Logic (7 page)

He grinned. “Are you telling me to flirt with those women? Or is the wrong answer here going to get me an ass kicking.”

Tamra gasped in horror.

She narrowed her eyes at him. “I am testing you, as penance for eating my lunch.”

The replacement food arrived and was all set in front of Toyo. He nodded and offered the platters to Bebe first.

Tamra couldn’t believe what she was seeing, and it showed on her face.

Bebe took her favourites and blithely waved away the others. She grinned and he grinned as they finished their meal.

“That…that is some weird foreplay, isn’t it?” Tamra was catching on.

Toyo and Bebe dissolved in laughter that drew every eye in the café. Once she was finished eating, he hauled her into his lap and they continued their visit with Tamra.

She adapted quickly, and after a few hours, she regretfully left them to their own devices and headed home.

Bebe watched her friend walk away and picked up her parcels. “That was a good afternoon. Thanks for coming along.”

Toyo grabbed her bags in one hand and offered her his arm. “I saw the skimmer on the way in. I will fly escort, because with all these bags, we would drop over the bay.”

“Ha, ha. Who is the one constantly complaining about my suits?”

“That would be me.”

“Well, now that I no longer smell like walking sex, I can wear normal clothing. Today was all about comfort.”

“Why am I suspicious?”

“My tone? Or perhaps because you are beginning to appreciate my sense of humour.” She laughed and squeezed his arm.

“I appreciate many things about you; now, let’s get back to base so I can demonstrate how many.”

He waggled his eyebrows and she laughed again. Time to go home.

Toyo thudded against the wall of the combat-training room.

“What do you mean you all had dibs on me?” Beryl shrieked and lunged at her mate again.

He winced as her fist cracked the stone next to his head. “I meant it as flattery. We all caught your scent that first night and decided that the first one to win you could have you without challenge.”

She slammed her other fist down, but he moved out of the way of the crushing blow.

Panting, she pursued him across the glorified gym. She analyzed the way he moved and struck where he was going to be. He went spinning along the floor.

Rand called out, “Bebe, enough.”

She snarled and followed her mate. “And what if I had taken up with Rand? Or Drovin or Loesh?”

Toyo got to his feet and lunged for her. He spun her around and lifted her off her feet by flying a few feet from the floor. He bit down on her shoulder and the seething fury calmed.

He lifted his head. “And if you had taken up with them, I would have broken my word and pursued you anyway.”

She leaned back with her head against his shoulder, “Right answer.”

He sighed and set her back on her feet. “It is getting harder and harder not to provoke your temper.”

The other three came in and started to straighten out the wreck that they had made in the room.

Beryl sighed and rubbed her neck where the skin had already healed. “I know. I wish I knew what was causing these fits of fury.”

Loesh called out, “Maybe you are pregnant.”

Everyone turned and stared at him as if he had grown a second head.

Beryl said, “But Toyo is sterile, and as far as I know, I haven’t had sex with anyone off this base. Of course, I could have nocturnally piloted a skimmer into the city and strangled the first citizen I found until they screwed me, but I think I would have had a stain or a record or something.”

“Bebe, you are also the only Terran on W’lyn, and your blood has strange effects on our physiology. Not only are we faster and stronger, but we have no idea what alterations are going on in Toyo’s systems. Of course, we can just run scans on both of you.” Loesh shrugged.

Bebe narrowed her eyes. “Him first.”

Toyo tightened his arms. “Better move fast, Loesh. She is cycling up again.”

With that warning, they made their way to the medical chamber with speed.

Loesh ran the scans on Toyo, and he raised his eyes in surprise. “I should be less shocked, but yes, the chemical sterilization that you underwent has been removed from your system, and your sperm have been altered to survive longer periods of time.” He turned to Bebe. “Your turn.”

Toyo raised his hand. “Wait, wait. Are you saying that Beryl could be pregnant?”

“I am saying that if you and she had sex once in the last two weeks, then yes, you could have gotten her pregnant.” Loesh rolled his eyes. “And since you have been going at it three times a day since you mated, the likelihood has risen exponentially.”

Beryl looked at her mate and nodded. “My turn.” She was braced for whatever came up on the scans.

Loesh ran the scanner and Beryl watched the screen. When the scan moved over her abdomen and a small, bright light flickered where there should be empty space, her knees shook.

“Remain still, Bebe.”

The scan went down to her feet and then reversed direction. The little ball of life was still where it shouldn’t be.

“Well, it looks like the extension to the base to give you privacy cannot come soon enough.” Loesh grinned. “Do you want to know the sex?”

Beryl felt Toyo’s arms come around her as everything went dark.

She woke to find four very concerned sets of eyes looking at her. “What? Did my shirt fall off again? Geez, it happens once and no one will let you live it down.”

They all smiled at her, but the concern was still there.

Toyo took her hand. “I want you to see a specialist.”

“In pregnancy involving two races that have never collided before? Sure.” She smiled. “Make the appointment and I will fly myself there in case you are on assignment.”

The four grew wide-eyed in concert.

Toyo rubbed his thumb along her fingers. “If you get dressed, we will all go now.”

“All of us? Why?”

Drovin smiled softly, “Because whether you like it or not, we are family.”

That was good enough for her.

“Everybody out. I am going to get dressed, and I don’t need an audience.” She waited with her brows raised, and they didn’t move fast enough. “Fine. Audience it is.”

She swung out of the bed, whipped off her shirt and shucked her pants without looking at them. Beryl stalked across the room and opened the closet, reaching for a long tunic and contrasting trousers. When she finished tying the sash around her waist, she turned to find Toyo smiling at her.

“You know how to clear a room.”

She laughed. “Well, it isn’t the belching contest of last week, but I have found it to be effective.”

Toyo sighed and walked with her to the skimmer launch. “You shouldn’t be so proud of winning that.”

She giggled and joined the others for a family road trip.

Doctor Yumara was positively gleeful. “We surmised that Terrans could breed with W’lyn, but this is delightful. The baby is strong, healthy and the reason for most of your biological changes. It will have its father’s strength from birth, and you had to toughen up to manage it to term. It is amazing. The child reworked your entire body to be the perfect host.”

The doctor was in the pale-silver range, but his delight with her transformation irked her.

Toyo sensed her mood. “Doctor, perhaps you could be a little less delighted that Beryl lost her Terran characteristics. She might just slam you through the wall.”

Yumara looked at the scan display and winced. “Of course. It was insensitive of me. If you like, there are supplements available to help with the mood swings.”

The Guardians spoke as one. “Yes, please.”

Beryl snorted. “Pussies.”

Loesh sighed, “You can now punch your way through marble if you are so inclined. Having you throw a tantrum because you didn’t cut your sandwich at a right angle again could be devastating if Toyo is not there.”

She slumped back on the scanning bed. “It was round bread. The angle was everything.”

She realised what she said and lifted her head. She smiled at the doctor. “You mentioned supplements?”

He prepared an injector under Loesh’s and Toyo’s watchful gazes, and he pressed it to her skin. “This is going to be difficult as your skin has thickened.”

She gave him an arch look. “Do you have anything I can swallow? My internal organs are still designed to absorb nutrients.”

Yumara stepped back. “That would work, but it won’t taste good.”

“You can work on the flavour later. Right now, I am fixated on the fact that you were going to punch a hole in my arm to give me a vitamin. It is making me a little angry.”

Yumara took action and had a cocktail ready for her in two minutes. He handed it to Toyo, which showed that doctors can still learn after they leave school.

Beryl sat up and took the small cup. She tossed it back and gagged for a few seconds before the urge faded. Her body hummed happily, and she could almost feel the cocktail entering her system.

Toyo looked at her expression and sighed. “How much and how often?”

Beryl looked at the other Guardians, who had all shocked the doctor by trooping in to her scan, and noted that they were all paying strict attention. A flicker of remorse went through her and then she smiled. It wasn’t just like family; it was family. She was just going to have to get used to it.

Jim was staring at her. “Well, I can’t say that it isn’t a little weird.”

“I know. The shine takes some getting used to.”

He snorted. “Not that. You look great. The thing I need to get used to is you being married with a baby on the way, and I am just working my way up to the third date.”

She chuckled. “Toyo is here; did you want to meet him?”

“Of course. I need to see what guy is good enough for my little sister.”

She looked at her mate, and he sat at the second screen. The moment the signal reached Jim, she knew it because he said, “Good god.”

Toyo raised an eyebrow and spoke careful English. “It is good to meet the sibling of my bond mate. She is an extraordinary woman, and I am richer for her being in my life.”

Beryl blushed.

“Well, Toyo, Bebe hasn’t told me too much about you. What do you do for a living?”

Beryl stopped her cackle by pressing a hand over her mouth as she listened to Toyo explain the Guardians, the supernatural powers and fighting bad guys.

“It was during the job that I first met your sister. She ripped the ears off a man who had taken her hostage, and I was smitten.” He grinned.

Jim cracked a smile. “That would do it for me. Bebe has always been a very direct sort of woman. You never need to guess how she feels.”

Toyo and Jim continued talking. When Loesh came in with her supplement, she took her shot, gagged twice and Loesh logged it in the system. The alarm went off if she missed a dose, and so it behoved anyone passing medical to check the countdown clock. When they gave her her vitamins, the clock reset for another six hours.

Jim was concerned. “What was that?”

Beryl smiled, “Vitamin supplement that tastes like lima beans and grapefruit skin with a hint of onion.”

“Why don’t you just take a pill?”

“They can’t make one with a high-enough dosage.”

“Injection?”

She snorted. “My skin is too tough for an injector to get through. It goes with the increased strength.”

Jim raised his hands. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Increased strength? How increased?”

Beryl looked at Toyo and he grimaced. “I can lift a van and smash it through concrete. I can’t fly yet though, so Toyo is lucky.”

Her brother paled in shock.

Toyo tried to calm him. “We do not know if the effects are permanent or related to the pregnancy. The child is strong with my skin density, so it was necessary for Beryl’s body to adapt accordingly and our bonding ritual made it easier.”

Jim perked up. “Bonding ritual?”

Beryl smacked a hand on her face. This was a subject she had hoped to avoid. “Toyo, you explain and I am going for a snack.”

He nodded and continued speaking to her brother, explaining the blood sharing and the teeth.

When Beryl returned with a bowl of gashki, her brother looked a little unwell.

“Bebe, did you really?”

“Yup.” It was a fair guess that anything Toyo had told him was accurate.

“And he…”

“Yup. Blood exchange at a delicate moment.” She ate some of the beetles and smiled.

Jim scowled. “Uh, what are you eating?”

She looked at the bowl of de-legged roasted bugs and twisted her lips. “I am not going to tell you. It would freak you out more than the bond mate ritual.”

He leaned back and sighed. “Bebe, I love you and I am happy for you, but your life is weird.”

She grinned. “I know, isn’t it great? I actually have a life now.”

He laughed and Toyo smiled.

Drovin came in and whistled sharply.

Beryl sighed. “Sorry, Jim. Toyo has to go to work. I love you and I will talk soon. Promise.”

“Love you, too. Congrats on the baby, Bebe.” He winked and they shut their coms down together.

Toyo got to his feet and gave her a kiss. “I will be back as soon as I can.”

She relaxed, and the moment the Guardians were gone, she headed to the vid room to watch the slug documentary she had wanted to see for months.

She was more than halfway through the seven-hour miniseries on the Vaccuu slug when she heard a thump from outside and the base alarms went off.

She set her gashki down and stalked toward the sound. She heard something that sounded like mechanical footsteps, and she followed the noise of an intruder.

Beryl headed to the skimmer launch and found the invader in a mech suit and taking aim at the com towers.

She whistled to get his attention, and the guns turned toward her.

“Who are you?” The man snarled from within the suit.

Inside the base, her med alarm went off. A slow grin spread over her features. “That isn’t your concern. Leave or have that suit ripped to pieces.”

The targeting systems powered up and Beryl started moving. She didn’t remember much after that.