The Vulpirans' Honor: The Soul-Linked Saga

by Laura Jo Phillips

  “Yes, and more babies are coming all the time,” Berta said. “Saige Lobo has three daughters and, as you know, is currently pregnant with boys, Hope Bearen is pregnant with daughters, and since the opening of Arima House about eight weeks ago, fourteen berezi have become Arimas. It’s only a matter of time before those women need an obstetrician. There are several on Jasan, of course, but you’re exceptionally gifted. I’m sure you’d be more than welcome here.”

  By the time Berta finished speaking they had reached the infirmary door and gone inside. They found themselves in a waiting area with several chairs and reader racks, and a large reception desk with no one behind it.

  “Hello?” Berta called out.

  “Come on back,” replied a male voice.

  Berta gestured to Honey, who took Nica’s hand before they walked past the vacant desk and down a hall with exam rooms on either side.

  “Here we are,” a man’s voice said just before he stepped into the hall a couple of doors down. The man had bushy white hair, a full mustache, and dark blue eyes. He wasn’t a very big man at all, maybe only an inch or two taller than Honey, and whip thin. Honey suspected he’d been present when she’d worked to save Saige Lobo’s sons, but she didn’t remember him.

  “Hello there, little one,” he said to Nica with a smile.

  “Hello,” Nica replied. “Are you Doc?”

  “Yes, I am,” he replied. “And who might you be?”

  “My name is Monica but I like to be called Nica better,” she replied. “Auntie Berta said that you can make hair grow without hurting.”

  “Yes, I can do that,” Doc replied. “Is that what you want me to do? Make your hair long for you?”

  “Yes, sir,” Nica replied. “If Mana says it’s okay.”

  “It’s nice to meet you, Doc,” Honey said. “I apologize if I met you the other day and don’t remember.”

  “Nope,” Doc said. “There wasn’t time for formalities. Well, come on in, make yourselves comfortable,” he said, standing aside to let them into the large room that looked like a patient ward, though there were no patients. There were several beds and more advanced medical equipment than Honey had ever seen on Terien, though she’d seen as much on Earth.

  “This young lady is my friend and sometime assistant, Darleen Flowers,” he said, waving toward a thin woman with very short light blonde hair and the most beautiful face Honey had ever seen. As Honey greeted the woman she noticed that her skin was covered with fine white scars, and wondered what could possibly have caused them.

  “If you don’t mind, Darleen will give Nica the hair treatment while you and I chat a bit,” Doc said to Honey.

  “Can you tell me what the hair treatment consists of?” Honey asked. “I want to be sure it’s safe for Nica.”

  “I’m afraid it’s my own invention and I’m not ready to share my secret just yet,” Doc said with a wink. “However, I promise you I would never do anything that could possibly be harmful to a patient. Particularly a child. Up to you though. If you’d rather not, then we can skip it.”

  “It’s safe, Honey,” Berta said. “As soon as Doc healed my arthritis he made my hair long again. I’d had to cut it short because my hands hurt too much to care for it. It doesn’t hurt, and has no side effects.”

  “How long does it take?” Honey asked.

  “Depends on how long she wants it,” Doc said.

  “Her hair was very long...before.” She paused and looked down at Nica, who was looking up at her hopefully.

  “Please, Mana,” she said. Honey smiled and stroked Nica’s hair lightly.

  “How about we just do a few inches to start with,” she compromised. “After that, we’ll see.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Doc agreed. He looked down at Nica. “What do you think, little lady? Will a few inches make you happy?”

  Nica nodded, suddenly shy, but when Darleen held out a hand to her, she took it and walked easily alongside her to the other side of the room.

  “I want to personally thank you for saving the Lobo babies,” Doc said. “Without you, they would have been lost, and that’s a fact.”

  “I’m just glad I was able to help,” Honey replied. “How is Saige doing?”

  “She’s as good as ever,” Doc said. “I’ve run every test on her that I can, and Jareth has examined her very carefully. Neither of us found a thing wrong with her or the babies.”

  “Do you think she’d mind if I checked on the babies?” Honey asked. “If you think she would, please say so. I don’t want to upset her.”

  “I’m sure that she would be more than happy for you to check them,” Doc said. “I would be as well, to be honest. It certainly wouldn’t be upsetting to her or anyone else.”

  “That’s a relief,” Honey said. “I’d very much like to do that whenever possible.”

  “How about I take you up there after we’re done here?” Doc suggested. “If you don’t have other plans, of course.”

  “No, that would be great,” Honey replied. “Doc, did you discover what caused the problem?”

  “Yes, we did,” Doc said, his face going hard and his friendly blue eyes going cold. “Someone’s poisoned the prenatal vitamins.”

  “What?” Honey asked, shocked.

  “You heard me right,” Doc said. “Makes me madder than I can say in polite company that someone would attack the unborn. We tested everything Saige put in her mouth and it was the vitamins. We recalled every bottle we sent out which, luckily wasn’t that many. They’re specially formulated for Jasani females, and human women carrying Jasani babies. All of them are poisoned.”

  “How long as this been going on?” she asked, appalled.

  “Just over a week, far as we can tell,” Doc said. “It seems to be limited to the last batch of vitamins we got in. Hope only took them once, which is why you sensed a problem we couldn’t pin-point. Saige took them every day for seven days, twice a day. Without you, who knows how long it would have taken us to discover the real problem. Or even if we would have.”

  “I don’t understand why the poison left Hope’s system so quickly,” Honey said. “Or why Saige didn’t seem to be effected by it.”

  “Male Clan Jasani have very high regeneration rates,” Doc explained. “But it doesn’t kick in for the male fetus until the third trimester. Females have the same rate of regeneration as a human until they mate with their Rami. Hope and Saige were both able to throw off the poison very quickly, but their infants couldn’t. My guess is that the poison is cumulative. Each time it’s taken it penetrates the placenta just a bit more.”

  “I see,” Honey said, fascinated. “How many other women got the poison?”

  “Four other women, aside from Hope and Saige,” Doc said. “Two human, two Clan Jasani. Of those, only one of them took more than one dose. She’s a new Arima, about five weeks pregnant right now. She took five doses.”

  “Has she been checked yet?” Honey asked, worried.

  “No, she’ll be in tomorrow afternoon,” Doc said. “That’s one reason why I wanted to see you today. To ask if you would come down and check her out yourself. Well, all four of the other women, to be honest. Would you mind?”

  “Not at all, Doc,” Honey agreed at once. “I’d be happy to.”

  “Good,” Doc said. “I appreciate it, and so will they, and their Rami.”

  “Have you found the source of the poison?” Honey asked.

  “Not yet, but we will,” Doc said. Something in his tone made Honey shiver.

  “I’m glad it was caught so quickly,” she said.

  “As are we all,” Doc said. “I understand you’re an obstetrician, but you seem young for it.”

  “I am young for it,” Honey agreed. “I went through school more quickly than most. I can show you my creds, but I have to tell you that Terien has pulled them until I return home. If you try to check them, they won’t show up.”

  “Yes, Vikter voxed me this morning and told me that,” Doc said with obvious di
sgust. “I’d like to seem ‘em anyway, if you don’t mind.”

  Honey removed her hand-terminal from her purse and turned it on, then pressed a few buttons before handing it to Doc. Doc’s eyebrows rose as he scrolled through Honey’s certificates, degrees and transcripts. After a few minutes he handed the terminal back to her with a nod.

  “You’ve got the credentials, that’s for sure and certain,” he said. “You’ve also got a gift that would make me want you even without all those qualifides. I’m impressed, young lady. When can you start?”

  “When can I start?” Honey asked. “That easy?”

  “Yep,” Doc said. “I know what you can do, and you got the medical background as a bonus. I tend to make up my mind pretty quick about people and I’m never wrong. We need you here and that’s a fact, Dr. Davis. Smart as you are, I doubt it’ll take you long to learn the differences between Jasani and human physiology. So, you gonna turn us down?”

  “No, I’m not,” Honey replied. “Not unless I have to. I want this very much, Doc. But I have to make sure that Michael can stay here too. I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be sorry for being fair and honest,” Doc said. “By the way, if it matters, you’ll get top pay and benefits, of course, and Prince Garen already said he’d have a house built here on the ranch for you. All you gotta do is say yes.”

  “That’s very generous,” Honey said, taken aback by all that was being offered to her.

  “You gotta understand how important women are to Jasani men,” Doc said. “Both the Arimas, and the human wives too. They’re everything. Once a male-set takes a female, that’s it for them, for life. They will do anything and everything they can to see that she’s well taken care of and happy.

  “Right now we got a fair number of obstetricians here on Jasan. But not one of them knows anything about Clan Jasani physiology, or has the time or the inclination to learn. Now that we’ve got Clan Jasani women having babies, the need for someone with your talents and expertise is gonna get desperate soon.”

  “I understand, Doc,” Honey said. “I promise you, I will give you an answer tomorrow evening, after Michael returns from Berria. Will that be quick enough?”

  “Yes, I think that’ll be just fine,” Doc said.

  “Look, Mana,” Nica yelled excitedly as she ran toward Honey. Honey turned in surprise, then grinned as Nica threw herself into her arms, something she hadn’t done in a very long time.

  “It’s most as long as before, Mana,” Nica said, her dark blue eyes glowing with excitement as she held a long lock of shiny, straight black hair in one small hand. “Isn’t it pretty, Mana?” she asked.

  “It’s beautiful, Nica,” Honey said, kissing the child on the forehead. “I think that’s a bit more than a few inches, though.”

  Nica shrugged and blushed, but Honey wasn’t angry with her, and she knew it. Honey kissed her again and lowered her feet to the floor. Without prompting, Nica turned and looked up at Doc. “Thank you, Mr. Doc,” she said. “Auntie Berta was right and it didn’t hurt at all and it made my hair long again and its pretty too so thank you very much.”

  “You’re very welcome, little darlin’,” Doc said. “I’m glad you’re happy with it. You gonna want to come back and get it longer?”

  “No, thank you,” Nica said, after a moment of thought. “It’s long enough now.”

  “I’m glad,” Doc said. “Another happy patient.”

  Nica grinned widely, showing her missing tooth.

  “Aunt Berta,” Honey said as her aunt approached, “I’m going with Doc to Saige Lobo’s so I can check on her.”

  “Would you like me to take Nica home with me?” Berta asked. “Or if you prefer, I can drop her off at Hope’s.”

  “Mana, can I go to Auntie Berta’s please?” Nica asked. “She said she’d braid my hair for me and put it in a ribbon.”

  “Put it in a ribbon, huh?” Honey asked with a grin.

  “Yup,” Nica replied. “So can I?”

  “Aunt Berta?” Honey asked.

  “I did promise her,” Berta replied. “You go on, Honey. I’ll take Nica home with me, and you can vox me later with what you want to do next. Okay?”

  “Okay, thank you,” Honey replied. She watched Berta and Nica walk out of the infirmary, hand in hand, Nica’s long, straight black hair and Berta’s long, curly black hair swinging as they walked. She couldn’t believe how much alike they looked.

  “I’m ready when you are,” Doc said. Honey waved good-bye to Darleen Flowers, then followed Doc out to his ground-car. A few moments later they were on the way to the Lobos’.

  “I’m curious,” Doc said as he drove.

  “About?” Honey asked.

  “Nica’s hair,” Doc said. “Don’t tell me if you don’t want, but it seems to me like she was real excited about her hair being long. More so than I’d expect.”

  Honey glanced at Doc, then out the window. She didn’t see any reason not to tell him, and he’d probably hear it eventually anyway. She told him about Michael’s mother, and Nica’s special talent, though she didn’t say exactly what that talent was. When she was finished, Doc had that hard, cold expression on his face again.

  “I’m real glad my little invention made her so happy,” he said after a few moments. “Makes it worth every minute of time I spent on it.”

  Honey smiled. She liked this man, she decided. He seemed a bit rough around the edges, and he sure didn’t talk or dress like any doctor she’d ever met. But she liked him.

  ***

  Saige Lobo looked up from the book she was reading as Doc and Honey entered the living room with Faron. She set her book aside and stood up a little slowly, the large bulge of the triplets making her a bit off balance, then hurried across the room to wrap her arms around Honey in a big hug. “There are no words to thank you,” she said, her voice hoarse with sudden tears.

  “That you and the babies are all fine is all the thanks I need,” Honey replied, carefully returning Saige’s hug.

  Saige released her and stepped back, her eyes wet but otherwise composed. “Come in and sit down.”

  “I was hoping you wouldn’t mind if I checked on the babies,” Honey said as she followed Saige across the room.

  “Oh, no, I don’t mind at all,” Saige said. “Would you like to go into the bedroom?”

  “Here is fine, if that’s all right with you,” Honey said. “If you can lie down on the sofa and just relax, that’ll work.”

  “Okay,” Saige agreed, veering toward the sofa.

  “I can tell you right now that your sons are comfortable and happy,” Honey said, sensing the infants without effort as she usually did whenever she was near a pregnant woman. “I’m sure that means they’re fine, but I’d like to check a little more closely.”

  “Whatever you want, we will do,” Faron said as he helped Saige off with her shoes. Honey smiled at the big, blue haired man. She vaguely remembered him from the other day, but she’d been too focused on Saige to notice much else.

  Honey knelt on the floor beside the sofa and placed her hands lightly on Saige’s stomach. She closed her eyes and went still. After a few moments, she smiled.

  “Hello, little ones,” she said softly. “I’m so glad that you’re all feeling better now.” She fell silent, listening. “No, there is no need to fear. It will not happen again,” she said. “You are safe and need do nothing but rest and grow so you can come out and meet your parents. They love you so much, and look forward to meeting all of you. Sleep now, rest and grow strong.”

  Faron looked on as Honey spoke with their sons, the emotion clogging his throat too big and too intense to breathe around for a moment. They were so grateful to this woman for saving the lives of their unborn children that it could not be put into words. He knew only that should anyone, man or woman, ever cause Honey Davis harm or sorrow, they would have to answer to the full power of Clan Lobo for it.

  Honey lifted her hands from Saige’s stomach and smiled at her. “Don’t wo
rry, they are perfectly well,” she said. “They remember the pain and are a little afraid of it returning, but the memory is fading. They are relaxed and safe now, and will soon forget.”

  “When you talk to them, do they understand you?” Saige asked.

  “No, not exactly,” Honey replied. “Talking helps me to focus the ideas and emotions I to send to them. They understand that, and that’s how they communicate to me. It’s basic, really, though I admit your sons and Hope’s daughters seem more advanced than any other babies I’ve communicated with.”

  “If we send calming, happy thoughts to them, do you think they would pick up on them?” Faron asked.

  “Absolutely,” Honey replied. “They easily pick up on anger and fear because those are strong emotions and people generally project them very intensely. Unfortunately, most people don’t project happier feelings like comfort and peace.”

  “We shall have to work on that, then,” Faron said with a smile.

  Saige started to sit up, but Doc stopped her. “Just hang on there for a moment,” he said, taking Honey’s place as she stood up and moved out of the way. “I’d like to take a quick look at you now.”

  “All right, Doc,” Saige agreed. “But just so you know, Jareth was here earlier and said there is no trace of the poison left.”

  “Of course there isn’t,” Doc said as he checked Saige’s temperature, blood pressure, pulse. “You’re a Jasani. Why would there be?”

  Saige shook her head as he continued to check her vitals. If he believed what he was saying, why was he checking her? But that was Doc. It was always better to let him do what he was intent on doing rather than arguing with him.

  “I agree with Jareth,” Doc said finally. “You’re just fine.”

  “Thanks, Doc,” Saige said, sitting up on the sofa with a little help from Faron. “Now, if you two don’t mind, I’d like a moment to speak with Honey alone.”

  “Of course, amada,” Faron said, leaning down to press a kiss to her forehead. “I will not be far, should you need me.”

  “This much, I know,” Saige said, her eyes sparkling at him. Faron laughed, then left the room with Doc, leaving Honey and Saige alone.