The Forgotten Four

by Part Four (lit)

  "It is not likely to change for the better if the Danu come at last," he said finally, but thoughtfully.

  Danielle's heart leapt with sudden hopefulness. She struggled with it, but her mind was racing too fast for her to consider the potential consequences and beyond that it was not the sort of situation where hesitating was a good idea. If she didn't take the leap, he'd realized it was some sort of plot! "So don't go there. If you're worried about it, I mean. You don't have to just because Manuta said you should, do you?"

  He slid an assessing look at her. "Manuta also said that we were to take you back to your people," he reminded her.

  Dismay filled her. "Well, that's actually a good idea, though! I mean, it could be. I'd be more than willing to put in a good word for you with the commander of Meridie's forces if you guys were willing to join us. We could use all the help we can get and … well, if you allied yourselves with us and helped then, once we won the war, you'd be friends with my people. That could open up a lot of possibilities … if you were interested, that is."

  Any doubts she'd had that he understood what she was hinting at were banished when he flicked a gaze down her length. She felt her face heat, but that wasn't all that was very warm by the time he met her gaze again.

  She hadn't actually offered to convince him of the benefits!

  She didn't think it had crossed her mind, anyway. It certainly did when he'd given her that thorough once over, though!

  Instead of responding to her rather broad hint, or saying something suggestive, he turned to study the workers. Both relieved and vaguely disappointed, Danielle turned to look at the progress, as well. It unnerved her to discover just how much attention they'd drawn as they crossed the plain to the building site. Not that there were many who were blatantly staring, but the few that were was enough to be unnerving and she had the feeling that there wasn't a single one of the cyborgs that wasn't keenly aware of her approach.

  Her uneasiness deepened as they walked the perimeter. The tension in the air was almost palpable, but she didn't labor under the delusion that it had anything to do with her for very long. Almost to a man, their expressions were tight with suppressed anger and the few who met her gaze looked more as if they'd like to choke the life out of her than interested in throwing her down and fucking her brains out.

  She was ready to retreat when she encountered the first hostile look. Instead, she pretended she hadn't noticed and continued her inspection until she thought she'd made it clear enough she wasn't intimidated by their hostility before she turned her steps toward the settlement again.

  Unfortunately, she was intimidated. She was far more anxious to get back to her prison than she'd been to leave it to start with. Odd that it suddenly seemed more like a refuge than a prison when she'd been ready to climb the walls just to get out of it for a few minutes. "I guess nobody is too happy about the project, huh?" she murmured finally when they'd reached the habitat again.

  "There is tension," Kiel responded after a lengthy pause, as if he was trying to decide how to respond or maybe even whether to respond at all or not.

  She sent him a look, but she could tell by the expression on his face that she hadn't managed to hide her misery or uneasiness well at all. "Well, I don't see it taking long at the rate they're going," she said briskly. "I should be out of here in no time at all and then things can get back to normal."

  He followed her inside to her dismay, catching her arm when she would've retreated upstairs and turning her to face him.

  Actually, she realized, the dismay had more to do with the fact that it flickered through her mind instantly when he pulled her back that he meant to kiss her, but it was a good bit later before she had time to analyze the disappointment she felt when he didn't.

  "I cannot say that their anger has nothing to do with you, but it is not in the way you believe."

  Danielle nodded, but her expression was skeptical. "If you say so."

  He frowned. "You … suggested before that if we befriended your people that we might find acceptance among them."

  Danielle tensed. Unfortunately, her imagination took flight and, when it did, conflicting thoughts began pelting through her. "I think … they would be open to the possibility," she said carefully, wondering even as she said it if that was true-knowing, deep down, that it wasn't. Humans were distrustful by nature. They'd never completely and totally come to trust one another when they were all human and all hailed from the same mother world. To an extent, they had made peace between the races of man, but there was always a thread of doubt, distrust, wariness. Once they began to colonize, that became a distrust of the colonists from other worlds more than race against race, but thousands of years of evolution hadn't eradicated it.

  She was pretty sure they would never have accepted the Nubiens if they'd come offering peace instead of attacked without provocation and she knew the Danu were different enough that they would have a hard time finding acceptance.

  "You do not truly believe that, do you?"

  Honesty? Or the lie she needed to save her ass? She sighed. "Like I said, I think they'd be open to it-some of them anyway."

  "But many would not," he said flatly.

  Anger arose. "You don't trust me. Not that I blame you considering how I got here, but you have to admit that it isn't easy to trust strangers, especially when they're different."

  "And you do not trust us."

  Danielle wrestled with herself. "Should I? Do you want me to?" she asked finally.

  "I cannot imagine that it would be comfortable finding mates among your people if there was no trust. We could take and hope for the best, but it would be difficult to sleep beside an enemy," he said dryly.

  Danielle was taken aback. Even though she'd suggested that they might be able to get what they wanted if they befriended the humans, she didn't think she'd really accepted the possibility that that was their motivation. "I don't think you'd be happy with the results of 'taking'," she agreed tightly.

  "And yet it seems to me that you are suggesting that that is all that we could expect-to go on as we have and have no one or to take what we want," he said coldly.

  This definitely wasn't going well! "You'd still stand a better chance befriending us. I could've lied and said women would just fall in your arms, damn it! I'm extending you the courtesy of the truth and pointing out possibilities. You aren't like us! But that isn't necessarily a bad thing-not all the way around, anyway! Some women want different, if you know what I mean? They know what they've had and they're hoping there's something better out there.

  "Allying yourselves to us would mean you'd have the chance to convince them, to catch their interest-just like our men. It doesn't mean you'll get them. If you're thinking along the lines of our government simply handing over as many women as you want as a … reward or something, that isn't going to happen! It doesn't work like that! Not in our society! Women have brains and they have rights! Maybe you aren't used to that concept-that women have choices?"

  "I cannot be accustomed to it when we have no women!" Kiel growled.

  "Well think of them as men without penises, damn it! We have likes and dislikes, and goals and desires ourselves. We know what we want …. Well, some of the time, anyway!"

  Kiel looked amused. "I confess I find it difficult to think of you as a man without a penis. I am certain, in point of fact, that that has no appeal to me at all!"

  Danielle gaped at him, torn between a desire to laugh and an almost equal desire to punch him for being deliberately obtuse! "I didn't mean it that way," she said tartly, but she couldn't help but smile. The smile widened as a sudden thought popped into her mind, a solution, the perfect solution as far as she could see! "Partners, Inc.!"

  Kiel frowned. "What is this?"

  Excitement boiled through her, uncontainable. She grasped his upper arms impulsively and bounced with her excitement. "It's a … well, it's an organization to help men and women get together. Not romantic! Well, I suppose it could be, but the t
hing is we have trouble finding a … uh … a mate sometimes, too. And some people, when they get tired of being alone and tired of trying to find somebody they hit it off with, well, they just pick one. It's mostly women, although some men sign up, too, but they're looking to escape the life they have as much as they're looking for a life-partner. They're under contract. They still get to decide whether they want to go with the guy that chooses them or not, but they don't sign up at all if they aren't desp … uh … anxious to relocate and settle down.

  "And you have a beautiful colony here! This would definitely be an asset. Gorgeous men anxious for companionship! You could get mail-order partners through the company!"

  She studied his face. Seeing he looked more confused instead of less, she considered allowing the idea to drop, but it seemed like the perfect solution to her-something she could offer as a real possibility for their help. "I don't know exactly what you're looking for, of course, but you'd have to go with the standard contract. You have to agree to the terms of seven years-with the possibility of fourteen if you have issue-that's babies. You have to agree to help to support any issue at least that long anyway and you have to agree to help the partner you choose at least seven years to give them time to get along by themselves or find someone else if you just can't get along-as long as they're making an effort to stand on their own."

  Kiel frowned thoughtfully. "And you believe it would be allowed?"

  Danielle chewed her lip. "You'd be required to disclose your status as alien. You have to supply all pertinent information so that the potential partner can make an informed decision, but I don't see why you wouldn't be allowed. I mean, this isn't a government thing. It's a privately owned company that offers the service. They're in it for the money."

  Disappointment flickered through her when she saw that he looked more dubious than interested. "Hey! It's a plan-a possibility. Maybe it isn't exactly what you were hoping for, but it's better than nothing, right?"

  "That remains to be seen," he said dryly.

  "Well, it would be a backup plan, you know? I'm just saying if there's a problem finding acceptance, there's another possible solution. I didn't say there would be a problem anyway, only that it was a possibility since you're … different, you know? And I could be wrong. I'm wrong a lot of the time, actually."

  "Which also means that you could be wrong about your people welcoming us, at all, even as allies against your enemies," he pointed out coolly.

  Dismay flickered through her. She'd thought about that, but she was more certain of her footing on that issue. "Well, that won't be easy either, but things haven't been going all that well. I don't think it would be all that hard to convince them of that." She wrestled with her conscience a moment. "It probably wouldn't be a good idea to tell them you're cyborgs or … uh … let them see the … uh … what you can do."

  His expression tightened. "Lie to them, you mean?"

  "I'm not saying that! Just leave that out!"

  "Omitting is not the same as lying? They would not feel … betrayed when they discovered just how different we are?"

  Danielle chewed her lip. "I'll have to think about that," she hedged.

  "You did not feel betrayed when you discovered it?" he persisted.

  "No. Scared shit … uh … surprised, but it wasn't like we were best buddies before that or anything. There was no trust issue because I didn't trust you to start with! This would be different."

  "I do not think a foundation of trust could be built on … omissions," he said tightly.

  Danielle shrugged. "Well, I have news for you! Nobody makes it in the mating game if they lay out all the ugly right off the bat! You have to get their interest first and you sure as hell don't do that by showing all your flaws first!

  "Not that those are flaws, mind you!" she added hurriedly at the look he gave her. "But you get the picture-first you get their interest and then you relax a little and give them a peek at the little imperfections, give them time to adjust and decide if they can live with it, and then maybe you relax a little more. Honest to god! You have to have bait to catch something!"

  He frowned, but thoughtfully. "This is like hunting?"

  "Exactly!" Danielle said enthusiastically, relieved that he hadn't gotten ugly about her suggestion that he was flawed-which he really wasn't-but that didn't mean women were going to see it as an asset!

  He studied her thoughtfully. "There is more to the process of mating that I believe any of us had considered," he said slowly.

  Danielle gaped at him, but it hit her right between the eyes like a physical blow that he couldn't possibly have any idea what 'mating' was all about-not beyond whatever came 'natural' to him. He'd said Manuta-a computer-had created them and the only interaction they'd had was with each other. "Well," she said finally, "if you think it's the same with people as it is with the livestock around here, then there's definitely a lot you don't know. I suppose I should've figured that out considering the things Baen said, but …." She shrugged, wrestling with a concept that was more alien to her than the aliens were themselves. When she emerged, she discovered with a great deal of dismay that Kiel was wearing his 'angry' face and she couldn't think of much that was more unnerving than that. "What?"

  ?

  Chapter Eight

  "Baen has spoken to you?" he growled.

  Danielle eyed him uneasily, wondering if it would help to play dumb. She had a bad feeling it wouldn't, though, that it would only frustrate him … which might only succeed in making him angrier and he looked totally pissed off already. Unfortunately, she discovered that fear had a very bad effect on her mental acuity. "Was he not supposed to?" she hedged.

  His lips tightened.

  Danielle gulped. "You know, you're really cute when you're angry," she said hopefully.

  It worked better than she'd expected. He looked perfectly blank for several moments before he scowled at her again. "This is another attempt to distract, yes?"

  Danielle smiled at him a little weakly, deeply regretting her explanation for the kiss. "No," she lied. "I just hadn't noticed how nice your eyes were before they turned red. It's … uh … a wicked shade! Almost demonic-which, of course, probably isn't a very good allusion, but … really tough guy, bad ass looking, if you know what I mean!"

  "I do not."

  She pasted a fake smile on her lips. "Women really go for bad boys."

  He frowned, eyeing her skeptically. "Women like bad men?"

  "No! I mean, not exactly. It's kind of hard to explain. I guess it's sort of an assurance that the guy can handle himself and, in case of need, protect her."

  Something flickered in his eyes. "So there is not so much difference in mating between beings of higher intelligence and the lower beasts?"

  "Of course there is!" Danielle responded testily. "But that's important, too-still-especially in the colonies. Anyway, that wouldn't apply to all women."

  "It would not apply to you?"

  "Ah-no. I can take care of myself just fine. Not that I'd want a total wimp, mind you-if I was in the market. Which I'm not. I'm a soldier. You'd be looking at women that aren't."

  "I am a soldier," he said pointedly.

  "Yes, but that's different. The guys don't usually stay home to nurture the babies anyway. I wouldn't consider having a baby unless I was ready to settle down and stay at home to take care of it, and I'm not ready for that. I'm not sure I ever would be … uh … will be."

  "Then you are also not certain that you would not be?"

  Dismay flickered through her. This was almost as uncomfortable as his anger had been! In fact, he didn't look a lot less pissed off than he had before and he was asking a lot of uncomfortable questions! "True, but then we're at war right now and I can't think about that. I don't even know how we got on this subject to start with."

  "You brought it up when you told me that Baen had discussed mating with you," he said grimly.

  "Oh." She frowned. "Actually, I don't think I said that."

  "
You said that you should have known that we would not understand the mating process as you know it when Baen spoke to you. If you were not discussing mating, then what subject would have brought that to mind?"

  Danielle smiled a little weakly, but to save her life she couldn't come up with anything to explain it away. Mental note-they have really good memories! "I was confused … am confused! Truthfully? I don't actually remember the conversation all that well. I just remember it had something to do with finding a mate. He made me uneasy-and you're making me nervous and I'm not really good at thinking when I'm flustered!"

  "He told you he was seeking a mate," he said helpfully.

  "I think it was more general than that," she responded uneasily.

  He lifted his dark brows. "More general than that?"

  She glared at him. "It was more hypothetical."

  "He did not ask you to be his mate?"

  Danielle felt heat creep into her cheeks in spite of all she could do. She'd begun to feel far more defensive than uneasy, however. She folded her arms. "Maybe he did."

  "That is neither hypothetical nor general," he growled.

  She shrugged. "Fine! So I lied! There's no point in getting pissed off about it, though, because I told him the same thing I told you. I'm not looking for a mate-full or part time! This is definitely not the time for it!"

  This time his frown was pure confusion. "You are not in season?"

  Danielle gaped at him, but her temper flared. She poked him in the middle of his chest with her finger. "You guys have got to get past that or you aren't ever going to get laid! Women don't come in 'season', damn it! And I can't think of any surer way to turn a woman off than to ask her if she's 'ready'!"

  "What is laid?" he demanded suspiciously.

  Danielle rolled her eyes. "What you're interested in!" she snapped. "Sex! Fucking-you can call it anything you want to, but it's still the same thing! You guys aren't interested in mates! You just want to get laid-like every other man out there!"