“The King,” Dana reminded, “their King is Augustus Kaelin King, my brother…well, one of my brothers.”
Kieran tapped the display controls and the image shifted to Tonner III.
Dana reacted immediately, recognizing the spaceport.
“Watch,” Kieran said.
“That’s Seraph as I was coming in for a landing,” Dana commented.
“Pause...” Kieran ordered and the image froze. “And that’s Kal-King directly below Seraph in Bay 95.” He looked her way. “Kal-King emitted a coded message — a string of numbers — a sequence we believe that was aimed at Seraph.”
Dana nodded.
“Resume.”
The incoming shuttle descended and the image changed. Seraph settled on the bay and all the landing lights glowed green. Then the ship exploded, the blast from the rear propelling debris forward.
Dana winced, seeing her body ejected from the craft and bouncing upon the sandy bay amid a shower of debris.
“These images are from a security camera that Spaceport Commissioner Stevenson withheld during the hearing and investigation. Just as a side note, Ambassador Taurian apparently borrowed a large sum from Crown Enterprises and was unable to repay it. He was a confirmed, ‘yes’ vote on this treaty being discussed at the conference, that would ban all cloning and experimentation on non-allied worlds species. Xal believes he was eliminated to prevent him from voting.”
“The case against Hawk and Heskar is circumstantial,” Dana countered. “How can you prove that the code triggered a bomb? T-III had terrible crash investigation and recovery protocols. Believe me, I know.”
“We are conducting a full investigation into Ambassador Reeves’ situation, too. He also was a confirmed ‘yes’ on the treaty and fell ill just before departure — canceling his trip.”
“Reeves sent me a package. I think it’s still in the cargo bay aboard Katana, unopened,” Prince Korwin interrupted.
“We may want to inspect it.” Kieran added, “Now, a Tresgan named Task shows up with an Alphan shuttle and demands admission to the conference — a shuttle that happens to be registered to Crown Enterprises, acquired from a scrap heap, allegedly, from Station Four — with a home port of Polaris-Station Three — although it still shows up on Four’s inventory as space worthy with the certification by Cartwright, Commander Dana J.”
She scowled. “That was years ago — before I retired. And it was certified space-worthy. Mackenna flew it with no problems and I repaired the autopilot myself. I took it to Scanlos with Doctor Calagura.”
“Exactly!” Kieran exclaimed.
Prince Korwin chuckled. “So, my father’s retired shuttle, Trident, is now registered to Station Three, but it’s here in the hands of an uninvited Tresgan delegation and registered to Crown Enterprises. This is fascinating!” He turned to Dana. “I loved that ship.”
“First one I ever flew,” she reminded him with a sigh.
“Legally, can you confiscate it, Commodore?” Prince Korwin wondered.
“McHale and Xalier are investigating the legality of such a step as we...”
The red alert klaxon sounded once again.
Prince Korwin rose, suddenly pale and upset. “Micah!”
Over the intercom came McHale’s voice. “We’ve registered an explosion aboard Katana. No casualties... Princess Micah assures that...”
Dana, Kieran and Prince Korwin were already heading to a MAT station.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Korwin pulled his life-mate into his arms, protectively shielding her, as the security officers from Katana fanned out about them. Smudged with smoke, Princess Micah’s flowing, white robe was now gray.
Dana suggested they all be tested for smoke inhalation and led the way to sickbay.
Serge checked over the men, while Prince Korwin and Dana fussed over the Princess.
“I am fine,” Micah promised, “and I was able to contain the explosion.”
Dana reached out to take up the Princess’ mitten hand. “Your Highness, the baby...”
“He’s fine,” Princess Micah assured, squeezing Dana’s fingers with a gentle touch. “How did you know?”
“Princess Shalee told me.”
Prince Korwin ran a scan on the baby just to be certain. Dana locked eyes with the Princess, who smiled back at her. Even with the N-link, Dana could empathetically detect deep emotions.
“Can you give us some details?” The Prince demanded of the men.
The consensus was something in the luggage bay exploded.
“I suggest that Princess Micah remain aboard Thresher for the duration of the conference,” Dana said.
“I suggest you all stay here until an investigation is complete,” Kieran countered. “In fact, I insist. Your Highness?”
“Yes, I concur,” Prince Korwin responded. “Was Captain Acker injured? Where is he?”
None of the men knew for certain.
“I’ll take care of it, Your Highness,” Kieran assured and left the sickbay.
“I’ll see to quarters for you,” Dana offered, going to a viewer and entering a request for a VIP cabin for them, as well as one for herself.
Princess Micah held her husband’s hand, silently communicating with him to reassure. He was not easily consoled.
She changed the subject, We must tell Dana.
My love, he responded, we agreed never to tell.
She is a doctor and she needs to know.
Korwin sighed.
As you wish, my love, Prince Korwin relented as he so often did with his lovely wife. Rest, my love. I will invite her to come. Better if you tell her.
Yes, I agree.
Prince Korwin found Dana in Forward-Nine, sulking over a cup of vegan soup.
“PK…”
“DD…” He smiled, and sank down beside her, ordering a tall, alcoholic beverage made with Alphan tea.
“The years have been kind to you,” Dana observed, though his hair was now totally white, much like his father’s and grandfather’s had been.
He blinked both eyes. “You are kind. No, Dana… The transplanted eye sometimes still troubles me. I should have you check it.”
She nodded readily.
“No, life was very unkind… When my father was murdered, I ached; I was afraid to take his place as an ambassador, and heir to the royal throne. I nearly gave up on being a surgeon. Even my studies as a Master of the Elect failed me. Finally, Ambassador Solon invited me to Galaxea to study with him. There, I overcame the grief. Still, I dreamed of a life-mate.
“And then, I met Micah. Everything changed. She’ll tell you more. She asks to see you.”
“You’re going to have a son,” Dana grinned.
“Hard to believe,” he chuckled. “Me? A father… finally!”
Dana finished her soup. “How did Princess Micah stop the explosion?”
“Micah has a gift; she is a gift. Visit her and you will see.” He patted the back of her hand.
They didn’t often touch, because of his very strong telepathic abilities. The N-link masked some of his emotions; and his Mastery techniques blocked the rest.
Dana smiled to her dear friend, got up, and went to the VIP stateroom, tapping on the door and announcing herself.
“Please come in,” Princess Micah invited.
From the bed in the adjoining room, the petite woman motioned for Dana to come and sit upon a chair nearby. “Please forgive me for not rising. I am ordered to bed rest by my doctor husband.”
Dana smiled. “He dotes upon you, Your Highness.”
When their eyes met, Dana felt a flutter of excitement in her stomach, though she could not determine why. The N-Link blocked some of the telepathic and empathetic emotions from the Princess, but not all.
Micah’s beautiful brown eyes were kind. “We are connected. Did you feel it? Just now, even with the N-Link you are wearing?”
Dana wondered how she knew; she decided, since Micah was mated with Korwin, the Princess knew everything
that had transpired.
“You will come to understand,” Micah admitted, settling back amid a mound of bed pillows. “I have your mother’s eyes.”
“I beg your pardon?” Dana’s heart skipped a beat. “My ‘mother’s eyes’?”
Micah nodded. “When I first arrived on Galaxea as a child, my 'host' was totally blind. Solon and his wife, Sharon, raised me with their daughter, Shelby. Her life partner died at a young age, and she never took another. Shelby had no children. Sharon also died quite young.
“When Franklin, your father, became ill and Trin longed to conceive a child by him, Shelby generously offered to be a third-party donor, knowing that Galaxeans and humans were compatible. Ambassador Stone arrange for a genetic experiment.
“Shelby was petite, like you. Her hair, cinnamon, like yours, and her mind, brilliant. She had an incredible gift of photographic memory. Korwin says you have it, too.
“When the labs added Trin’s DNA, and you were conceived in vitro, they thought all was perfect. Many of the geneticists wondered about other such matches. So they cloned from you eleven others; all went well until they altered the Y-chromosome for the boys.”
Dana stared, quite speechless.
“Shelby came to regret her part when she learned that many of the embryos were afflicted with defects, and were ordered to be destroyed. She helped rescue all of the children, with the help of Doctor Kyoko Dey, and pleaded that all the records be sealed. Trin asked the GCE to make it so.
“Shelby met March and April, and the regret eventually caused her to grieve. She took her own life.
“They kept her alive for a very long time using cryonics. A brilliant, young, Alphan surgeon came to Galaxea. He talked about transplanting eyes and restoring sight to the blind. Solon made the decision that my host should have Shelby’s eyes.”
“That surgeon was Korwin,” Dana guessed. “I did his eye transplant when he suffered an injury at the Star Service Academy.”
Micah nodded. “He is a brilliant eye surgeon.”
“So, Solon’s daughter, Shelby, is an egg donor, which makes her my mother.”
“Your Galaxean mother, yes,” Princess Micah assured.
“And Trin? Oh!” Dana gasped, realizing, “Trin is former Master Captain Terrin Hale!”
“She is your Enturian mother.”
Dana saw in Princess Micah’s eyes that it was all true. She deduced, “Korwin wasn’t going to tell me?”
“He believes the quest for answers — the journey — is often more important than the finding.”
“And the disappointment…” Dana couldn’t go on, weeping, overcome with emotion.
Princess Micah reached for her hand to comfort her.
“They all lied to me — all these years. They knew; Solon, Stone, and DOC, they all knew and kept silent, under the misconception of protecting me. All I ever wanted was to know the truth.” Dana hung her head to hide the hot tears.
“Please forgive them. They complied with Shelby’s wishes. She felt shame. She did not want the embryos destroyed, though the males faced serious disabilities.”
“That is not logical,” Dana mumbled.
“Perhaps not, but her social status would have changed, just as Trin’s did. The Master Captain never returned to her home world of Enturize after the assassination attempt, until training with Solon.”
Dana blinked back more tears. “I would have liked to have known Shelby — to have known them both.”
Micah squeezed Dana’s fingers. “I never knew my parents. I never saw my siblings. I was defective because my host was blind. They sold me to a prince, but I refused him as a mate; I ran away. Traditionally, Enturian children never know their parents until adults.” She took back her mitten hand and touched her belly, just barely showing her pregnancy. “Korwin wants our son to know us both.”
“You should rest, Your Highness,” Dana suggested, holding back more tears. “Thank you for telling me the truth.” She offered the Princess a smile before leaving, memorizing her Galaxean mother’s brown eyes.
Though dejected and weary, Dana returned to sickbay to check on Janz Macao one last time before going to find quarters. She forced her expression to be neutral and offered him a pleasant demeanor. “The inflammation is decreasing now. I’m reading one or two areas where the weave may not hold. That may be the cause of your pain. Perhaps tomorrow I’ll try a minor correction.”
Macao accepted the news. “Have you ever thought about returning to medicine? You’re a natural.”
“No, my heart’s not in it,” she stoically returned.
He chuckled, but quickly sobered, “Shalee asks why you’ve been weeping? You always told me you aren’t the weepy female type.”
“I’m not generally, but…” Dana sniffled, unable to keep the tears from her cheeks.
Janz Macao reached out and pulled her by the arm. “What’s wrong?”
“I’ve finally learned the truth about my birth mothers and my siblings. Did you know that the doctor aboard Lancer called me an abomination. So did August. We all are…we’re unnatural. My Galaxean mother was ashamed. It was she that requested that the records be sealed.” Dana buried her face against his chest. “My mother took her own life, regretting what she’d done.”
Macao let her cry, patting her shoulder from time to time.
“You are not an abomination. You are an incredibly talented woman; one of the most successful women I’ve ever known. After all, I let you on my bridge.”
She had to chuckle. “Yes, you did, rather reluctantly as I recall.”
“You are not an abomination. You are not!” He repeated it a few more times until she was able to accept it as truth. “You need some rest. Why not find some quarters and get some sleep.” He gave her hand a squeeze. “I’ll be here.”
Dana let out a weary sigh, brushing the tears from her cheeks with her sleeve. “You’d better be.”
Macao motioned her toward the door.
Ship’s Services assigned Dana a guest cabin on Deck Nine, not far from Nine-Forward. It was half the size of the ambassador’s VIP stateroom, but it would do.
Dana stretched out on the bunk, letting the backpack fall to the deck near her head and shut her eyes, ordering the lights out.
In the quiet, the synchronous rhythm of Thresher’s engines lulled her to sleep.
Kieran stood at his brother’s bedside, updating Janz Macao about the explosion aboard Katana and the latest demand from the Tresgan delegate.
Janz listened, but only to be polite, finally snapping, “I don’t know why you’re telling me all this. Do I look like I can be of any help?”
Kieran groaned. “If you weren’t my brother I’d have you before a court martial board for insubordination.”
Janz laughed outright. “You just try it, Mister.”
Kieran sighed. “You’re right. It’s not your problem; your mission is complete. You succeeded in finding the ‘sokem’ and rescuing them.” He started to walk away.
“K? I know you’ve got a lot of fires needing extinguishing, but Dana desperately needs you, too. If you love her, you’d better show her. She’s hurting.”
Kieran turned his back to his brother, but in his heart knew the advice was sound.
He found the crew cabin assigned to Dana Cartwright, pondering a long moment, deliberating what to do, especially since they’d had that nasty spat on T-III.
When the door slid open and he saw her asleep on the full-sized bunk, still wearing the orange jumpsuit, Kieran smiled. He took a few steps inside, letting the door swoosh closed, leaving him in total darkness.
“Lights ten percent,” he ordered. In that dim light, he kicked off his boots and slid down on the bed beside her, musing, “No coconut oil,” as he gently undid her hair braid.
“Couldn’t find your quarters?” Dana teased softly, snuggling against him.
“Prince Korwin and Princess Micah have them,” he whispered.
She rested her cheek against his chest.
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“Janz told me you needed a hug.”
She shrugged. “I need more than that, but a hug will do.”
Since she didn’t specify what else he might do, he slid his hand up to the nape of her neck attempting to establish a telepathic link. “You’re wearing an N-link,” he muttered, trying to unfasten it.
“Don’t,” she warned.
He reluctantly complied, settling for just holding her close, letting a hefty dose of unconditional love flow through his hands to comfort her, waiting for her to open up.
She didn’t.
“Dana? You can trust me. Please let me help.”
She feigned sleep.
“I know you’re not sleeping,” he whispered, kissing her forehead, caressing her cheek with the fingers of his right hand.
“I need sleep,” she responded. “I’m physically and emotionally exhausted. So are you.”
“You can’t hide forever.”
“I know. I just need a little time to pull myself together. Learning the names of my birth mothers is just…” she fell silent. “Give me some time?”
“You found your birth mothers!” His excitement far surpassed hers, he soon realized.
“You’re disappointed? Why?”
She pulled away. “Kieran, please? Not now… I can’t…”
He heard in her voice the turmoil, in spite of the N-link nullifying her emotions.
To calm, he brought his lips down to hers for a loving kiss. “I’m here for you, my love,” he promised.
She fell asleep soon after. He could not. His own thoughts were a whirlwind of conflicting emotions, duty countering love.
For hours he mulled over plans. Still, he did not know what to do.
After a short doze, Kieran got up from the bed, stripped down naked and used the sonic shower. He had the duplicator produce a fresh uniform, and dressed, affixing his rank to the collar.
When Dana awoke, he returned to the duplicator and ordered a cup of coconut oil so she could condition her hair with it and an extra small uniform tunic and slacks.
Dana Cartwright Mission 3: Kal-King Page 14
