Dhomhes grinned again.
Khalzin was tempted to cut that smile off his face.
"It is a program for the science of it. They bring the willing females. We bring the males, and we choose our mates. If we have a connection, we get to mate. If not, they leave.”
He shook his head. He sounded like an idiot scientist. Or a terrible sales deliverer.
"How many volunteers do you need?" Fiviel asked.
"Three, to start.”
"And you," Dhomhes said.
Khalzin nodded. "And me.”
"Why are you doing this?" Stron asked. "Is this part of your educational research?"
He nodded. Stron had been with him briefly in education--they followed different paths since they both were more adept at other things.
"Our genome is stretched to the limit. It will not take long before we are all related to one another. We need to bring new genes into our pool before that happens.”
"Our people have been isolated for far too long," Stron said. "It would be good to be more open to others.”
"So, you think bringing in new species will help refresh our genome?" Dhomhes asked.
"I think it is what we will have to do if we want to continue to exist and thrive.”
"That sounds challenging," Fiviel said. "How do you know that the females can carry our breed? What about the differences? Won't it make the cross-breeding fail?"
"The Galactic Alliance's scientists believe they can handle that. We just send them our genome details so they can select those who fit.”
"But it is for testing. It will not be a true commitment," Dhomhes said.
"It is to be a true commitment," Khalzin said. "We cannot agree to do this and then throw the females back if we do not like them."
"You seem to forget; we cannot just make a child with anyone. Wehave toconnect. There are physical reactions that we cannot control," Stron said. "The connection must be solid.”
"And the odds of you finding this across the stars seems massive," Fiviel said.
"I cannot promise anything. But all I need to start are volunteers willing to try."
"It will not work," Dhomhes said.
"Thanks for your confidence."
Dhomhes shrugged. "But I will help you.”
"As will I," Fiviel added.
Khalzin blinked. "Truly?" He glanced at the two of them. He never would have thought they would want to help him with anything.
"If only to prove that it won't work," Dhomhes said.
There it was. The real reason Dhomhes agreed to help. Once again, to prove he was right, and everyone else was wrong.
Khalzin sighed. "Your objections are noted.”
2
