She could be pregnant. She likely was. The meditech would tell her for sure. But she was afraid to get in, afraid to know, because then she would have a decision to make, one the barbarian didn’t know she could make, one she didn’t want to make. Stars, there was no decision to it. She couldn’t go through something as barbaric as giving birth. It was terrifying even contemplating it. Women died. But that was then, centuries ago, a common-sense voice reminded her. Would it be so dangerous now, with the modern advances in the past two hundred years, with a meditech on hand? But there was still the pain. Why should she go through that when Challen didn’t even love her— yet? But she loved him. And he wanted her to have his baby. His baby.
She got into the unit before she lost her nerve, pressing Gen. Ex. before closing herself in. It didn’t even take a half minute before the lid was opening again, her health stats coming across the screen at its base. But she couldn’t look yet. She’d have a printout delivered to her quarters later, when she wasn’t so paranoid about it.
“You might as well look now, kiddo.” Martha’s voice came in over the intercom, making Tedra grab for her heart. “It’s not a word we see every day. I’m surprised I even have it in my data banks, it’s so obsolete.”
“Am I supposed to be a mind reader to know what you’re going around the block about?”
“No, I’m the mind reader around here. You’re the Sec 1 who got herself pregnant. So are you going to have the seedling transferred to a proper container?”
Tedra crossed the room to glare at the viewer on the intercom. “Actually, it’s in its proper container. Tubing is an artificial means we’ve come to accept as the norm, but I’ve been reminded it is artificial.”
“And none of that answered my question. Kystrani don’t bear babies.”
“Sha-Ka’ani do,” Tedra retorted.
“Ah, that’s right, and you’re going to be a Sha-Ka’ani, aren’t you? In fact, you already are, if I can believe everything that barbarian of yours has been telling me. By the way, he just mutilated one of our adjustichairs. He sat down in it, felt it adjusting to his great girth, and thought it was very much alive. He’d hacked it to pieces before I could tell him it was only doing its job.”
“Oh, stop.” Tedra began giggling. “He didn’t do any such thing.”
“He did. Of course, he was properly apologetic afterward, but that didn’t save the poor chair. You should have seen his face, kiddo, when that thing started moving under his backside. I’ve never seen anyone move so fast as he did coming out of that chair.”
Tedra had to hold her sides, she was laughing so hard. “We’re going to have a problem, then, when I take him to bed tonight. It’s going to do a lot of adjusting to accommodate his size.”
“And will you be doing some accommodating for his son?” Martha asked.
Tedra sobered, staring at the viewer in wonder. She hadn’t realized she could learn what it was.
“The unit listed its sex? It’s a boy?”
“Makes it harder, doesn’t it?”
“No.” Tedra grinned. “I’d already decided to keep it. It’ll just be nice knowing something the big guy doesn’t know for a change, if I can keep a secret that long. Stars, how long does it take, anyway, to have a baby?”
Martha got a chance to use her exasperated voice. “Honestly, you’d think I’m supposed to know everything.”
Chapter Forty-three
Tedra was still grinning later when she entered her quarters. She’d located Challen, teased him about killing the furniture, then left him looking disgruntled, yet bewildered that she should know about that when she hadn’t been there. She supposed she ought to warn him that Martha was a busybody who had eyes and ears in every room.
He wouldn’t be joining her for a while, for his warriors were still being Transferred up, and he had his hands full dealing with their different degrees of shock and wonderment, not to mention his own. They’d all been briefed about what to expect, but seeing was believing, and that didn’t even do it for some of them. Fortunately, the warriors would have a few weeks to adjust before they reached Kystran.
Corth was waiting on her. So was her fembair, prowling around and feeling caged in a room so much smaller than it was used to. In the short time she had had him, he’d already grown, and now reached halfway up her legs. At that rate of growth, she was worried about how big he would be by the time the ship landed. But she couldn’t leave him behind. She still had ideas of talking Challen into staying on Kystran with her.
“Has Martha told you what’s going on, Corth?”
“Yes. She suggested I stay out of the way. I am pleased you have accomplished your goals, Tedra De Arr.”
“Yes, well, I suppose getting an army was the hard part. Defeating the Sha-Ka’ari and Crad Ce Moerr ought to be easy after that. Dial me something to eat while I change, will you? You know what I like, but add something tart for dessert—wait a minute. Martha, are you there?”
“Always, doll.”
“Check with Medical about the food, if it’s safe for someone in my condition?”
“It’s safe, but fresh is healthier.”
“But fresh is so—fresh,” Tedra said in disgust. “It bleeds, Martha. And I was looking forward to some normal food.”
“Like I said, it won’t hurt you, but the warriors’ supplies would still be healthier for you.”
“And I suppose you’ll tell Challen that?”
“Certainly.”
“Thanks a lot,” Tedra grumbled, heading for the utility wall to dial the closet.
She made her selection, but frowned when the ship’s uniform came out on the rack, for she’d dialed it automatically. She’d never get away with wearing it, even if she was back in her own territory, so she sent the one-piece suit back and dialed a skirt and blouse. Her humor returned at seeing how really skimpy both pieces were. And while she was at it, she changed her eye and hair coloring to look more Sha-Ka’ani.
She laughed then, picturing how surprised her warrior was going to be when he saw her made over. Her shiny gold-and-black skirt was only about a foot long, in the design of a wide belt, and just barely covered her from hip to mid-thigh. The sleeveless blouse stopped just below her breasts, though the top of it dipped enticingly low and, like the skirt, buckled together. Her hair was as golden as Challen’s and swept up and out of the way in a hair-tail. Her eyes were a soft amber and still filled with laughter when she removed the bathroom walls.
“What is so amusing, Tedra De Arr?” Corth asked, coming up behind her.
“Do I look warriorlike to you?”
“You look like you should be in bed.”
Tedra’s mouth dropped open just before she yelled, “Martha!” but as she might have expected, the troublemaker didn’t answer.
“Was that not an appropriate response?”
“No, Corth, it was not,” Tedra gritted out. “Didn’t Martha tell you that I have a man now, one of the warriors?”
“Yes. Challen is his name.”
“Well, if she told you that, why in the farden hell didn’t she adjust your programming while she was at it?”
“I would not let her.”
“You what?”
“That was a joke.” Corth grinned. “The Martha has given me humor.”
“Oh, the metal lady is having a grand old time experimenting with you, isn’t she? But I don’t like it!”
“You wish my new humor removed?”
“Don’t play dense, babe. You know what I want removed.”
“But my drive to satisfy you will not be a problem, as long as the Challen satisfies you.”
She might have laughed if she weren’t so exasperated. It wasn’t easy arguing with perfect reasoning, but she’d been doing that ever since she’d brought Martha home. But Martha was the one who needed arguing with over this fiasco, not Corth. What could that warped computer be thinking of, to deliberately leave the android in his new, sexually aggressive mode when she knew the situation
with Challen?
“All right, Corth, it’s not your fault.” Tedra moved over to the dining area that had been ordered up, but the several selections waiting for her didn’t look all that tempting just now. “I think I need to work up an appetite, babe. Come and defend yourself. With a full ship, it might be better if we do our workouts in here for the time being, and I’ve missed them.”
The android obliged and Tedra attacked. The fembair ran for cover when the first body hit the floor. Tedra rebounded quickly, grinning. Corth had the strength to demolish her, but he wouldn’t use that strength against her. For workouts, he was programmed to her skill level, which meant she took as much punishment as she gave. She couldn’t beat him, but that wasn’t the purpose of the exercises.
When the door slid silently open, Tedra was in the process of blocking a high kick and swung around for one of her own. Seeing Challen standing there looking like something a thunderstorm might deliver threw her timing off, and the arm Corth raised to block her caught her in the back instead. She went stumbling, Challen went berserk, and Corth, naturally, defended himself. By the time she turned around, her barbarian was fighting for breath. Corth had him in a bear-hold, and was having to expend extra, strength to hold him. But hold him he did, much to Challen’s confusion.
“Release him, Corth.”
He obeyed her instantly, of course. Challen, on the other hand, couldn’t be controlled like that. No sooner was he released than he drew his sword. Tedra had never moved so fast as she did to get between them.
“He’s a machine, Challen. You’re not going to kill another machine, are you?”
That didn’t do it, if Challen’s expression was any indication. Corth didn’t look like a machine, that was the problem. And Challen wasn’t looking at her, but at Corth, still with every intention of hacking him to pieces, which would have been done already if she weren’t in the way.
In a firmer tone, she tried explaining. “Now, look, warrior, you can’t go around destroying things just because you don’t understand yet how they work. Corth wasn’t doing anything I hadn’t told him to do. We were exercising, something I like to do daily. You understand practice-makes-perfect? You exercise with your sword, don’t you? Well, I have to exercise my skills, too, and Corth’s the only one I can do that with where no one gets hurt.”
He took his eyes off Corth only long enough to say, “You were getting hurt, woman.”
“No, I wasn’t. And you’re wasting that look on a machine, Challen. He couldn’t care less that you’re angry. He’s programmed only to please me. And since when do you show anyone that you’re angry? Where’s your control gone lately?”
That got her a grunt and a disgusted look, though he did sheathe his sword. “A warrior cannot be expected to maintain his control when he has such a one as you for his woman.”
“Oh, that’s cute. Blame me for every—”
His hand caught her face suddenly. “What have you done to yourself?”
“I changed—”
“You will change back, and you will do it now.”
“Now just a—”
“Now, woman!”
“And leave you two alone in here? Not on your life,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest in an I’m-not-budging pose.
He looked around until his eyes caught the bed. “Is this not the place where I will sleep?”
Her arms uncrossed. “Challen!”
“You will do as you are told, kerima, will you not?”
“All right!” she snapped. “I’m going. But I’d like to know what you’re going to do for kicks when my challenge service is over and I no longer have to jump when you say jump.”
“In a lifetime, think you that you will never challenge me again?”
She started to deny it, but what was the use? At the rate they were going, she’d be challenging him every other month at least!
Fortunately, it didn’t take but a few minutes to get her own coloring back. She decided Corth could hold his own that long, especially since Challen got distracted by his first encounter with movable walls, walls that enclosed completely and were without doors. By the time he had figured out that there was no way he could get into the room that had just formed itself, Tedra sent the walls back out of sight.
“Convenience, Challen, remember? Getting a lot out of a little space is just another aspect of it. And don’t worry, we’ve got lots of time to show you everything so things like this don’t throw you when we get to Kystran.”
This got her another grunt. “Best you bring those walls back, woman. You have not finished changing.”
“But I did,” she protested.
“You will also remove those clothes and wear what is appropriate.”
She smiled now. “I didn’t bring any chauri with me, babe.” But an “I did” got rid of her smile. “If you think I’m going to step one foot on my world wearing one of those—”
“When you needs be a Sec 1, you may dress accordingly.”
“Stars, who’s the captain around here, anyway?” she grumbled.
“Martha claims to be.”
“Well, Martha is still answerable to me, though she likes to pretend otherwise. And I know farden well you haven’t had time to unpack anything yet, so how about compromising a little and letting me wear what I want to until you do?”
“When a warrior begins compromising—”
“Challen! Be reasonable for once, dammit!”
“If the Challen is displeasing to you, Tedra De Arr, I will—”
Tedra rounded on the android. “Stay out of this, Corth!”
“No,” Challen said menacingly. “I would hear what the man would do.”
Tedra rounded back on the warrior. “He isn’t a man. Why can’t you grasp that simple concept? He’s a machine, a companion, an entertainment android. He’s here to amuse me, and nothing else. He’s like a pet, Challen. Does that make sense to you?”
“I am also a fully functional sex-sharer,” Corth pointed out, much to Tedra’s horror.
“Now, Challen ...” she said when he started toward the android again. “I’ve never used him in that capacity. You, more than anyone, ought to know that.”
“Nor will you be able to when I am finished with him,” the warrior growled.
“Will you stop! You can’t be jealous of a machine.” And then Tedra’s eyes widened at what she’d said. “Can you? Are you jealous, warrior?”
The look he gave her was priceless, full of chagrin, exasperation—and bewilderment. Warriors weren’t supposed to experience jealousy. That was a woman’s emotion. Yet he felt it, and couldn’t deny it, and Tedra was so delighted, all she wanted to do was shower him with kisses.
“Why don’t you go visit Martha in the Control Room, Corth,” Tedra suggested, doing her best to keep an idiotic grin off her lips. “I think she’s just got the results she masterminded and needs someone to crow to. Don’t you, Martha?”
“Sure do,” came the smug voice out of the large audiovisual console against one wall.
The voice and turned-on screen temporarily distracted Challen, and Tedra shooed Corth out while he wasn’t looking, then came up behind the warrior to wrap her arms around him. “You know, I swore a long time ago that one day I’d get you into a solaray bath. But you aren’t dirty, not even a little sweaty. But I know a way to get you sweaty. Wanna hear about it?”
He turned around so he was the one doing the holding. “Best you show me instead.”
That idiotic grin got loose as she unbuckled her blouse to drop it over the console screen. “Just remember, babe,” she said as she wrapped herself around him and was picked up in his arms, “if the bed moves—ignore it.”
Chapter Forty-four
“Oh, my Stars, they’ve brought in the big guns and haven’t even bothered to dress them appropriately,” was Rourk Ce Dell’s alarmed comment before it dawned on him that the giant was standing in his living room. “Wait a minute. How did you get in here?”
“He’s with me, babe,” Tedra said, stepping out from behind Challen.
“Tedra!” And she was pounced on for a hug that swung her around the room. “Oh, babe, it’s good to see you! But when did you . . . why are you . . . dammit, Tedra, it’s too soon. Nothing’s changed yet.”
Before she could answer, she was separated from Rourk, who was still holding her, the entire span of Challen’s arms. Rourk, understandably, lost his train of thought. All he could do was stare at the warrior, who was giving him a don’t-touch-my-woman-again look.
Tedra shook her head, snapping her fingers in front of her friend’s eyes. “You’d be surprised what has changed, Rourk. He’s not one of them, he’s mine, and there’s more where he came from.”
That got Rourk’s attention back real quick. “What do you mean, yours? Who is he, Tedra?”
“Challen Ly-San-Ter, shodan of Sha-Ka-Ra on the planet Sha-Ka’an.”
“You mean Sha-Ka’ar?”
“No, I mean Sha-Ka’an. You suggested I do a little world discovering while I was gone, remember? Well, guess what I discovered?”
With another glance at Challen, who looked nothing at all like the uniformed warriors still in control of Goverance Building, Rourk hit it on the nose. “Their mother planet? You actually found their mother planet? Where?”
“Not in Centura Star System, that’s for sure. I believe we named their system Niva, but they don’t call it anything, not knowing too much about other worlds, theirs or anyone else’s. I was only the second sky-flyer to pay them a visit, you see.”
“The first being?”
“Those miners who made the mistake of thinking captured Sha-Ka’ani would make good slave labor. By the way, according to Challen’s father, who is a Guardian of the Years, it was a penal village that got taken. All they knew was the entire village disappeared three hundred years ago. Naturally, they weren’t too upset to have their worst element taken off their hands.”
“Criminals?” Rourk laughed. “Sha-Ka’ar founded by criminals? No wonder they kept no records of where they came from.”