Chapter 20: BloodlinesTomScience felt too far away as Tom boarded the lift and scanned himself in to his destination. It felt as if he were waiting hours for the lift to begin moving; Tom couldn't sense any other Zen near when the doors closed or opened. Was everyone on task for the benefit of their people? Were they still going through their individual registrations? How long would it take the Zen to be given clearance from the humans to leave their landing site?Questions tumbled over each other in Tom's head as he was locked away from his brethren. He wished he could hear the sounds of his people. If Records were such an asset to the Zen, why were they the least like their kind? No one was in the hall as the lift opened onto Science. Tom waited long enough for the lift doors to begin to make a questioning sound -was he remaining aboard or did he intend to disembark?- before stepping out. He relied on his regular sense of h

 Chapter 22: The InterviewTom"You are to come with me."Hearing someone unknown break the silence of the food hall jarred Tom. Startled, he looked up to find a council aide waiting to be acknowledged. He was young though not as young as Scientist Eric. Tom couldn't place him. It was likely he was a lesser son of Communications which would have placed him outside Tom's experience. Communications had limited interactions with Records. "Where are we going?" John asked, gathering his utensils as he cleared his space at the table, "I haven't planned our surface visit. We have only decided we'll take my blood brother to represent Security. Has the council had some kind of interaction with the humans?""The humans have been demanding to speak to you since your registration. Our council has done all they can to delay their requests. We've run out of plausible reasons to keep you from making a statement. You e

 Chapter 24: PactTomHuman bodies were fragile in ways which made Tom nervous, vulnerable to so much more than Zen bodies, yet they were amazing.Tom felt as if he could feel everything John could feel as he held his hardness in his hand. They were made the same in this form. Every time he could squeezed the rigid flesh, John responded a little differently: a sigh, a groan, a buck of his hips or a sharp inhale of breath. Human flesh was responsive and alive. "I can feel you. Can you feel me?" John nodded as he moved to kiss Tom's mouth. Their lips were soft against each other in contrast to all the ways their bodies were hard; Tom could have given up breathing if only to kiss John for a few minutes more."I can feel you. I can always feel you."John could, too. He was true Zen in ways Tom wasn't capable of being. His bloodline granted him strong tethers to all the best gifts of