Switched: Brides of the Kindred 17 (43 page)

Frankie hadn’t been
aboard the Mother Ship for long but already she liked it—at least,
she liked the people who inhabited it. She and Lacy had often
talked about how creepy it was—the fact that women who got called
by Kindred warriors to do a trial period aboard the Mother Ship
almost never came back. Frankie had expected to meet a bunch of
brainwashed Stepford wives but her new friends were nothing like
that.

Happy to be wrong,
Frankie had taken to them at once, especially Liv who seemed both
friendly and practical. She was also a nurse who had gotten her
degree at USF and it turned out that she and Frankie had taken
classes from some of the same professors so they already had things
to talk about.

And of course, it
was nice to be with someone who understood what she was going
through. When Liv told the story of her own body switch with her
huge Beast Kindred husband, Frankie had laughed until she cried.
And hearing about someone who had been Switched and was able to
Switch back successfully made her feel much more comfortable about
her own odds of getting back to her own body.

The girls were very nice but Commander Terex was a different
story. He seemed quiet and withdrawn, a permanent scowl on his
handsome features. Frankie thought he looked about the same age as
Kerov’s parents—well, maybe a
little
younger—but she didn’t dare to ask him. He was too silent and
austere for her to risk asking any questions. But since he was
keeping himself aloof from the group of girls, it was easy enough
to ignore him and just concentrate on Kate and Liv.

“
How do I look?” she asked Liv, turning to her new friend. “Be
honest—I need to know.”

“
Well…” Liv smiled. “You look like a big, hunky Kindred
warrior. Are you nervous?”

“
Yes,” Frankie confessed. “I know it’s silly but I can’t help
it. I mean, we’ve been living in each other’s bodies for days now
but this is the first time I’m going to meet Kerov face to face.
Only he’s going to be wearing
my
face.
Dios…
” she
sighed. “It’s so weird.”

“
Nothing’s normal when it comes to the Kindred,” Liv said
practically. “But why should you be nervous? I thought you told us
you didn’t care for Kerov
that
way.”

“
Well, I mean I
don’t…
not
exactly, anyway.” Frankie bit her lip. “Actually, it’s more
that
he
doesn’t care for
me.
I’m not his type at all.”

“
Oh? And what is his type?” Kate asked.

Frankie made a face. “Skinny, tall, blonde and with
absolutely
no
hips or
ass. Pretty much the exact opposite of me.” She sighed again. “When
you see Kerov, you’ll understand. I mean, when you see him in my
body.”

“
It looks like we’re going to see him soon. I think this one
is definitely his shuttle,” Liv said. A previous shuttle from Earth
had flown by but had landed in the private docking bay reserved for
higher Kindred officials. Frankie had been disappointed but now she
was excited all over again. What would she say to Kerov—and what
would he say to her?

They hadn’t exactly
ended their last encounter very well. His parents had been nice
though Frankie thought his mother was sad she and Kerov weren’t
meant to be. But what could she expect when Frankie was the exact
opposite of what her son liked? Even Kerov’s best friend had
confirmed it.

Besides, Frankie’s own family wouldn’t exactly be thrilled by
a match with a Kindred warrior. No doubt her
abuela
would faint and her mother would scream…no, it
wouldn’t be a good scene at all.

Better for us to just get Switched back and go back to our own
lives,
Frankie
thought practically. And then wondered why the thought made her
sad.

Just then the
shuttle touched down only a few yards away from them, driving the
morbid thoughts from her brain. The hatch popped open and a pretty
woman in her late thirties with long brown hair gathered into a
slightly messy bun at the top of her head stepped out. Frankie’s
heart started to sink in disappointment but after the lady stepped
out, a familiar figure followed it.

“
There I am,” she whispered, grasping Liv’s arm. “I mean
there
he
is. But
Dios,
why did he dress me in my Sponge Bob
PJs and my Hobbit feet slippers? Is he
trying
to make me look crazy?”

“
He probably doesn’t have any idea what’s the right thing to
wear for your body and culture,” Liv whispered back. “You know how
clueless even guys from our own world can be. And when they come
from a whole other species, you can triple that.” She cocked her
head to one side, examining Kerov in Frankie’s body as he stepped
down from the shuttle. “You’re really pretty.”

“
Thank you. Except for my ass.” Frankie sighed. “You know, it
looks even
bigger
than I
thought. It’s like seeing a picture of yourself and realizing that
you put on a few pounds or something like that.”

“
I
think you have a beautiful shape,” Kate said, smiling at her. “And
Kerov’s a fool if he doesn’t think so too.”

“
Oh, well…” Frankie blushed, uncertain what to say. She knew
she ought to go up and greet Kerov but she found herself hanging
back, unsure of her reception.

It was Commander
Terex who came forward first, one hand outstretched for a warrior’s
clasp. He was headed for Kerov but the human woman who had come up
from Earth in the shuttle spoke up first.

“
Hello,” she said, smiling pleasantly. “I’m Elaina from the
Tampa HKR building escorting Kerov here to the Mother
Ship.”

“
Hello.” Commander Terex nodded at her perfunctorily but then
something about her seemed to catch his eye. “Excuse me,” he said,
turning more fully towards her. “But your eyes…”

“
Yes?” She looked up at him uncertainly.

“
They’re very…well, very unusual.” Terex looked at her more
closely. “May I?”

“
Um…of course, I guess.” Clearly the woman, Elaina, had no
idea what he was asking but she seemed willing enough to go along
with it.

Terex cupped her
cheek carefully in one large hand and tilted her chin up so that he
could study her eyes more closely. To Frankie, it looked like
Elaina was having difficulty meeting his searching gaze but she
looked at him unflinchingly and only the way she twisted her
fingers together in her sensible gray skirt gave away her
nervousness.

“
Brown with green and gold flecks,” Terex murmured after
studying her eyes for almost a full minute. “So rare…truly
exquisite.”

“
Um, most people don’t notice anything but the brown.” Elaina’s
voice sounded slightly breathless. “And I don’t think they’re
nearly as unusual as
your
eyes—I’ve never seen a blue so dark it’s almost
purple.”

“
Blue eyes are common enough among my people.” He stepped back
abruptly, dropping her chin. “Forgive me for getting sidetracked.
Your eyes…they reminded me of someone…someone else. But of course
we are not here to speak of the past.” At last he turned to Kerov,
who had been watching the scene in silence. “Hello, I’m your
father’s friend, Commander Terex.”

“
He has told me of you often.” Kerov—in Frankie’s body—held
out his arm. Terex took it in a warrior’s clasp and Frankie thought
how strange it looked to see her own body acting in such a
masculine way.

Kerov kept his head
high and met the other male’s eyes with a direct stare despite
their extreme height difference. The look on his face was serious
and he kept his shoulders squared and used brisk, efficient
movements. In short, he was extremely masculine, even though he was
confined to her small, rounded, feminine body. It made her wonder
how he would look in his own body.

Probably damn fine,
she thought.
Madre de Dios, here he comes. What am I going to
say?

Kerov had finished
shaking hands or arms or whatever with Commander Terex and was now
approaching them. Without thinking about it, Frankie reached for
Liv again. She felt better when the other girl squeezed her
hand.

“
Take it easy,” Liv whispered. “Everything is going to be
fine.”

“
Frankie,” Kerov said, looking up at her.

For Frankie it was
like looking in the mirror at a stranger. It was beyond bizarre to
see her own face and hear words she hadn’t thought up coming out of
her mouth in a tone which wasn’t hers. She wondered if this was how
identical twins felt.

“
Um…hi,” she said a bit breathlessly. “It’s nice to finally
meet you face-to-face. Even if it’s my face you’re
using.”

“
You are using my face as well,” Kerov pointed out. “As well
as other parts of my body.” He looked pointedly down at her hand
which was still clasped in Liv’s.

“
What? Liv is a
friend,”
Frankie emphasized, frowning.

“
So was Jorn before you kissed him.” He glared at her with her
own face. “Have you been kissing this new
friend
of yours as well?”

“
Why…you…” Frankie glared at him, hardly knowing what to
say.

“
I’m happily joined to Baird, a Beast Kindred aboard the
Mother Ship,” Liv said mildly. “I was just offering Frankie some
moral support. No kissing involved, I promise.”

“
Moral support?” Kerov raised an eyebrow
skeptically.

“
I—” Frankie began but Kate interrupted her.

“
Hi, I’m Kate,” she said, stepping forward and holding out a
hand to Kerov. “Welcome to the Mother Ship.”

“
Oh—hello.” He took her hand uncertainly. To Frankie’s
surprise, the petite redhead gripped his hand tightly and closed
her eyes. She held his hand for so long that Frankie began to
wonder if there was a problem. Kerov shifted from foot to foot,
clearly wondering the same thing but unwilling to give offense by
breaking the handshake first.

At last Kate opened
her eyes and smiled.

“
I
see the problem,” she said, releasing Kerov’s hand. “You think
Frankie is into Liv when actually she’s just showing a gesture of
friendship.”

“
We do not have such gestures where I come from,” Kerov said
stiffly.

“
I
know—I saw,” Kate said quietly. “They don’t do casual touching on
your planet, do they? Or any touching at all, really.”

Kerov cleared his
throat. “On Tarsia physical contact is regulated by The State.”

“
It is?” Liv’s eyes widened. “Do you live on some kind of
communist or fascist world or something?”

Kerov shrugged. “I do not know the meaning of those words. I
only know that on my world, the State regulates everything,
including physical contact. Even mated people rarely touch each
other. Well—they’re not
supposed
to anyway,” he corrected himself and Frankie thought he was
probably thinking of his parents which seemed like a loving couple.
“There are some exceptions but no one would display their physical
affection for another in public. It would earn them a censure or
possibly even a punishment.”

“
How awful!” Liv exclaimed at the same time Kate
said,

“
How sad.”

Kerov shrugged
again. “I am sorry you think so but it was the way I was raised.”
He frowned at Kate. “But how did you ‘see’ that about my world.
Were you reading me somehow when you took my hand?”

“
As a matter of fact, that’s exactly what I was doing.” She
raised her chin. “I have a gift passed down through the women in my
family. We call it the
Knowing.
It
helps me see into the future and the past and sometimes it sends me
messages about people.” She took a deep breath. “It sent me a
message about
you,
Kerov.”

He frowned again.
“Is this the prophesy Commander Sylvan spoke of on the
viewscreen?”

“
It is.” Kate’s voice suddenly grew softer and yet every word
she spoke seemed to echo in the vast docking bay.

“
An old threat made
new

Within silence grew

Can only be solved

By one who jumps True

She into he and he into she

Unless they are one

Apart they’ll not be

Exchange of the souls

A switch of the roles

But jumping between

Will take a harsh toll.”

“
What…what does that mean?” Frankie asked, her voice shaking a
little. For the first time she found herself a little bit afraid of
her new friends—well, of Kate anyway.

“
We don’t know,” a new voice said and Commander Sylvan came
striding up. “But we think it might have something to do with Two,
the Dark Kindred who is the mortal enemy of all aboard the Mother
Ship. He has sworn vengeance against us and we think he will go to
any lengths to get it.”

“
Hello again, Commander Sylvan,” Kerov said, inclining his
head. “I trust you got your urgent business taken care
of?”

“
Urgent business?” Commander Sylvan frowned uncertainly and
picked absently at the white bandage on his thumb. “Well, I suppose
so. Running the Mother Ship, there is always some urgent matter or
other.”