Where to Start

"The armor?" asked Jun Li, his voice sounding more and more human with every sentence he spoke.

"Yeah, the one that started out around my neck and then turned into armor," I reminded him as I brought my hand up to the choker. I had taken off the hand jewelry simply to avoid setting anything else on fire, but I wanted to keep the choker on all the time. You never knew when that would come in handy. Especially with my plans for the future.

"Ah, that one," he said and I chuckled. "That one was from one of the lesser-known planets in the Saalistaja Empire."

"Wait, they're an empire now?" I asked confused. I knew the bare minimum about the species, I understood they were the unofficial heads of the Alliance and you didn't mess with them, but this was the first time I had ever heard they were considered an empire."

"In the broadest sense of the word," said Jun Li dismissively.

"According to the definition on Earth, an empire is an extensive group of states or countries under a single supreme authority, normally an emperor," I said. Hopefully, when we got the internet, he would be able to look these definitions up himself. But until then, there was nothing I hated more than misunderstandings due to communication… or lack thereof.

"Yeah, that was the definition that I was working with too, but in their case, you need to change 'group of states or countries' to planets. And it is not a single person that rules, it is more of a council made up by the Elders of each Tribe." Well, at least we were getting somewhere, even if it was a bit off course.

"How many planets are we talking about?" I asked with my eyes closed. I had a feeling that the number was going to make me cry…. If I could.

"Did you want those numbers broken down by the sector, galaxy, or universe?" he asked not at all put-out. Now me, I was using galaxy and universe almost interchangeably because as much as I was a sci-fi nerd, outside of biological anthropology, I wasn't much into the sciences.

"Can we first define the difference between universe and galaxy?" I asked sounding like a kindergarten kid that didn't know anything.

"The universe in the broadest sense is all matter and space that exists, it can also be referred to as the cosmos according to the terms downloaded from your planet about space. A galaxy, and there are a number of them, are systems of millions or billions of stars, dust, and gas that are within the same gravitational pull." That I could understand and I would stop interchanging the terms because it would be a lot like saying a phalange is the skeletal system.

"Okay, now let's talk about the Saalistaja Empire," I said.

"They control most of the planets two sectors over, which is a total of 124 planets and 219 moons. In terms of galaxies, they control 816 planets and 1,208 moons and when it comes to the universe, the last known total number of planets and moons under the control of the Saalistaja is 3,769 planets and 5,897 moons."

You know, I knew I was smart by human standards, the speed I went through the education system of Country M spoke to that. But knowing that one species had almost 4,000 planets and 6,000 moons under their rule was completely mind-blowing.

"So my choker came from a few sectors over?" I asked, bringing us back to the topic.

"More like three galaxies over," said Jun Li sounding nonchalant. "And most of those plants don't actually have any established sentient species. They are controlled by the Saalistaja because they are hunting planets or moons."

Still, that was a lot of land for one species. "Are there a lot of Saalistaja then?" I asked curious. I mean, they must have a larger population than Earth and our numbers were in the billions.

There was a pause. "I don't have exact numbers for the Saalistaja," said Jun Li sounding confused. He must have been trying to find the answer to my question.

"Is that unusual?" I wondered out loud.

"Extremely," admitted Jun Li.

I shuddered for a moment, getting a shiver running up and down my spine. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion before shaking my head. I would have to bring some sweaters to keep warm or something.

"Now, let's get back to the experiments."

-----

"Any idea where we should start looking?" Cruz'uts asked looking over at Vraev'ox on the command bridge of the fighter craft. The whole ship was relatively small, just big enough to hold the five males plus their kill rooms.

"According to what I could find out, it was the Sisalik that took the technology," replied Vraev'ox as he tapped away impatiently on his wrist unit. "Besides, do you really have something better to do?"

Cruz'uts snorted in disgust. "No," he answered sharply. The idea of mating with a female that did nothing but complain the entire time was enough to make his male rod shrink. He knew he was required to produce at least one offspring every 100 years, and at 350 that was three males walking around with his blood in their veins that he would not be able to recognize even if they were standing in front of him. Their bearers made sure of that.

He would find a way to duck out of the annual mating hunt until the last possible moment. Maybe he would return scarred enough that the females would no longer find him desirable. However, with his father currently sitting on the Elder's council, the females would still demand his seed.

Cruz'uts grunted his displeasure again. The hiss of the airlock opening caused both males to turn to look at the intruder. "You don't look impressed," Vraev'ox said as the new male walked over to them.

"Just ended a transmission with my bearer," the male hissed, clearly not impressed. "She is demanding I turn around and get to the hunt. Apparently, she has a female demanding to mate with me."