by A. C. Katt
“Stop behaving as an offspring,” Jonal growled in sync.
“Flagen,” Tonas began in a tentative tone.
“I know, Tonas. Bane’s dead. I felt it on the way over here,” Flagen responded. “I didn’t realize what had happened back then until last night. I owe both of you an explanation. I’ve read it happens sometimes with fraternal twins when one is Hi-Psi and the other is low or null. Bane was my BondMate. It was an abomination. I begged my fathers to send me away from it, from him. I was wrong, it was cowardly to run. I left him to deal with it on his own. Perhaps if I had stayed, he would not have warped so badly.
''I was fortunate, the honored son. My father’s paid for a permanent mind lock. Some years later, when I came back home, the femspring was murdered and all the evidence pointed to me. I knew who set me up, but to save my brother and salvage my honor, I begged to be scanned. The mind lock was a family secret. I didn’t even remember I had it. It was too late for the fathers to intervene. I was…damaged. Later, Bane was able to complete the Bond without my consent and in doing so, he manipulated me into a mental breakdown. I felt like I no longer had a tether, our fathers cut me off in disgust, he was all I had left.
''He used me ever since, even convincing me I had a bond with Tonas, when all it was and would ever be was a solid friendship. Something popped last night. My block disappeared and I knew what I had to do.
''I apologize, Jonal for being too willing to believe a lie. I owe you that much. The other crimes of which I stand accused, I swear I had no knowledge of what he did. But ignorance is no excuse. As for Bane, he was destined to flame out. He was flawed from the beginning.” Flagen stopped speaking and closed his eyes, holding himself together.
“Can we do…” Jonal spoke up, placing his hand on Flagen’s shoulder.
“There is nothing to be done now but to get Tonas’s ass onto the transport and to Anya to fuss over. I’ll see him to your quarters and return to help out here. I’m sure you have duty, that is if you trust me to do this for you both,” Flagen answered with dignity.
Tonas watched Jonal and hoped that he would give Flagen back this bit of trust. Tonas knew Flagen and knew what this whole affair had cost the very private man.
“You take him,” Jonal replied. “This way he doesn’t sneak out from under a doctor’s care. Make sure Anya knows he’s not to put weight on the leg.”
Tonas and Flagen both smiled. Tonas laughed and said, “Jonal, I think she’d know, she is a doctor.”
Jonal blushed, and took out his comm.”He yelled, “Bridge, report!” as Flagen wheeled Tonas toward transport.
* * * *
Tonas braced himself as transport came to a rough stop. The power system was in flux since Engineering took the hit. The backup systems were functional and the main system had returned, however, intermittent power surges caused spot outages. Flagen drove the stretcher with expertise. They headed down the corridor to the quarters where Anya and the Beast were waiting. The lighting dimmed for the third time.
“Use the manual override to gain entry,” Tonas told Flagen. “Anya knows we are coming.” Just to be certain, Tonas pulled the comm unit, he patched into shipboard communications and connected to Quarters. “Anya,” he said.
“Tonas, is that you? Are you okay?”
“Okay?” Tonas asked puzzled.
Flagen touched his shoulder. “Okay is American slang for fine.”
“Yes, Anya, I'm okay. We are in the corridor approaching Quarters. Please open the entrance. Flagen is here. He’ll help me to the slumber chamber.”
“Opening the entry now,” Anya replied. Tonas could see her petite frame down the end of the corridor standing by the door, waving her hand.
“She is a feisty fem,” Flagen commented. “Is she hard to handle?”
“No one handles Anya.” She doesn’t take well to handling. Fems are wonderful, but unpredictable. Earthen Fems are even more so. You grapple with the cultural differential as well as the chromosomal issues. It’s challenging, a constant balancing act.” Here Tonas stopped and his face lit up, “Anya’s smile is worth the frustration. We are well pleased. The Goddess is good to us.”
Anya came running down the corridor and began to examine Tonas even as Flagen pushed the stretcher toward home. The gleeful fem was replaced in a flash by the expert physician. She shot Flagen a litany of questions. Tonas allowed himself to close his eyes.
“Tonas, you need to help us get you onto the bed.” Tonas opened his eyes. Anya was speaking to him. He looked around, he was in Quarters. Flagen and Anya were standing over him and it was obvious they needed his cooperation. Anya spoke again, “Tonas, stay still. We are going to shift you over to the bed, using the sheet. When you get into the bed, we’ll turn you and remove the stained bedding. On the count of three. One…two…three.”
“Aghhha,” Tonas groaned. He needed a painkiller and some stims to help Jonal take care of the ship. “Flagen, leave Anya some painkillers and stim shots. I have to be able to function if I’m needed.”
“Like hell you will, Tonas. I am your doctor as well as your wife and you are staying in that bed where you belong,” Anya said in a take-no-prisoners tone.
“Flagen, that’s an order. Leave the med sticks.” Tonas turned to Anya, “Pa Channa, I know you are frightened to see me wounded. We are at war in the middle of a crisis. My honor demands that duty precedes comfort. The painkillers and stims are precautionary. I will not use them unless it is absolutely necessary.”
“You promise?” Anya questioned.
Tonas grinned. His tough physician had a femspring pout that pushed her lower lip out. When she was anxious or needy, she worried the lip with her teeth, just as she did now. “It will be okay, Anya, I promise.”
“Tonas?” Flagen interrupted. “I need to get back to Engineering. I need to use your unit to comm the Admiral and see if he needs me to bring anything down.”
“Keep it, Flagen. Anya has a unit in Quarters. We will only need one.”
Flagen turned to leave the room. A loud ''Merrrrow'' and a flying leap heralded Tigger’s entrance to the slumber chamber. Flagen, startled, moved closer to the bed. Tigger jumped up and nonchalantly strolled across the golden sheet to a position where he could observe Flagen, Anya, and Tonas. He picked up his paw and began to wash, taking the time to dig between the pads and pull at the nails, unveiling sharpened sheaths.
Flagen reached for the comm. Tonas handed it over and Flagen headed again toward the door. Tigger hissed. Flagen stopped in his tracks. Flustered, he turned to Anya, “Your Beast has never been one of my proponents.” Tigger jumped down from the bed and placed himself between Flagen and the door. Stepping closer to Flagen he purred around his legs. When Flagen attempted to leave the room, Tigger hissed. Flagen looked at Tonas and said, “Stern is wrong. This Beast is sentient. What is he trying to tell me?”
::Not to leave, you idiot!:: Tonas sat up abruptly, pushing pillows and sheets out of the way.
“I heard that,” Tonas said.
“Jesus, Mary and Joseph, so did I.”
Flagen stood still and asked in a forthright manner, “What did it say?” Tonas looked at Flagen, his expression incredulous. “It was obvious, it said something. It was directed to me. What did it say?” Flagen sighed in obvious exasperation. “The fact that it mindspeaks is not as important as the fact that it broke its silence right now. What the Beast is saying has to be vital to our mission. What did it say?”
“Tigger said that you shouldn’t leave Quarters,” Tonas replied. The beating he took in Engineering must have affected his thought process because for once, Flagen was right. How the Beast communicated was not as important as why. The Quarters lights dimmed. He heard metal scraping metal. “Anya, hand me those painkillers and stims; we’re being boarded. Flagen, get Jonal on the comm unit.”
“Anya, you and I are going to the StarRoom.” Tonas took a stim stick out of Anya’s shaking hands and stuck it in his calf and thigh. Replicate a hard ca
st for this leg, Flagen. I’ll speak to Jonal.” Tonas then injected one of the painsticks. Flagen handed him the comm.
“Tonas here. Has the Bridge reported? Fuck. Anya, take Tigger and move to the storage area. Place yourself behind the boxes from your apartment. Flagen, we need to guard the doors to Quarters until Jonal makes it up from Engineering. Ready, on my signal. Go.”
Anya grabbed Tigger and scampered through the her dressing area and into the small storage space.
Flagen he ran back to the chamber holding a plasticene cast molded to custom fit Tonas' leg and provide his wound with support while allowing him joint flexibility. While Tonas affixed the cast to his leg, Flagen built a barrier between the living area and the entrances to the storage area. He made the pathway difficult for a Zyptz soldier to transverse; but easy for a slightly built Earthen fem. Tonas stood, his leg held his weight. He felt, rather than saw, Tigger at his feet. The Beast moved with stealth toward the doors to the Bridge. Tonas reached for the laser safe, withdrawing several weapons; checking their settings. Space battles were, of necessity, fought with less powerful weapons. You couldn’t blast away at your opponent without damaging your ship and rendering it unable to support life. Weapons needed to be calibrated to the smallest possible target so as not to damage the ship and risk life support systems.
It was frustrating because the lower laser setting was not as effective against the insectoid shell of the enemy soldier. You needed to aim for the soft underbelly. It took overwhelming force to outgun and overcome the Zyptz and that was something he didn’t possess at the moment. The comm unit vibrated against his thigh.
“Tonas here.” He motioned to Flagen and tapped the comm unit. “Jonal, Bridge reports twenty Zyptz came up by way of the lightslip cargo bay. Four got through, two in the corridor, two in the StarRoom. Can you hold the position until we can reinforce?”
“I’ll have to. I can’t leave you alone. You don’t behave without me to curb you.”
Jonal forced a laugh and answered. “Tell Flagen I’m counting on him to keep you and Anya safe.”
“I’ll do my damn best, sir,” Flagen answered before Tonas could speak.
A blast shot through the door. It shook the room and sent Tonas’s comm unit to skate across the floor. Flagen pushed Tonas behind a barrier and placed himself between the lounger and the corridor. The comm unit lay out in the open. Flagen crouched low, below the line of fire and reached for the comm. He aimed at the StarRoom door and picked off the first of the four. “Tonas, you okay?” Flagen shouted.
Tonas didn’t have an opportunity to answer before a second hot blast came in from the Command Corridor. It came in long and low hit Flagen in the gut and sent him reeling to the floor. The wound was large and gaping. Flagen shoved a pain stick in his thigh and two more to his side. He did a quick flip from his back onto his stomach and got off two high powered shots, eliminating the two from the corridor. He reached for the comm and gasped. “Tonas, catch.” With the last of his strength he tossed the comm unit to Tonas and heaved his body to block the threshhold between the StarRoom and the Lounge. leaving a trail of blood that traced his route.
The fourth Zyptz pushed through the StarRoom door, tossing Flagen’s body aside.
Tonas retreated to the sleeping chamber. He attempted mindspeech. He didn’t want to give away his position. He cursed under his breath as he heard a second Zyptz join the first, this one from the corridor. He grimaced in pain as he dragged his body toward Anya and the small storage area.
::Jonal, how close are you? Flagen fried two before they took him down. Anya and I are trapped with Tigger in small storage.::
::Fuck, not close enough. Do you have weapons?::
Tonas eyeballed the storage unit. ::Limited,:: he sent back to Jonal, his mindspeech tight.
::Let me see what I can rouse from the Bridge.::
“Saxon, Lunas, report,” Jonal bellowed into the comm.
“We still have two of the twenty that beamed in, the Moonship's Warriors are battling on the lightslip stairs,” Lunas replied.
“Send relief to Admiral Tonas as soon as the Bridge is secure, he is alone in Quarters with Princess Anya holding off two. They are holed up in the small storage between the kitchen and her dressing room,” Jonal said .
“We’re there as soon as we can cut loose, Admiral. You have to do both, Lunas.”
::Tonas, you’re going to have to hold this for us for ten mons, you can do this, for us, for Anya?::
::I’ll fucking try, Firefly, I’ll try.::
* * * *
Mark was able to convey the whole of what he learned from Bane to TeZarron on a piggyback mind link through Juraens on his Psi Link.
Mark began, ::Engineering is a diversion. The target is the Bridge and Quarters. They want the fems and control of the ship.::
Juraens added, ::They also want Mark’s DNA. It seems Bane put his formulae inside Mark’s DNA. Bane is dead. It is no longer a concern. The Bridge is in major trouble and Tonas and Anya are trapped in Quarters with no defense.::
TeZarron ordered, ::Meet me in the escape corridor behind the lightslip stairs. We’ve got to relieve the Bridge.::
Mark used the comm unit to Jonal, ''TeZarron is sending reinforcements to the Bridge, with an ETA of five mons.''
TeZarron met them in the escape corridor almost instantaneously. He brought them to a door secreted behind the stairway. They climbed the stairs, willing the sounds of the dying to slow. They circled around the back of the Zyptz and to Mark’s stupefaction, began to mow the Zyptz down with their psi.
::What the fuck did you just do?:: Mark asked.
::We exterminated an infestation,:: TeZarron replied. ::We have a few with the talent, thank the Goddess, and those of us who have it can only use it in circumstances where a defeat is untenable. It is in you, Mark Stern. You have the honor to control it.::
It took four mots to reach the Bridge. They could not use the psi again in front of witnesses and most of their psi energy would need time to recoup. Here, the battle was physical. Here, Mark was at home.
* * * *
Tonas and Anya could hear the Zyptz tossing the Quarters, they were looking for something.
Tigger nosed at one of the boxes containing Anya’s belongings. She hissed at him. “Quiet, you’ll get us killed.”
::Ant-Roach spray, NOW!::
Without thinking Anya responded to the command and grabbed “the bomb.” She had several cans. She didn’t have much of a problem since she got Tigger, but she picked up a can every so often, just in case. She shoved one at Tonas, placed his finger on the trigger and said, ::Spray this.::
::What? Are you losing it, Pa Channa?::
::The cat says use the spray. Has he been wrong yet?::
Tonas grabbed the can. His laser was useless in such a small space. If this gave them a few parsecs it would be enough. It would have to be.
::Anya, My Light, I love you both. I even like the Beast, just so you know.::
They heard the Zyptz shoving the barricades from both sides of the small room.
::Tonas, we are in the corridor, hold them off. One parsec and we’ll have them.::
The Zyptz broke through. Anya started spraying the foul stuff like a mad woman. Tonas followed her lead. It seemed to slow them down. He got off a single shot from his laser and winged one. Anya kept spraying.
From out of nowhere, Tigger leapt into the air, claws extended, fangs exposed. He tore into the belly of the injured Zyptz. Anya continued to spray and Tonas joined her. Just as the cans ran out of juice, Jonal arrived with Mark, Juraens, and TeZarron.
The second Zyptz fell, but remained alive. Tigger casually clawed out its belly and moved over to his dish dipping his claws in water as if in distaste.
* * * *
TeZarron shouted to Jonal, “Get Anya and Tonas out of here, this chemical is not safe for living things.”
The remainder of the rescue party remained to do a mop-up.
Later, back in
the Medical Lab, Juraens and Mark lay in each other’s arms and spoke about the day.
“You never told me you were dealing with roaches,” Mark said to Juraens.
Juraens shrugged, “We call them Zyptz.”
“The ones are earth are not the size of a humanoid. I need to think about this. In an eye blink, Mark the Warrior became Dr. Mark Stern, the scientist.
Juraens watched his BondMate in wonder. Pulling Mark closer he sent, ::Beloved, the Goddess has kissed my hand. Somewhere lies our fem and she must be as magnificent as you.::
Anya, Jonal, and Tonas found refuge in the Command Quarters of the White Moonship. Single Warriors protected those in Triad and no Triad was lost to the enemy. There were, however, many causalities. The Brightstar would be mourning its dead. Yet, the mission was a success, all of the fems survived.
Brightstar and the Fleet limped into Sarran space without fanfare.
Casualties were the first transported to the surface. They were followed by the WarriorPairs in Triad. Single Warriors followed their Bonded brethren. The fems disembarked, followed by command.
The high-pitched voice of his offspring hit TeZarron’s ear as soon as his foot hit Sarran soil. “Papa, you brought my new mommy, over there.” Nafer pointed in the direction of the fems. Then Nafer turned and ran to a startled Anya, who reached to pick him up, “You are my mommy’s friend, and you have a baby in your belly.”
Tigger looked up at Nafer and purred.
Anya looked out at her new home. So much to learn, so many new challenges to face; but with the help of her mates anything was possible. Anya did have a baby in her belly and Anya, Jonal, and Tonas had the first child of EarthClan born on Sarran.
THE END
ABOUT A.C. KATT
A.C. Katt was born in New York City’s Greenwich Village. She remembers sitting at the fountain in Washington Square Park listening to folk music while they passed the hat. At nine, her parents dragged her to New Jersey where she grew up, married, raised four children, and became a voracious reader of romantic fiction. At one time she owned over 2,000 novels, until she and her husband took themselves and the cat to New Mexico for their health and its great beauty.
