Marauder Fenrir: Scifi Alien Invasion Romance (Mating Wars) by Aya Morningstar

young. I can’t tell human ages as well as I should be able to, but I would be surprised if they were over 20 years old. The third member of the triumvirate is an old man with grey hair.
    “I’m Joachim,” the old man says, “and the happy couple behind me is Miriam and Thorsten.”
    Miriam snarls at Joachim, and Thorsten looks down at the ground.
    I can’t make sense of it. These two are a couple? The female seems to hate the male, and the male seems weak and inept, not even brave enough to face her.
    “Let’s have a seat,” Joachim says.
    The tiles open up, and enough stools to seat everyone present raise from the ground.
    I notice the stools for Fiona and me are side-by-side, while the stools for the Ministers and triumvirate are arranged in a semi-circle facing us. It’s as if we are on trial.
    “I will stand,” I say.
    Fiona grabs my arm and tugs at it, trying to force me to sit on the stool.
    I break away from her grasp and look down at her. “I will stand, woman!”
    She shakes her head and crosses her arms. Does she really want to give up the high ground? And even worse, does she want these leaders of New Copenhangen to think she can force me to sit with just a weak tug on my arm?
    I notice that the female leader is seated next to Thorsten, and she has slid as far off her stool as possible so she doesn’t have to be near him.
    “So,” Turret Woman says, breaking the silence. “You seriously drafted in two teenagers who have just broken up with each other to rule with absolute power?”
    The woman general looks stone-faced and Lindgren flashes his teeth at Turret Woman.
    “I dumped his ass!” the female leader gloats. “Breaking up implies it was mutual.”
    Thorsten crosses his arms.
    Fiona laughs. “You habbers are something else.”
    “They will learn to work together,” Joachim says, sitting straight in his seat. He bites his lip, then adds, “At least I really, really hope so.”
    I notice Lindgren and the woman general are...embarrassed? It’s similar to the look on Turret Woman’s face when she looked at my erect cock, though less sexual, of course. These Ministers’ faces show raw embarrassment and shame.
    I stand tall and pull my shoulders back, towering over these weak leaders. “My demands are as follows. I demand you allow us access to the elevator. We will travel down to the Martian surface and you will give us enough local currency to make a trip to polar settlements. I will carry out my mission–the details of which do not concern you–and you will never see me again. In return, when my race obliterates humanity, I will make sure your habitat is destroyed swiftly and painlessly.”
    The woman general narrows her eyes at me, while Thorsten’s eyes widen.
    Thorsten blurts out, “You’re going to kill us? Why?”
    “They’re alien invaders, you idiot, ” Miriam says. “What did you think they were going to do?”
    “Cygnus and Aegus have expressed a desire to co-exist with us,” the woman general says. “Are they lying?”
    “They are a weak splinter faction,” I say. It’s a lie, as each faction is roughly the same size, splitting the Marauders in half.
    “Or maybe you’re the weak splinter faction,” the woman general says.
    I stare at her, not letting my face reveal anything.
    “I heard you have taken Fiona as a mate?” Lindgren says. “You’ll destroy her, too?”
    Now my face betrays me, my ears, specifically. They pull back defensively, and I hope these habbers do not know how to read that reaction. No, I realize, I would die under a black hole’s mass of shame debt before I would lay a hand on Turret Woman.
    “It doesn’t concern you,” I say. “I’ve made my demands clear.”
    “Here’s what I demand,” Lindgren says, standing up, “And I hope the triumvirate will hear the sense in my argument. I think you’re too dangerous to let loose, and I think what we could learn from you is far too valuable to pass up. If you truly want to destroy