"I don't see her, do you?" Bonnie said nervously. "I can't imagine how she could have gotten past me! She was right there just a few minutes ago!" She paused as the idea that Sylor might be involved occurred to her. "If Sylor's come back and taken her—I'll... I don't know what I'll do. Well, yes, I c/oknow; I'll sic Drummond on him and he'll track him down. How could I have been so stupid? I should have done it months ago! That's what I get for being so forgiving."
"You forgave him for leaving you?" If she'd forgiven him, she just might take him back...
"Well, not really, but I could have gotten his butt deported if I'd only known..." Bonnie stomped her foot in frustration.
Lynx sniffed the air and put up a hand to silence her. "Sylor has not been here," he said. "Listen."
Bonnie's heart was pounding too loudly for her to hear anything beyond the rush of blood in her ears, but she listened anyway. "I don't hear anything," she said after a few moments.
"I can hear her breathing," Lynx said. "She's here somewhere. Normally, I could locate her by scent alone, but she lives here, and her scent is already strong."
"You can hear her breathing?" Bonnie exclaimed. "Are all of your senses that good?"
"Better than yours, perhaps," he said. "Otherwise you would have found her before this."
"Well, then, where is she?"
"There," Lynx replied, pointing to the floor by the sofa. "Can you see that the fabric looks odd?"
Bonnie stared at the couch, and as she did, part of the pattern seemed to move and she heard Shaulla giggle. "I don't believe it!" she exclaimed.
"She is able to blend in with her surroundings," Lynx said quietly. "Do you see her now?"
Bonnie could see two points of light that seemed to move. "I see her eyes—at least, I think that's what I see," Bonnie replied. "What is she? Some kind of chameleon?"
Though he'd never heard the word chameleon before, Lynx took her meaning immediately. "There were animals on my planet that could almost disappear," he said. "We had to hunt them by scent alone."
"Like a chameleon," Bonnie whispered, still amazed at what her daughter seemed to be doing. Shaulla giggled again and slowly began to reappear. "Why, you little stinker!" Bonnie exclaimed, scooping Ulla up from the floor. "You had me scared to death!" Shaulla couldn't talk yet, but she seemed to understand a good joke anyway and laughed merrily. "I never knew Vessonians could do that!" Bonnie exclaimed and shuddered as the implications of this ability struck her. "Do you think she can do this at will?"
Lynx shrugged. "Perhaps Vladen would be able to tell us."
"No, he won't," Bonnie said grimly, "because the next time I see him, he's dead meat! He never told me anything of the sort, and neither did Sylor—although Sylor might not be able to do it himself. Vladen told me the Terran-Vessonian cross sometimes produces a child with a weak heart—maybe this is another variation. When you start mixing species together, anything can happen—Tisana came by her powers that way, you know—it might be something like that."
Lynx shook his head. "No. I believe Sylor has this ability as well," he said. "I have been aware of his scent recently, but have seen no one."
"Is that how you knew he hadn't been in here? No, wait—you couldn't possibly know what he smells like!"
"Have I not been sleeping on his pillow?"
"I never thought of that," Bonnie said slowly. "And yes, you have." She searched her memories of Sylor, trying to recall anything... "You know, when we first started hunting enocks, Sylor got hurt pretty bad trying to catch one by himself. I'll bet he made himself invisible, and the enock fought back, whether he could see him or not. It was later on that he came up with the net and speeder method." Thinking further, she added, "I'll bet he could have slipped into the pen and gotten eggs without my help, too."
"Possibly," Lynx conceded, "But we could see Shaulla when she moved."
"Sylor may be better at it than she is—or at least, better at holding still when he needs to." Bonnie felt her skin begin to crawl. "He could be anywhere, Lynx, and we'd never even know it!"
"I would be able to hear him and pick up his scent," Lynx assured her. "But only if he was close by."
Bonnie shivered. "I've got to tell Drummond about this! They need to catch Sylor—if they're not already looking for him. Drummond always said I should have filed a formal complaint; this is what comes of not using my head."
"Would Drummond have done it himself?"
"Maybe," Bonnie admitted. "He's always been one to look out for me, but he never said anything about that—he wanted me to file the complaint, which I didn't do—not even when I changed the deed."
"You can have this changed?" Lynx asked. "I would not have thought..."
"It's a relic from the old mining laws on Earth," Bonnie explained. "Though God knows why they chose that one! After six months, you can consider a claim on a homestead abandoned, and someone else can take it over. Of course, if you abandon your claim, you usually wind up getting deported."
"I am aware of the deportation policy," Lynx said dryly. "It is why I came to work for you."
Bonnie grinned. "Yeah, I figured as much. Did you realize that Drummond got you here under false pretenses?" "No," Lynx said cautiously. "He told you this was the only job, didn't he?" Lynx nodded.
"I'm sure there were other possibilities—just not any in the mines. It was another of his ways of looking out for me."
"I was very angry," Lynx admitted.
"Yes, you were!" Bonnie declared. "And you didn't bother to hide it. If I hadn't needed you so badly—and if you hadn't saved my life and then built that enock pen—I might have had you deported myself! Or at least have you sent off to work for someone else."
"I am very glad you did not," Lynx said.
Bonnie laughed softly. "So am I. But I did ask Drummond if there were any other jobs available for you. I was so... well, it's hard to describe just how I felt, but I didn't think I could take it anymore."
Lynx looked at her curiously. "But you needed me," he said. "Would you have done that?"
"I'm not sure," Bonnie admitted, "but you seemed so unhappy here, I thought you would rather work for anyone but me, and I—" Her voice faltered, and she looked away from him, tears filling her eyes.
Lynx took her in his arms and lightly kissed her. "I would not have gone," he said quietly. "It was a torment for me to be here with you, but I couldn't leave."
"Torment?" Bonnie echoed. "Yes, that's pretty much how I felt; loving you when you would hardly talk to me and not being able to escape."
Lynx's arms tightened around her. "I am very sorry," he murmured. "But you understand now, don't you?"
Bonnie shook her head. "No," she said. "I understand why you thought it was necessary, but it wasn't that way for me at all! I love you, Lynx. I knew you were once a very skilled lover—and you've proven that—but that isn't everything. When Ulla was born, I got a taste of what it could be like with you... it was very hard to go back to the way things were before."
"But," he said gently, "I could not stay away."
"I thought Ulla was the one you couldn't keep away from," Bonnie said ruefully, though it pained her to admit it. "You seemed so much more interested in being with her than with me."
"She was not my only reason for staying," Lynx assured her; though he had always felt an attachment to the children he delivered. He had searched in vain for his own image in each child's face, still wanting to believe they were his own, even after realizing they were not.
Looking down at her daughter there in her arms, Bonnie said quietly, "But I still envied her. She had all the love from you that I wanted so badly."
"You no longer need to envy her," Lynx said. "Perhaps you never did."
It wasn't a declaration of his love, but it was close. Bonnie smiled. "Now I can just envy her ability to disappear! We've got to figure out a way to find her when she does that—you know, tie a bell on her or something— though we probably should be more concerned
about Sylor if you've smelled him around here."
Lynx nodded and then looked at Bonnie uncertainly. "Do you know why he would return?" Lynx thought he knew the reason, but was reluctant to say it aloud.
"Probably looking for something else to steal," Bonnie said with a snort of disgust.
"You wouldn't—" Lynx broke off there, uncertain of how to phrase the question.
"Wouldn't what?"
"Take him back."
"Take him back?" Bonnie exclaimed. "Are you out of your mind? Why would I give you up for him? Come on now, Lynx. There's no comparison—never was, and there certainly isn't now! Please, don't keep throwing that in my face!"
His expression became neutral to the point of sul-lenness. "I did not intend to anger you." Lynx appeared uncomfortable, but added, as though it explained everything, "but you did have his child."
Bonnie gaped at him. "Any Joe Schmo can father a child, Lynx! There are plenty of times when it doesn't mean a damn thing."
Lynx blinked hard. Not mean anything? How could that be when it meant everything to Lynx? "I cannot understand that."
"Well, neither can I sometimes," Bonnie said with a shrug, "but some men just fuck their way through life and leave children behind wherever they go."
It was true of other men, perhaps—Lynx knew this from experience—but the thought of having a child of his growing up somewhere without him horrified Lynx. And not only his own child, but now Ulla. He would kill rather than let anyone take her from him. He loved her—and her mother—to distraction. No, Sylor would not get them back. Not without a fight.
Chapter 19
Jack had been worrying over what to do about the situation between Bonnie and Lynx ever since her last visit, but as she sat in the cockpit adjusting the course for the approach to Terra Minor, it was gnawing at her like a starving dog on a bone. Jack liked Bonnie, and it bugged the hell out of her that Lynx had turned out to be such a stick in the mud. What the devil were they going to do with him?
She glanced at Tisana, who sat nearby feeding her daughter while her two fair-haired boys, Alrik and Aidan, lay at her feet playing with the dog. Jack didn't think she would have liked having babies pull on her ears if she'd been a dog, but Max seemed to view this activity with a fatherly tolerance, though perhaps this was due to Tisana's intervention. Aside from her ability to communicate with animals, Jack knew that Tisana was capable of many remarkable things, and she had been trying to convince Tisana to make a potion for Lynx ever since learning of Bonnie's plight. Tisana had always staunchly refused, but since they were about to land, Jack thought she'd give it one more try.
"We're almost there," Jack said heartily. "Got Lynx's love potion brewed up, yet?"
"Jack," Tisana said wearily. "How many times do I have to tell you I don't make love potions?" Smiling as she fed Althea another spoonful, she added, "And even if I did, I certainly wouldn't allow anyone to use it on an unsuspecting person. It's unethical."
"Ethics be damned!" Jack declared. "Bonnie's got one of the last remaining Zetithians, and he's not living up to his potential! If Lynx's line dies out, there will be too few bloodlines to reestablish the species. Think about our children, Tisana! They need mates!"
"And I've told you a million times, their genes appear to be dominant," Tisana said patiently. "It doesn't seem to matter who they mate with, you still wind up with what are essentially pure Zetithian offspring, and our children are living proof!"
Jack ignored that. She'd heard all of this before. "Haven't you been listening to the guys talk? Zetithian women only go for Zetithian males, and even that takes some doing! It's all very well for my sons, but you've got a daughter! Who will Althea marry if she doesn't like my boys? They need more options!"
Tisana shook her head, smiling. Jack had such a one-track mind. She seemed determined to scatter Zetithians all across the galaxy and stamp out their enemies as she went. That last trio of Nedwuts they'd run into hadn't made it out of Rocky's Cantina alive, though they had made the mistake of firing the first shot. Nobody took potshots at Cat and lived if Jack was anywhere around, and Cat was no slouch when it came to looking after himself, either. Tisana had considered posting warning signs wherever they went, just to avoid any bloodshed. She'd had to shoot a fireball to deflect the shot herself, but that was mainly due to the fact that Leo had also been in the line of fire. The fact that they'd been cruising all around the galaxy and hadn't lost either of their men was a testament to just what lengths a woman would go to hang onto a Zetithian once she'd found one. It required constant vigilance, and Tisana sometimes wondered if going off with Jack and Cat hadn't been a mistake. Leo had been much safer on Utopia—though she hadn't exactly had to twist his arm to get him to leave; they were both much happier having escaped from life on that world.
"I know what you mean, Jack," Tisana sighed. "But it isn't up to us to decide who they'll marry! My daughter's choice of mates is with the gods."
"Oh, fiddle-faddle," Jack said dismissively. "Sometimes even the gods need a little help."
"Yes, I know," Tisana said, rolling her eyes. "The gods thrive on the sweat of human endeavor or some such thing. You don't have to tell me again."
Cat sauntered into the cockpit and, with one look at his wife, got the gist of the conversation immediately. "She is worried about Lynx, is she not?"
"Yes, but you know how she feels about Zetithians," Tisana said with a smile. "I still can't believe she let Trag go off with those gun runners."
Cat grinned knowingly. "She is our greatest champion. If she had been leading the fight, Zetith never would have been destroyed."
"Aw, now, Cat, don't start with that!" Jack warned. "It's not my fault I'd never heard of Zetith before I met you. But you're right," she added reflectively. "I'd have blasted that asteroid to smithereens, even if I had to sacrifice my ship to do it!"
"My lovely master," Cat purred, planting a kiss on Jack's cheek. "You are truly a mate beyond price."
"Go on, now," Jack said, making a feeble attempt to brush him off. She never was able to resist him. "Not in front of Tisana."
"We have made love in public before," Cat reminded her. "With strangers watching."
"Yes, and we decided we didn't really like it," Jack pointed out. "Besides, Tisana isn't a stranger."
Cat leaned closer and inhaled deeply. "But I can smell your desire, my master. You cannot hide it from me."
"I'm not trying to hide it," Jack insisted. "It's just that I'm in the middle of trying to land the bloody ship! Why do you always want nooky when I'm busy?"
"But I like it when you're busy," Cat purred. "That way I can surprise you."
Jack dearly loved being surprised, but she somehow managed to ignore that remark. She would deal with Cat later. "But what are we going to do about Lynx?" Jack reiterated, doing her best to recapture the original subject. "I like Bonnie a lot, and I just think she should have the same chance with Lynx that I had with you. It's only fair, you know."
"I do not believe you need to do anything," Cat said wisely. "I believe the problem will resolve itself without any interference."
"Meaning I should mind my own damn business?" Jack grumbled.
"I think you should listen to Cat on this one," Tisana advised. "He knows more about Lynx than you do."
"True," Jack admitted. "I don't know much at all." She threw Cat a speculative glance over her shoulder. "And what you do know, you aren't telling, are you?
"Lynxsander was only a boy when he was taken and sold," Cat said quietly. "Perhaps slavery had a more profound effect on him than it did on the rest of us."
"But Bonnie said he didn't like women," Jack argued. "I could understand him being affected in tons of other ways, but what the hell could have done that to him?"
"I do not know," Cat said. "He did not share that story with us."
"You wouldn't be trying to pull the wool over my eyes, would you?" Jack said suspiciously. "I heard you fussing at him about why his hair
was so short. I wondered about that myself; I didn't think you guys ever cut your hair."
Cat was reluctant to say more, and it showed, but he also felt that Jack deserved an answer. "It is a symbol of a man's virility," he said at last. "For a Zetithian to cut his hair is to proclaim that he is no longer a man."
Jack's eyes grew round with horror. "You never told me that!" she exclaimed. "I never want you to cut yours—but that's just because I like it, not because it means anything!"
Tisana put forth the obvious conclusion. "Lynx was castrated, wasn't he?"
Cat shook his head. "It is possible," he conceded, "but I do not believe so," he replied. "Something else happened to change him."
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