The Vulpirans' Honor: The Soul-Linked Saga (24 page)

***

Honey swam up from the depths of sleep very slowly, her mind awakening gradually until
a wave of pain engulfed her.  She gasped softly as her eyes flew open in surprise,
which only increased the dull pounding in her head.  She tried to raise her hand to
her head in an automatic gesture, gasping again at the sharp, intense pain the effort
caused.  What the hell? she wondered.  She tried to raise her other hand, but felt
a warm touch on her arm, stopping her.  She looked down, not even trying to lift her
throbbing head.

“Do not try to move,
zetia
,” Vikter said, leaning over so that she could more easily see his face.  “You are
safe, and we are watching over you.”

Honey felt relief wash through her at the sight of Vikter’s pale yellow eyes.  She
turned her head, just a little, and saw Lance and Hunt on the other side of the bed
she was lying on.  Her body relaxed automatically, and she didn’t even try to fight
it.  At the moment, she was in too much pain to care why it mattered so much that
they were there with her.

“What happened?” she asked, her voice coming out a soft whisper though she’d tried
to speak in her usual voice.  Suddenly she realized her throat was dry and scratching.

“We will explain in a minute,” Vikter said.  “First, would you like something for
the pain?”

Honey hesitated for a moment.  She didn’t like pain drugs, but as a doctor she knew
that sometimes they were necessary.  Pain caused the body to tighten and tense, which
could make injuries worse.  A sharp stab behind her eyes that came and went in a flash,
decided her.  “Yes, please,” she said.  “But nothing that will put me back to sleep.”

Vikter looked over at Hunt, who nodded and hurried away.  He was back a moment later
with a pressure syringe which he handed to Vikter.  She barely felt the injection,
and sighed softly when the pain eased a few moments later.

“Is that better?” Vikter asked.

“Yes, thank you,” she replied.  “Water, please?”

Lance reached over her head, then lowered his arm with a bottle of water in his hand
with a straw sticking out of it.  They’d been prepared for her, she realized.  They’d
thought about what she might need or want when she awoke.  The realization brought
tears to her eyes, though she didn’t know why.

Lance put the end of the straw between her lips and she sucked the cool, delicious
liquid into her mouth.  Vikter leaned over and gently wiped the tears that ran down
her cheeks toward her ears. 

“Thank you,” she said after releasing the straw.  “What happened?”

Her voice was still a whisper, but the pain was less and her throat felt much better.

“There was an explosion,” Vikter said.  “We found you beneath a desk in the infirmary.”

“Yes, I remember,” she said slowly.  “Well, I don’t remember an explosion exactly. 
I felt the building jerk really hard and I thought it was an earthquake.  I was sitting
at the desk so I dropped to the floor so I could climb under it.  I remember hitting
the floor, and the wall behind me exploding.  Nothing else.”

“Maybe the explosion behind you pushed you beneath the desk,” Lance suggested as he
placed the straw between her lips again. 

“I guess,” she said after she finished drinking.  “What exploded?  Was it an accident?”

“No, it was not,” Vikter replied.  He didn’t want to lie to her, but she didn’t need
any gruesome details, either.  “There was an explosion in the Research Center.”

Honey thought about that for a few moments as she took another sip of water.  An explosion
in the Research Center large enough to explode a wall in the infirmary must have been
really big indeed. 

“How bad?” she asked. 

Vikter bit back a sigh.  The expression in her eyes demanded truth.  “Both buildings
were destroyed,
zetia
,” he said, not even realizing he was using an endearment.  “You were injured, and
the other occupant of the infirmary lost her life.  A nurse.”

Honey felt her eyes sting with tears again.  She had only just met Tesla, but she
was sad that the woman had lost her life.

“A Katre male-set have also traveled to the next plane,” Vikter continued.  “Two Lobo
male-sets were severely injured, but Jareth was able to save their lives.”  Vikter
gave her a quick run-down on deaths and injuries, wishing he didn’t have to tell her.
But she’d asked, and he would not lie to her.

“Why?” Honey asked when he was finished. 

“We believe that the goal was to destroy the Xanti prisoner,” Vikter replied.  “In
that regard it was successful.”

“Jareth used too much of his own resources to heal those who would have died otherwise
to be able to heal you right away,” Lance explained.  “He has promised to return once
he has rested a little.  That is why Doc has not treated your injuries.”

“I don’t want Jareth to waste energy on me,” Honey said.  “I’m sure there are others
who need it more.”

“You are wrong,” Lance replied.  “You are the most seriously injured of those here. 
You will be healed.”

Honey decided to let it go.  There was no use in arguing with them.  She’d wait until
Jareth came, and speak with him.

“Honey, we would discuss something with you, if you feel up to it,” Vikter said hesitantly.

“It’s better than lying here hurting,” she said with a smile that hurt her face. 

“First of all, there is something important that you should know,” he said.  “Something
we should have told you, but at the same time, could not, in all honor, reveal.”

“I’m your Arima,” Honey said, sensing how difficult this was for him. 

“You knew?” Lance asked in surprise.

“No, I didn’t know,” Honey said.  “I suspected after healing the Lobos’ babies.  But
I wasn’t sure.  This morning I asked Hope Bearen if it was so, and she said that it
was.”

“You don’t seem angry about it,” Hunt said.

“Should I be?” Honey asked in surprise.  Then she blushed, understanding what he meant. 
A married woman
should
be angry, or at least upset.  “I’m sorry,” she said.  “There are things I can’t explain. 
I wish I could, but I can’t.” 

“Actually, you can,” Vikter said.  “Michael has asked us to tell you that you have
his permission to tell us the entire story.  We don’t know what that means exactly,
but our curiosity on the subject obviously outweighs our common sense or we would
not be bothering you with it now.”

“He said that, really?” she asked.

“Yes, he did,” Vikter replied.  “We would never tell you an untruth.”

“I know,” Honey said.  “I’m just having a hard time adjusting to it.”

“We ask that you tell us,” Vikter said. 

Honey felt the anxiety and tension coming from the three of them, and knew that they
were barely maintaining their composure.  But how to tell them?  She looked at the
water in Lance’s hand and he immediately helped her to have another drink.  By the
time she was finished, she’d made up her mind.

“The nicest way to describe my marriage to Michael is to call it a political marriage,”
she began.  “The truth is, it was blackmail.  We were both forced into it by the Terien
government.  We give the appearance of a married couple because we have no other choice. 
Behind closed doors we are only friends.”

She paused, sensing the rising anger in the Vulpirans.  “Please, don’t get upset right
now.  I feel your anger, and it’s difficult to deal with at the moment.”

“We apologize,” Vikter said.  “We shall be more careful.”

“I always wanted to be a doctor,” she continued, “but my father died when I was seven,
so there was little money.  I worked hard, got scholarships, and made my way through
college and into medical school, advancing as quickly as I could to help save money. 
After I left home, my Mother began dating and met a man she liked.  She found out
too late that the man was married.  There is no divorce on Terien, so there was no
question of the man leaving his wife.  Mother knew that, and accepted it.  She said
she didn’t want a man who could lie so easily, or so well, anyway.  She wanted the
child she was carrying though.  Very much.

“The problem was that the father of her child was not only married, he was also wealthy,
well known, and a powerful official in the Terien monarchy.  If Mother had lived to
raise her child herself, everything would have been fine.  But she didn’t.  She had
complications during the delivery and did not survive the birth.”

Vikter, Lance and Hunt raised their fists to their hearts and bowed to her.  Honey
felt more tears roll down her cheeks, but she wasn’t going to let that stop her. 
She’d wanted to tell this story for so long, and now that she had permission from
Michael, she was going to do it.

“I was only half way through medical school with a newborn infant to take care of. 
I was going to have to quit school and work full time, of course.  I was going to
keep Nica, which her wealthy father didn’t like.  Not a bit.  I’d never asked him
for a thing, but he didn’t trust me to keep my mouth shut, and he didn’t want it to
get out that he had fathered an illegitimate child.  The Terien public would not approve.” 
Honey paused, and Lance gave her the rest of the water in the bottle, while Hunt went
to get a fresh one for her. 

“One day a group of Terien officials came to my apartment.  They informed me that,
by Terien law, only a married couple may adopt a child, and any child without parents
must be adopted.  If I wanted to raise the baby, I had to get married and legally
adopt her.  Of course, the point of the exercise was that once legally adopted, the
baby’s real father was in the clear.  Forever.  But I didn’t care about that.  I wanted
to raise her myself partly for my Mother, and partly because I loved her.  And, I
admit, partly because she was the only blood relative I had.  The problem was that
I didn’t even have a boyfriend, let alone someone to marry.

“Luckily for me, they had on hand a man who was very much in need of a wife.  The
Royal Princess had the bad taste and poor judgment to fall in love with a commoner,
even going so far as to agree to marry him.  Since this young man also happened to
be the most brilliant young scientist to come along in Terien history, they didn’t
want to kill him, or imprison him.  But they couldn’t let him marry the Princess,
either.”

“Michael,” Vikter said softly. 

“Yes,” she replied.  “The deal was pretty simple.  We got married, legally adopted
Nica, and they paid us an allowance.  They also finished paying my way through medical
school, and saw to it that Michael had the best possible education that could be provided
on Terien.”

“It wasn’t until later that Michael and I compared stories.  We realized that the
man who was supposed to be watching over the Princess while she was in school was
the same one who’d fathered my new sister.  He saw a way to get out of two very sticky
problems with one stroke, and Michael and I paid the price for his mistakes.”

“That was five years ago,” Lance said. 

“Yes, and I know what you’re going to ask.  Why didn’t we leave once we were done
with school?”

Lance nodded. 

“The more well known Michael became, the more the Teriens wanted to make sure he didn’t
defect.  He became valuable to them simply because of how smart he was.  You guys
know that, it’s why you invited him here.”

Vikter, Lance and Hunt all nodded.  They’d heard of Michael’s reputation long before
they’d met him at the conference and realized how truly gifted he was.

“Unfortunately for the Terien government, they couldn’t prevent him from traveling
to conferences throughout the galaxy without ruining the reputation they wanted him
to have.  So they threatened to take his credentials if he didn’t return.  Just in
case that wasn’t enough, they also threatened to take Nica from me if I didn’t keep
Michael in line.”

“Michael worked really hard to get the appointment to Earth only because we saw it
as a first step in eventually escaping the Teriens.  Then you invited him here right
after we moved to Earth, and here we are.”

“I’m surprised they allowed all of you to come,” Vikter said.  “Grateful, but surprised.”

“Michael told them that Jasan insisted on his family traveling with him, that it was
the custom of the Jasani to go nowhere without their families,” Honey said.  “And
of course they pulled my credentials.  Just in case.  My real worry is Nica.  I’m
afraid they may try to take her from me, just out of spite.”

“They will never take Nica, or you, or Michael, unless one of you wishes to return
of your own free will,” Vikter declared.  “On this you have my word.”

Once again Honey felt tears roll down her cheeks.  This time Lance wiped them away
for her.  “Thank you,” she whispered, very tired now after talking so much. 

“Is there any possibility of a divorce?” Hunt asked, voicing the question he knew
Vikter would not dare to ask.

“On Terien there are two types of marriage, both equally binding in the eyes of the
law,” she replied.  “One is consensual, and includes vows made by both parties, one
to the other.  The other is purely contractual and consists of nothing more than two
signatures on a document.  Michael and I have the contractual type.  But, as I said,
there is no divorce on Terien.  If there was, I doubt they would grant one to us since
they forced us into the marriage to begin with.”