Off-camera, the mediate replied, “That’s a highly unusual procedure, Dr. Garver. The Lottery system has never been used that way before. Why has the method been changed for this selection?”
“That is because of the identity of the male volunteer,” the doctor replied.
Sierra sat up on the bed, rapt and fascinated by a situation unlike any other she had ever heard described. Don’t tell me, she thought, they’re going to keep his name confidential until the selection is called out. That’s what it’s going to be, just watch. They’re going to have the known galaxy guessing about this, and it’s going to be an interplanetary obsession. Oh, these people know what they’re doing; this nexus is going to have cosmic rating points while this is going on.
The wall switched back to the mediate in his Bureau studio. “The identity of the male volunteer has just been made public, in the interest of full transparency.”
Now, Sierra’s brows arched. She was not expecting this.
The image on the wall changed again, and there he was, a male Lacertan clad in a red and white skinsuit typical of the garments that his people wore. At the sight of him, Sierra gasped so hard that she felt as if she could suck the air from the room. The dark male dragon man was so stunning, so amazing-looking, his image on the wall nearly knocked Sierra from the bed. The caption said his name: Tynan Moran, Prince of Nest Moran, Nimbus City.
Again off-camera, the mediate addressed the Prince, who was apparently of a similar age to Sierra. “Prince Tynan, it’s going to come as a surprise to the galaxy at large to know you’ve submitted yourself as the male test subject for the fertility drug whose development your family sponsored. What will you say to the inevitable allegations of favoritism or undue use of privilege, even conflict of interest that will arise from this?”
Calmly and smoothly, Tynan replied, “Such charges may be made, but I’d like to point out that while we are exerting our privilege, we’re also incurring any risks that may come from this continued testing. That is, my family and the subject, whoever she may be, will be taking on those risks. We may be facing the same disappointments that the last round of testing brought. That will be for us—and the human woman who’ll be participating with me—to bear.”
Slack-jawed, Sierra took this in and thought, ‘Participating.’ That’s the perfect way for a Prince to put it in public. What he really means is, the human woman he’ll be screwing like a crazed borgathi, trying to get her pregnant.
Tynan continued, “We have other reasons for going in this direction. Our family wants heirs. My two brothers and I are willing to become fathers to continue our nest, but in spite of our wealth and position, we’re the prisoners of Lacertan biology the same as everyone else. We face the same odds of making a female pregnant, whether human or Lacertan, as any other Lacertan male. Remember, even when we’re paired with a human in the Lotteries, pregnancy isn’t guaranteed. The last we heard, Sir Thrax Helmer and Agena Morrow were still trying.”
Sierra nodded, remembering the famous story of the Lottery-paired Knight of Lacerta, Sir Thrax Helmer, and the human athlete, Agena Morrow, whose mating coincided with the invasion of the alien Scodax. The two of them had played a critical part in saving Lacerta from that invasion, so Lacerta and much of the galaxy had taken an interest in their status. She almost chuckled a bit at the thought of what Thrax and Agena must be up to. Assuming he was not somewhere performing some official Knightly duty, Thrax was very likely in bed with Agena, or wherever else he enjoyed doing it, humping and coming on top of her like there was no tomorrow.
The dragon Prince finished, “It may appear to the rest of our world and to the rest of the quadrant that the Morans are taking unfair advantage, and we know there are plenty of other males on Lacerta who would be every bit as eligible as I am to perform in this test. We’ve invoked our right of first access as one of the highest-ranking families on our planet, that’s true. Our society does consider it important to perpetuate families like mine, which is why we’ve done as we’ve done. But I’d like to point out that while I may be the first, if this is successful, I won’t be the last. My service may be paving the way for millions of others to help our society grow. I’m only the vanguard. The charge is yet to come.”
“Thank you, Prince Tynan,” said the mediate.
The wall switched to the mediate in his studio again. “And so, Nest Moran will soon be making the formal solicitation for human female candidates to submit their genomes and biographical profiles under tight encryption to the computers of the Ruling Aerie on Lacerta, which will begin the screening process for maximum compatibility with Prince Tynan, the youngest of the three Moran brothers of Nest Moran in Nimbus City. And then…it will be a matter of waiting and guessing to see which names are submitted to the Prince and which woman he’ll select to join him in Nimbus City—possibly to change the course of the history of Lacerta. This has been Douglas Ross for the Terran News Service.”
Sierra hit a surface on her nightstand to shut off the holovision. The wall went blank, and Sierra, exhaling with a huff, fell back onto the headboard of her bed. Her mind was filled with the face and eyes and voice and skin-suited body of Tynan Moran, which actually made her feel a bit guilty, considering that she would shortly be helping herself to another night of Dr. Clark’s eager, naked and erect ministrations.
Still, Sierra knew herself well enough to know that an idea, once it dug itself into her mind, would not just go away. She thought of everything she had been contemplating since her near-death experience with Udarian mitochondrial disease. She thought of everything she had been feeling since her stay in the hospital and her visit to the maternity ward, which she’d expected to be nothing more at first than a way to pass the time. And it occurred to her how those two things happened to dovetail together.
Could she do it? Could she actually do it? Submit her genome and her holobiography to the Lottery system of the planet Lacerta to be matched for compatibility with one of the very Princes of that planet? And then… Certainly, sleeping with Tynan Moran would be no problem; she would have a man—or dragon—like that on top of her in bed under any circumstances except infidelity to a spouse. But could she actually get pregnant with him? And have his baby? And have everything that would go with having his baby?
Could she?
She frowned and sighed. It would certainly be an adventure, an adventure unlike any other she’d ever had. But was that reason enough? Was this something she could actually, seriously do?
Sierra would have to think about this one long and carefully.