Lovers of the Galaxy: Book Three: Raiders of the Lost Heart (5 page)

He placed his hands on her waist and lifted her so
she was eye level with him. “One step at a time little warrior, but
never give up on us. Now, why do you need to speak with Badden and
Acwel?” He put her down and kissed the top of her head.

Venus smiled and took his hand. “Tell Jaxxon to come
down here. He should hear this, too. I think what I have to say
will help us tremendously.”

Almost as if he’d heard his name called, her other
mate appeared before she could even move. She laughed. “Okay, you
two have to stop scaring me like that. Now come on. Let’s talk to
Badden and Acwel before the first female changes.”

Each of her warriors grabbed one of her hands and
pulled her into the lab where the females lay secured. This time,
their stench greeted Venus with a force that would have sent her to
her knees retching, but Jaxxon removed something from his tool belt
and smeared a salve under her nose to help.

She patted his arm and nodded. “Thanks, this is going
to be a rough pregnancy if this stuff is already happening to me.”
She glanced over at her friends. Badden stared through the
microscope, his brow wrinkling.

“This cannot be right.” He moved to the next sample
and frowned again. “Jaxxon, come take a look at these blood
samples.”

“What’s wrong?” Venus hurried over to Badden, who
glanced up.

“I have never seen anything like this serum your
doctor friend created and I’ve seen plenty of things. It is
completely taking over the mutant cells and destroying them in the
female, replacing the bad cells with normal red blood cells. It is
the strangest thing, and at the rate it is moving, I am guessing
she will hit crisis within the next half hour. You said that is
when she will shift. ” He moved aside and let Venus study the
slides.

It was both beautiful and amazing. She straightened
and looked at Jaxxon. “Later could you trap two or three males, and
get me a few blood samples from them? I’d like a comparison to see
what the formula does to the blood from adult males—and I’ll let
you handle all the samples.”

“We’ll see. Now tell us your idea.” Jaxxon chuckled
and led her out into the main lobby of the bank. All four men
leaned against the supplies and waited.

“Can you bring up your ship’s computers from here?”
Venus asked Badden, who nodded. “Good, and all four of you can read
what the computer finds?”

He nodded again.

“I was thinking if you can have the computer switch
to English we could use it to teach the children about your world
and our world of this century. There was much advancement since
their time. I’m sure they are all confused and with more men coming
from different worlds it might be a good idea to get them use to
the idea of seeing different species? I mean, I would also like to
learn more about your people Volund, Jaxxon.”

Reaching over and taking Volund’s hand, she pulled
him into the small security room where the map of the city was. “At
this school here there were computers for the children. If we could
connect them to your hard drive?”

“I’d have to look at these machines you call
computers, but I don’t see the problem with that. We could also
have a portable system brought on the next load here. That way we
would not be without no matter what happens.” Acwel looked at
Badden, who nodded.

“It might also help with trying to figure out this
problem with the men, but I can’t promise anything.”

“That will have to wait until we get the next three
buildings secured and the wall around the compound itself. But I’m
sure we could bring a few of the computers over here for right now
and hook them up so the children learn about your history.” Volund
massaged her shoulders and kissed her cheek.

“Anytime you want to know more about our world we’d
be glad to tell you.” Jaxxon ran his hand over her belly. “We’re
having three babies,” he announced to Badden and Acwel.

She moaned as all four of the men surrounded her,
touched her stomach and talked about the babies.

Venus ran circles over her stomach with her fingers
and glanced at the first Bone Eater lying on the table. A decision
was worrying her. Did she waste the serum left on the older female
or should she concentrate on the younger one instead? The first
female was moving through the transformation quickly. Already she’d
spoken a few words telling them her name and that she was a year
older then her own forty two years.

Arms wrapped around her from behind. Volund kissed
her neck. “Stop worrying. We will figure it out, but for now we
must find a place to begin to prepare as a home. Are you
ready?”

She turned in his embrace and smiled. “I can’t wait
to go. I think I know of the perfect place.” She frowned. “But it
will need work—a lot of work.”

“If it is the home you want then we will fix it and
make it perfect for us. Come. Jaxxon is waiting.” He kept his arm
around her waist as they made their way outside where his brother
stood at the gate.

“So which way, beautiful warrior?” J axxon kissed her
cheek.

She nodded to the left. “There is a large, old house
about two blocks away at the very edge of the park. We are building
the wall, yes? Can we extend it to go around the houses in that
direction between here and the park? We will need the housing as
your men find mates. Where are Badden and Acwel?”

Jaxxon glanced down the road and then back at Volund.
“They are cleaning out the dead from the three nearby buildings and
securing them. Then they will retrieve a few computers from the
school. We were down this way yesterday, hunting. I will take
Tonto.” He nodded, grasped the dog’s collar, and disappeared the
same time she felt her equilibrium turn upside down. They all
transhifted right to in front of the house. “This is the place you
were talking about?” He released Tonto. The dog took off snooping
around the front yard as soon as Volund opened the gate.

Venus shook her head, glad Volund still held onto
her. Right now she didn’t know how she stood without falling on her
face. Once the dizziness passed, she scolded, “You two have to warn
me before you do that. Yes, this is the house.” She took a deep
breath and brushed his hands away as he tried to rub her arm.

“Damn it, I’m not a pet to be stroked,” she snapped
and spun out of his arms. She hurried up to the front porch and
reached for her handy M-16 only to realize it was back at the bank.
Between being too preoccupied and her mates whisking her away, she
hadn’t even thought of the weapon.

“What have I done?” she grumbled.

Tonto sniffed around the porch until Venus moved up
the stairs. He sat in front of her as if sensing her stress. He
thumped his tail against the porch planks and nudged her hand with
his nose.

“How could I forget, Tonto?” He cocked his head to
the side and whined.

She sighed and closed her eyes, needing to get her
mind back in working order. She wouldn’t survive long if this kept
up. “Jaxxon, I’m sorry. I hate feeling sick, weak, and
unorganized.” Venus opened her eyes and stared up at him.

“You do not have to apologize. We know this is
difficult for you, and we are here to help you. Let us.”

“I never go out without my weapon. If it’s one thing
I could always count on it was my ability to think straight, but
now I don’t know what’s going on.”

Volund materialized next to her with her M-16 and
handed it over. “Here, little warrior, I transhifted back and got
it. You know we would do anything for you.” He leaned down and
kissed her cheek. “Come on, let us go explore this house, shall
we?” He crooked his elbow, offering to escort her inside.

She swung her weapon across her shoulder and patted
Volund’s arm. “I can’t wait to explore.”

Jaxxon tried the door handle, but it was locked. That
didn’t stop him from transhifting to inside the home. He opened the
door and bowed before her.

Laughing, she moved inside, following Tonto who ran
in before her. Venus walked into what was once a grand family room
with a large stone fireplace still intact. “That is going to have
to go. I don’t want anything catching on fire, and God knows what
fumes would be released into the air if we burned anything around
here.”

Nodding, Jaxxon made a list on a clear scanner he
took from his tool belt while she walked around the fireplace,
studying the wall itself. Venus turned and placed her hands on her
hips. “If I’m not mistaken, that wall faces the trees in the yard,
so maybe a window of some kind in its place? I remember seeing a
window once with a seat inside it. I can’t remember what they’re
called, but the window would push out away from the house.” She
kneeled on the wooden floor, drew a picture in the dust, and then
showed her men.

“The computer say’s it is called a bay window.”
Volund frowned. “I don’t like the fact that Bone Eaters will be
able to see us moving around in here with a window like that.”

Jaxxon glanced around the house and smiled. “We could
use a transparent window. We will want to fortify it, even behind
the wall. This will still be a less defensible position than the
bank, at least until more of our people arrive. We can make one
that’s one-way glass, for privacy. We should also cover our windows
with Pentor.”

She rose with Volund’s help. “What is Pentor? I like
the idea of the one-way glass. That would work well.”

“Pentor is a clear liquid that will cover any form.
It is organic, but it is also very strong. None of your bullets
would penetrate it. Even our weapons would not do it any damage.
Its main drawback is that it can only cover a small area like a
window, or maybe a little larger.”

Leading her into the next chamber, Volund swept his
hand toward a fancy dining room. Oak paneling covered the walls. In
the corner, a shelf full of dusty antique dishes. Venus picked up
one of the cups. She dusted off the dirt and looked at the odd
pattern. The image of her mother showing her one such pattern on
the computer flashed into her head. This particular pattern had
been one of her mom’s favorites.

“Mary Antique,” she whispered and sighed.

Volund’s words brought her attention back to the
matter at hand.

“I don’t know how much of it we brought either,” he
was saying to Jaxxon. “We might want to see if Badden brought any
when they came. He glanced at her. “Did you say something?”

She smiled as she put back the cup she held. “I’d
like to keep these dishes and the rustic look in here if we
can.”

Even for a huge warrior, Volund moved with grace to
stand in front of her as his brother kissed the back of her neck.
“Something made you smile when you were admiring the dishes,” he
said.

She rubbed her stomach. “I was thinking of my mom.
She would have loved watching me grow big with her
grandchildren.”

Her mates held her, their worry for her constant,
each of them protective of her and their unborn children.

“Are you going tell us about it?” Volund encouraged
her, lifting her chin with one finger.

“One day I’ll tell you both all about my mom and dad,
but now we have a job to do and I want to get this done before we
have to go back today.

She pushed open the door connecting the dining room
to the kitchen. The smell of age and dust greeted her. Cupboard
doors hung by rusty hinges, the screws having fallen out long ago.
A small table sat broken in one corner. The oven door was gone, it
had been ripped off its hinges, and lichen covered the inside of
it.

Venus ran her hand over the fridge while she
inspected it. It seemed to be in good shape. Slowly, she opened it,
but the stench immediately hit her. “Damn, I knew I shouldn’t have
done that.” She slammed it shut and waved her hand in front of her
face.

“Okay, need to clean that out, because we will use
it, and I’m afraid one of you is going to have to do it…” She
didn’t get another word out as she ran for the dish filled kitchen
sink, losing all she’d eaten that morning.

Large bugs crawled out of the debris-covered dishes
and ran toward the new organic material which only made Venus’
stomach heave once more. Jaxxon and Volund moved her away from the
sink, spraying something in the air that helped with the stench.
Regardless, her stomach still protested.

“Here, take this, Venus. It will help with the
sickness.” Jaxxon handed her a round cookie the size of a
quarter.

“I hate those insects. We’re going to have to make
sure the bugs are gone, too.” She shook away the thought of those
things crawling on her.

Volund slipped his arm around her waist and led her
away from the kitchen to the door leading out to the back yard. “We
will make sure all bugs are gone.”

She heard the humor in his words, but said nothing.
If he wanted to tease her she had no problem with it. Bugs were one
of her fears they would have to deal with.

She shrugged. “I would appreciate it.” She glanced
out at the backyard through the now-open door. “I’ve hated insects
since I was small, so yes, a bug-free house would make me a very
happy woman.” Frowning, she gestured outside. “We’re going to have
to extend the wall to out towards the park. I want enough lawn so
our children can play outside without having to worry about Bone
Eaters. If the area is secured enough for the children to play,
maybe we could even build our kids a swing set like the one in the
park.”

In the distance, a loud clap of thunder rumbled over
their quiet surroundings.

“Shit, we’re going to have to go back.” She looked up
at the clouds growing steadily darker. “I don’t want to get caught
in bad weather, especially if it’s an electrical storm. That’s
another thing we’ll have to do. I want this house wired and
grounded for the storms that roll in every once in a while. We have
solar power. There’s also some experimental systems still
operational throughout the city. The city had begun looking into
alternative energy sources before… Well, some harvest electrical
charge from atmospheric energy released before lightening”