“What’s this?”
“Bonding fruit juice,” Kat said. “Distilled and concentrated so it’ll work fast but be careful with it. Don’t take more than a sip or two right before you…you know.”
“What? No way!” Becca tried to hand it back. “Not after what happened when I ate your wedding cake!”
“Okay, I can understand your reluctance but bonding fruit can be a wonderful thing if you use it wisely. Especially when you have two guys to…ahem…accommodate at once.”
“But I’m not going to do that—so I’m not going to need this,” Becca protested, trying to give it back. “Even if Truth and Far were getting along and wanted to bond with each other and me, I don’t think I could…go that far.”
“Just keep it,” Kat said firmly. She crossed her arms over her chest, refusing to take the bottle back. “You never can tell what might happen.”
“I can tell what’s not going to happen,” Becca said. “And I’m not going to form a permanent bond with Truth and Far.”
“You say that now, doll but let’s face it—you’re already halfway there.”
“What do you mean?” Becca asked nervously.
“The way you and Far were able to pull Truth back from that demon. There’s no way you could have done that if you didn’t at least have the start of a bond between the three of you.”
“Commander Sylvan said something like that. But Truth denied it.”
“Of course he did—he’s like the poster boy for conflicted sexual urges right now.” Kat frowned. “Not that you’re far behind yourself, doll.”
“I know.” Becca looked down at the bottle. “But I still don’t think—”
“Just keep it,” Kat said. “Even if you don’t use it, I’ll feel better knowing you have it.”
“Well…” There didn’t seem to be any way to change her friend’s mind. “All right,” Becca said at last. “I’ll return it to you unopened when we get back.”
“We’ll see,” Kat murmured. She put a hand on Becca’s shoulder. “But I still think you should let go of your guilt and see where this thing with Truth and Far leads you.”
“Right now it’s leading to a big, fat dead end.”
“That may change. Just be open to the possibilities, Becca. I know it sounds crazy—it did to me at first too—but getting together with my two guys has been the best thing in my life. I never knew I could love two men at once so completely but when it works, when it really clicks—it’s like nothing else you’ve ever experienced. It’s just…beautiful.”
Becca thought of the warm, delicious feeling that had washed over her when she opened herself to both Truth and Far at the same time the night before. Mother of God, it had felt so good. It was only afterwards that she had felt guilty. But during their sharing, she had felt only love and warmth and contentment…and more sexual pleasure than she’d ever had in her entire life.
Was it really so wrong to give in to that feeling? To try and bring Far and Truth together, using herself as a bridge? After all, the two of them needed each other even if Truth wouldn’t acknowledge it.
Maybe I could bring them together and then let them go once their bond is strong. They could find another girl, one who didn’t have so much guilt and fear…
Except the thought of her two men with another girl made Becca so upset she couldn’t bear to imagine it.
“You’re awfully quiet all of a sudden.” Kat raised an eyebrow at her. “Everything okay?”
“Just thinking,” Becca said quietly. “I’ll consider what you said, Kat. I really will. And thank you for this.” She held up the little bottle of bonding fruit juice. “Even if I don’t intend to use it.”
“Just keep it close by in case.” Kat gave her a quick hug and pulled back, frowning. “But if you’re going to use it, go all the way with it and don’t hold back. Otherwise you might risk forming a partial bond and believe me, that is no fun.”
“A partial bond?” Becca shook her head. “I’ve never heard of such a thing—is it even possible?”
“It is but it only happened to me because Deep and Lock are Seeker/Finders and they were using me as a focus and—” Kat made a shooing motion. “Never mind. Your guys are different so I’m sure it couldn’t happen to you.”
“Oh, well…okay,” Becca said doubtfully.
“And now you’d better go. Do you want a brownie to take with you? Lauren just gave me a fresh batch.” Kat patted her rounded belly. “The twins have to have their chocolate fix every day or they kick me half to death.”
Becca smiled. “I shouldn’t or I won’t fit into those new clothes you just made me.”
“Come on now, one little brownie won’t hurt—in fact, it’ll probably help. Twin Kindred like their women plus sized.” She eyed Becca’s full hips. “I bet Truth and Far have been lusting after that behind of yours from day one.”
Becca’s cheeks got hot when she remembered the comments both twins had made about being glad she wasn’t too skinny or bony.
“They, uh, do seem to like my shape,” she admitted.
“Of course they do, you’re gorgeous.” Kat smiled. “So now, how about that brownie? Don’t you know it’s bad luck to start a trip without eating chocolate first?”
Becca burst out laughing. “It is not—you just made that up.”
“Maybe.” Kat shrugged. “But it sounds right, don’t you think?” She hooked her arm through Becca’s and led her into the food prep area. “I’ll wrap it up and you can take it for the road. After all, I can’t send you off to a rogue planet with nothing but a bottle of bonding fruit juice and a fur bikini. Right?”
Chapter Twenty
“This is it. The edge of my solar system. Here—I’ll increase the magnification so you can see it.”
Far sat up and took notice when his brother spoke. Though Truth was piloting the small shuttle, he hadn’t said a word to either Far or Becca from the moment they had all stepped aboard. As they flew through the rift—the fold in space generated by the power of the Kindred Mother Ship’s artificial green sun—Far had wondered if his twin intended to spend the entire trip mute. Did he really hate them so much he would freeze the both of them out entirely?
I never should have let him know I spoke to his second mother, Far thought ruefully. If only I had kept my mouth shut we might be several steps closer to bonding now instead of light years away.
“It’s beautiful,” Becca said, answering the dark twin’s comment about his solar system. At the angle they were approaching, several large gas giant planets as well as two smaller planets were visible. Far wondered which one was Pax. Not that he would ever go there. Truth would probably be obliged to commit some form of ritual suicide if it became known he had a brother who wanted to share a female and bond with him.
“There—that’s Pax,” Truth said, pointing to the smaller of the two rocky planets. “It’s just on the edge of the habitable zone so it’s fairly cold by your standards. My people—the Rai’ku—live along the equator. The rest of the planet is frozen.”
“How many light years from Earth did you say it was?” Becca asked, leaning on the back of the pilot’s chair. Far admired the way she was drawing his twin out, keeping him talking.
“About eighty million, give or take,” Truth said, making an adjustment to the instruments.
“Eighty million?” Becca gave a long, low whistle. “Wow, amazing. I’ve never been to another solar system before let alone one eighty million light years away. Tell me more—how cold does Pax get?”
“Not nearly as cold as the place we’re going.” Truth turned the nose of the shuttle so that a large, gray planet loomed on the viewscreen. “That’s Void. I suppose it’s not technically a rogue planet anymore since it found a new orbit around our sun but it’s a new addition to our system. Rai’ku astronomers calculate that Void has only been in its new orbit for about two thousand years, give or take. So—”
Suddenly the entire ship shook and the lights on the control pan
el flickered alarmingly.
“Mother of God!” Becca grabbed for something to hold on to and Far put out an arm to catch her instinctively.
“What was that?” he asked Truth in a low voice.
The dark twin frowned but didn’t look terribly concerned.
“According to the instruments it was a brief power surge.”
“A power surge? From where?” Becca looked at the gray side of Orthanx looming in the viewscreen. “From there?”
“Of course not.” Truth waved a hand dismissively. “I’m not picking up much of anything from Void. As far as our instruments read, it’s a dead world.”
“Well, it had to come from somewhere,” Far said, frowning. “Should we be concerned?”
“I don’t think so.” Truth studied the controls some more. “No—everything reads as normal. Must be just a glitch in the wiring. We’ll be fine.” He nodded at the viewscreen. “Right now what we need to worry about is right there.”
“Orthanx,” Becca breathed. “It's so far from your sun—how cold does it get there?”
Truth frowned and consulted his instruments.
“About as cold as it gets on that little planetoid on the far edges of your own solar system. What’s the name of it? Plutarn? Pluness?”
“Pluto,” Far said quietly, joining the conversation for the first time.
“Right.” Truth glared at him. “Pluto.”
Becca frowned. “So how cold is that? Sorry, I don’t know the temperature on all the planets of my solar system off the top of my head.”
“You don’t?” Truth seemed surprised. “Very well, let me see if I can convert it into Earth temperatures. Ah, all right—it’s forty-four degrees Kelvin.”
“Um, sorry. I was going to be a nun, not a scientist. That doesn’t mean much to me,” Becca said.
“Let me try again—negative two hundred and twenty-nine degrees Celsius?”
Becca shook her head. “Most of the planet uses Celsius but we’re still stuck in Fahrenheit in my country.”
“Very well.” Truth squinted at the instruments again. “That would be…negative three hundred and eighty degrees Fahrenheit. And that’s on the side facing our sun.” He gestured at the far distant speck on the far side of the viewscreen which was barely brighter than the other stars in the sky. “Not that it can get much light all the way out here.”
“Wow.” Becca looked awed. “That’s…I can’t even imagine how cold that is. Something tells me the warm weather clothes Kat made me won’t be worth much in temperatures like that.”
“I would tend to agree,” Truth said. “Which is why we’ll all be wearing protective suits and head gear.”
“Far said they might have something like an atmosphere dome,” Becca said, scanning the looming side of the planet. “But I don’t see anything.”
“That’s because there isn’t anything—on the surface anyway. The coordinates Vashtar sent us are for a point located underground.”
Becca’s face suddenly went pale. “Under…under ground?” she asked in a low, breathless voice.
Far was instantly alert. “What’s wrong, Becca?” he asked stepping forward.
“Yes, are you well?” Truth turned from the glowing controls to look at her as well. Despite his statement that he wanted nothing more to do with her or Far, the light twin couldn’t help noticing the worried look on his brother’s face.
“I…I’m fine.” Becca put a hand to her throat and swallowed hard. “It’s just…I’m claustrophobic. Really claustrophobic. The idea of being underground…I don’t like it. At all.”
“I will be with you. And Truth, as well whether he likes it or not.” Far promised. He looked at Truth. “Isn’t that so, Brother?”
Truth frowned. “You have nothing to fear,” he told Becca shortly.
“I know it’s not rational but I can’t help it. I got locked in this tiny little dark broom closet when I was a kid playing hide and seek.” Becca’s voice was still high and uncertain. “I couldn’t get out and nobody found me for…for hours.” She shook her head. “Ever since then I don’t like to feel anything surrounding me like that.”
“The only thing surrounding you will be us, mi’now,” Far said firmly. “We’ll keep you safe no matter what.” He threw a glance at Truth to see if his twin would object but though there was a conflicted look on his face, Truth said nothing.
“All right.” Becca took a deep breath. “Sorry to get all girly on you. I’ll suck it up.”
“Maybe you should stay aboard while Far and I explore,” Truth suggested.
Becca shook her head. “No, Vashtar was very clear. The three of us have to go together. I’ll be fine—we all will.”
“Of course,” Far murmured. He hoped she was right.
* * * * *
Truth sat the ship down gently on the dead, gray world, settling as close to the coordinates Vashtar had given them as possible, which wasn’t as close as Becca would have liked. There was a vast collection of tall, thin hills laid out in a strangely orderly pattern in the way. They landed on the edge of these, intending to find the underground entrance on foot.
They got into protective gear—shiny silver suits which fit skin-tight to the body. there was also a neck piece that produced an atmosphere bubble around the head automatically when the suit sensed the absence of breathable air. At least, that was what Far told Becca as he helped her into the new outfit.
Truth said nothing—clearly though he was willing to talk at least a little about the planet and the mission, he still had nothing to say to either her or his twin personally. Becca wished he would get over being angry. His dark, brooding silence wasn’t making the prospect of going underground in this dead, foreboding world any easier. She wanted desperately to bring the brothers back together but she couldn’t think how to do it. At least they aren’t actively fighting, a little voice in her head pointed out. Things could be worse—a lot worse.
“Everyone ready? I am about to open the airlock,” Truth said, his hand hovering over the button to one side of the shuttle door.
“I guess…” Becca hesitated.
“Problems, min’ow?” Far asked, looking at her.
“No, I just…you said it’s crazy cold out there but this suit…” Becca ran one gloved hand over the shiny, tight-fitting lycra-like outfit. “Doesn’t feel all that warm. Or protective.”
She’d had to strip down to her bra and underwear to get the damn thing on and she felt like she was wearing a full body leotard. All I need is a freaking tu-tu and I’ll be ready for the ballet, she thought dismally. But how is this going to keep me warm?
“It’s all right, Becca,” Far explained patiently. “I know it doesn’t feel like it, but the suit will conserve your body heat and keep your core temperature stable in weather twice as cold as what we’re about to go out in.”
“Actually, the term ‘weather’ isn’t accurate,” Truth put in. “Since this planet has no atmosphere, we shouldn’t experience any kind of weather at all.”
Becca took a deep breath. “Okay. I just keep thinking about the time I visited my aunt in Minnesota. We were just there for Thanksgiving but the weather went crazy and it dropped to like, eighteen degrees. But with the wind chill factor it felt more like zero.”
“Again—there should be no wind,” Truth said. “It should be calm, quiet, and dark.”
“And dead.” Becca shivered. “How do you think the people on this world are even still alive?”
“I don’t know. I suppose we will find out.” Truth pushed the button and the airlock cycled open, letting them into the small antechamber the shuttle formed when atmospheric conditions were hostile. For a moment, they were all huddled together and then the outer door cycled open revealing a bleak landscape lit only by starlight.
Becca got a quick impression of intense, breathless cold but it was cut off immediately as the protective collar around her neck hummed into life and a clear protective bubble made of pure energy surrounded her h
ead. It reminded Becca of the shield-barrier around the Unmated Males area on the Mother Ship, which in turn reminded her that they needed to get moving.
“Okay,” she said taking a deep breath. “Let’s go.”
The three of them walked down the ship’s ramp and onto a hard, flat, level surface.
“It’s like a road,” Becca said, scuffing the silver boot that came with her outfit experimentally.
“It is a road—look.” Far’s deep voice crackled from her suit’s voice receiver mic as he pointed ahead of them. “It winds between the hills that kept us from landing closer.”
“So it does.” Truth frowned. “A very strange pattern indeed.”
“Well, I guess we should follow it?” Becca looked at both of them. “It’s not exactly made of yellow brick but who knows—we might find the Emerald City at the end of it. Or what passes for it here on Orthanx.”
“What?” Truth frowned at her. “Yellow brick? Emerald City? What are you talking about?”
“A reference to an Earth vid about a young girl who goes on a magical journey,” Far murmured. “She follows a road made of yellow paving material and finds—”
“Enough,” Truth snapped. “I’m well aware that you know all about Becca’s culture—and mine. If you wanted you could probably recite the Curse of the Talob or tell me the tale of the Three Little Grundigs and their pet perri-slug or any other Rai’ku legend I could name.”
Far shot his brother an angry look. “I have always been interested in other cultures—I’m Kindred—it’s in my blood. And the fact that I chose to look into yours does not make me some unredeemable villain. I simply wanted to know you better.”
“While I regret knowing you at all,” Truth growled.
“Stop it right now, the both of you!” Rebecca snapped before Far could reply. “The cold silence is bad enough but I will not go back to the bickering.”
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