Abby pointed into the other room. “Wait a minute. What about the other babies?”
He made a gesture that was too minimal to be called a shrug. “Some product loss is inevitable.”
It took every ounce of self-control she had not to smack his arrogant face. Instead, she forced an even tone and prayed the girls would understand. “Why don’t you let me see if we can nourish the others as well?”
The leader considered, then inclined his head. “Very well.”
He gestured to one of this men, and the cribs containing the other two human children began to move.
Abby looked at the tiny, silent alien baby and her heart ached. “What about that one?”
The subordinate cast a nervous glance at the leader, then said quickly, “Human nourishment would not be appropriate for a Cire infant. The product is very weak.”
“A foolish investment—and the purchase will be coming from your share,” the leader said coldly to the other man. “It was not worth the additional outlay.”
Abby bit her lip. She looked at the tiny baby again and knew she had to at least try and save it. “Do you have a bottle?” When the subordinate looked puzzled, she added. “A small container with a nipple? For hand-feeding?”
“How primitive,” the leader said, already starting to turn away.
“If she—if the product lived, it would be valuable, Commander Khaen,” the other man said quickly. “It would be a simple matter to create this bottle.”
“Very well. You may make the attempt,” Khaen said, as if he were granting a great favor. Then he turned and walked away.
Wishing she had something to throw after him, she turned back to the other man. “You can make a bottle?”
“Yes.” He hurried over to the counter and began pulling out pieces of equipment. She noticed that the two other aliens working there sneered at him, mirroring the same contempt as the leader; however, he was back in a few minutes with a serviceable bottle filled with a rather disgusting grey fluid.
“It’s nutritionally complete,” he assured her when he saw her eyeing the liquid dubiously. He manipulated a touchscreen and the alien baby’s crib began to move into the girls’ room.
“Thank you. What’s your name?”
“Me?” He looked shocked that she asked. “I am Kwaret.” Behind him, the two others made a clearly derogatory noise. He flinched but didn’t respond.
“Thank you, Kwaret. I don’t know if it’s going to work, but I have to try.”
Chapter Three
As soon as she stepped back into the room and the panel closed behind her, Lucie came rushing over. Abby gave her a quick hug and lifted her up onto her hip. Molly and Amber rocked the two strange babies, both still whimpering, their cries tugging at Abby’s heart.
“What are we going to do, Miss Abby?” Amber looked stricken. “They’re hungry.”
“About that…” She studied the other three girls. Mikie was already half-asleep at Elaina’s breast and TeShawna held Vanessa up on her shoulder. Cassie still nursed Angel. “Have you girls ever heard of wet nurses?”
“What’s that?” Amber asked.
“They’re women who will nurse another woman’s child if that woman isn’t capable of feeding her baby herself.”
TeShawna, of course, caught on first and her eyes narrowed. “You wanting me to feed one of them strange babies?”
“Yes. I know it’s a lot to ask, but if we can’t find a way to feed them, they’ll die,” she said gently. “You saw what happened when the aliens tried.”
“Die?” Lucie asked, her eyes big. “You can’t let the babies die.”
“Don’t worry, Lucie girl,” Elaina said quickly. “We’ll feed them.”
“Speak for yourself,” Cassie said bitterly. “I don’t even have enough milk for one.”
Abby shot her a worried look. It was true that Cassie was having difficulty nursing. They had been preparing to put Angel on formula because the baby hadn’t been gaining weight.
“I’ll do it,” TeShawna said. “But Vanessa goes first.”
“Thank you, girls.”
Mikie gave a loud burp, as if in agreement, and they all laughed. There was a slightly hysterical edge to it, but Abby would rather have the laughter than have the girls worrying about their situation. She really didn’t want to explain to them that the aliens had referred to them as breeders.
“Don’t they have any diapers around this place?” Elaina asked. “Mikie usually has a big poop after he eats.”
“I’ll ask.” Abby returned to the front wall, Lucie still on her hip. Kwaret was nowhere in sight but the other two aliens were still there.
“Excuse me.”
Just like before, they ignored her.
“We need diapers for the children.”
Still no response.
“Look, if we don’t get some type of um, sanitary supplies, it’s going to get awfully messy in here.”
One of them finally turned to her, touching a button so that his voice sounded inside the room.
“We no longer use your primitive methods,” he sneered. “The incubators are equipped to handle bodily waste.”
Knowing that Lucie watched everything with wide eyes, Abby bit back her retort and forced out a thank you.
“Mama, I gotta pee too.” Lucie’s urgent whisper reminded her that the babies weren’t the only ones in need of sanitary arrangements.
With a muffled sigh, she addressed the aliens again. “What about us? You don’t expect us to use the incubators as well, do you?”
The alien had started to turn away but he stopped at her words. A condescending smile spread across his stark white face and she wondered if he would actually tell her that exact thing, but after a brief pause, he gestured at the rear of their room.
“Standard facilities are provided. Any civilized being would recognize that.”
He turned his back on her and she bit her tongue once more.
“What’d he say, Mama?” Lucie squirmed anxiously in her arms.
“He said it’s back there. Let’s go see if we can find it.”
Fortunately, they discovered that one of the panels opened to reveal a small bathroom. The facilities were oddly shaped but similar enough to an Earth bathroom to be self-explanatory. Lucie giggled when the toilet first washed her, then dried her with a blast of warm air.
Their immediate needs resolved, they returned to the main room. TeShawna and Elaina now nursed the two new babies while Cassie rocked Angel.
“The alien said the cribs would work like diapers,” she told them.
Molly made a face. “Vanessa already peed on me.”
“That’s my girl,” TeShawna said with a grin.
“Well, I don’t want to be pooped on,” Amber said firmly and laid Mikie in one of the cribs. He almost immediately fulfilled his mother’s prophecy and they all watched in fascination as the pad absorbed the results and followed it with a fine mist and a spray of warm air.
“Yucky!” Lucie said, her face scrunched up.
“Are you kidding?” Amber picked up Mikie and examined his spotless bottom. “That’s magic, baby girl.”
While the girls admired the cribs, Abby turned to the little alien baby, still lying silently, her eyes wide open. Very carefully, she picked up the tiny figure, her throat tightening at the slight weight as she cradled her. For the first time, the baby made a tiny noise and seemed to snuggle closer.
“Who’s that, Mama?” Lucie peered over her shoulder.
“It’s another baby.”
“I ain’t putting no green baby to my boobs,” TeShawna said loudly. Then she took a second look at the tiny figure and sighed. “She’s awful skinny though. Hell, I reckon I can. I let Nick at ‘em and he was a worthless prick.” Nick was Vanessa’s father and had abandoned TeShawna two months before she gave birth.
“What’s a prick?” Lucie piped up.
“Something I hope you never have to worry about,” TeShawna said, with an apologet
ic glance at Abby.
“Thank you for offering, TeShawna, but the aliens said human milk wouldn’t work. They gave me that.” Abby gave the bottle a dubious look. “Let’s see if she’ll take it. Hand me the bottle, baby.”
Lucie picked it up and made a face. “It’s cold.”
“If that’s a bathroom back there, I can run it under some warm water. Maybe heat it up some?” Amber offered.
“That would be great. Thanks, Amber.”
Abby looked down at the baby to see she was looking back up at her. The tiny figure looked so helpless with her little sticklike limbs naked and exposed. The room was a comfortable temperature, but she worried about the child catching a chill. “Lexi, help me get this sweater off, please.”
By the time she wrestled her sweater off and wrapped it around the infant, Amber had returned. When Abby put the bottle to the baby’s lips, her mouth remained closed. Abby cuddled her closer, then stroked her finger along the tiny mouth until it opened a fraction. She managed to get a drop of the warm liquid on the baby’s tongue, and after a startled pause, her mouth opened and she began sucking with frantic urgency. Relief flooded Abby’s body.
“What’s the baby’s name?” Lucie had been standing at her elbow the whole time, watching curiously.
“I don’t know. We’ll have to give her one. What do you think would be a good name?”
“Oscar,” Lucie said immediately. “Like on Sesame Street.”
Abby hid a smile as she looked down at the baby. It was true that she had big dark eyes, a wide mouth, and an almost non-existent nose, but her smooth green skin was a long way from the Muppet’s wild fur.
“Oscar is a boy’s name, sweetie. What about Lily?”
Lucie frowned at the baby. “What about Tiana? She was green when she was a frog.”
Abby looked down at the tiny alien face, so strange but somehow still so sweet, and nodded. “I think that’s perfect, baby.”
Tiana was still sucking hungrily but her eyes remained on Abby’s face. She felt a small flutter and looked down to see a tiny green band clinging to her wrist.
“Look, Mama! She gots a tail.”
“So she does.”
“What’s it for?”
“I don’t know that it’s for anything.” But even as she spoke, the tiny tail pulsed around her wrist. It reminded her of the way Lucie had kneaded her breast while she gave her a bottle and her heart tugged. I’ll take care of you, little one, she promised silently.
A short time later, one of the aliens spoke to her through the wall. “Return the product to the incubators.”
“What do you mean?” Most of the babies had fallen asleep in their mother’s—or their surrogate mother’s—arms. Tiana was snuggled against Abby, her big eyes finally closed. Lucie, tucked against her other side, slept with her head on Abby’s knee.
“You have provided nourishment. Return it to the incubators.”
“Why can’t they stay with their mothers?” She tried to keep her voice calm, seeing that the girls were starting to look alarmed.
“The breeders provide nourishment only. The product no longer belongs to them. It would be as well if they accept this now.”
“But they will need more nourishment,” she protested.
“They will be returned at the appropriate time.” When she didn’t respond, his face grew even colder. “If you do not comply, you will be punished and the product will be taken anyway.”
“I understand.” You asshole. Taking a deep breath, she turned to the girls. “We have to put the babies back in the cribs. I think they’re going to return them to the other room.”
“But why?” Elaina wailed, holding Mikie tighter.
“They, uh, think it’s better for them. But they’ll bring them back to be fed again.”
“Like we’re some kind of goddamn cows?” TeShawna muttered. Abby was afraid she was only too right.
“I’m sorry, girls, but I think they’re going to do it anyway.” She gestured at the wall where the alien had his hand raised to open the panel. With some more muttered cursing, and not a few tears, the girls obeyed. Her own heart ached when she had to lay Tiana back in her crib. The little face crumpled but she remained as silent as before, never taking her eyes off of Abby. They all watched helplessly as the cribs moved back into the other room and the wall between them closed.
Chapter Four
“Sir!”
Hrebec Nak’Charen, Captain of the Confederated Planets patrol cutter Defiance, closed his eyes at the sound of the eager young voice outside his quarters. He had a great fondness for the young officer, indeed somewhat more of a liking than was quite fair; however, he found himself in no mood to deal with Ensign Ribel’s latest enthusiasm. But he held the reins of command in his weary hands and it was his duty to be available to his men.
“Come.”
Ribel burst in with more haste than dignity, his tail whipping wildly. “Sir, we have detected a Vedeckian slave ship at the edge of the quadrant.”
“And?”
Ribel tilted his head with a confused look. “I assumed you would want to mount a rescue mission?”
Hrebec contemplated his hands. It was, of course, the right thing to do. The Vedeckians were a disgrace to the Confederated Planets. They masqueraded as merchants but their main business involved the illegal sale of living beings—and unfortunately, these days the Vedeckians had all too many buyers. However, he suspected that Ribel’s excitement derived from another source rather than the desire to investigate a possible violation of the law.
“And what do you think will be the result of the mission?” he asked.
“We will free their slaves, of course.” Hrebec’s skeptical silence had the desired result, and Ribel flushed and continued. “And perhaps they will have females fit for mating.”
As he suspected. Hrebec sighed and contemplated his junior. Ribel was so young. His lamella had barely started to form. Only a single ridge adorned his head and his chest remained as smooth as a babe’s. He was one of the few who had survived the artificial wombs that had been their people’s last desperate attempt to salvage their race.
“Ensign Ribel, do you remember what happened the last time?”
Ribel’s flush deepened, his normal emerald complexion turning almost black with embarrassment. The Defiance had rescued a cargo of Villae females. Ribel had been convinced that the adorable, dainty little creatures would prove to be ideal mates. Unfortunately, he had found through personal contact that they were, in fact, entirely incompatible with Cire anatomy. That unfortunate experience did not seem to have deterred his enthusiasm.
Hrebec had long ago accepted that the Cires were a dying race. Their time had come, and no matter how much he wished he could have saved his people, no matter the price he had paid for those attempts, they wouldn’t escape their fate.
“It is part of our job to make sure that they are not transporting illegal passengers. We will investigate.” He held up a hand when Ribel looked up eagerly. “However, this is a rescue mission only. If it turns out that there are illegal females on board, they will be returned to their original destination. This is not a mating opportunity. Do you understand me?”
“Yes, sir,” Ribel responded, but Hrebec could tell that his excitement hadn’t dimmed. He shook his head.
“Wait until we are within firing range. Then hail them and tell them to prepare for inspection.”
“Yes, sir.”
“I will join you on the bridge shortly.”
Once the door closed behind the young officer, Hrebec sighed. He wished he still felt even a spark of the same enthusiasm, the same hopefulness, that Ribel did, but Ribel was too young. He hadn’t lived through the millions of deaths, through the hopeless attempts to reproduce by artificial technology, through the agony of knowing that your race would die out.
But Hrebec had a job to do and his job did include stopping the illegal transportation of slaves. And even though he knew there was no chance that ther
e would be breeding females, his tail stirred at the thought. Sternly suppressing the unruly appendage, he headed for the bridge.
In the dim light of the rest period, Abby stared up at the ceiling and rubbed her wrist thoughtfully as she worried about her girls. The burn mark had healed during the time they’d been on the ship. As best she could tell, it had been two weeks since they were taken, and she knew no more about their destination now than she did on her first morning. As she grimly considered the possibilities, Lucie shoved her elbow into her side and she winced. Her daughter had slept with her every night since they had been taken, and while she loved having her close, she was a restless sleeper and Abby’s nights were not peaceful.
The days had settled into a monotonous routine. The aliens still insisted on separating the babies once the girls fed them, although they brought them back on a regular schedule. When Kwaret was on duty, he allowed them a longer period with the infants, but even he eventually insisted that they return them to their cribs. It never got any easier to watch them be silently carried away and her heart ached every time she considered that one day soon, it would be a permanent separation.
She dreaded the day they would take Tiana as much as if she were truly her mother. The little girl had rapidly wound her way into her heart.
Other than worrying about the future, keeping Lucie busy became Abby’s biggest challenge. Although the girls all tried to keep her occupied, an energetic four-year-old wasn’t suited to one-room living. To Abby’s surprise, Kwaret also helped. He provided Abby with a few markers and some paper, along with a small globe of some type of rubbery substance which served as an adequate ball. So far, they’d managed to keep the small toys hidden from Commander Khaen.
The leader had returned on the second day demanding proof that the babies had been eating. He then ordered Elaina to feed the red-headed baby, now named Ginger, before she fed Mikie. Of course, Abby had protested, but he only gave her a cold stare.
“The female product is more valuable. If the breeder does not comply, I will eliminate the male product.”
Mama and the Alien Warrior Page 2
