Sylvan sighed. “That is because you’re not dream sharing with a regular Kindred male.”
“What? What are you talking about?” the senator demanded. “Are you saying you people assigned my little girl to some abnormal—”
“Dream sharing is a Kindred phenomenon that happens when a warrior’s mind aligns with his destined mate’s mind,” Sylvan said sternly. “Neither I, nor anyone on this Council can ‘assign’ anyone to anyone else. That is the province of the Goddess.”
“Well, whoever’s responsible, I don’t like it! These dreams—this man—they’re scaring my daughter. And she does not deserve to be frightened this way. Do you know what she does? She’s a children’s social worker.” Senator Hastings rapped on the table again for emphasis. “Now, gentlemen, let me elucidate in case you don’t understand. She protects at-risk children. With my money and connections and her grades and brains, she could have gone to any law school or medical school in the country. But no—her heart is so big—”
“Dad, please,” Mei-Li begged, turning scarlet in a way that both amused and disgusted Terex/Ur. “You’re embarrassing me.”
“I’m just stating the facts, Pun’kin.” He frowned. “They need to know you’re not some spoiled little rich girl who’s refusing to do her duty out of spite. You have an important job and you perform a valuable service on Earth—we can’t afford to lose you.”
“I’m just a social worker,” she protested. “I love my job but…” She looked at Sylvan appealingly. “Look, I wouldn’t mind being called if these dreams weren’t so…so strange. This guy in my dreams, he scares me. So much I’ve been trying not to sleep at night so I can avoid seeing him. Please, can you tell me what kind of Kindred he is?”
Sylvan sighed. “The one you are dreaming of—if your description is accurate—is a member of the Dark Kindred.”
Mei-Li’s delicate cheeks went pale while her father got red in the face.
“What?” he exploded. “The Dark Kindred? What the hell kind of name is that?”
“They call themselves the Enhanced Ones,” Sylvan said. “But their faction broke away many cycles ago. And they never dream share with females of any kind. They have sworn never to take brides—it’s the reason they left in the first place.”
“But…what does that mean for me?” the senator’s daughter asked. “I’m dream sharing with one—over and over again. Only it’s more like a nightmare than a dream.”
Sylvan shook his head. “I don’t understand why you would be dream sharing with a Dark Kindred—they distain emotions and have gone to great lengths to eradicate all feeling within themselves. Also, they are not part of our genetic trade with Earth. So I can’t imagine that you would be required to spend a Claiming period with—”
“Oh, yes she will,” Terex/Ur interrupted.
“What?” Sylvan turned to stare at him. “But Chancellor—he’s a Dark Kindred. They disavowed all females when they chose to leave the Mother Ship and join the Enhanced Ones. Besides, where would they spend their Claiming Period? She would never be allowed down to the surface of Vega Prime—not unenhanced as she is.”
“Those will be problems she can work out with the warrior she is dream sharing with when he comes to claim her,” Terex/Ur said, frowning. He really had to work at the frown because he wanted to laugh—he was enjoying this immensely.
“What are you saying?” the Senator exploded. “Are you telling me you want to hand my little girl over to some strange faction of the Kindred who don’t even like women—who might be dangerous?”
Terex/Ur shrugged as though it was out of his hands. “My dear Senator, we are Kindred and as such, we must support the claims of our brethren, no matter how distantly related or how…strange they may be.”
As he had hoped, this really got the human male going.
“No!” Senator Hastings jumped up and pounded on the Council table with his fist. “This will not stand!”
“It will,” Terex/Ur said. “Your daughter has been entered in the draft—she is now being called. If she does not answer the summons and go with the Kindred who has chosen her, she will be in violation of our treaty.”
“Maybe it’s time for that treaty to end,” the Senator growled ominously.
“Senator, please,” Sylvan began. “There’s no need for—”
“I’ve always been a strong supporter of the Kindred,” the Senator continued, talking over him. “You saved us from the Scourge—no one can deny that we owed you for that. But how many Earth girls have you called already? How many have been forced to leave their home planet to come and join an alien race and bear children for you people?”
“No one is forcing anyone!” Sylvan objected. “The Earth females are free to leave after the Claiming Period if they don’t—”
“What are you saying, Senator?” Terex/Ur interrupted. He was really enjoying himself now but he was careful to keep his face blank.
“I’m saying the debt has been paid! Many times over.” The Senator banged on the table again. “I’m saying we need to put an end to this draft once and for all. And, Gentlemen, that is exactly what I am going to say at the next session of the World Council as well. We don’t need you anymore—it’s time you moved on and left our daughters alone!”
“Senator, please!” Sylvan protested but the Senator was already halfway out of the Council room.
“Come on, Pun’kin—we’re leaving,” he growled, taking his daughter by the arm.
Sylvan and a few of the other Council members jumped up to reason with him but Terex/Ur made a motion to them to sit.
“Let the Senator go. He has made his views abundantly clear.”
As the human male stormed out with his daughter in tow, Sylvan turned to him.
“Chancellor, why did you do that? What was the point in antagonizing them?”
Terex/Ur raised an eyebrow at him. “Is it antagonistic to demand what is rightfully ours? I think not.”
“But our situation with the humans is delicate,” another Council member protested. “Senator Hastings used to be one of our biggest supporters—now he’s been turned against us. And he’s not the first human in power to suggest that it’s time we moved on.”
“Councilor Gora is right,” Sylvan said. “If this situation continues to escalate, we could lose our ability to call brides from Earth.”
“That could only happen if we let it happen,” Terex/Ur said. He looked around the table. “And we will not let it happen. We will take what we were promised, whether they wish to give it or not.”
Sylvan stared at him blankly. “Chancellor Terex, surely you’re not suggesting we go to war with a planet we swore to protect?”
Terex/Ur shrugged. “If that is what it takes. If we cannot call brides in any other way, then so be it.”
“But, we cannot allow our warriors to take females by force! We cannot!” Councilor Gora objected. Several of the other Councilors joined him.
“We must not—”
“Our honor as Kindred and warriors—”
Terex/Ur frowned. So they were not ready to consider war yet. So be it. They would be soon.
“Now, now…” he said, soothingly. “Councilors, please. There’s no need to talk about war yet—I’m certain it won’t come to that. In fact, as a gesture of good will towards the people of Earth, I suggest that we stop calling brides for a little while.”
“What?” Sylvan exclaimed. “Stop calling brides? But just a moment ago you said we should take what we wanted. And what about the unmated males whose minds are aligning with females down on Earth? What about those that are dream sharing—and the ones about to start their Claiming periods?”
“They can wait a little while. Just a solar week…or a month…or two.” Terex/Ur frowned at him. “You can’t have it both ways, Councilor Sylvan. You say that you don’t want to go to war with Earth but when I suggest measures to placate our human friends, you object to those too. Make up your mind.”
Sylvan frowned. ?
??I could say the same to you, Chancellor Terex.”
Terex/Ur spread his hands. “But my mind is made up. I feel that a gesture of good will is called for in order to appease the humans.” He looked around the table. “Now, all those in favor of ceasing to call brides for a little while—just until this trouble is cleared up—knock once. Those who disagree, knock twice.”
He looked around the table, fixing each Councilor in turn with a steady stare. Slowly, one by one, each Councilor knocked on the table. Most of the twelve knocked once. Councilor Sylvan and a few others knocked twice.
Terex/Ur was satisfied to see that most of the Councilors voted his way. Not that it mattered—he had the ruling vote. But it would be difficult to carry his point if he didn’t have at least some of them on his side. He would rule them with a firm hand and lead them along little by little until they were under his complete control.
“Good,” he said, nodding as the vote was finished. “We are in agreement—we will stop calling brides for the time being.”
“If we stop calling brides, then no other Kindred faction must be able to call them either,” Councilor Gora pointed out. “Including the Dark Kindred.”
Terex/Ur scowled but he could see no way around it.
“Very well, I will concede that,” he said at last.
Anyway, the damage with the human senator had already been done, he consoled himself. The girl didn’t actually have to be taken at this point. It was enough that her father thought she could be whisked away to some horrible dark planet where females were hated and scorned at any second.
“The unmated males are not going to be happy about this,” Sylvan said in a low voice. “The reason most of them agreed to join this trade was the possibility of calling a bride.”
“Let them take out their stress at the Pairing House,” Terex/Ur said dismissively. “That is what the Pairing Puppets are for, are they not?”
“A Pairing Puppet has no soul. It may be good for a physical release but it cannot truly bond with a warrior or fulfill his need to connect with a female,” Sylvan said.
“But they’re good enough for relieving stress for a week or so,” Terex/Ur reminded him. Or at least until I take care of them, he told himself, repressing a grin.
“I suppose.” Sylvan didn’t sound convinced but Terex/Ur didn’t give a damn. They had established something at this meeting whether the other members of the High Council understood it or not—he, Ur, was the leader and commander of this ruling body. Which made him the commander of the entire Mother Ship—with it’s arsenal of devastating weapons and armies of trained warriors. He was a force to be reckoned with.
“This Council is dismissed,” he said, standing and rapping three times on the table with the Speaking Stone. “You may go. Councilor Sylvan, as Speaker of the Council, I will leave it to you to make the announcement that we are no longer calling brides from Earth.”
“Can I put any kind of time limit on it?” Sylvan asked, his voice tight. “Can I get the unmated males anything to cling to in the mean time?”
“Just tell them it’s a temporary measure,” Terex/Ur nodded at him. “You may all go.”
After the Councilors left, clearing out of the Council room in ones and twos, he sank back into his chair and steepled his fingers on his chest. It was good to be flesh—good to have a physical body. But it was even better to have these damned Kindred exactly where he wanted them.
In the beginning, he had simply desired to cause them pain in any way he could. He had started with petty gestures—not allowing Truth’s brother to bring his bride back up to the Mother Ship for one thing.
But a much larger plan had begun to form in his mind. A plan that involved Kindred desperation and the Earth’s eventual domination.
He slid up a panel in the Council table, revealing a holographic screen. With a few quick movements, he had called up the specs for the Pairing House. He split the screen in two and called up the master circuitry plan for a typical Pairing Puppet.
“Hmmm,” he murmured, staring at both for a long moment. “Yes, this should be exceedingly simple…”
Once the unmated males heard that they were no longer calling females from Earth for brides they would be upset. And when the rumors of the angry Earth senator storming out of the Council members circulated, they would begin to put two and two together. Doubtless they would assume that the ban on Earth brides was because of unhappy humans—humans who wanted to break the treaty which had been made back when the Scourge threat was immanent.
The unmated males would become uneasy and restless but as long as they had the Pairing Puppets to help them achieve the occasional release, they wouldn’t revolt.
“But they won’t have them for long,” Terex/Ur murmured to himself. “And then let’s see how much they object to declaring war on Earth. Let’s…just…see…”
Chapter Twenty-two
“Well, hello there, pretty lady. Haven’t seen you around here before.”
At first Tess thought the strange voice behind her must be talking to someone else. After all, she was wearing a pair of jeans that she usually gardened in and a dark blue t-shirt that had been through the wash a few too many times. The outfit was grass-stained and faded but comfy. Also not a bit sexy, which was why Tess had picked it. After the tension between herself and Garron that morning, she’d decided that the less provocative her outfit, the better. Not that she had many sexy clothes to choose from—Pierce had seen to that. But still, the stained jeans and faded shirt combo was definitely on the far end of the seductive spectrum.
“Pretty lady? I’m talkin’ to you,” the voice said again. Someone tapped her on the shoulder and Tess turned around.
“Um, hi,” she said uncertainly, looking at the guy who was speaking to her. He was standing right in the middle of the potted, jerked, and canned meat isle—only in the South could you have a whole aisle of a grocery store devoted to such food stuffs, Tess thought—and leering at her in a way that showed two missing teeth.
The rest of him wasn’t much more appealing. He had thinning brown hair, small, squinty eyes and he was wearing blue jeans so stained and ripped they made Tess’s own jeans look practically pristine in comparison. A white t-shirt which was more gray than white was stretched over his prodigious beer gut. Fat Chick Wanted! it proclaimed.
“Hi, yourself, girlie.” He grinned delightedly. “You new in town? Haven’t seen you around before.”
“I just moved here,” Tess said, before she thought about it. “Uh, I mean, I’m just passing through,” she corrected herself hastily.
He frowned. “Well which is it? If you just moved to town I can show you around. If you’re just passing through, well, I still have some things I can show you.”
“Um…I…” Tess shook her head. Was this guy for real? Was he actually coming on to her in the middle of the Piggly Wiggly grocery store? Instinctively, she looked around. Back when she had been with Pierce, any man flirting with her or even looking at her too long would have earned her a “punishment.” You’re not with that asshole anymore, Tess BP reminded her. You don’t have to worry about him “punishing” you anymore. But even the mental reassurance couldn’t stop the flutter of panic she felt around her heart.
“Well, what do you say?” The man acted like he thought she was just going to leave the store on the spot and go right to his car with him. Was he crazy or just desperate?
“Thanks for the offer but I’m with someone.” Tess gave him a cool but polite smile and turned to go back down the aisle.
“Don’t see you with anybody.” Quick as a flash, the man got in front of her, blocking her way.
Tess was beginning to wish she’d gotten a shopping cart instead of just a hand basket. That way, at least, she would have had something substantial to put between herself and this jerk.
“That’s because he’s in the men’s room,” she said, improvising. Actually, she had no idea where Garron was. Probably he was exploring another exotic part of the
Piggly Wiggly. Apparently they didn’t have grocery stores on the planet he came from, preferring instead to grow and make all their own food. He found the idea of processed, prepackaged food intriguing so she had left him to wander the aisles while she got a few things for supper and some staples to stock Uncle Jacks’s cabin.
The cabin—which they had finally reached in the late afternoon—was surprisingly neat and clean—but it had nothing to eat except for a few dusty cans of beef ravioli. Not surprising considering that Di’s uncle had been a resident of the Happy Rest nursing home for several years before he died.
Truth be told, Tess had been happy to let Garron go his own way during their shopping expedition. All day long he had been getting more and more tense and withdrawn until she felt like she was sitting next to a ticking time bomb rather than another person. She wasn’t sure what was the matter with him—was he regretting his decision not to go back to the Mother Ship without her? Or did driving in the mountains around Asheville—traversing the steep, narrow, winding roads—make him nervous? He was, after all, a relatively new driver, at least here on Earth. Whatever the reason, she had been happy to let him go explore the frozen foods section while she headed for the meat and produce.
Now, however, she had apparently taken a wrong turn into the potted meat aisle and was beginning to wish the big Kindred was with her.
“Excuse me,” she said, trying to get around her persistent suitor again.
“I don’t think so, girly,” the guy with two missing teeth and the Fat Chick Wanted! shirt said, blocking her path. He leaned forward and whispered in a low, hoarse voice, “I think you’re just a little nervous. You don’t haveta be though—I can be real sweet when I try and I’m sure willing to try for a juicy little girl like you.”
“Thanks but no thanks.” Tess winced away from his breath which was heavy with the scent of stale beer. Okay, so that was why he was coming on so strong—he’d probably wandered in from the bar across from the Piggly Wiggly. It was called The Sore Elbow—she had seen the cheap neon sign with a badly drawn skeletal elbow and hand holding a beer mug as they drove by it. “Look, I just need this,” she said, grabbing blindly and coming up with a can of chunk light tuna packed in spring water. “And then I have to go meet my…my…” What was Garron to her? Not her boyfriend, certainly. Her bodyguard? Her protector? She supposed she could say man but Garron wasn’t a man—not a human man anyway. He was a Kindred male. “My guy,” she finished at last, a bit lamely.