Gentle Beast

by Margaret Afseth

  If ever I have it within my power, I will hold this cruel creature, accountable for his crimes.

  ****

  When the bay shut down for sleep cycle, Loki sent Tusha alone to his night room, while he went for the fixings for supper on his own. He needed time to privately lick his wounds from the day’s events.

  Dejectedly, but not reluctantly, the human Noor disappeared around the corner. Loki also knew, after all that had happened that day, the little female also would need time alone to process.

  ****

  Tusha sat thinking, awaiting Loki’s return. But her thoughts were not on the countless women down here, as might be expected. They were in the world above, on her past.

  Through no fault of her own, she had also once lost a fetus, at nine weeks in. Her drunken husband had caused the miscarriage by violently shoving her against a wall. Even then the miniature creature had been a recognizable human being, with eyes and ears, feet and arms, even a tiny mouth. It had been a real complete child! She had mourned, even given it a name…

  She couldn’t help thinking about the many women up there, who wanted to conceive but could not. Countless millions would give anything to have a child; yet there were equally as many others, who wilfully terminated their pregnancies because of selfish, narcissistic egocentricity and blatant ambition. Like the Roog, they unfeelingly considered the unfortunate creature within a mere blob of flesh to be exploited or exterminated.

  What difference is there between the Roog and the race to which I once belonged?

  And someday soon these Roog predators from below will not be content to forage cautiously only at night. They will break onto the surface, and...

  Maybe some of the human race deserves what is coming!

  But not the young ones, the babies, no not these…nor the unborn!

  Quietly, Tusha began to weep for the millions maliciously lost. Uncontrolled sobs soon wracked her emaciated frame, so taking over that she was completely unaware that Loki had returned…until his hand gently travelled down her back in an attempt to soothe her.

  She went into his comforting arms for solace, giving as well as taking.

  CHAPTER 32

  Shiveron slipped up beside Moriah, as she was putting away sterilized equipment, in preparation for leaving for the bed-nest for sleep break.

  “Will you take a walk with me before we head home?” he asked, slipping his arm around the waist of his newly acquired lover.

  “Sure. Why not? What did you have in mind?”

  He slipped his hand in hers, pulling her toward the private family elevator. Once they were safely shut inside, and the vehicle was on the way down, he took Moriah in his arms, and they indulged themselves in a long tender kiss. When the doors slid open, both were reluctant to break apart, but Shiveron again took Moriah’s hand.

  Leading her into the huge storage cavern beneath the family bed-nest, he pulled her toward a rectangle container the size of a small house. As he led her inside, and stepped aside for her to view the contents, he self-consciously excused his actions.

  “I tried very hard to set it up in just the way you had it…”

  His new mate gasped in surprise. “My things! It looks just like our house on Earth. How did you get them here?”

  “Jump transfer. We set beacons the night we left. Did you think I would rob you of your treasures?”

  “Oh, Shiveron!” In awe, she traversed the rooms, laughed when she found drying jeans thrown over the barrier blocking the stairs leading down to the bedrooms. “Oh, gosh!” she said. “Half this stuff is useless to us now. What am I going to do with it?”

  “How about we go through it; you keep what you do want, and we could put the rest for sale as souvenirs from the Forbidden planet?”

  Moriah laughed at that. “Or,” she said coyly. “We could keep this place as our hideaway for when we want a private time…”

  The delighted grin spread across his face before he could prevent it.

  ****

  Nyle was so glad to get out of the hospital; he was actually looking forward to sleeping with his promised on the communal sleep mat in the home nest. She had mentioned Liam and Kimon would bring Kaudy and Jabek with them when they came later, so he and Twila were heading home alone.

  He expected momma Dia would be there, as Twila had also said the matriarch had gone ahead to prepare the supper meal from scratch. Dia didn’t like the replicator for family meals, but preferred to actually cook.

  Twila had admitted tonight was special, that almost the whole family would be home together for this sleep break, and it had Nyle quaking inside.

  He knew Liam and Kimon, he’d also previously met Dia, but it was the other brother and family Nyle was wary to meet.

  Will they accept me?

  As the two stepped into the nest, and the panel slid closed behind them, Dia called from the kitchen. “That you, Twila?”

  “Yes, momma.”

  A young Noor Feline teen sat in the corner of the bed mat playing on a small screen device in his hand.

  “Ock, Reon,” Twila reprimanded. “Put that away, and come meet my promised.”

  Obediently, the instrument vanished, and the male arose and came forward.

  “Nyle, this is Reon. He is my brother’s son. He’s still young and learning, only eighteen…”

  Reon hissed disapprovingly. “I am warrior; no ignorant,” he defended. “I am honoured, master Nyle.” The boy gave a slight nod of respect, and stepped back.

  For a junior male, Reon was well muscled and tall. Nyle supposed that was due to his half Noor breeding, which was apparent, as he had the face, hands and feet of a humanoid. His manner, however, surprised Nyle. There was none of the subservient fear most Feline males displayed.

  “He’s been raised without a mother, and sometimes lacks respect,” Twila chided teasingly. “But perhaps that will change…so, where is your father and new stepmother?”

  “Poppa said they had an errand first. They should be here soon.”

  Wiping her hands on the apron at her waist, Dia came around the corner of the kitchen alcove, followed by a human female. When she moved aside, and Nyle caught a glimpse of the young girl, the words just slipped out before he realized the error of his action.

  “Iora! Where did you come from?”

  Both Dia and Twila hissed a warning, and Reon suddenly went rigid, as if ready to pounce.

  Nyle stepped back, and dropped his head in submission.

  In the heat of the moment, Nyle had not heard the outside panel slide open, nor had he seen the entry of Liam with Kaudy and Jabek in tow. Only when Liam reprimanded him, did he notice Jabek had also taken a stance of attack alert.

  “Nyle!” Liam warned. “Remember your place. The eldest female is to be addressed first.”

  Nyle swallowed.

  I knew that. I was just caught off guard.

  “Sorry, momma Dia.”

  “But, momma Dia,” objected Iora from behind her. “He’s my uncle.”

  “Eh, what?” Dia broke into a chuckle. “And how came this about? Liam?”

  Liam shrugged. “I had no foreknowledge. I am as surprised as you.”

  At just that moment, Shiveron entered, Moriah preceding him.

  Moriah’s jaw dropped in surprise. “Nyle! Holy cow! How did you get here?” All propriety forgotten, she ran toward Nyle and wrapped her arms about him, giving him such an exuberant hug it could have cracked bone.

  All the while, the stunned Noor Feline members stood dumbfounded.

  ****

  Liam began to laugh.

  Shiveron frowned, annoyed.

  “Glad you think this is so funny.”

  Liam grinned good-naturedly. “It is amusing when you think on it. Here both you and Twila have chosen mates, and they turn out to be brother and sister. What’s funny is that you didn’t even know about it…and for how long have they been here? How can that happen? Were you just never in the nest together? And did your paths never cross
in the med bay? Talk about predestined; it brings to mind that old Noor belief: nothing happens by chance.”

  “And, here’s another to knock you off kilter,” Liam added. “If Nyle already had the Noor anomaly, it must have come down through this older sister. And you, Shiveron, didn’t even check her blood before you transfused her. So, now that she has the anomaly from two sources, does that make her whole Noor? And if so, does it spread both forward and backward to Nyle one way and their momma the other?”

  When he watched their faces go from puzzlement to awe and back again, as he presented the probabilities, Liam could keep his merriment at bay no longer. He broke into uncontrolled laughter at this quandary, and they joined in, realizing the improbability this had all happened by chance.

  Finally, Shiveron slugged him on the shoulder to stop his hysterical hilarity, and gasping to contain his own mirth, rebuked Liam.

  “Oh, yes! My stupidity is so often amusing to you, Mental. If you are so smart, where is their momma? And, for that matter, who infected her? It had to be recent, for them not to know of it? As none of us did it, who was it then? The Roog? Loki?”

  Liam sobered. “You have me there; that is the puzzle,” he agreed, quickly rejecting in his mind, that Loki would do such a thing unless forced by a desperate situation. “But first order of business is, we need to find her. This family needs completion!”

  CHAPTER 33

  Bom came striding into the prison med bay in the middle of the afternoon shift. He made straight for Loki’s corner. At the moment, Loki was without a patient, not idle exactly, but cleaning his equipment with Tusha’s help.

  “Send your pet away,” Bom growled. “Don’t want it hearing what is said.”

  He walked away, as if he were broiling over something and couldn’t stand still. Waiting impatiently, Bom paced the floor beyond. Loki knew he’d better be quick.

  Reaching up above his head, he grabbed a small translator for a human, and fitted it to Tusha’s throat. Before turning it on, he gave her instructions.

  “Go to More, get the fixings for a meal.”

  “By myself?” Loki nodded. “Can I make it, when I get home?” Again Loki nodded.

  “When I turn on your translator, be careful what you say. Those around will understand. When you don’t want that, push the centre in to deactivate.”

  “I know how.”

  “Good. Go now, before Bom chooses to do something to you.”

  Loki pressed the translator activator, lifted her down, and she fled toward the tunnels. As she disappeared, Bom again joined him.

  “Come with me; we will walk.”

  As the Roog Feline headed the opposite direction from where Tusha had gone, Loki fell into step with him. They proceeded toward the empty halls leading to Bom’s own quarters.

  “Your grandmere, Kei, has contacted my father, Clio. She has convinced him, it is in our best interests to set you free; she wants you released…now.”

  Loki said nothing.

  Let the bureaucrats fight it out.

  “Kei gave him an ultimatum: if you are not set free immediately, at the completion of the original sentence passed, the Feline will bring war to this sector, and topple his empire.”

  Loki tried not the grin.

  Way to go grandmere!

  There were twelve Feline planets to the Roog’s sparsely populated three, and though the dogs were more brutal, the Feline, when cornered, did not lack in ferocity.

  “And I suppose, Clio has given you instructions? I’m sure neither he, nor you, would want your little cattle farm exposed…”

  Bom growled deep in his throat.

  Loki knew the male was caught between his father’s desires, and his own wants.

  “I am to use whatever means necessary to end your sentence.”

  The unspoken implication was not lost on Loki.

  “If you kill me, the result will be the same.”

  Bom growled again, incensed by the truth of his quandary.

  “This is how it will go down. You will obey my every whim for the remainder of the month, and if you still live at its end, you will be sent home…in chains…the same as the day you arrived.”

  Loki again said nothing, neither agreeing nor disproving.

  “Every whim, Noor!” Bom reiterated. “When I summon you, you come! Without argument! You do what I ask; I’ll brook no more rebellion!”

  Loki couldn’t promise he’d obey to the letter, so he remained silent. Bom took it as consent.

  “When you go, you leave behind your human pet. Set her loose; put her back among the kitchen workers where you found her…”

  Loki wasn’t about to correct his misconception.

  “And for today, you will serve until the midnight revelry is over. If you fail to be available, and I find out your failure, you will be punished.”

  Loki hissed in rebellion at this.

  Tusha will be planning a meal, and if I must remain in the bay, short of sending Uel to my quarters to tell her, I have no way of informing her I'll be delayed. Maybe I can send Uel to More.

  But if he weren’t careful, Bom would misinterpret his annoyance. Thinking quickly, Loki redirected the conversation.

  “If I survive the month, I get to ask something from you, at my departure.”

  Bom laughed at his daring. “You bargain with me, Noor? Challenge me?”

  “You are not the only one with power…”

  Bom harrumphed. “I agree,” he said after some thought. “But two things: you cannot ask for the life, nor the freedom of your little she, and second…you must survive…” The warning of confrontation was just under the words. “…until the day of your release. Now, get back to the bay; get out of my sight, before I bring up what I had at lunch.”

  Loki turned, and as he fled the violent warden, he was already mulling in his mind how he might free Tusha.

  ****

  Tusha was so happy at the thought of preparing a meal for Loki; she breezed through the tunnels of meat cages without seeing the hapless faces of those behind the bars. She burst into the store excitedly, and without thinking demanded of More.

  “Can I have whatever I want today?”

  More chuckled. “Well now, it makes sounds I can understand. At last Loki has blessed you with a translator. Yes, yes, More likes this little she. What do they call you?”

  “Loki calls me Tusha. Can I have anything I choose? He said I could make him a special meal.”

  “Ha! For Loki! Special; yes, we make special. Tusha may take anything.”

  And Tusha knew exactly what she would use to trundle it all home.

  Once in the excess storage, Tusha hunted through the property she knew to be hers until she found the cart she’d always used to lug groceries home on the bus. She began filling it with her spices, pasta jars, and some canned goods. She needed a can opener…

  As she was searching, she heard Uel come into the food area, and engage More in conversation, but she did not try to hear what they said. As Uel made no attempt to seek her out, she went on with her hunt, picking up small things she could use, like a cutting board, larger knives, wooden stirring spoons, and a soup ladle, along with extra plates, glasses, and cutlery.

  When at last, she entered the food counter area Uel was gone. Tusha stood before the large vegetable display:

  Wilted celery, onions, raw carrots, bags of defrosted frozen peas and corn...is that fresh tomatoes?

  “Nobody want those,” More revealed. “Felines no like fruits and vegetables; prefer meat, and the fish. Take all you want.”

  “Loki likes veggies.”

  “Loki different. Him Noor. Those beings were like human; eat garbage.”

  Maybe to him, it is garbage. He's a tree that can think.

  Tusha was almost tempted to drop into his native tongue, just to shock him, but she kept her peace.

  “You remember the Noor?”

  “Aye. There was peace when they peopled the universe; not like now under dog.”r />
  That’s when Tusha made the mistake of trusting a Root. She did twist her tongue to the speech of his species. Shutting off her translator, Tusha addressed him directly.

  “Are you friend or foe, Root? Are you for Roog or against?”

  He grunted, taken aback at the question, not realizing she was using his tongue on her own. “Had I a choice, I’d go against any to get from this place,” he returned bitterly. “But, little female better beware; she be heard by another.”

  Tusha switched her translator back on, and turned again to the fruit stacks. “Doesn’t this fruit go to the pregnant?”

  “They get enough. You want? Take all.”

  “We have no way to keep it. But I’ll take a bunch of celery, a bundle of carrots, a tomato, and an onion…”

  As More took down, and handed her what she asked for, he delivered the message Uel had brought.

  “Uel talk me. Tell you, Loki confined to med bay by order, until orgy over tonight. No allow home.”

  “But he will come to his sleep room after? Right?”

  More bent his head in acknowledgement.

  “Well, what I plan to make will take time, and will keep, even cold, so I can still make it. Do you have any meat?”

  “I have meat…all kind,” More said eagerly, moving behind the meat counter. “See here …fish, human, pig…beef.”

  “Real beef…from four legged cows in the world above?”

  “Aye.”

  “How old?”

  “Get during this night…only hour ago. Just before you come.”

  “Okay. Give me two big scoops.”

  “Ha! Loki will like this meal!”

  When she was all packed up, and about to head out the door, More called her back. He reached beneath the vegetable counter and pulled out a flask, handing it to her.

  “What’s this?”

  “I save…long time. Noor juice fruit; very popular with Noor male. You serve Loki…celebrate. Okay?”

  “Okay!”

  ****

  When Tusha got into the sleep chamber, she put everything she needed out on the counter, took out the big cooking pot, and put the first ingredients to simmer: she chopped the onion, celery and sliced the carrots. With oil on the bottom, she set that to cook until the onion was transparent, while she opened cans of tomatoes, mushrooms and baked beans. When the sautéing vegetables were ready, she browned the meat, added chili powder and garlic. At last, she dumped in the contents of the cans; when this came to a boil, she turned the temperature on the hot plate down.