Gateway to HeVan (4 page)

The two men glanced over at Natalie.  They had looked at her when she sat down, of course.  Manners kept their attention on Jennifer while she was speaking, even though what they really wanted to do was look at the alluring female in the seat next to her.  Now they could give her all of their attention.  Both girls noticed the men hunch their shoulders and they passed a look between them.

“We look forward to the arrival of you both.  We’ll do all we can to make you comfortable there,” said Peet.

“Um
…are you uncomfortable?” Natalie asked.  “You keep wiggling your shoulders.”

“It’s the strangest thing.  All of a sudden, the muscles in my back are twitching,” said Peet, with Reeko nodding in agreement.

Jennifer and Natalie exchanged another look.

“When did you notice this discomfort exactly
, do you remember?” asked Jennifer.

“A few moments ago, just after you sat down with your tea, Lady Natalie,” said Peet.

Both Peet and Reeko were surprised to see Lady Natalie’s face turn bright red.  Lady Jennifer covered her mouth with her hands and seemed to be trying to stifle her laughter.

“You have to excuse Jennifer,” said Natalie.  “She’s not laughing at you, she’s laughing at me.  You see…” her face went red again.  “You see, we’ve seen almost all the women find their
Ankida
and
join
with them.  The symptoms are the same every time.  The discomfort in your backs is your wings,” she said, her voice getting softer toward the end and her blush getting deeper.

“Then why is your friend laughing at you?” asked Reeko with a confused look.

“She’s teasing me.  We didn’t expect to meet our
Ankida
until we reached HeVan,” said Natalie, “Um…we have a couple of weeks to get to know each other better, don’t we?  I mean, you’re nice looking guys and all but I’m not ready to just hop into the sack.”

Peet and Reeko were confused and wondered why she was talking about sacks and leaping about.  It didn’t have anything to do with
joining
.

“I think my translator is faulty.  Please explain the hop in the sack,” said Peet.

Natalie blushed again, “Um…”

“She means sex,” said Jennifer
.  “She wants to spend time becoming friends and falling in love before you have sex.”

Hakor and Maggie walked back into the room in time to hear the last sentence.

“Who is falling in love before they have sex?” Hakor wanted to know.

“Nat and these two, Peet and Reeko,” said Jennifer with a fat grin.

“Oh, Natalie, my cousins are your
Ankida
?  I’m so happy for you!” exclaimed Maggie.  It was nice to have something to be happy about when she was so worried about her mate.

It was
at this time that Peet and Reeko finally understood what the women were saying. They had found the one woman in the universe just for them. Peet couldn't stop himself, he plucked her out of the chair and swung her around in his arms as everyone around them laughed. 

Hakor had plans to make sure the two warriors treated his kinswoman right.  But for now, his mate needed her rest.  He convinced Maggie she needed to sleep, for the babies’ sakes.
  Maggie said her goodnights and after congratulating Natalie again, left the room with Hakor.

Jennifer was tired and didn’t see a reason to stick around now
since Maggie had left.

“I’ll leave you three alone to say your goodbyes,” said Jennifer and she left the room
also.

“Goodbye?” said Reeko.

“It’s the middle of the night, remember?  If you want, you can have breakfast with us in the morning,” said Natalie.  “I don’t want Jennifer to feel like a third wheel.”

“We will do our best to make sure your friend doesn’t feel like a wheel,” said Peet.

“You don’t understand what that means do you?” Natalie asked them and they shook their heads.  “Don’t worry.  I’ll help you catch on to the way we speak.  For now, how about giving me a hug?  We’ll work our way up to first base.”

Both men were eager to embrace
this beautiful woman standing before them again.  They each held her for a few moments before reluctantly letting her go back to her room. 

Then they left the medical bay to go to their assigned quarters, hoping it wouldn’t be long until they were moved to the decks holding the
joined
families.  Peet turned to his brother, “Father was right to send us on this mission.  His dream for us has come true.”

“I only wish mother had lived to see us
joined
.  Natalie is the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen,” said Reeko.

“I agree
, brother; the Goddess has truly blessed us in giving us this gift.”

Ben KowLer, Supreme King of the KowLer star system, disliked being awakened in the middle of the night.  Generally, he had delegates who could handle problems which arose when he was resting.  So he knew this had to be serious.  Unfortunately, he’d been up late dealing with a major labor strike.  Checking his time piece, he noted he’d had just over two hours of sleep.

The alert chime sounded again as he swung his legs over the side of the bed.  He pressed one of the buttons on the console beside him on the table.  He was surprised to see Ral
CaliBan on the view-screen.  He had appointed Ral as Master of the Gate and had every confidence in his abilities.  If Ral were contacting him, and the commander on duty had forwarded the call directly to him, the problem must be serious indeed.

Half an hour later, he was fully briefed and making plans to get to the Gate Station as quickly as possible.  He was also trying to hold back his rage at being put in this untenable situation.  He rang for his manservant and then went into the cleansing room.  He hoped immersing himself in ice cold water
would wake him up sufficiently to think coherently.  He was in for some delicate negotiations.

“Sire, you rang?” asked
GrumIo from the doorway.

Ben climbed out of the cold pool and looked at his manservant.  He’d only rung the bell ten minutes ago and
GrumIo appeared before him dressed neatly in his royal uniform.  Only a bit of puffiness around the eyes belied the fact he’d had as little sleep as his master, perhaps less.  He had no idea how the man did it; he was just thankful for his organizational abilities.

“I need to get to the Gate Station as quickly as possible.  It may be an extended stay,” he said.

“I’ll start packing right away, Sire.  When will we be leaving?” he asked, knowing he’d be going along.

“We need to lift off as soon as possible.  I plan on leaving within thirty minutes.  It will take time to re-fuel the ship and re-fit from planetary travel to space travel.  Have my sister’s servant awaken
BianCa.  The HeVanians are matriarchal.  The negotiations will go better if we bring along a female,” answered the king, as he stepped over to his wardrobe to dress.

GrumIo
knew this would normally mean bringing along Duke PietRo LucenTio.  Since he was away at his country holdings while his wife visited her brother, there wasn’t time to get him.  He would not be pleased at the king for putting his wife in danger.  GrumIo hoped this wasn’t the case; his own sister, GremIo, was servant to the princess.

Just as the king finished dressing,
GrumIo brought him a cup of strong koohii.  A few minutes later, a serving girl brought him a full breakfast.  He ate while GrumIo packed.  The king read over his agreement with Regent Malpha.

The
KowLer didn’t have the same lifespan as the HeVanians, so he hadn’t been born when the ship they were currently detaining passed through their system last time.  His father, the previous king, had been a child at the time and didn’t recall the event.  All he knew of it were generic reports of various comings and goings they had reviewed when they took over manning the Gate.  There weren’t many; the HeVanians hadn’t traveled this far away from their world for at least two thousand years prior to the last time.

He finished eating and was enjoying a second cup of koohii when
GrumIo came to tell him all was ready.  If the koohii didn’t keep him awake, he would be able to sleep an additional four hours on the ship.  Somehow, he didn’t think it would be a problem.

When he boarded the ship, he was happy to be told his sister was already on board and
ensconced in her own stateroom.  After giving the pilots their instructions, he went to his own room to rest.  He considered staying awake―for all of two seconds.  He knew if he stayed up, GrumIo and others would feel it their duty to remain awake as well.

As he was falling asleep, he told himself he was only doing it for the sake of his people.

****

Addie didn
’t want her
Ankida
to fret.  So when Arjun and Kylan left the bedroom, and Rune started rubbing her back, she pretended to fall asleep.  She would make them tell her what was going on when they came back in a while.  After fifteen minutes, she could no longer stay awake and her pretend sleep became real.

Pregnant with six babies, she never slept for more than a few hours
at a time.  So she was awake by six hundred hours.  They had set the ship to a twenty-four hour day back when they were visiting Earth and decided it was easier on their passengers to keep it that way.  She didn’t say anything while her
Ankida
helped her to bathe and brought her something to eat.  She waited until she was comfortable in her special gel chair.  She then asked Arjun to take the dogs for a walk, asked Kylan to bring her a movie to watch from the disks in the ship’s store and asked Rune to make her a plate of breakfast foods with one of her special protein shakes.  Once her
Ankida
were out of the room, she picked up the special communicator she kept with her at all times and called her grandmother and her sister to come over and bring their
Ankida
with them.

Arjun was happy when Addie asked him to walk the dogs; it gave him a chance to check on things without upsetting her.  He handed the dogs over to one of the warriors on duty and went to the
Bridge.

Kylan was happy Arjun would be getting a status check so he went straight to the storage room.  He knew just what movies to pick.  He
’d grab more than one so Addie could have a choice.

Rune was happy Addie was feeling good and taking her forced bed rest so well.  Even with their medical technology, there was only so much they could do to keep her from entering premature labor.  They wanted to give the babies every chance.  Multiple births were fairly rare on HeVan so the medicals were scrambling.  Having Catherine on board ship was a miracle, as far as he was concerned.

He’d just put the tray, filled with bite-sized breakfast items along with a protein shake in a cold cup, down on the table near Addie’s elbow, when the door chime sounded.  It was still very early in the day so he wondered who it could be.

“
I’ll see who it is.  Do you want me to send them away?” he asked Addie.

“
No, I’m expecting visitors,” she replied with a smile. 

He gave her a questioning look and went to open the door.

When he saw Grace and her
Ankida
, he smiled.  This wasn’t an interruption―they were family.  “Are you going to watch our movie marathon with us?  I’m not sure what Kylan is picking out,” said Rune.

“
I’m not sure.  Addie just called and asked us to come over.  I’m up for a good movie,” answered Jett, as he led Grace to a recliner near Addie and then took a seat on the nearest couch, Justyn following behind.

“
Where’s Jalen?” asked Addie.

“
He took Sugar for her morning exercise.  He’ll bring her along in a couple of minutes.”

Rune had returned and asked their guests what refreshments they might like, when the chime sounded again.  Turning back to the door, he was surprised to see Granny Mac and her
Ankida
, as well as Jalen and Sugar.  Of course, now Granny Mac was Beleti Glynnis of Purgat.

“
Hey, Granny Mac, glad you could come over so early,” Addie called out.

“
Anytime you need me, honey, night or day, I’m there,” she answered, before leaning over to give her granddaughter a kiss on the forehead.  Then she walked over to kiss her other granddaughter, and found a seat on the second couch.

Rune went back into the kitchen to bring out some coffee and various Danish.  He was starting to get a little suspicious.

Grace leaned over and grabbed a couple of the bite-sized breakfast quiches on Addie’s plate.  “I love these, especially the bacon and cheese ones.”

“
Rune’s gone to get pastries, but he’ll bring us more of these and the mini hash browns, too,” said Addie.

“
Do we have any coffee-flavored protein shakes?  I’d like to fool my brain it’s getting the caffeine it’s begging for,” said Grace.

“
That’s what I’m having. I’m sure Rune will bring you one; he’s really thoughtful that way.”

The two sisters and their grandmother ate their food and gave updates on how they were feeling
, since they were getting close to delivery.

Kylan
came back.  “Has Arjun returned?” he asked the warrior on duty.

“
No, Commander, but Lady Grace and her
Ankida
, as well as Beleti Glynnis and her
Ankida
arrived for a visit,” he said.

Kylan raised his brows in surprise.  It was still very early in the morning.  He was wondering what Addie was planning when Arjun came back.  They waited together, discussing the status report Arjun had received when the warrior they sent off with the dogs, returned.  Kylan had not had time to tell Arjun about the visitors so Arjun got a surprise when he entered the lounge area. 

Addie and Grace were listening to Jalen update Addie on the training progress of Sugar’s pups.  Sugar and all of the pups had been altered so her Great Danes would be the only ones of their kind on HeVan.  She looked up and saw Arjun and Kylan standing in the entry.

“
Oh, good, you’re here.  What movies did you bring?” she asked Kylan.

Kylan relaxed and smiled. 
“I remembered hearing some of the warriors discussing a movie about an archeologist.  I thought I would like to see a movie about the job you intended to take back on Earth.  Then I discovered there were four movies about this archeologist, called Indiana Jones, so I brought them all,” he said and handed the bag with the movies to Addie.

Addie and Grace exchanged looks and tried to keep their faces straight. 

“I’m glad you picked out those documentary films on one of our most famous archeologists.  It will be nice for you to see the type of job I turned down in order to come with you,” she said and gave her grandmother a wink.  “But before we get to the movies, I need you to update me on what happened last night.  Tell me why we are no longer moving.  Just because I’m pregnant doesn’t mean my brain cells have leaked out of my head.  I am your queen; Grace is in charge of all security and justice.  In this case, it means she needs to be informed of all legal matters.  Finally, Granny Mac is our current Regent.  So where did you go last night and exactly what is happening?”

At this point, Granny Mac chimed in. 
“Actually, dear, I participated in speaking to the rude young man in charge of the Gate.  I’m glad you’re asking about this, dear.  I agree you should be fully informed…Rale?”

Rale Kolrami looked at Glynnis, Arjun and finally Addie.  He could see some golden sparks coming from Addie and started to spill his guts.  It took about an hour for Addie to get the entire story of the situation they were in and what had happened the night before.

When she had heard everything, with Kylan and Arjun adding information on what had taken place after Glynnis had left the Bridge, she had a few things to say.

“
First, how is Makor?” she asked.

“
He’s going to have to stay in the float tank for the rest of our journey.  He’s being kept in a medicated coma so he doesn’t feel the pain of the burns.  It is expected he’ll make a complete recovery,” said Arjun.

“
Why wasn’t he put in stasis?” Addie wanted to know.

“
Because stasis doesn’t heal you; its purpose is to maintain your life signs in whatever condition you are currently in.  Hence the name—you are kept in stasis, never moving, never changing,” he explained.

Addie thought about this and worried about how Maggie was feeling and what they could do for her to make this easier.  She brought her attention back to the group when her grandmother started smiling as she spoke.  She could use some good news.

“We found out Maggie is descended from the Azure clan.  We had the representatives from the House of Azure come over from the Venger to give her some support.  Natalie and Jennifer were there.  It turns out they are Natalie’s
joins
,” said Glynnis.

“
This is good news.  I did not know that.  When we left HeVan, the House of Azure had only five women,” commented Rune.

“
Then it’s even better.  According to them, there are no women there now.”

Addie took the floor again
. “I want to say I agree with the way you handled it last night.  I didn’t need to be there.  To get me out of bed and up to the Bridge to speak with this Ral person would have made us look weak, or a little desperate.  That level of attention would have been overkill.”

Arjun and Kylan smiled at her.  All of her
Ankida
were happy she wasn’t upset or angry at their protectiveness, until she started talking again.

“
However, if a situation like this arises again, you have to tell me what’s happening and let me make that decision myself.  Smart cookie, here,” she said, pointing at herself.