I stripped.
“I’ll recycle these, Princess,” Pierce said of my clothing.
According to Rozz, Pax hadn’t killed Licinius. Who had? I scrubbed. Mud had gotten in my shoes and under my toenails. I was disgusted and used more soap. Meanwhile, my knee continued to throb and bleed. Pierce had waited and wrapped me in a towel as soon as I turned off the water. Then, he picked me up and carried me to my bed where more towels had been spread out.
“I take one nap, one nap, and I wake up to this,” Phillip said as he shook his head and shot me with an injector.
“Ow!”
“Too bad. That was an antibiotic. This one is for the nasty bug bites.”
“Ow!”
It hurt, but the itching stopped almost immediately, and the bites began to vanish. Phillip dabbed cream on the bigger bites. Then, the bad part came. Phillip cleaned my knee. He pulled out a couple of rocks which made it bleed more. Then, he cleaned it again.
“This will require old-fashioned nanites and will take a while. You will need to be still.”
Phillip attached a device over my knee so the nanites could enter and begin their repairs. I watched as he manipulated them through the medical equipment.
Niklos woke up hungry and angry. Lorca changed his soaked diaper while he screamed and then brought him to me. After I had finished nursing him, Phillip gave me a pain patch. Then, Violet helped me into a dress, and Phillip carried me down to the living room where a man waited to do my hair.
Even though I had made him wait and my spider braids were a challenge, he seemed thrilled to be doing my hair. I just hoped he didn’t find any bugs and then tell the reporters.
Fitz returned and had Phillip discretely treat his hands.
“What happened?” I asked.
“Nothing for you to worry about,” Fitz said. He sat beside me and fed me pieces of fruit and gave me sips of fizzy water.
I heard transports arriving outside. Then, I heard footsteps and Nico’s voice. “No, you will not kill him. He will be flogged, and reduced in rank to ensign for his treatment of Teagan. He will go before a discipline committee for his attack of Inquisitor Licinius,” Nico said to Zared as they strode into the room.
My jaw was hanging open. “His attack of Licinius? He cut him to bits. Didn’t he? If Pax didn’t kill Licinius, who did?”
“Drex isn’t dead. His injuries were life-threatening, but he survived,” Nico said.
“Oh.” My hands shook, and I closed my eyes as my nose began to tingle and tears slipped free of my lids. “I thought he was dead and that it was all my fault.”
Fitz brought me to his lap and held me. “No, my darling. No. Is that why you went for the walk?”
I nodded against his shoulder.
“Your thoughts were blocked from ours, or else I would have told you,” Zared said.
Nico and Luca told me about the guards Pax had sedated.
“I thought Pax was one of my guards and that it was safe to be with him.”
“Yes, that is what he wanted you to believe. For that, I apologize. I did not realize that women transformed him into an idiot. What’s worse is that he thinks you adore him,” Nico said.
Luca became horrified. “Princess Probus, forgive me. Do I frighten you?”
“No, Luca. I like you. I think you’re nice. Pax ignored me when I kept telling him no. That frightened me. He acted like I didn’t mean it. Maybe I confused him.” I worried that my misunderstanding with Pax was my fault. “Even though I told him no, I still reacted to him,” I whispered. My face burned.
“Had he obeyed your order to begin with, there would have been nothing to cause a reaction. He was wrong,” Violet said.
Luca said, “I will remove his testicles.”
“Gross, Luca. No,” I said.
“Very well,” Luca said.
“So, that’s it? Ultimately, he tricked Teagan into going off with him alone and tried to rape her. She and Thunderdrop had to fight him off. Also, he took away their empathic abilities which should count as an assault. After all of that, all he gets is a little flogging and demoted?” Violet asked. I had never seen her so angry. “Kaoti, I want his balls.”
He nodded to her.
“Violet, you’re just hungry. You get angry when you’re hungry just like Niklos. Kaoti, get your wife a steak or something,” I said.
“Teagan, you must be upset,” Violet said.
“I am, but did my pheromones make him nuts? If he’s kept away from me, will he return to normal?”
“Good idea, Cupcake. I need blood samples,” Phillip said. He made contact with the Chief Medical Officer on Dario’s ship where Pax was being confined.
When instructed to do so, I got up and put my head under the faucet in the bathroom sink so the man could wash my hair. “Ow!” I said as I banged my knee. Phillip checked to make sure I hadn’t altered the settings on the nanites and went back to his medical conversations. Soon, my hair was arranged in tumbling curls that the man Fitz had hired assured me would last for at least a month.
Later, when I came down in a white dress, with spaghetti straps, and an ankle-length hem, wearing diamonds at my neck and wrists, Neema clapped. Everyone else narrowed their eyes at me.
“Where is Licinius?”
“He is on Merick’s ship,” Nico answered.
“I’m going to visit him. Who is taking me?”
Chapter Seventeen
It wasn’t so simple as hopping into a transport and going. Dario, Nico, Fitz, Phillip, the children, and I were in the center shuttle. My Imperial guards were in shuttles in front of and beside us. Thunderdrop had stayed with Violet and Kaoti. He needed a nap after eating the bird. I was so glad that Yukihyo had taught him to use a waste unit. Zared had assured Yukihyo that I was fine, but suggested he might want to buy me a new pair of exercise shoes.
Dario personally had arranged our visit with Merick. As we neared the land port and I looked out of the shuttle window, I said, “Oh, crap.”
Every soldier at the land port stood at attention before each of the twenty or so ships. I knew what Papa would have me do.
“Dario, take us to my ship.” He seemed surprised but did as I asked. I took out my vid-screen. “Captain Ricimer, please have someone ready a transport. I think it only polite that we drive slowly back and forth along the land port and wave to the soldiers who are being so gallant.”
A driver stood ready by my white transport. We moved from the shuttle into it. I took a seat by a window, opened it, plastered a smile on my face, and waved as we slowly drove up and down the land port.
“Perfect, Teagan. Lift your chin a little. Perfect,” Fitz said.
Nico sat on the other side of the car with Niklos in his arms. “Your Grandpapa will love this,” Nico said to him.
“My mouth hurts,” I said while holding my smile.
“Just a little while longer,” Fitz said. “Take us to Captain Carus’ ship.”
I hoped that the little drive would make a good impression. After all, I waved to the soldiers gathered from within my transport with my two Parvac husbands, and the future emperor. Merick had a white carpet rolled out for me at his ship. Reporters were gathered in a throng. Nico held his son protectively. Carrying Neema on my hip, I ignored the reporters and hurried to Merick.
“Thank you so much for taking care of Inquisitor Licinius. Bend down,” I told Merick and kissed his cheek once he did. “May we see him?”
“Of course, Princess Probus. I did not tell him of your visit.”
“Do you think he’ll want to see me? Do you think he blames me?”
“Yes, most definitely, and no. It was Cyprian who injured him.” Merick took us to the infirmary.
“Neema, go to Fitz,” I said as I kissed her soft cheek.
Nico and Dario had moved off to a quiet corner to talk. Phillip followed me to the side of the bed in which Licinius was sleeping. His right hand had been reattached. It was swollen and bruised beneath the nanite device that
hid most of the scarring from view. Phillip handed me a silk square and began conducting his own scans. The patient’s eyes drifted open.
“I’ve died, and you are my afterlife. Oh, that I had died sooner.”
“You aren’t dead. When I discovered what had happened to you this morning, I feared you had been killed. Oh, Licinius. I’m so very sorry. I’ve never been sorrier for my actions than I am for the ones concerning you. Please, forgive me.”
“You have done nothing wrong. I do have but one wish.”
“What is it?”
“Call me Drex and only Drex.” He looked so tired and weak.
“Drex, he almost killed you. Didn’t he?”
“I warned him that it would hurt you if he did. He would never hurt you.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Pax and I had an interesting adventure this morning.” A depressed cloud seemed to float over Drex at my admission. “I’m wondering if Yukihyo or Zared will kill him first. Fitz has already punched him repeatedly.”
Drex momentarily cheered but then angrily asked, “What did he do?”
“He allowed his inner idiot complete and total freedom,” Phillip told him. Then, he returned to reading his scanner.
I frowned. “I tricked Luca into letting me see his vid-screen and found a disturbing picture of you.” My eyes drifted down to his poor hand and spilled over. I wiped them. “I thought you were dead.” I smoothed Drex’s blanket. “When I went for a walk, he tricked me into going with him. I thought he was one of my guards.” I dissolved into tears, so Eli walked over and told him the entire story.
“I’ll flog him myself,” Drex said angrily.
“With what? You won’t be using that hand to flog anything anytime soon,” Phillip said.
“Phillip,” I said in admonishment. “Drex, I want you to recuperate on the Empress where I can keep an eye on you. I won’t rest if you are anywhere else.” Drex’s mood brightened. “You and Dr. Savelli can take care of him, right?”
“Sure, Cupcake. I’ll have you back to jerking your meat in no time,” Phillip said with a grin.
“What’s that mean?” I asked. Phillip laughed at me, and Eli blushed. Fitz grinned at me and whispered in my ear. My face turned redder than Eli’s. “Phillip Svenson, I ought to tell your mother on you.”
“No, don’t,” Phillip said as he tried to stop laughing.
Neema laughed and said, “Fip! Fip! Fip!”
Phillip took her from Fitz and began making arrangements for Drex.
“Merick, can you get a few of the calmest reporters in here?” I asked. A few minutes later, gleeful reporters were admitted into the infirmary. “Thank you for coming. We hope that you will share the good news that Drex is recovering. What news I saw of him this morning was horrifying.” The tears I cried were real. “Poor, Drex,” I said as I kissed his forehead and straightened his blankets. “May I get you anything?”
“No, sweet Princess.”
“I don’t want the other ladies of the Empire to worry about him. I promise to care for him personally until he recovers.” I smoothed his hair. “I’m so sorry I lost my temper with you, Drex.” I felt his forehead and turned to the reporters. “Thank you for coming, but he seems tired so that’s all for today.”
I rode with Phillip and Drex in a medical transport to the Empress and stayed with Drex until he was settled and asleep. Then, I called Yukihyo and told him that we would be remaining on our ship until we were ready to leave.
Kaoti, Violet, and Thunderdrop joined us. After the events of the day, I felt safer and more at home on my own ship. Yukihyo arrived with sweets, toys, and several mystery boxes.
“What’s in those?” I asked around a mouthful of candied nuts. Violet sat beside me munching away on her own while slurping on a chocolate milkshake. With a grin, Yukihyo opened a box revealing diamond bracelets. “Oh, pretty.”
“Look,” Violet said as she pointed to one that had a pink cast to the diamonds. She licked her fingers and drank some more of her shake.
“I had hope you would like that one, Lady Aegisthus,” Yukihyo said with a bow. “May I?” he asked Kaoti.
“Yes,” responded my vociferous bodyguard.
Yukihyo fastened the glittering bracelet around Violet’s wrist.
“Thank you! It’s beautiful,” Violet said with a happy smile as she turned her wrist to watch the play of light on the diamonds.
I sent waves of love to Yukihyo for making my friend happy.
“Teagan, repairs to the ship are still underway. Will you accompany me on a tour of Neema’s diamond mine tomorrow?” Yukihyo asked.
“Yes, I’d love to spend the day with you! I wish it were already tomorrow.”
Early the next morning, Yukihyo and I wore shorts and T-shirts, dressed the babies in a similar fashion, and loaded them into the transport. Lorca had insisted on accompanying us and slipped the bag of baby supplies behind a seat. I sat next to Yukihyo with Thunderdrop on my lap and rubbed the spaces between his leg joints until my spider was purring.
“I can’t remember the last time I was this happy,” I said as I watched the scenery through my window.
“Our happiness is shared. However, I am also very proud to have my lady wife by my side and all to myself. Also, for a few hours, we get time with Niklos.”
I laughed. “Nico doesn’t like to share.”
“He is a good man. He does much of which you do not know.”
“Like what?”
“He met with the Warrior Caste and with advice from Tavere and Ambassador Jiri got them to call truces.”
“How?”
“He sent out spies and collected the most damning secrets he could on a few key figures. Those who were most vocal on restricting your movements are now allied with House Cassian.”
“That sounds dangerous for Nico.” It worried me.
Yukihyo shook his head. “Nico shapes the future for his son. He wants Niklos to have a strong powerbase. Nico will be careful. Now, he has two Inquisitors, Eli and Drex, along with solid ties to House Jiri. You can relax. Your General has conquered your adversaries.”
I smiled and squeezed his hand. For the time being it was as though we were regular people on a day trip with our children, the nurse, and the family pet. We had the illusion of privacy, but I knew my guards were in transports and shuttles watching us.
“Teagan, I would like to discuss something with you. We have hauled many loads of fuel on Tora and earned considerable profits. However, the case I showed to you and Violet with those diamond bracelets will earn us what we could get for three cargo holds full of fuel.”
“Diamonds don’t take up as much space in the hold,” I said.
“No, they don’t. A lighter load makes for a faster ship.”
“What are you planning?”
“I want to sell diamonds in the Laconian Sector and use the credits to purchase all of the tribrillion we can get.”
“Tribrillion is worthless. Why would you want to do that?”
“It’s not worthless. It’s the key element in the panels the aliens use to power their ships. They use star power the way we use solar energy. Those panels combined with our drive systems….”
“Would make our ships unstoppable,” I finished for him.
“Production of such panels would make me rich and powerful. The Ponidi name would again mean something.”
“Well, I’m in. Who are we going to get to build them for us?”
Yukihyo grinned at me. “There are scholars on Parvac who study the use and improvement of solar collectors. It wouldn’t be such a stretch to use stars. I thought we could speak to a few of them when we return. There are two in particular who I have been investigating.”
“Sure.”
Yukihyo had arranged a tour for us with the men who operated our diamond mine. For the duration of it, Thunderdrop made it clear that he intended to stay close to me. He was my determined protector especially after all of the praise and attention lavished upon him for h
is recent heroics. Yukihyo parked in front of what appeared to be a normal two-story office building out in the middle of nowhere, one with top-notch security. The land around it looked flat and clear of all vegetation. Yukihyo had met the men on a previous visit when I had been carrying Niklos, so he greeted Andrew and Ivan fondly when they met us at the car and took us on a tour of the building. Offices were on the second floor. The ground floor showcased loose diamonds available for purchase. The basement levels contained raw diamonds and the equipment used to turn them into stunning multi-faceted works of art. The lowest level was where the diamonds of the highest quality were stored in vaults that a starship would have to blast to open.
As the tour progressed, I became more nervous with the expectation of entering the mine. I concentrated on breathing calmly. I didn’t want to freak out in the lift that would take us deep underground, and I tried not to think of my escape from the mine on Malta. We were taken outside and loaded into a transport behind the building. After a short drive, we stopped.
“This is our current mine. It’s been quite the producer,” Andrew said proudly.
Skeptically, I looked around but saw nothing reminiscent of Malta’s mines. Yukihyo held Neema and spoke with Ivan. He was working out a deal, so I didn’t want to bombard him with questions.
I followed behind Andrew as he led me to a cement landing. Gripping the rail, I looked out at a gigantic terraced pit. It was almost big enough to be a starship’s bathtub. Men with mining bots worked in various areas.
“Would you like to give diamond mining a try?” Andrew asked.
“Sure.”
Thunderdrop held onto me, and I held onto the railing and walked down the steps behind Andrew. He showed me a mining bot and taught me how to scan for carbon. After about ten minutes of searching, I finally got a hit. He showed me the command to push for the extraction. An ugly rock appeared in a tray at the bottom of the bot. I frowned at it. Andrew laughed and carried it inside of the facility for me. I took Neema so we could watch the stages, but Andrew surprised me and let me process my ugly rock. By the time I had created and was wearing my very own half carat diamond that Andrew had mounted in a tiny pendant and suspended from a thin gold necklace, Yukihyo had completed his deal. It was the smallest diamond I owned, but I was very proud of it and decided that I was never taking it off.
Omnes Videntes (The Space Merchants Book 4) Page 30