sounding annoyed.

Just as they were about to make the final stretch of roughly a quarter mile, a hand shot out and seized Nyla by her arm. When she looked back, she found herself face to face with a male Jix who wore the strange symbolic clothing she saw on the man from earlier. "Where is your collar slave?" 

Nyla jerked her arm free and turned to look for Cal. She also called out to Artie via the implant. "I am no slave."

"Of course you are, no lesser race may resist the Jix. And I represent the High God Jishernax. None may resist my will. Now come along you little..." The Jix priest trailed off as if seeing Nyla for the first time. "What are you? You are not one of the cleansed. You are not one of the new slaves either. What are you?" 

"New slaves?" A voice asked behind the priest, causing relief to wash over Nyla. 

"Oh yes! Jishernax has blessed his faithful with access to an entire galaxy of new slaves, and one race of nuisances. We will eliminate..." The priest trailed off to find Cal standing inches from them.

"Interesting," Cal said, his tone in the region of frequency Nyla knew meant danger. "Tell me more of the new slaves, oh and I would love to hear of the one race." 

"You are unclean. You do not need to hear the blessings of Jishernax. I will be taking my slave and leaving." The priest took Nyla by the arm.

Nyla looked up to see Pinetil gesturing almost frantically to the priest from behind Cal's back. The priest seemed to be picking up whatever message she was trying to convey, but it was too late. Cal smiled,  a pulse of energy several times stronger than when he had stopped her people washed over Nyla. 

Everything seemed to freeze in an area around them. Cal calmly reached out and removed the hand from Nyla's arm. Cal locked eyes with the frozen priest and spoke in a tone which Nyla had never heard before and wished to never hear again. "I am going to break your fingers now, and deliver a message to do it. Call out to your god, see if the great Jishernax dares face me." 

He gave the priest a moment, and fluid started leaking from the priest's eyes. Cal nodded and gabbed the first hand and began snapping fingers. Delivering one word of his message with every crack of bone.

"I. Am. A. Human." Cal said and then pulled up the other hand of the priest in preparation. "She. Is. Not. A. Slave. Understand?" 

As more power washed over Nyla,  whatever Cal did ceased having an effect and the priest screamed. The sound was something Nyla would never forget. He made as if to run into the shocked and unmoving crowd that was too confused to move even after Cal stopped using his power. As the priest turned, Cal stopped and grabbed him by his robes and pulled the priest close to look him in the eyes. 

"I asked you a question. Two actually. And I will have answers, either from you or from another. So tell me of the 'new slaves' and tell me if you understand." Cal said calmly, like nothing strange was happening.

"I... I... I..." The priest was at a loss for words. He took a sobbing breath and quickly relayed information between sobs. "I... only heard from the other priests... The new slaves... Apparently, there are five of them... they are called the Shen... That is all I know... And yes I understand... Please... Let me leave?" The priest acted as if he would fall to his knees and renounce his god if Cal had asked it. Cal shoved him away dismissively.

The priest disappeared into the crowd as they made it into the building Pinetil led them to in complete silence. Cal turned on Pinetil when they entered. "I want any Shen who are here brought to me. Now. We had an agreement. You have violated this agreement. Shall I begin laying waste to this world?" 

Pinetil looked actually panicked and sweat formed on her brow. "I was unaware of this. Please, at least attend this meeting and give me until it is over to find out what is going on. I swear I will do my utmost." 

"You will have five minutes after this meeting to present your findings. Should they be unacceptable, I will begin and end this war that is brewing between our people in the matter of a day. Do you understand Pinetil Axshram?" Cal said, the tone of his voice letting Pinetil know it was the Bearer of Sin speaking with full authority and not Cal.

"I understand. Now please follow me." Pinetil said, visibly deflating, but still sweating. 

Pinetil lead them to a waiting area, where she stepped through a door. "Thank you Cal." 

"I am sorry that happened." Cal said in response to her thanks. "I warn you Nyla, if this goes wrong, you need to immediately do what Artie says and go with him to the ship. Do you understand that?"

"Of course Cal." Nyla said, realizing for herself that, in this moment, Cal was not her friend, he was a weapon, and he was here on a mission.

Just as she was about to ask him something, the doors opposite the one they entered through opened and Pinetil stood waiting. "The Divine Council of Jishernax's Chosen will see you now, Bearer of Sin."

"Good, then let us begin." Cal walked boldly into the room with Nyla and Artie following behind him.