Shalia's Diary by Tracy St. John

minutes.  I hate to call it that, but what else do you call dinner with a couple of Kalquorian men?  Besides immoral, that is.  Name it and claim it, Shalia.  I am going on a date with Dramok Dusa and his Nobek, Esak.
     
    Mom’s at ‘respite care’ as they are calling it.  Essentially, she’s in the rec room, sitting in her favorite chair and knitting while orderlies keep an eye on her and a couple others that have issues getting to sleep.  She didn’t put up much of a fuss about her routine being messed with, especially since I escorted her there myself.
     
    Going to and from the rec room meant passing through the dining area.  And guess who I saw as I made my escape?  Yes, the entirely too lovely and tidy Pageant Trio (or the P.T. as I’ve decided to call them).  They waved and called me over.  I hadn’t bothered getting ready for my date tonight, so of course I was all hagged out next to their coiffed perfection.  Ah, I have self image issues, don’t I?  But boy, they rub me the wrong way with their smarmy smiles and oh-so civilized demeanors.  You’d think they’d never strained to shove out a single turd in their lives.
     
    Okay, I’m putting the bitchiness away.  I am being petty and hateful for no real good reason, not to mention gross.
     
    Of course they wanted to know why they haven’t seen me since the one time.  I told them, “I’ve been working on building my strength up.  I get tired so easily, which often doesn’t make me very good company.”  Plus, I’m eating ronka and pilchok fit to put the two creatures on the endangered species list, right there with mankind.
     
    “Well, you come eat with us when you’re able to,” Deirdra invited me.  “I’ve heard you used to work for the government.  I’m dying to know how much warning they had before the Kalquorians destroyed our home and murdered everyone.”
     
    I should have kept my mouth shut, but I just couldn’t resist.  Not with that brunette Barbie doll practically salivating to hear the gory details.
     
    I told them, “Oh no.  It wasn’t like that at all.  When Earth Gov found out Kalquor had broken through the wormhole, they blew up the cities themselves.  They’d planted the explosives there for just such an eventuality so the righteous could go to God rather than be lost to our enemies.  Praise be to the Church for its foresight.”
     
    Okay, so I fudged the real truth a tiny bit and totally hid the fact I was being sarcastic.  It was worth it to see the P.T. look at me with such shock.  I gave them an exalted smile, as if the light of heaven shone down upon me to warm me in its glow.  Then I left.
     
    I really am an awful person.  Oh well, to thine own self be true.
     
    Oh hell, checking the time.  Dusa and Esak will be here any minute now to escort me to their quarters for our private meal.  My heart is going a million miles a minute.  I wonder what Dusa’s Nobek will be like?  Nobeks are the warriors of Kalquor, the fiercest members of their race.  They were the ones on the front lines of the war.  It was their dead that I saw in the pictures provided for my films.  They looked horribly bestial in death, so I can’t imagine how one looks alive and kicking.  Should I really be doing this?  What if I make Esak mad?  Will Dusa keep me safe from his own clanmate?  Can he keep me safe?  And are they assuming sex will happen?  I should call and beg off.  I am starting to feel sick, so it wouldn’t be a lie.  Nevermind it’s nerves making my stomach twist, it’s a valid
     
    The visitor announce is going off.  They’re here.  Heaven help me.
     
     
    September 12
     
    I slept in really late this morning.  I was tired after my dinner with Dusa and Esak.  Not that anything strenuous happened!  No, all my fears of wild alien sex didn’t come to pass.  Quite the opposite, in fact.
     
    First of all, Dusa’s Nobek was not some crazed, feral animal like I half expected.  Esak