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He looked around the table, his gaze resting on Seke, his arist “Did you know about this?”

Seke nodded once

“And you approve? This is foolish— with the new battleships we bought and recruiting an army, not—” he spluttered to a stop

“The continuation of the species is para back Zandia if there’s no Zandians left to populate it?”

He sighed, blowing out his breath “All right, I’ll bite Who is she? What species?”

Daneth projected an iht, tawny-haired young female appeared “Hurifar”

A human breeder A slave

Veck

Zander didn’t have time for this excrement “There’s been a ram

“No, no ram several times This female bested every other candidate by at least a thousand metapoints This fe for you”

“Impossible Not a human No” Humans were the lowest of the social strata on Ocretia, the planet where his palatial pod had been granted airspace

“I realize it seems an unlikely enes ram is flawless”

“I thought you ed e with royalty of another species Not a breeder Not a pet” Humans were not mates, they were slaves to the Ocretions An inferior species He hadn’t had much to do with theile Their lifespan was short, they did not recover from injuries quickly They spread disease and died quickly They lacked honor and fortitude They lied

Zandians—his species—never lied

“I was not seeking a life your offspring If you wish to find a mate, I will search the databases for the female most compatible to your personality and lifestyle preferences after you have bred But this is the one youseason”