The Televve

The small planet was very beautiful and had so many different landscapes and ecosystems. Truly their planet was a jewel. Many life bearing planets had more inhospitable terrain. The human civilization was brought to our attention by pure luck. We received a weak radio burst a few light years away and decided to check it out. Many scholars had deemed the galaxy too young to bear life yet. We were extremely surprised to arrive to find a fairly tech savvy civilization.

If only we were able to explore rather than play diplomat. For hours we were in and out of meetings and always meeting way too many people. All of who wanted to clasp hands and shake. The President of the country we were in was very loud, very short, and introduced us to other leaders as if we were lifelong friends. In short he got under my skin a lot, but he was an elected leader, and diplomat to other nations, so we were forced to negotiate with him.

He sat across from me now in front of five cameras and reporters. Bright white lights shined up at us from the ground in front of the reporters and they buzzed horribly making it impossible to focus. The President was staring intently at the diplomat speaking he represented the respective country. One I had yet to learn the language of, but I had a feeling he wasn’t on the same page with the plan we needed approved.

“How’s your meeting with Eggtip?” My brother asked through the mental link we shared.

It is called Egypt and very boring. They still seem to think nuclear weapons will protect them from what's to come. I responded.

“Primitive people are always rigid. Stay patient and positive.” He sent it back telepathically.

Easy for him to say. Kladen had the patience and all the grace of a lazy cat. My brother never bestirred himself unless there was real trouble. In the event of real trouble he would burst into action swiftly and in a terrifying rage which rivaled my near constant turmoil. It would completely overcome him in an uncontrollable way.

I suppose that's where we balance yet again. I as the darker twin, am always aggravated and blunt angry to a fault, but during a fight I knew how to navigate my rage and separate friend from foe.

Kladen did not.

As the lighter twin his emotions were clean cut and suppressed, if his body lashed out his mind wouldn’t know how to respond. Once before as children another set of twins were throwing rocks at me from afar. As the dark twin most of my childhood was spent trying to practice good meditation and emotional control. Which took me much longer than typical to master due to my Teleeve genes. Me and my brother had to try harder than most. Our mother tried her best to school us in her native ways but our fathers genetics seemed to make us even more pushed to the extremes. Extreme dark and extreme light.

This obviously posed many complications with the pains of growing up. These particular boys picking on me were trying to start a fight. One I would have gladly given them if Kladen hadn’t shown up out of nowhere. He made them choose between eating a rock or a broken nose. One took the nose. The other spent the next month in serious pain. Looking back on that fond memory I couldn’t help but chuckle under my breath which of course caught everyone's attention.

I cleared my throat. “My apologies.”

The President smiled and leaned back in his chair. He touched the tips of his fingers together in a serious manner that just made him look somehow less intelligent.

It didn’t help that he pursed his lips and looked at me intently. “Well what do you say about the agreement.”

I hate this goddamn planet! I wanted to say but didn’t.

I took a moment to close my eyes and release some aggravation. When I opened my eyes again I looked at everyone. They all looked back expectantly.

What do they want? I asked myself confused and aggravated.

It was bad enough they always had a camera in my face now they want to physically stare as well.

“He asked you a question. I believe.” Kladen said with a hint of laughter. I secretly thanked the Goddess when he budded into my head like that. It seemed to always save my ass.

Instead of admitting that I grumbled in my head. I knew that.

I refocused on the men before me and cleared my throat. “Yeah. You are going to have to repeat what exactly that is. I wasn’t paying attention.” I said bluntly.

Kladens influence could only reach so far. I would always be the short tempered of us two. I struggled to read social cues especially when to shut up, or how to choose my words carefully.

Everyone in the room suddenly had a shocked look and some even a mean one. I sighed and scratched my head awkwardly. Kladen aways evened out my bluntness. He was much better at talking than I was. Just as I was much better at fighting than him. Light and dark are true to our heritage through and through. It was truly unnatural for us to be apart.

“Egypt has agreed to denuclearization but they won't hand them over they will have them deactivated and stored in a classified area. We Americans have been friends with them for a long time you can trust them.” The President said confidently.

I threw my hands up but quickly covered my outburst but scratching my head. “No. Regardless of your clans or whatever. We have been over this your toys as strong as they are will not protect you. In fact you will just be helping the Ventricilians if they remain assembled in anyway.”

“You cannot expect us to be left defenseless.” The President scoffed.

“You won’t be defenseless!” I grumbled.

This was increasingly becoming too aggravating. This race was more than stubborn; they bordered self sabotage ignorance. Disassembly of these toxic bombs only benefits them. Our shields and that of Ventricilians would not lose the slightest bit of power over these nukes. The damage would only be taken out on potential brides, and the ventrilicans would start picking the off clan by clan.

The Ventricilians were a bioengineered race that took over their creators. The creators were much like humans, young and still fighting with each other. The Teleeve went to war with them after they developed a similar problem. Not enough females. You would think this would cause us to come together but the Ventricilian had a different way of mating one that only the females engaged in. Ventricilians lives and functioned on a sort of hive system. There were the Queens the only females of the race and then princesses, who were passed the matriarch. And occasionally a prince would emerge, not actual sons of the Queens but almost as advanced as them. Hives run on the grunts or soldiers, they were the workers and nearly non sentient. When it came time for a new queen to be born female would take a male of any humanoid race and During the mating inject a sort of genetic alerating agent through bite. This essence tended to kill the male quite painfully, while also impregnating him. Then about a month later the child would eat it’s way out of the father's body, and you had a new Queen. Although it was incredibly rare for a Ventricilian to mate with a life form they also required a unique form of substance. Life essence. Ventricilians could suck the literal life out of a living being through their hands. Scientists had designed this as a way to combat scarce supplies while at war and to kill enemies. Little did they know the weapon would be used on them.

Decades ago the Commanders of the motherships got together and attacked the Ventricilian ships nearly killing them all together. It was decided their mating was unethical and not worth the losses. Ever since then we had been locked in a constant war with them. Negotiations had never been attempted because no Commander could actually allow for them to begin attempting females again. That and their long lifespans bore the perfect war zone.

Kladens presence entered my mind with a familiar wave of worry. “Brother are you well?”

Im fine just annoyed. There was no point in telling him I wanted to burn this entire room down.

Instead I took a deep breath and did my best to say something akin to what Kladen would.

“By agreeing to allow my men rights to claim their brides. It will bind us to your world as family. The Teleeve do not leave their family defenseless. If need be we would die protecting our wife’s heritage. We protect hundreds of planet none of which have anything above simple defense weapons. The type of weapon you are fighting to keep is unheard of on our planet. Weapons like nukes aren’t even used in space war” I tried explaining, but I knew it was pointless. Humans didn’t seem to value loyalty, or common sense.

The President shook his head. “I'm afraid that is just not enough collateral.”

The religious system set up here was truly self destructive. If you went to a Teleeve and offered help from an immediate threat and used your mate as insurance. Your word was as good as truth. Women were life they were everything in our culture. Not collateral, but true happiness. Any good Teleeve would die before he saw a woman come to undo harm. To do anything else was tratoris to our Goddess.

I stood up swiftly. “This was a waste of time!” I said then walked out.

I didn’t stop walking until I reached the grey port ship me and my brother arrived here in from our main ship which remained in orbit around Earth.

I’m waiting on the ship! I sent to Kladen.

Kladen didn’t answer but I could feel that he was laughing to himself, which helps to calm me down a little.

These people are impossible. Out of all the planets we had ventured to none had as main religions, conflicts, or complicated morals. The humans were a greed filled race and many of them pathetically insecure.

My mother had raised us in the universal religion one that made room for the existence of other divine beings. We like all Teleeve acknowledged the Goddess of life as the supreme creator. By extension women were pieces of her placed here for us to protect and love. Our religion had no rules other than to simply live and be happy.

We had no book, no holy day, no requirements for worship. Prayer was only reserved for times of guidance not to prove devotion or sacrifice. Some believed in a sort of Hell but most believed in the recyclement of the soul. The ancient Teleeve had been responsible for the spread of this religion many in the galaxy believed it generations back. It made for peaceful trade and less war.

I can still vividly recall my mother telling me the story of creation to calm me after a burst of rage or after a fight with Kladen. She would always sit in a delicately carved turquoise stone chair that sat in the corner of our room and peacefully brush her hair.

Our mother would always start the story the same way, “We believe that men were created from the stagnant energy that encompasses all matter.”. Even now sitting in this flight chair millions of light years away from home I could hear her warm voice filling my mind and easing my soul.

“This energy she took, it can support the very weight of existence it balances the give and take of life and supports the more delicate aspects of creation. Like how the air lifts the birds higher into the sky. Much like how you, Kladen must always support your brother, and one day you both will support your mate.” This part Kladen always liked for obvious reasons. It made him feel important and needed.

Even when we were sleeping back to back still fuming from a fight he always turned for that part. As for the energy my mother spoke of, I believe humans know of it they call it dark matter.

“This energy was harvested by our Goddess and modified to form the male soul. The encompassing soul was strong and fiery like the mother energy that it was made from. Like how you are so strong my Klaus, but like all energy it was also randomly destructive. Much like how you get when you are angry my Kladen. When the Goddess saw how different the soul was from her she made more then made strong bodies for the souls, and when the Goddess saw her sons feeling lost and untethered she sent down daughters which came directly from her own being, and mixed with the energy of a stars. That part of her lives in all females. Some less than others but each a Goddess.”

At this point she would look very seriously at us. “Never forget we are all created from the cosmos and are all equal. However you will never dishonor me or the Goddess that molded you by disrespecting a female.” She never voiced the rest of that thought out loud but Kladen always reached for my hand under the covers at that point for comfort. Our mother would then lean down to kiss each of our cheeks then leave gracefully like a ereathal fairy.

In short she was our superhero, and the real reason we stayed true to the philosophy. Our mother exuded grace and love, as young boys looking at her beautiful soft face you could swear she was the Goddess herself. That story still calms me to this day.

Although there are others who believe different things. I thought to myself.

Suddenly Kladens voice popped into my head. He would always say it when we met new people who were ridgid like the humans. “The galaxy isn’t perfect.”

It most certainly was not. After leaving our mother planet we learned that quickly. Yes the universe could be very hostile and perverted. I just wish Earth wasn’t one of those planets. It truly was so magnificent, its’ nature and species. The way it flowed seamlessly to create its majestic features was more than enough religion for me. Not to mention everything seemed to uplift the betterment of humans.

Most worlds still had Jurassic type creatures, but here on Earth it was strange to be attacked by an animal. That made for an impressive population size. Before the Teleeve had made our presence known to the humans we took the liberty of exploring unbiased for a quick period. During which I saw that they truly cared little for the miraculous gift they had.

I’m just mad because of her. All I want to do is see her again. Well that’s not all I want to do.

I heard a rapping knock on the shuttle door. I waved my hand over the control panel and the door quickly retracted. I readjusted myself in the flight seat so I was even more hunched back in the chair. I was fully prepared to pity myself for the next hour for having to sit with those men for so long, and Kladen was going to listen to it all. It’s part of the reason why I love him so much.

“Well that was an interesting summit.” My brother said from behind me.

I was about to reply with my insults on the human race when I smelled someone else with my brother. I rotated the flight chair around to see the President and his security team standing behind Kladen. I groaned and rotated back around in my chair.

Can a man not self pity in peace for two seconds on this planet! I’m going to blow my brains out.

“Oh cheer up.” Kladen said aloud.

“Why should I! If I have to sit through one more mind numbing meeting I will crash this ship into the nearest mountain.” I threatened with my back still to them.

“I figured you might say something like that, so I thought now might be a good time to look for the girl you guys want.” The President offered. “As a gesture of goodwill.” He added.

I rotated the seat quickly to face them. This asshole better not be bluffing. This wasn’t something either of us was keen to joke about. Our mate. The whole reason we had come to this solar system in the first place.

“You’ve found her?” I asked disbelieving. I glanced up at Kladen who was sporting a sly grin.

Thank the Goddess.

The President stepped inside the shuttle and tried to hide his obvious discomfort. “No but we know where her sister is.” He said while looking around.

My excitement vanished and I slumped back into the chair.

I’m going to kill him if he doesn’t leave. I sent to my brother seriously.

“Wait brother. Hear him out.” Kladen sent back sternly.

“Her sister has returned to work as a defense lawyer. We tracked her office and then got her home addresses of the residence she is staying at.”

“Resources say Adeena is quite close with her sister so if she is on grid her sister can’t be too far away.” He added proudly.

Kin was important and I was pleased to hear I would be gaining a sister but meeting her family before meeting her seemed rude. Surly Kladen wouldn’t agree to something so forward and impulsive.

“I say we go.” Kladen said with a bright smile.

My eyebrows shot up in surprise. “You do?”

I was shocked, usually I was the one running head first into potentially bad situations.

“I can’t wait any longer to find her it’s driving me crazy to sit in the meeting knowing she’s on the same planet as us.” Kladen said frantically in my head. His urgency set me back a second. It was rare for him to send such powerful need in my mind.

I feel the same way. I sent back.

A sense of joy and approval flooded my mind. “Then it’s decided. We’re going to go find our mate.” Kladen said in his normally cool and confident manner.