by Rachel Clark
“I often wonder why he didn’t marry a couple of women. He’s certainly got a personality women respond to.”
“Perhaps now that the marriage laws have been changed, you, Jax and Baylen might consider claiming a mubella of your own.”
Tosh grinned. “Only if you’re the one we’re claiming.”
“As if,” she said, shoulder bumping him the way she’d seen other Desconian friends do. She really hoped it hid her sudden fluster. Tosh was only joking. He, Baylen, and Jax were just her friends. Just friends. She wasn’t a good candidate for a mubella, and she wouldn’t hurt any of them by seeming to want more.
Now if she could only stop herself from dreaming it.
* * * *
Jax came into the door of his apartment and smiled at the laugher he could hear coming from the kitchen. For years he’d believed his life with Baylen and Tosh was absolutely perfect, but Jenelle had become such an integral part of their homelife that he could barely imagine life without her.
It made him think about things he hadn’t considered in a very long time.
“Good news,” Tosh said as Jax stepped into the kitchen. Considering the general direction of his thoughts, he felt confused for just a moment. Tosh smiled and reached over to cover Jenelle’s hand with his own. “Jenelle has decided to get the scars on her back fixed.”
“That’s great news,” Jax said after a slight hesitation. Baylen gave him a strange look, but neither Tosh nor Jenelle seemed to notice. “Have you made the appointments?”
“I have,” Tosh said, sounding maybe a little smug. When Jenelle had finally let them see the awful scars, it had only been to try and convince them that they weren’t all that bad. Several of them had left deep gouges, the rest were stark white lines against her pale skin, but far from convincing them to back off it had made them more determined than ever to help her. She’d been punished for something that she should never have been punished for. Carrying the scars would always overshadow any sexual compulsion she might feel. That simply wasn’t acceptable.
“When?” It was probably a little silly, especially considering that she knew Tosh and Baylen far better than she knew him, but he wanted to be there for her.
“Day after tomorrow.”
He grinned. He had a security briefing that morning but the rest of the day off. He was about to offer to accompany her but then hesitated when he realized that Jenelle probably wouldn’t need or want him there. Tosh was a doctor and Baylen a close friend. Surely she’d prefer either of them.
But Baylen did what he always did—read him easily.
“Would it be possible to get the afternoon off, Jax? As I understand it, Jenelle will need plenty of rest afterward, and since I’ll be busy creating a masterpiece dinner to celebrate, it would be really handy to have you around to help.”
“Not a problem,” Jax said with a soft smile for Baylen. “I already have the afternoon off.”
“Perfect,” Tosh said.
“I don’t want to cause a fuss,” Jenelle whispered, looking concerned. The woman seemed embarrassed, but he wasn’t sure it translated to not wanting him around when she was recovering. Unfortunately he wasn’t certain that the opposite was true either. But again Baylen seemed to understand far more than Jax did.
“Nonsense. It’s not a fuss. We’re your friends. This is what friends do.”
And just as Jax was beginning to worry that she might deny them the chance to help, she gave him a sweet smile and nodded.
* * * *
“Sorry, sweetheart,” Tosh said as he shook Jenelle gently, “but duty calls.”
She’d slept well for the past several weeks, the nightmares almost gone since the procedure to remove the scars on her back. Just the decision to move past what had happened on Earth seemed to have helped Jenelle get a decent night’s sleep. Unfortunately, she’d started suggesting now the nightmares were gone that perhaps she should move back to her room in the compound. None of them wanted her to go, but they were fast running out of excuses.
It annoyed him to have to wake her from a peaceful slumber, but as always she roused quickly, sitting up in bed to look at him. “How many?”
He grimaced, almost too overwhelmed by the numbers to say it out loud. Whatever was happening on Earth was getting worse. “Six ships with nearly a thousand passengers each.”
“What?” she exclaimed as she threw the covers back and started dragging on clothes. “Do we know anything about them?”
“Only that they left Earth by choice.” Unlike the creepy traffickers who’d been trying to sell expelled human women to Descon authorities, these six ships seemed to be refugees seeking safe harbor. She glanced at Jax and Baylen, who were also pulling on their clothes. “They’ve called many of the royal guard in to assist with security.” He glanced over and gave Baylen an affectionate smile. “Bay is going to stick to you like glue just in case Jax and I get pulled away.”
She looked like she might protest—she’d been doing this for months without a personal bodyguard, and Katarnia’s staff were well trained—but this time there were simply too many unknown people to deal with. Just because a ship said it was full of refugees, that didn’t make it so. With Earth and Descon having a long history of political differences, it wasn’t beyond the realms of possibility that someone might decide to target the planet offering refuge to displaced humans.
They managed to get ready quickly and thanks to Jax’s status as a royal guard made it to the spaceport in record time. Katarnia looked relieved to see her.
“What have we got?” Jax asked immediately.
“More than we can handle, unfortunately,” she said and then quickly filled them in on the details.
Chapter Five
“Men, women, and children?” Jenelle asked as Katarnia’s explanation finally began to sink in. “Actual families?”
“We’re not sure,” Katarnia said as she led them to the only ship they’d allowed to land on the planet so far. The rest remained in synchronous orbit and were being closely monitored by the planet’s security. “Many seem to have been the victims of abuse. None on this ship have language translators implanted. We can’t even figure out if they came here on purpose or arrived accidentally.”
Baylen slipped his hand into Jenelle’s, squeezing lightly as they stepped into the cargo bay of a ship that seemed barely spaceworthy. She held his hand tightly, grateful for the silent reminder that she wasn’t alone. Jax and Tosh flanked them, as did several other guards, but it was the fear and misery that seemed to have soaked into the deck plating that had her heart pounding like she’d run a marathon.
Many of the inhabitants cringed in fear as they passed, but one young woman stood her ground. Hoping that she was their best chance to get some answers, Jenelle touched Jax’s arm and indicated where she wanted to go. He nodded in approval and let her lead the way. Grateful for his understanding of the situation—the woman would likely have been terrified if she’d been confronted by such a large man—Jenelle didn’t miss the fact that he stayed close enough to dive in front of her if things became dangerous.
“Hi, I’m Jenelle,” she said, hoping that the woman was calm enough to realize she was speaking the standard Earth language.
“Ally,” she said, keeping her eyes on Jenelle and seeming to ignore—by sheer force of will—the guards and other men standing around them.
“Ally, can you tell me what’s happening here? How did you come to be on this ship?”
“I paid for my passage,” she said, sounding a little bit defensive. “They told us there was a chance at a better life on Descon.”
“That’s true,” Jenelle said with a soft smile, hoping it really was still true. With the massive number of people on the ships that had just arrived, it was possible that things were about to change. Human women were welcomed because of their ability to produce healthy offspring, but she had no idea how the authorities were going to react to human men and actual families.
Katarnia leaned ov
er and very quietly whispered a question into her ear. Jenelle quickly translated it for Ally. “Can you tell us who you paid? Was it a single person? Or perhaps a business or group of people?”
“We had to pay cash as we boarded the ship.” She glanced around the area as if confirming in her own mind what she was about to say. “I can’t see any of them on board. I don’t think they actually got on the ship before we lifted off.”
“Are you alone, Ally?” Jenelle asked quietly, concerned for the woman who seemed underfed and, despite her courage, achingly vulnerable. She shook her head, but it wasn’t until she took a step back that Jenelle realized there was a young child sleeping in the pile of clothing on the ground behind her. “Yours?”
“He stays with me,” she said sharply. “He’s my son. He stays with me. I won’t let you take him.”
“It’s okay. No one is going to take your son, Ally,” Jenelle said, absolutely meaning it as a promise. Too many human parents abandoned their children on Earth. There was no way Jenelle was going to let this woman be separated from her child, no matter what the Desconian authorities might try to say on the matter. “This is Tosh. He’s a good friend of mine and a doctor. Will you let him implant a language translator? It would be just like the one I have.” She swept her hair back and showed the woman the small disc implanted under the skin behind her ear. “It takes only a few minutes and will let you understand the Desconian language.”
“Does it hurt?”
“No,” Jenelle said, remembering the procedure she’d had done many months ago. “Tosh, is it safe enough to implant it here?”
Tosh glanced around the area and nodded his head. “It’s not ideal conditions, but it shouldn’t be a problem as long as I can set up a sterile area.”
* * * *
Hours later Baylen still held Jenelle’s hand in his own, partly as comfort for her and partly for himself. The stories that the passengers were telling seemed to get worse with each one. Tosh and Jax had been called away but were thankfully still in the same cargo bay. Jenelle had only managed to speak to a small percentage of the people aboard this ship, but it seemed pretty obvious that someone on Earth was taking advantage of desperate people. Some of the amounts paid by the refugees had been staggering, but they’d found three among them who had paid almost nothing. Apparently, even people-smugglers had the occasional bout of conscience.
One such case had been a young girl still battered and bruised by a vicious attack, yet she’d stood ready to protect a child even younger than herself. The other had been a young man too injured to communicate very well. Tosh had sedated him and had him moved to a medical ward for fluids and observation.
“I’ve called several of the human women who arrived on the same ship as Jenelle,” Katarnia said to Baylen as Jenelle spoke to yet another woman covered in bruises. “They’re on their way here with their partners. They’ll be able to take over for a while. Why don’t you take Jenelle home? Maybe get her to sleep some.”
He nodded his head, wanting nothing more than to take Jenelle away from such awful suffering. “Is it always like this?” he asked quietly.
“Mostly,” Katarnia said as she nodded. “Just not usually on such a large scale.” She glanced around the room, despair crossing her face for a moment before she dragged the professionalism common to a royal guard back into place. “I think it’s a fairly safe bet that the other five ships are full of similar stories.” One of the soldiers called her over. She nodded and took a step in his direction but turned back to reiterate her suggestion. “Take Jenelle home for a while. She’ll do no good if she works herself into exhaustion.”
Baylen wanted to follow Katarnia’s suggestion, but it was obvious that Jenelle wouldn’t leave until she’d either spoken to everyone or collapsed from fatigue. It was at least another hour before he talked her into taking a break. He’d signaled Jax, waved to Tosh on the way past, and practically carried the woman out to the cafeteria and other food stalls just outside the spaceport. It wasn’t until he got into the fresh air that he noticed how badly his head ached.
Jenelle ate quickly, her extra-large human-style coffee disappearing at a rapid rate.
“Are you okay?” he asked, wanting to help but not entirely certain how to go about it.
“Yes and no,” she said with a brief smile. “They’re here, so I know they have a chance at a better life. I’m just worried how the people of Descon are going to react to the male passengers. As far as I know a human male has never applied to immigrate to Descon. Up until now all of the ships have been filled with women. How is the Desconian Fertility Council going to react to human couples? Especially the ones with children?”
“I don’t know,” Baylen said, sharing her fear. “What about you?”
“What about me?” she asked, seeming confused.
“Aren’t you worried how this might affect you? Tosh told me you’ve been here nearly a full Earth year and haven’t yet found suitable Desconian partners.”
“I’ll be okay,” she said convincingly. He might almost have believed her confidence if he hadn’t noticed the involuntary shiver.
“Why aren’t you married?” Even though he understood it was none of his business, he really wanted to know the answer. It was obvious that she was smart, caring, and protective of the people around her. She’d make a wonderful mother. Why hadn’t any of the Desconian couples she’d surely been introduced to wanted to keep her?
She gave him a sad smile, and for a moment he thought she was going to give him some sort of nonanswer. Instead, she took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and confessed, “I’m pretty sure I can’t have children.”
“Pretty sure?” he asked. “Have you spoken to Tosh about it?”
“Sort of,” she said with a lopsided half smile. “I was worried about what the Desconian Fertility Council might do if they found out, so I didn’t want any medical attention. Tosh told me that it would be okay, but”—she glanced around as if there might be someone listening in to their conversation—“with the new arrivals, I don’t think anyone can predict what might happen.”
“Marry us,” Baylen said impulsively. She blinked in surprise but didn’t say anything. “Seriously.” He reached for her hand. “Marry me and Tosh and Jax. That way if you are infertile you’ll already be bonded to a Desconian marriage and the authorities can’t do a thing about it.”
She smiled, her eyes filling with tears as she said, “I can’t ask you to do that. And besides, I reckon Tosh and Jax might want to have a say in that decision.”
“So we’ll talk to them. Explain the situation.”
“Bay,” she said, reaching over to touch his face with her warm hand, “what happens when you want to start a family? You’ll be lumped with a marriage of convenience to a barren woman.”
“We never planned to have children,” he said, wondering if that was still true. With the changes to the marriage laws on Descon, the thought of having a mubella and offspring had crossed his mind a time or two. They hadn’t really been serious thoughts, but it did make him wonder if Tosh and Jax had perhaps considered the same things.
She shook her head as if she could see the doubts in his eyes.
“What if you can have children?” he asked. “What if the problem is something easily fixed?”
She shook her head, silently dismissing his questions. “Baylen, you’re very sweet to offer, but I’ll be okay.”
He nodded and reluctantly dropped the subject.
Chapter Six
Katarnia looked exhausted, but she wore a happy smile. The reason for that became rather obvious as Tosh stepped into her office and found one of her husbands, Luddeke, sitting on the sofa with their hugely pregnant wife, Deanna, asleep beside him.
Deanna was one of his favorite patients and rather unique. Not only was she the reason the kings had changed the marriage laws to include quad relationships, but she’d surprised her husbands, her wife, her doctors, and nearly everyone else on the planet when they’d
discovered she was having triplets. On a planet where a single pregnancy was a major cause for celebration, someone who could have three babies at once was a celebrity.
“How’s she doing?” Tosh asked.
“She tires easily, but otherwise she’s doing well.” Luddeke touched her belly lightly, smoothing over a little lump at the side which was most likely one of the babies’ knees. “I’m not sure she’s going to be able to go another two months, though.”
Tosh nodded in agreement. He had Deanna coming in for a checkup every four days, but perhaps it was time for him to see her more often. Every pregnancy carried risks, but with triplets his concerns were magnified.
“I thought it might be a good idea for me to drop by each day.”
“A doctor who makes house calls?” Luddeke asked with a smart-ass grin. “I didn’t think those still existed.”
Tosh smiled and shrugged. “Wait till you get my bill.” Luddeke and Katarnia both grinned at his joke. In his position with the Desconian Fertility Council he was specifically hired to take care of the human women both before and after they became pregnant. He was paid a salary, so technically there weren’t any bills for the humans or their partners to pay.
“You wanted to see me?” he asked as he turned his attention to Katarnia and took the seat in front of her desk.
Katarnia’s smile faltered, and she glanced at her sleeping wife before getting up and closing the door to her office. “What I tell you stays in this room,” she said as she leaned against the front of her desk.
Tosh nodded, not liking the serious turn to their conversation.
“As you know, the kings are under pressure to start placing restrictions on the immigration of humans to Descon. The ships that arrived last week appear to be just the first wave of refugees. We’ve had reports of many more on the way.”
