“Well, I guess that answers that question,” Jarmasin said.
Now was the time.
“I have to tell you something,” I said, looking at each of them in turn. “I’m afraid we’re not going to Thansvaal, we’re going to Earth.”
“What?” “You can’t…” “Why?” They all spoke at once.
“It’s true. For urgent, personal reasons, which I don’t expect you to understand, I need to go home. I’m sorry that you’re involved in this but your presence was agreed before I found I had to go. If I could have organised it differently, I would have.”
“We are… we are coming back?” Lashak’ka said in a small voice.
“Yes, of course we are. I have an errand which will take a few days so I reckon we’ll be away about a week.”
“And just what is this errand that forces you to drag us into the outer reaches of the galaxy without asking if we wanted to go?” Triss said in a dangerously quiet voice.
I took a deep breath. “I need to take my cats to the vet?”
Lorca let out an explosive breath. “Now I’m completely lost. I know what a vet is but what are cats, why are they important and why do you need to sneak away clandestinely?”
“Cats are small domestic carnivores. We keep them as pets. I was forced to abandon my home at short notice. I couldn’t abandon the cats so I had to bring them with me. They’ve been staying illegally in the hotel and they’ve become ill. I think they’re dying. The only person who can diagnose their problem and, hopefully, cure it is an Earth-trained vet. There are none of these on Geretimal so I need to take the cats home.”
Triss was looking outraged, Lorca amused, Lashak’ka appalled and Jarmasin thoughtful.
“Let me get this straight,” Triss said. “You’ve abducted us on a childish whim? Kidnapped us simply because two animals, that you weren’t prepared to leave on Earth, have become ill?”
“That’s about the size of it, yes.”
She stood. “You’re even less of a man than I thought,” she said in a voice dripping with contempt. “A man who cares more about animals than he does about sentient beings is nothing… an empty husk… a travesty. Not a man at all.” She made a spitting motion and stalked out.
We sat in stunned silence. I’d been aware that she didn’t have a very high opinion of me but her outburst taken us completely by surprise. I resisted the impulse to make a smart comment and glanced at Lorca. She shrugged.
“I’ll go and see her by and by,” she said. A slow grin spread over her face. “Well, I never thought I’d be involved in a tale of kidnap and midnight flights. Can we see these fabulous creatures that have caused so much trouble?”
Her words had a calming effect on the other two who looked like they might bolt at any moment.
“I think we could do that though they are very ill so please be gentle.”
“Is it… catching?” Lashak’ka said with a squeak.
“No. I assure you it’s not. I think they’re suffering from the lack of some vital chemical. You see, cats are hunters. By nature they hunt and eat small animals. Domesticated cats don’t need to hunt because we feed them. But they have to have a diet that emulates all the chemicals they would get from live prey. I didn’t bring any with me so they’ve been eating reconstituted meat from the kitchen.”
Jarmasin was nodding. “That makes sense. We keep domesticated animals to guard our flocks and we have to be careful to feed them correctly.”
“It sounds very complicated,” Lashak’ka said.
We trooped downstairs. On the way we met Hermes.
“You’ve told them, then?”
I nodded. “We’re on the way to look at the cats.”
“That’s a pair of sick animals.”
“I know. I only hope I’m not too late.”
“So do I,” he said sombrely.
“You know about them?” Lorca asked.
He nodded. “I’ve grown rather fond of them. I’d hate to see them perish.”
We trooped in to the room. The cats were still curled up asleep but woke with our clatter. Ziggy heaved himself to his feet and made his way slowly to me, meowing softly.
“That’s a sick animal,” Jarmasin said.
“You don’t know anything about them,” Lorca said.
“I don’t need to. I know animals and I know a sick one when I see it.”
I bent and picked Ziggy up and stroked him.
“Poor, pussy cat,” I said softly. “All this pain I’ve caused you because I forgot to bring cat food. We’ll get you better. It won’t be long before we’re home.”
Stardust had woken and was coming to see what all the fuss was about. Hermes scooped her up and began to pet her. She looked up at him and blinked then began to purr softly. Jarmasin looked closely at Ziggy.
“What’s wrong with its eyes?” she asked.
I explained about the haws and how they didn’t retract properly when a cat was ill. With gentle but firm fingers, she raised his eyelid and peered into his eye then peeled back his upper lip to look at his mouth. She felt along his back and his flank.
“Very agile animals,” she announced.
She lifted a paw and watched his claws extend and retract. Despite his ill health, he was making his normal treading motions, if feebly. She stepped back and nodded, as if she was a vet completing her examination.
“Yes, a very sick animal,” she said.
“How can you tell,” Lashak’ka asked.
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I grew up around animals. I’ve developed, I suppose, a sort of sixth sense about them. We have a similar small predator, though it’s not domesticated. If I saw one of them like these, er, cats, I wouldn’t give it long to live. Oh, I’m sorry, Crawford. I know you can’t really equate one species with another and these are domesticated animals not wild ones so they’re healthier to start with but I have to agree they need attention pretty urgently.”
Lorca gave a shaky laugh. “Well, I don’t think we can argue with your assessment that they need to see a vet though I don’t understand why you’re so attached to them.”
Hermes cleared his throat. “I felt the same when Crawford insisted he bring them. However, after sharing a ship with them for three days I think I understand the attachment a bit better. It’s nothing I can explain but I find myself unaccountably sad that these two are so obviously ill.”
“They seem so pathetic,” Lashak’ka said.
“They do now but, I can assure you that, when healthy, they are lively, amusing and baffling creatures.”
“We’ll just have to take your word for that,” Lorca said.
“Well, actually, I took the liberty of having my ibic record them. I wanted to study their behaviour. I could show you if you liked.”
“Would you?” Lashak’ka said.
“We’ll use the trivee room.”
He gently deposited Stardust on a cushion. She looked up at him reproachfully then curled up and went to sleep.
“I think I’ll stay here,” I said.
Hermes and Lorca gave me sympathetic looks. As they made to leave, I realised Triss was standing in the doorway. She caught my eye and turned away abruptly. I managed to pull some cushions together and settled on them. Guilt and sadness overwhelmed me and I started to cry silently. It wasn’t just guilt about the cats or about kidnapping the girls, though that was bad enough, but the whole pressure of the last two weeks came crashing in on me; my fights with the Lottery Commission, the need to be a public figure, the attempts on my life, having to cope with the strangeness of an alien planet and alien beings and alien customs. I felt very alone and very insecure. There was no-one here or at home or on Geretimal I could turn to for help or advice or guidance. I was unique in the universe; the only Earthman to have left the solar system, the only Earthman to have won the Lottery, the only Earthman to….
Chapter 22
“Crawford? Crawford, are you all right?” Lorca was gently shaking my shoulder.
&n
bsp; “Hmm? Wassa..?
“Are you all right?” She sounded worried.
I shook my head to try and clear it. Ziggy, asleep on my lap, protested softly.
“I… Yes, I’m fine. Must have fallen asleep.”
“A whole master suite and you choose to sleep here?” Her voice was amused but gentle.
I gave a wry half-grin. “Not very clever, I suppose.”
She reached out a hand. “Come on, let’s get you to bed.”
I put Ziggy carefully down. He made no more than a token protest. Lorca heaved me to my feet and pulled me into a fierce hug. I was stiff from sleeping in an awkward position.
“I know I said I’d not interfere but you’re a strange and intriguing being, Crawford MacAdam. You make me feel… strange.”
Her expression was puzzled but her dark eyes suggested deeper feelings.
I shrugged. Her fabulous breasts were pressed firmly against my chest and, even through the layers of clothing, I was aware of the hardness of her nipples. Her magical aroma surrounded me like a miasma making my senses reel. I wanted to put my arms around her and never let her go.
“Not as baffling and intriguing as you, Lorca Lhewlyn Dibhach. I’m certainly in lust with you. I can’t honestly claim any more than that.”
“Lust will have to do, then,” she practically growled, pulling me from the room.
We stumbled into my bedroom shedding clothes as we went. Neither of us were capable of rational thought. All our attention was on the need to be coupled as soon as possible. We fell on the bed and squirmed until I was between her eagerly-spread thighs.
As we had the previous time, we didn’t make love, we rutted like animals overwhelmed by lust and filled only with our need for each other. I was drunk with her smell and intoxicated with her body. At the critical point I could feel her milking me, sucking my essence eagerly. And I gave it gladly; filling her with my seed.
“That feels so good,” she murmured as I collapsed on top of her.
“Feels good from this side, too,” I gasped.
She urged me to roll off her and got out of bed. I assumed she was going to clean up to avoid creating a wet patch. She flung a damp cloth in my direction as she passed on her way to the kitchen. I grinned at this off-hand treatment. Suddenly I felt good again. To hell with Triss and her prissy attitude. To hell with the Lottery Commission. To hell with all of them. Ziggy and Stardust were my priority and, if that didn’t suit anyone… tough.
“What are you grinning at? As if I didn’t know.”
Lorca placed a tray of drinks and fruit on the bed and climbed back in again. I grabbed her and kissed her passionately nearly upsetting the tray.
“Thanks. You’ve dragged me out of my funk.”
“Good.” She leered. “My cunning plan worked, then?”
“With a vengeance.”
She pulled the tray closer, handed me a drink and snuggled in at my side.
“You’ve got to be strong for all of us.” Her tone was surprisingly serious.
“I don’t follow you.”
She sighed thoughtfully. “Life in that barracks was hellish. Twenty three women cooped up together all competing for the same man would normally lead to, shall we say, feelings running high.”
“You mean you’d be scratching each other’s eyes out.”
“Possibly. Yet, in the face of a common enemy, we sort of put our differences aside and banded together. I can’t say I liked a number of the others and I’m sure the feeling’s mutual but we managed to get along for a month. The trouble was that the common enemy didn’t stop at Madam Holiness-Personified, it extended to include everything connected with the Lottery… including the Lottery Winner.”
“Oh.”
“Oh, indeed. To say we weren’t looking forward to our night with you would be an understatement.”
“I knew that the moment I met Cherevine.”
“Of course you did. We didn’t at the time and we didn’t know about your battles with the Commission. But, when Cherevine floated back the next day with that silly smile on her face and Barb… Madam Brabicoso came and Sir Devoted-Acolyte arrived looking like he’d eaten something exceedingly disagreeable and started flinging people out… well, we knew something was up. We managed to wheedle some of it out of Bar… Madam Brabicoso…”
“You might as well call her Barbita. I do.”
“Barbita, then. She let slip a bit more than I think she intended and we realised that the something that was up was you. After Jarmasin and Ymar also returned with silly smiles, suddenly you became Sir Desirable. You seemed to be a one-being whirlwind, blowing all the crap away. Then I met you and realised you weren't a whirlwind so much as a bulldozer. You knew what you wanted and nothing was going to stand in your way. Some of us believed it was because you were a primitive savage and didn’t know any better. I confess I thought so, too, before I got to know you better.”
“I do recall you saying some thing along these lines.”
She had the decency to look embarrassed. “Yes, well. Anyway, after our night together… was it really only two days ago… I was forced to reassess my opinions and realised that I’d been blind and missed all the clues. That you weren't an ignorant barbarian but a very strong person and a very caring one, too.”
“At the risk of sounding like I want my ego stroked, how?”
She gave me an old fashioned look. “First, Cherevine. You wouldn’t believe how frightened she was when you started yelling and threatening to throw people bodily out of your suite. She told me she nearly wet her knickers. Then, when you were alone, you stopped as if a switch had been turned and apologised for acting like a barbarian. That was the first. The second was in the restaurant when you were all set to explode and suddenly stopped.”
“You can thank Cherevine, herself, for that one. It was she who stopped me.”
She shook her head vigorously, her silver hair flying. “No. Cherevine said that all she did was touch your arm and say your name.”
“It was a bit more than that but I won’t argue with you. Go on.”
“Next was Ymar. She’s frighteningly clever and very reserved but she came back with the same glow as Cherevine and Jarmasin. How you did it I don’t know because she hardly speaks at all. The next was Tansy.”
“Tansy?”
“Tansy. You’d been at death’s door. Officially it was food poisoning but I know there was no food involved. Despite that, you got up from your sick bed and came all the way over to apologise to her in person.”
“I had to. I’d treated her abominably.”
“That’s what I mean. Most males would have claimed it wasn't their fault as they’d been under the influence of a drug but that wasn’t the way you saw it.”
I nodded. “That’s right.”
“The final example is me.”
“You?”
“Yes. I knew you wanted me. I knew I was irresistible to you.” She said this in such a calm, matter-of-fact tone I had to look at her closely to make sure she wasn’t pulling my leg. She met my gaze calmly. “Oh, yes, it’s true. Tell me you could resist me.”
I gave a shaky laugh. “I couldn’t now. You have a rather compelling scent. But, don’t flatter yourself too much. If you’d maintained your stand-offish attitude, I would have, believe me.”
She grinned. “Naturally. That’s why I know you’re no savage. You even resisted when I started giving mixed signals.”
“Do you always test your men like this?”
“No.” She paused. “That’s all I’m prepared to say just now. Anyway, this isn’t about me, it’s about you. You’ve made me ramble and I’m losing the thread. The point is that you’re not a savage; you’re a very complex and subtle person.”
“No I’m not.”
“Don’t argue. You may think you’re just a simple being from a primitive planet but, believe me, you’re anything but. Inside, you’ve a very strong sense of right and wrong. You care very deeply about things and you’
re prepared to go to great lengths to do what you think is right. We wouldn’t be here, now, if you didn’t. Now, I think that's an admirable thing. That's an understatement. It’s more than admirable. It’s a complete and utter turn on. To put it crudely, you make my panties wet.”
I laughed. It was more from shock than humour. “What? Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything. It’s just such a startling idea. Me? Boring old simple me makes the Goddess of Sex go weak at the knees?”
“It’s true.”
“I don’t doubt your word. It’s no wonder we fall into bed and fuck like rabbits.”
She frowned. “It’s not funny.”
I bent and kissed the top of her head. “It’s not. It’s unbelievable but very flattering and rather beautiful. Thank you for finding me so and thank you for telling me.”
“I probably shouldn’t have. Will it complicate things between you and Madam Pressicallita?”
“How did you find out about Flerrionna?”
“You told Jarmasin, remember?”
“Shit, so I did. You’ll keep it quiet, won’t you?”
“Yes. Only Jarmasin and I know. We’re straying from the point again. I can see what you really are and I know some of the others do as well but some of them can’t. Some still see you as just an ignorant barbarian. They see the battles and the arguments but don’t see the compassionate side of you. They tend to be a bit disparaging and you’ll have your work cut out in persuading them that there’s more to you than that. However, there’s one in particular who sees your bullish side as a strength and can’t understand how someone who can take on the whole Lottery Commission can be so upset about a pair of sick cats.”
“Triss,” I said immediately. “That’s what you’ve been leading up to, isn’t it? You’re trying to tell me gently that Triss dislikes me. I knew that already”
She shrugged. “I was going to be a bit more diplomatic but, yes. She more than dislikes you. Perhaps ‘despise’ is too strong a word but it’s close. The thing is, you’re going to have to do something about it.”
“What? Why?”
“Because she’ll be a disruptive influence. She has a strong personality and a number of the girls look up to her.” She paused. “I don’t know if it’s been by accident or design but you’ve met most of the stronger-minded of us first. Most of them are more like Lashak’ka than Triss or me or even Ymar.”
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