Chapter 3
Erik stepped into the large conference room with a pleased smirk. Everyone present reeked of fear and disillusionment. All was right with the universe. He’d lost count of how many planets and star systems he’d brought under the control of the Federation. He was a conqueror, the greatest his kind had ever known and he wasn’t ashamed to admit it.
Seven billion sentient, carbon based life forms was quite a coup, even for him. And such a lovely little planet as well, closer to midsized if he was feeling generous.
He knew all the main languages of this planet and hoped that his odd accent didn’t throw his new subjects off, but no. Several humans had been shown to have the capacity to speak numerous languages.
He caught Hank’s eye as he finished the introductions. Azazel stood on his other side, impassive and regal. They made a striking group, tall and glamorous. The humans in turn looked weak and exhausted, but he saw some promise in a few of the representatives present.
Hank caught his eye again; he was irritated that his mind was wandering, but honestly, as soon as they’d scanned the planet and realized that the core was molten lead he’d know he could do this with both hands tied behind his back.
They’d orbited the planet for over a month without being detected. That was nothing short of embarrassing. He idly wondered if any of the scientists who had designed their space programs and satellite systems were present at this meeting.
Erik left nothing to chance, which is why he and his chosen generals were accepting Earth defeat just over a week after they’d announced their presence.
Meanwhile Admiral Shaw was mired in conquering a forest moon because he’d gone in with blunt force and no plan. Erik loved reading the field reports from Shaw’s men; they brightened his day like nothing else.
A lovely redhead with bags under her eyes was addressing them now, doing an impressive job of hiding her fear. Erik was not interested in anything she had to say but he made a point of watching her avidly so as not to seem disinterested.
Great, she was done. Hopefully now they could get to the official surrender of this continent. A man in black stood up to speak as well. Erik flicked his eyes over him quickly. Past his prime, likely a senior official, nothing note worthy about him.
He was patient through the speeches from representatives from each nation and even a few different agencies from each government.
An important part of surrender was to allow the defeated to maintain some sense of self. A semblance of pride. His mother had taught him that, his father had learned it the hard way.
Now a young man was standing up, he’d caught Erik’s eye when they first entered the room. He had an open face, easy to read. He looked peaked and shaky. Erik hoped he wasn’t about to vomit or pass out. That would be awkward and certainly make this farce of a conditional surrender take even longer.
But then he started to speak and Erik was enraptured. He was a wonderful orator, full of passion and verve for his subject matter which appeared to be the bio evolution of life on Earth. Erik could have listened to the gentle cadence of his words for hours.
He clearly loved his planet and its people. It was one of the better pleas for mercy Erik had ever heard. And he’d heard them all.
The young man-Dr. Charles Xavier- became lightly flushed as he spoke and absently brushed his hair out if his eyes when it flopped over his forehead. Erik leaned forward in his seat and locked eyes with him, causing him to lose his place his rehearsed speech.
“Go on,” Erik nodded, causing a startled tension to rush through the humans present. They were the first words he’d spoken since arriving.
Charles glanced at the redhead who darted a glance between the two of them and gave Charles a reassuring nod.
“I-um, that is how we became the dominant form of reproductive life on the planet. In a nutshell,” he stammered out.
Erik sat back in his seat, satisfied that they could continue. He nodded to the young doctor who resumed his seat with a shaky nod and a pathetic attempt at a smile.
He was approached by a young man with a mane of curly red hair and an abundance of freckles who’d been seated along the wall for the duration of the meeting.
He tensed at the young man’s words and glanced around cagily.
Erik was immediately on the alert. If the humans had planned some resistance, now would be the time to enact it.
He and his team would be teleported back to their ship and leave orbit just before the planet imploded. They’d done it before when they’d been attacked, but Erik was loathe to do it again. He was developing a fondness for this little blue planet and its molten core. He even liked its outsized moon. The fact that there was only one gave the place a sort of quaint charm.
Azazel had noticed the odd behavior as well and was clearly waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Erik tensed as something warm dropped onto his lap. He hid his shock well but glanced down immediately to notice a small, multi colored earth creature gazing up at him with bright green eyes. Predators eyes, Erik noted, the fierce little hunter pierced his trousers with its claws as it walked up his thighs fearlessly. It must be a stealthy little one to have snuck up on him.
He remembered seeing them on the reels he’d watched about Earths life forms but for the life of him he couldn’t remember what they were called.
He glanced up to see Azazel still watching the humans like hawks while Hank tapped out a message to the ship on his communicator.
Dr. Xavier now looked entirely panicked and he and the freckled young man were now leaning over whispering frantically to the red headed woman-McTaggert?- who looked irate.
The representatives from Canada, Mexico, and Belize looked confused and worried by the small commotion. Perhaps only the United States was in on the subterfuge? It would be a pity if one nation’s actions doomed their species to eradication.
The creature opened its mouth and mewled loudly, showing off a maw of delicate fangs.
The room fell silent and every eye in the room snapped to him.
“What is that?” Hank asked with a frown.
“I don’t know,” Erik answered honestly, knowing the humans wouldn’t be able to understand their language.
The animal was pressing its head against his knuckles insistently; he raised a hesitant hand and ran it over the creature’s delicate ears. It was unbelievably soft.
“Oh my god, Albert!”
Erik was startled to see the young doctor rushing around the table in a clear attempt to lay claim to the small creature-an Albert? That didn’t seem right. He settled his hand over the animal with a frown that stopped the young man in his tracks. “Is this your creature?” he asked softly, not wanting to scare the man or the animal unnecessarily.
Charles glanced back at the United States representatives who were staring at him in stunned silence. The president of Mexico stood to speak once more but was hushed by the secretary of defense.
“Yes, he’s my cat. He’s not supposed to be here. Let me take him away,” he all but pleaded. Arms slightly outstretched, fingers twitching nervously.
Erik gave him a slow smile, watching him grow paler with each passing moment. He was brave, risking Erik’s ire for the sake of a cat-that was the word. “This cat is one of the many forms of life you were so passionate about defending.” He said without inflection.
Charles straightened his back and nodded decisively. Erik exchanged a knowing glance with Azazel.“Yes, he is.”
“Tell me doctor, what is so…special about life on Earth? You all thought you were alone until we proved you wrong, and humans are the most intelligent life on this planet.”
“We’re a very young species!” Xavier immediately went on the defense. “Given time we have the capacity to become something amazing.”
Erik nodded, they were remarkably young. Just 50,000 years ago their species hadn’t even come into existence yet. “You have that capacity but you waste it on warring amongst yourselves over trivial differences.” He ran his hand over the cat with the grain of its fur, it rumbled under his hand catching his attention for a quick moment.
Dr. Xavier pursed his red lips and nodded his agreement, “Yes. But look at our history; we’re becoming less violent with each generation. Our differences mean less and less as time goes on.”
Erik shook his head irritably, “When we arrived there was killing in every city on every continent on your globe. You all will be useful to the Federation, but your way of life cannot be tolerated.”
The humans looked panicked, a fission of fear trembled through the room at an alarming rate, “Please, don’t…” he faded off helplessly.
But Erik was intrigued, “Don’t what?” he asked softly.
“Destroy us, destroy our culture. Our way of life.”
Erik gave him a patronizing smile, “You will not be destroyed if you fall in line. Your various cultures, your way of life has changed forever. The sooner you come to terms with that, the better.” Erik said firmly.
He was pleased to note the look of irritation bordering on anger that flickered across the young man’s face.
“What do you want from us?” he asked after a long moment.
“For now? I’d like to get to know your beloved home a bit better. It’s one thing to observe from orbit but an entirely different experience being on the surface.” A murmur rose from the humans assembled at his words.
“What are you up to?” Azazel asked softly.
“Like you don’t know,” Erik glanced at him from the corner of his eye as his second in command flashed his fangs in a brief grin.
Hank looked mildly surprised by his request and quickly tapped out an update to their schedule on his communicator. “We’re ahead of schedule as it is, so there’s no harm in getting first hand recognizance if you so desire, Admiral.”
Erik nodded his understanding and left Hank to his own devices. The young man worked best without being micromanaged, which is why he and Erik worked so well together. He wasn’t one for coddling his officers, they were the best or they never made it into his fleet.
The cat shifted under his hand, it was disconcerting to be able to feel its small frame shifting just beneath its skin. He wasn’t used to such delicate creatures. He let it wriggle off his lap and pad over to the relieved doctor who scooped the cat into his arms before it could try climbing him.
“Thank you,” Dr. Xavier said so softly Erik barely heard him over the jumble of languages pouring out of the other humans present. His eyes glimmered for a moment with some depth of emotion Erik didn’t understand.
He gave the young man a curt nod and shifted his focus back to the rest of the representatives seated around the table. Dr. Xavier reclaimed his seat with a shy mien, refusing to look at the other humans who were openly eyeing him and his little cat with barely concealed disdain.
That irked Erik, but he could understand their reticence. He suspected the good doctor wasn’t officially one of their number. More than likely he was a last minute addition that not all of them had approved of.
The president of the United States leaned forward and addressed him with a deep frown. “You want to get to know our planet better?” Erik ignored the unasked questions; Will this help us or hurt us? Do we have a choice either way?
The answers were irrelevant. As he’d told Charles, the sooner they accustomed themselves to their new circumstances the better off they’d be.
Instead he looked the man right in the eye, pleased at how well he hid his instinctive flinch “Yes, I find myself fascinated by the information presented by Doctor Charles Xavier.”
The young man snapped his bright, clear eyes to Erik in surprise, almost as though he anticipated the next words out of his mouth.
“I’d like him to be my ambassador to your world. That is, if you agree?” he turned from the president to look directly at the stunned young doctor. He wondered if it was crueler in their society to give a false sense of free agency or to make each request a demand.
There was a moment of tense silence before the red head spoke up, “he’ll do it.” She turned to him with a pinched look. “Right, Charles?”
“Right,” he said firmly, though he looked so pale that the delicate veins at his temples were clearly visible, pulsing life beneath his blanched white skin.
Erik sat back, pleased with himself. Hank glanced at him with a nod. The surrender from the other continents had been achieved by his assigned generals.
Earth was now under the command of the Federation.
“Tell the men excellent work and have this planet made a protectorate,” he informed Hank quietly. Never taking his eyes off the collection of humans now avidly discussing his tour of their home.
“Under the northern fleet?” he asked, already responding to Erik’s commands.
He shook his head slowly, “Under my family name.” He’d have no misunderstandings about this. Perhaps he was more like his father than he’d ever given himself credit for.
“Congratulations admiral,” Azazel clasped his shoulder firmly for a moment before settling back in his seat, tail flicking idly.
Erik took the words as his due.
~~
Charles stumbled out of the room and into an office with the CIA team that had recruited him.
“What the hell, Sean?!” Moira whirled on the unsuspecting young man with the fury of a thousand devils.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t want him to be alone if things went south,” he explained wide eyed and trembling.
“You almost got us all killed! What if he’d hated the cat? How did he get away from you anyway?!”
“He’s quick! I didn’t want to cause a commotion! I figured he’d just go to Charles or fall asleep under the table or something!”
Armando cut in with a sharp glare. “Guys, we don’t have time for this. The president is going to want to meet with Charles in a minute and apparently he’s Earth’s ambassador. We didn’t get them to back off, but at least we’re all still alive.”
Moira and Sean turned to face their partner with matching looks. “You’re right. We’ll discuss this breach of protocol later.” Moira sighed. “Charles, you did great. This is a better outcome than I’d hoped for. You seem to have connected with their leader on a real level.
“Thanks,” Charles said tiredly, unable to process all that had just happened.
“Why do they all look so different?” Sean cut in with a frown. “A red guy with a tail? A blue furry guy? And a guy with like 80 teeth? How does that make sense?”
Charles had been wondering that himself, they all spoke a common tongue and wore matching-very attractive- military style uniforms but that’s where the similarities end.
“I guess we’ll find out,” he said cuddling Albert close, still half terrified that the handsome alien had harmed his pet. “Hopefully they’ll be willing to answer a few questions about their genetic diversity.”
“Just do what you can to keep him happy. Remember we’re at their mercy now and we still don’t know their end game,” Armando reminded him tensely as though Charles could forget.
A sharp knock on the door caught their attention; Sean opened it to one of the president’s advisors asking for their immediate presence in a closed door meeting with him.
“Duty calls,” Moira said dryly leading the way out of the room. Charles handed Albert back to Sean with a sharp admonishment to keep him in the office the entire time he was gone.
He blushed red to match his hair and stumbled over a mouthful of apologies that had Charles forgiving him in a heartbeat. He had the feeling Moira and Armando weren’t going to be quite so easy to please, but the young man’s heart had been in the right place and Charles couldn’t hold his mistake against him.
He left the room to continue his surreal day by meeting with the leaders of the free world. Or what once was a free world. The thought was sobering. But in spite of it all, the only thing Charles could think of was the way the Admiral had watched him with silvery, nearly translucent eyes set into an impervious, uncompromising, unfairly attractive face.
Why couldn’t their invaders have looked like the Blob? Or Alien? Or Predator? Or even the Bugs from Starship Troopers? Then again, with the way those movies went, perhaps this was for the best.
“Ready Charles?”
As he’d ever be he supposed.