He was not superstitious and he was still inclined to think it had been created with black magic.
Or they had given him a wild thing to break for their amusement.
It growled when he climbed on top of it and took hold of the strange, stiff reigns and twisted them as instructed, expelling more explosive gas than any natural thing should be capable of.
And then it leapt off the ground and did not come down!
And he fell off.
The moment it unseated him, it slammed into the ground, narrowly missing him. Pieces of its armor broke and flew off.
The man who was teaching him how to ride the beast offered, once again, to let him ride behind one of the others, but Rama refused to accept such an undignified perch. He was king, by the gods! He would lead!
He would master the beast as he had many before it!
He got up and dusted himself off and grabbed the thing and righted it.
Which he found strange. If it was a beast, particularly a wild one, it should have leapt up right away.
They had said that it was a machine, not an animal, but he could not fathom a machine that could do what this thing could.
Of course, the Uti—none of the tribes—had such things. Even the Spartans, who had some amazing inventions, did not have the like of it. If they had, there would be no one who did not know of it for they made no bones about bragging about the marvelous things they had thought up and built.
Again, the man instructed him once he had righted the thing and climbed on it—this time slowly enough Rama had to restrain himself from knocking his teeth out since he felt that it implied he was slow witted. He realized, though, that he had missed something in the instructions previously.
Do NOT twist the revolving piece on the reigns too far!
He was more careful that time, slowly easing the thing around and that time the beast did not buck him off. It rose from the ground and then moved slowly forward. He pulled left. It obliged by moving in that direction.
His instructor was grinning when he returned to the spot where he had started. “I think you have the hang of the hover cycle, Sire.”
Rama nodded. “It is an ill tempered monster.”
The man chuckled. “It can be.”
The plan was that the men the governor had provided would escort Rama to his main seat, Do-ran du, the keep where Lauren had stayed with him, and leave him there. By the time they had reached the turn, however, Rama had grown so comfortable with the swift moving thing that he had formulated a different plan altogether.
He pulled to the side of the track they had been following and cut the ‘engine’ of the beast. Then he turned to the leader of the squad. “It is very likely that I will find that we are war. I instructed my captain of the guard to secure the southern border—which marches along the northern border of Livina. This is a two day march with foot soldiers—more than a day by kinji or coach. I could be there in a matter of hours—certainly before dusk—with this beast ….”
The man nodded. “We would be honored to escort you to that border and to engage the enemy if that is necessary, Sire.”
They had actually been given specific orders not to engage any of the Uti for any reason, but the governor was no military man. He wouldn’t have any idea of the repercussions of doing nothing if Rama found his border had been overrun. He was thinking strictly about the ‘code’ which stated that they were to prevent any unnecessary influence on the natives with their technology.
It apparently having escaped him that the hover cycles were enough by themselves to blow the minds of the more superstitious and ignorant of the lot.
Rama had impressed him no end when he had not only accepted the thing with aplomb, but he had mastered it faster than anyone he was familiar with.
Rama was tempted. “The chances are very high that you would be engaged by my enemies if you accompanied me.”
The man nodded. “I would not be comfortable, Sire, to leave a friend in such a situation.”
Rama nodded. “I am grateful.”
The man grinned. “I am honored …. And looking forward to kicking some ass.”
Rama chuckled, but shook his head and started the thing again.
The situation was worse than Rama had anticipated. He had been gone no more than a couple of days, he was sure, and yet Alf-red’s army was already pouring over his border and the two contingents sent to secure the border were either dead or in full retreat.
In spite of the chaos, the noise the beasts made captured all eyes on the battlefield and when they saw that it was King Rama, mounted on some horrible beast and leading creatures from hell, they froze in sheer terror.
Until the squad, whooping like wild Darklings, charged forward firing spears of lightning. The explosions those created when the lightning struck the ground threw men and kinji alike into the air—blew many into pieces—and inspired the army Alf-red had built to turn and head back toward the border of their homeland at their fastest speed.
Rama’s men rallied. Clearly they were nearly as terrified as the enemy soldiers, but they were far better disciplined. They charged back toward the border and cleaned up the stragglers.
It was almost dusk by the time the remnants of Alf-red’s army had cleared the area, leaving Rama and his men to clean up the death and destruction they’d left behind.
Rama’s feelings, as always, were mixed. He was relieved to have lived through another battle, joyful to have triumphed, and still heartsick to see so many young men struck down in the prime of their lives.
“There will be much weeping for those lost,” he muttered to no one in particular as he surveyed the carnage.
“Yes. There’s always that when the fighting is done,” the Atlantean soldier responded. “But I am happy that your lady will not be one of them.”
Rama glanced at him. “I do not even know your name and we have fought side by side … as brothers.”
The man lifted his hand and held it out as the governor had. “Brunswick. Sgt. Todd Brunswick.”
Rama frowned thoughtfully. “The governor is Brunswick, as well?”
The man shrugged, clearly uncomfortable. “My father, Sire.”
* * * *
It was a hunger for news about Rama that drove Lauren from her sickbed before she was really strong enough to return to work. She was greeted with a flattering degree of appreciation for her part in helping to turn the tide on the disease they had feared would annihilate the colony. New cases had been cut in half—twice—since they had sent her and the others out in a desperate bid to find a cure or treatment.
She basked in it … until she discovered that the biggest leap forward had to do with the fact that they’d taken a blood ‘donation’ from Rama before he left.
She was shocked for a handful of moments and then absolutely livid.
She didn’t wait for an appointment with Governor Brunswick. She stalked over to the government building immediately and put up such a fuss when the receptionist tried to bar her entry that the governor came out to see what was going on.
“You!” Lauren said furiously. “It wasn’t bad enough that you sent us out under false pretenses? You tricked him into giving blood?”
The governor was clearly angry at the accusation, but he waved the receptionist off. “I did no such thing! Come inside and we’ll speak … if you can behave calmly about it. Otherwise I’ll summon security.”
It only infuriated Lauren more for him to talk to her as if she was a child, but she was taken aback enough by his threat to actually consider the situation and, as bad as she hated to admit it, even to herself, she realized she had overreacted.
She still thought he was a bastard.
She was still angry that he’d tricked Rama into giving blood after every other imposition they’d done, but she was willing to hear him out.
And if she wasn’t satisfied, he could kiss the governor’s mansion goodbye! Because she was going to see him put out when he came up for re-election!
Ch
apter Fifteen
Lauren flounced into the chair the governor indicated and glared at him balefully.
He glared back at her for several moments and then seemed to dismiss his anger. “I didn’t trick him,” he said finally. “Not really.”
Lauren folded her arms. “You mean like we didn’t really trick them when we pretended to be Di-ore just so we could get close enough to collect test samples?”
He studied her for a long moment and finally shrugged. “Ok, so it was something like that, but it’s important that none of this was intended to cause harm. We went out of our way to do it this way to prevent harm. You know that.”
That sounded good, Lauren decided, making a mental note of it to use when she got the chance to try to explain things to Rama.
“He came to me after he left you and told me that he wanted to contract with you and asked what he would need to do to make that happen. I admit I couldn’t resist when he made that offer. It just popped into my mind that couples were required by law to get blood tests done when they decided to get married.
“I told him I was in no position to make that decision. You would have to decide whether you wanted a family union. But that he could let us take blood for testing and that would be a start.”
Lauren studied him, trying to decide if he was being completely honest with her, but it was useless. The moment he mentioned that Rama had come to him to ask for her, her entire system went haywire—heart palpitations, dizziness, heart and respiration all out of whack.
She licked her dry lips. “So … Do you think he was serious?”
The governor blinked at her. “Serious enough to give us a pint of blood,” he said, clearly struggling not to look gleeful about it.
“Oh my god! They took that much? He wasn’t suspicious?”
The governor looked uncomfortable. “I don’t think so. It isn’t as if he’s ever given blood before or had a blood test. He couldn’t possibly know that it doesn’t take that much.”
Lauren’s lips flattened. “That doesn’t make it right.”
“No,” Brunswick agreed. He looked like he might say something else, make an excuse, but then he stopped himself. “No. It doesn’t.”
Lauren nodded, hesitated and then got up. “I don’t suppose he said when he’d come back for me?” she asked tentatively.
The governor got up to walk her out. “No. I sent an escort with him, though, and I’ve heard from them that everything is ok.”
Relieved, Lauren smiled and offered her hand.
He took it and patted. “You intend to accept his offer?”
Lauren grinned abruptly. She felt the smile all over. “Yes!”
He nodded, grew sober. “It’s probably a good thing to encourage ..,” he said after a moment. “We lost so many. Frankly, I’m not sure we have the numbers at this point to prevent …. Well, that really has nothing to do with this.”
* * * *
The squad that had accompanied Rama when he had left Atlantis returned after being guests of Rama’s for the better part of a week. Lauren watched the return anxiously, but there was no sign of Rama among them.
Disappointed, she went back home and called in sick—three days running. She was so depressed that she requested vacation leave when she finally did return to work.
Her friend, Jana, was removed from cyro and began to recover from the illness that had struck her down. But although Lauren visited her daily, and it was a welcome distraction for her, Jana wasn’t really in any condition to want a lot of company.
By the end of the second week after her return, Lauren was convinced that everyone, including her, had misunderstood Rama’s intentions.
Or he’d figured out that they had offered friendship when all they really wanted was ammunition to fight the disease that was killing them and he wanted nothing else to do with them.
She decided she needed a distraction before she went insane and filed a request to make a fieldtrip to the interior to find and collect test samples.
Sgt. Brunswick’s squad was assigned to accompany her.
He arrived at her door with gifts from Rama and profuse apologies for not delivering them to her earlier.
Lauren promptly burst into tears.
It took the sergeant twenty minutes to calm her down enough to peel her lose and run—almost literally. He told her he had remembered something urgent that he needed to do and would return later.
Lauren hardly knew when he left. She headed back inside and indulged in a marathon crying jag. In point of fact, she overindulged. She wept until she fell asleep from exhaustion and when she woke she felt as if she was dying. It was the absolute worst hangover she’d ever had in her life.
She felt so bad, she went to the med center to get something for the blinding headache that wouldn’t go away and the vague sense of nausea that she realized had actually been bothering her for a day or two prior to the crying jag. As a matter of course, tests were run before any medication could be offered.
And that was when Lauren discovered that she was carrying Rama’s baby.
The timing couldn’t have been better.
The governor had just lifted the ban on pregnancy a month and a half earlier.
It looked like Lauren would bear the first child born on the new world—by a human woman.
Lauren was torn between the height of joy and absolute terror.
It was Rama’s child—and she’d been poisoned. How could it be alright?
They assured her that all indications were that it was perfectly healthy—in spite of being a half breed, which was their main concern.
Lauren was insulted, but she saw their point. They hadn’t even gotten around to considering whether it would be possible to cross-breed with the Uti, or run any sort tests.
Because until they’d come up with their plan and sent her and the others out there’d been no way to get close enough to them to collect the samples they needed to run tests.
She did her best to put the pregnancy and her baby from her mind. If it was alright, it would continue to thrive and it would arrive strong and healthy when the time was right.
If there was anything wrong, it wouldn’t thrive and she would lose it.
It would be better if she tried not to get too attached until she knew it was ok. And she wasn’t going to be convinced on their word alone.
It wasn’t actually a baby yet. It was just a collection of divided cells.
Even in a completely ordinary pregnancy things sometimes went wrong.
Sgt. Brunswick and his squad distracted her by arriving to escort her into the interior the following day. They loaded her camping equipment and portable lab up and headed out bright and early, camping at the furthest point the first night and then three of the areas she’d chosen as they worked their way back.
It turned out to be just what she needed as a distraction—fresh air, a task that fascinated her, and new sights to see. Beyond that, the men escorting her were the same who’d escorted Rama back and they’d stayed in Do-ran du as his guests for a full week. They had ‘current’ information to pass along.
And Rama arrived to collect her before she got back.
The minute she heard, she frantically collected her stuff, haphazardly loaded it, and took off back to the city, leading the way.
She saw the group standing around her front yard as soon as she turned on her street—which surprised her since she’d expected that she would need to go to the visitor center to find him—but she only had eyes for Rama. The moment she’d cut the engine, she shoved the kickstand down, pulled her helmet off and raced toward him with a squeal of excitement, too thrilled to consider behaving decorously. “Rama!”
It had just managed to penetrate that he didn’t look thrilled to see her as she flung herself at him, but it was too late then to hold anything back and, in the end, she was glad she’d lunged at him so impulsively. His arms came around her and tightened when she would have pulled away. “I missed you so much!”
&
nbsp; He shifted her slightly away then to examine the smiling face she turned up to him and then swooped low and covered her mouth in a kiss that told her he had hungered for her as she had for him. A mixture of relief and desire flooded her, but they were surrounded by people and Rama drew away from her after a woefully brief greeting.
She glanced around vaguely and then met Rama’s gaze. “Would you like to come in?”
“Ah! I have the papers, Dr. McCall. If you and the king would just sign the contract before you consummate …? Uh … well the contract, you know.”
Lauren felt her face reddening, but she didn’t even attempt to lie about her motive in dragging Rama inside. “Oh! You have it? I’m sorry! I didn’t notice you ….”
“Yes, I realize that. But since you’d both expressed an interest, I had a standard contract done up. If you’re both satisfied with the terms, then you can sign and it’ll be a done deal—by colony law. We have the witnesses we need.”
Rama frowned. “My people will expect a ceremony ….”
Brunswick shrugged. “This is just for our records. I don’t see any reason that it would interfere with your plans.”
Rama met Lauren’s gaze questioningly.
She knew the contract for the colony was designed to protect the issue of any union.
She also knew that Rama would do what he damned well pleased whatever was in the contract.
She hated having to discuss it in front of an audience.
“I’ll be happy with whatever you want to do,” she said firmly.
Amusement lit Rama’s eyes briefly. She could see he felt like he’d been outmaneuvered.
“Let’s just wait until we get to Do-ran du,” she added hurriedly.
He shook his head. “You should be protected by the laws of your people, as well.”
He took the tablet the Governor held out and studied it curiously.
Lauren relieved him of it and turned to the governor. “We’ll be back in a few minutes. We need time to look this over before we sign,” she said firmly, and then drew Rama to the door and inside.
Rama looked at her askance when they were inside.
Lauren fidgeted nervously for a moment. “I have to …. I can’t let you sign anything … or actually, agree to anything until we talk.”
The Nine Realms of the Uti I: Warrior Prince Page 14