Athazar hadn't been so welcome, and had left before Kadran woke. He might have helped our escape, and be an escaped slave himself, but he had served on a slaver ship willingly. The monks were unforgiving of those who profited from slavery.
Maybe, after a few years' work for the ASP, he'd be accepted. I hoped so — despite the rocky start to our friendship, I knew that Kadran and I wouldn't have gotten off the Lament alive without him. And the fact that he was willing to join the Patrol gave me hope that he'd change.
Hopefully the next time he came to Ikarna, he'd come by and visit our new home.
Once Kadran was well enough to move away, we didn't go far. Just down the mountain from the temple, far enough that we wouldn't be disturbing the tranquility of the students with our comings and goings. The home we built was a simple cabin, at least by the standards of the galactic community we lived in now. Which meant that it was connected to the global hypernet, that instead of a first aid kit we had a robot doctor, and that the kitchen was a magic box I could put ingredients into and get out delicious meals. I approved heartily. As much as I liked the idea of camping, my one experience of actually being without modern technology hadn't been very pleasant even before the abduction.
Kadran did most of the building work, assisted by others from the temple when the robot doctor insisted that he couldn't do it all himself. His recovery was coming along well, but there were still limits.
My beloved wasn't good at accepting that, especially when it came to setting up our home. I knew he wanted it to be perfect, and all his gift to me, but that simply wasn't practical.
At last he and the initiates managed to get the cabin built to his satisfaction and we could move in. It was strange to see it, a cabin that would have fitted in anywhere on Earth under the strange sky of Ikarna, the odd greenish-blue sky that faded to a star-scape I didn't recognize at night. The trees around us looked strange too, somehow not quite right. Even I could tell that they weren't Earth trees. But it was close enough.
There was enough space to expand around the cabin, just as I'd asked, and I smiled to imagine what else we might add in time.
Kadran had been confused when I insisted that we needed space. "Are you sure we will need so much? Even if we raise a family, we'll hardly need this much room."
I grinned at him from across the rough-hewn wooden table that filled our kitchen. "Well, first off, we will be raising a family, so yeah, we need to have space for that. But the real reason is that I've been thinking about what I'm going to do with my life."
Kadran sat down, looking across at me curiously. "What do you mean? I can provide for us quite well enough."
"I know, love, but... I'm not the only Earthwoman who's going to be kidnapped, and if the ASP rescues them, they still won't get to go home again."
He nodded. "That's true. But we will rescue them. I'm not going to let anyone from your homeworld suffer in slavery."
I reached across the table to take his hand. "Then they'll need somewhere to learn how this weird and wonderful universe of yours works, darling. They are going to be scared, out of their element, and confused. I can't help them by rescuing them — Lord knows I'm not a fighter — but I can give them a place to recover, somewhere with a friendly face who knows what they've been through and what they're facing. Somewhere they can call home, at least until they have a plan for what they'll do with their lives."
Kadran's hand tightened around mine and for a long, silent moment he said nothing. Then he smiled. "That is a wonderful idea, my love. And the ASP can help, I'm sure. Educational tools, software, that kind of thing. We might even be able to find other Earth humans who've been out here for a while: they'll have their own places, but I'm sure they'd want to help. Why didn't you tell me that was why you wanted to do something like this?"
I relaxed, just a little, breathing out the tension I'd been carrying as I came up with the plan. "I wanted to get it worked out in my own head first, Kadran. In case, well, in case it sounded stupid."
Stepping around the table he swept me up into a powerful embrace, taking my breath away all over again. "I would never mock your ideas, beloved."
"I know, I know," I gasped. It wasn't easy to speak when my husband was hugging me at full force. "Doesn't mean I want to tell you a stupid one."
"None of your ideas are stupid," he insisted, putting me down reluctantly. "But this one... it's brilliant. I will need to rethink the plans I had for expanding the building, though. Less rooms for children, more for our human guests."
I grinned, blushing, and took him by the hand. Swallowed nervously. There was one more thing I needed to tell him.
"We're still going to need some space for kids, first off," I told him quietly, placing his hand on my stomach and looking him in the eyes. Kadran blinked once then smiled broadly, looking as happy as I'd ever seen him.
"You're certain?" he asked in a rush. "You're okay? The child is—"
"The doctor confirmed it this morning," I interrupted. Thinking of the little robot stashed in one room of the house as a doctor still seemed weird to me, but it was certainly handy to have it on hand. It had helped Kadran with his recuperation, and now it had given me some of the best news of my life. "Everything's fine. I'm healthy, the baby's healthy, we're all going to be fine."
Kadran hugged me again, more carefully this time. A gleam in his eyes told me that he was thinking about the future.
"I hope that she's as brave as her mother," he said, eventually.
"And as strong as her father," I added. "Or his father. I didn't ask."
"Let it be a surprise," Kadran suggested. "Girl or boy, our child will be amazing."
Leaning into my husband, I smiled with a happiness I'd never expected. The last of my homesickness faded and I realized that this was my home now. Not just in fact, but in my heart — I would spend the rest of my life here happily, with the wonderful man who'd become my husband.
Epilogue
The sound of little running feet made me turn and smile. In the years since I'd settled on Ikarna, I'd never tired of that noise. The kitchen door swung open and three of the children stood there, proud and covered in mud.
"Mom," Ellis said, holding up a bug of some kind. "Look what I found. What is it?"
Whatever it was wiggled in his hands and I shook my head. Our firstborn was growing up to be quite the explorer, which would be great if he didn't keep bringing mud and insects into the house.
"No idea," I told him honestly. "Why don't we go and ask the hypernet together?"
Ellis looked proud and hopeful, and his sisters cheered. Finding something I couldn't identify always made Ellis happy, but he lived for the day that the computer wouldn't recognize it either. I'm sure he's already planning what to call it if he gets to name it.
He had his father's fearlessness as well as his deep blue skin, and I knew that one day he'd find something to name. Probably not in our backyard, though. No doubt one day he'd be a space explorer and find whole worlds.
I smiled as I stood, looking over at the nervous woman I'd been sitting across from. "Come on, Maxine, I'll show you how the computers here work."
The newcomer nodded quickly, pushing a hand through her green-dyed hair and getting up. Maxine was our newest arrival, freshly rescued from slavers, and she had no experience with the technology here.
"I guess I need to learn some time," she said, wrinkling her nose. "And what better way than finding out what that gross thing is called?"
"It's not gross," Ellis protested.
"And it's called an Ellisbug," his sister Kelly added firmly. Somehow she managed to be even more excited about her brother discovering something than he was.
Maxine laughed and ruffled Ellis's hair. "Let's find out, huh? Maybe someone else already found it."
"Bet they didn't," Ellis said, scampering off towards the computer lounge. We could have rigged the computer to every room in the compound, but that seemed intrusive. After my experiences with Lament, I'd rather co
nfine the computer to a few rooms.
By the time we arrived, Ellis was looking crest-fallen. In front of him, the house computer displayed a hologram telling him all about the ghart he'd found and its biology.
"Sorry, darling," I said, ruffling his hair. "Maybe next time it'll be the one?"
Ellis nodded, flicking through the menus with the easy confidence of a child who'd grown up around the technology. I still got lost trying that, and to Maxine it might as well have been magic. She watched with awe, trying to follow what he was doing.
Kadran came up behind us as the computer's impromptu lesson on bugs caught Ellis's attention. Slipping an arm around my shoulders, he held me tight, and I snuggled in close. This was nothing like I'd imagined my life would turn out, but it was so much better than anything I could have dreamed of.
A house full of love and life, and a chance to help people. A husband who would keep me safe and who I loved with all my heart.
Family.
What did it matter if it wasn't on Earth? My heart was here, and all my joy with it.
The End
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About Leslie Chase
LESLIE CHASE
I love writing, and especially enjoy writing sexy science fiction and paranormal romances. It lets my imagination run free and my ideas come to life! When I’m not writing, I’m busy thinking about what to write next or researching it – yes, damn it, looking at castles and swords and spaceships counts as research.
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Sci Fi Romance by Leslie Chase
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Stolen by the Alien Raider: A Novel of the Silent Empire Page 17
