by Marie Dry
“I didn’t mean it like that.” Except a part of her did. If she had to have relations with him for such a reason, her soul would shrivel. But she’d do it for Noah.
“I will find Noah, and then we will decide what to do,” he said after the silence dragged uncomfortably again.
Hope surged through her. She knew better than to allow that emotion into her heart, but what if he found Noah? Surely when he saw he was only a helpless baby, he wouldn’t mind having him in his home. “Are you sure I can’t give you some of his clothing to sniff? Your machines are taking a really long time to find him,” Susannah asked. She had a faded and tattered baby blanket Noah was wrapped in.
“I am not your trained rat,” he snarled at her.
She flinched and gripped the couch so tight her knuckles turned white. Killer barked at Azagor.
She could see him visibly calm himself. “Our equipment will find him.” Moving slowly, as if determined not to spook her, he drew her into his arms and kissed her, and she tentatively kissed him back.
He leaned toward her. “For you, I was prepared to become a modern Zyrgin.”
“You can still be a modern Zyrgin for me. Wouldn’t a modern Zyrgin accept Noah in his dwelling?”
“Tell me everything about Noah--when they took him and where you think they will keep him.”
“I know so little. I only held him once, saw him for such a short time after his birth.” She touched the corner of her eye. “I think he has my eyes.” She looked down at her hands. She hadn’t realized she’d been wringing them. It took a lot of effort to keep them still. “I don’t know if I will recognize him?” It was her deepest fear--that she would not recognize her own son.
Some red bled back into his eyes, but he merely said, “What happened next?”
She shrugged. “I should’ve known they’d take my baby, but when they found out I was pregnant, they didn’t do anything. I thought they’d accepted the situation. Then when he was born, Brother Josephatus--”
“Joseph,” he corrected.
She nodded. “Joseph came with a strange man. Joseph took Noah out of the blanket I’d made for him, wrapped him in a black cloth, and gave him to the other man. I screamed and fought and tried to stop them, but I never saw my baby again.”
“Did they ever talk about a farm where they took children?”
“No.”
“Did they say anything about other farms, mention names?”
“No.” She frowned, trying to recall if she ever heard any mention of the other farms. “All I ever heard was that there were other farms, nothing specific. Wait! They talked about the church. They said there was a church on the new farm they’re going to. But I don’t think Noah’s there.”
“Why not?”
She shrugged, tried not to show the absolute terror she felt whenever she thought of that day. “The way that man wrapped Noah in that black cloth, the look on his face, I think there might be a farm where they put all the sinners.”
“You will not call him a sinner.”
“I would never call him that, but that’s how the brothers talk and think.”
He stood. “I am going to refine the search for Noah. You will not go to the town. You will wait here until I return.”
He turned and left the dwelling, and she collapsed on the couch. Killer nuzzled her. All she heard was that he’d search for Noah. The rest drowned out with the roaring in her ears.
“He’s going to refine the search, Killer. I think that means he’ll do it faster.” She sat up and pulled him onto her lap.
She couldn’t sit still, and, getting up, she paced. Killer woofed and trotted next to her, thinking this was a new game. She picked up his ball and threw it across the room, unable to smile at his small body chasing the ball like she normally did.
Did Noah look like her or more like Caine? She stopped and stared down at Killer who’d put his ball in front of her. For the first time since Caine died, she didn’t feel a wrenching pain when she thought of him. She’d always remember the times she spent with him. He’d given her a TC that opened up the world outside to her, and Killer who’d helped her cope when they took Noah from her.
Hours later, Azagor returned, and she faced him, her hands clenched at her side. “Did you find anything?”
“No, the machines are still running the search.”
“How long will it take?”
“We found several farms, but none of them have a church on the premises. Most of them are abandoned. We searched them. Your Noah is not on one of them. We also searched for Joseph, and he was not on the farms we located. The probes will keep searching.”
“What are probes?” Yesterday she would’ve asked without thinking. Today she hesitated. She’d do anything not to appear ignorant in front of him.
“Probes are balls that can make recordings. When they return, we can see everything that happened on the farms. It will be like watching the TC.” He looked at her expectantly, as if he waited for her to argue that balls couldn’t do recordings.
“They fly around by themselves?” If they could have shuttles and flying balls, surely they could find one small baby.
“Yes.” He went to the kitchen and put out food on the counter, along with the dreaded food tablets. Susannah sat on one of the barstools and watched him prepare her food and his pink whatever. Joseph would never prepare food. He thought himself to tough and manly to do such domestic chores. And yet, compared to Azagor, he was barely a man. He had none of the honor, none of the drive to provide that Azagor had.
“I want Noah to be like you.”
Azagor stilled in the process of putting Killer’s filled bowl on the floor. “You want him to be green and without hair?”
Susannah stared at him. He was joking, he had to be joking, but she couldn’t be sure. “I want him to be caring. To prepare food without worrying that it will make him less of a man. A man who would never stand over a woman with a whip.”
“When I find him, I will visit him with you every day. I will teach him honor.”
Susannah pressed her trembling lips together. It was horrific to think he’d put Noah in an orphanage, but it was a start. “I need to see him every day.”
She’d push and argue and scheme until Noah was living here with them. Because she wouldn’t give up this warrior who would go with her to visit her son, in spite of the fact that he didn’t want him in his home.
Chapter 16
Susannah woke alone, Killer’s nose wet in her face. She rubbed him under his chin and then behind his ears and laughed when his paw went up and down and slapped on the bed. “You won’t mind sharing a house with Noah, will you?”
He woofed and got comfortable on the bed when she got up.
She took a bath and then ate the food she found on the counter. Azagor must have put Killer on the bed with her and left food on the counter before he left. The hours he worked made the way the cousins worked on the farm look like slacking.
If he didn’t come back soon, she’d go to the cave and ask Natalie where the machines were that did the searches. Surely there was something she could do to help. The pink TC on the couch caught her eye. Azagor said she could find anything on the TC, so why not her son. She frowned at the display. Which little square let her ask questions again? She pressed one of the squares before she remembered it was the one with the question mark. She pressed it, and an empty rectangle with letters beneath it appeared.
She typed in the righteous church of the second coming. What a pretentious name. Why didn’t she ever realize that before? “They should call themselves the sadistic brotherhood,” she mumbled.
Maybe Noah--no, that didn’t work either. She tried everything she could think of. Some strange things appeared, but no baby with her eyes. Susannah sighed and sagged. Killer butted his head against her, trying to comfort her.
***
Azagor went to the communications room when one of the searches pinged. He’d done a scan for farms with churches, farms with
children, Joseph’s description, and anyone matching Susannah’s DNA signature, but nothing came up. Noah might be dead. Azagor knew that if Susannah’s child was dead, she’d never voluntarily stay with him. She couldn’t understand the danger of having another male in his dwelling.
He swore viciously and froze the recording. Stared unblinking at the image. He’d been trying to find footage of her people leaving the farm. With the probes needed to monitor the entire Earth, the search was taking too long. He’d have to refine their systems. He needed to see what happened from the moment the others left her--abandoning her alone without tools or food to survive. The probe had caught footage of Susannah’s farm a few months ago. Through a haze, he saw the human whip Susannah. Azagor’s claws extended, and he couldn’t stop the rumbling in his chest.
“Who is that woumber?” Zacar asked behind him.
“A dead human walking.” Azagor had promised Susannah to find Noah, he’d never promised not to harm Joseph, not to kill him.
In the image, another red welt appeared on Susannah’s scarred back.
“Use as many of the warriors as you need,” Zacar said.
“It will be done,” Azagor said with grim promise.
He went through the footage of the farms the search had found. It was slow, meticulous work. The probe recorded what he programmed it to do. It couldn’t react to anything out of place, the subtle clues Azagor could find.
It was hard concentrating on the images in front of him when all he could think about was Susannah. He’d left her. When she’d needed him the most, he’d left to assure Zorlof’s safety. Honor had demanded he assist Zacar with the project in space. But what kind of honor did a warrior have left if his neglect caused his breeder to be tortured? Now he understood the wariness in her eyes. Why she hadn’t trusted him with the reason she wanted to find Noah.
“I will find that woumber. I will take him to a holding cell and show him torture,” he told Zacar.
Brother Joseph had no idea how much pain a human could suffer without dying.
How many times had she been whipped and tortured? Thrown into a hole like a slave? He clenched his fists until his claws penetrated his palms. After everything that woumber did to her, she still looked at Azagor with admiration.
Hours later, none of the footage showed Noah or Joseph or any of the farmers. Each farm that came up was abandoned, everything the brother farmers could use on the next farm taken. Azagor set the machines to search and to alert him the moment they found a DNA match for Noah and any sign of Joseph. The humans were more difficult to track than he’d first thought. They didn’t use TCs or any other kind of technology, and that had turned out to be a surprisingly effective way to stay unnoticed. He had to scan each area for signs of them, instead of tracking communications.
He went to find Zorlof. He’d rather be with Susannah, but he didn’t want to tell her all they found were three empty farms.
The ship they’d built in space he’d designed to take Zorlof far out of harm’s way. Now that he’d gone through his second change, it was impossible to hide what he was. All the signs were that his third change would happen any day now. They were running out of time. Azagor’s instinct told him he was running out of time to find Noah as well.
He found Zorlof in Zacar’s office, the two warriors looking at a map of the galaxy. The way Zacar looked at Zorlof reminded Azagor of the longing in Susannah’s eyes when she talked of Noah. He’d always thought he’d do his duty to his people and make small warriors. Had accepted that they would join the warriors for training after their first change. Maybe they could train but live with him and Susannah when she gave birth to his small warriors. Everything inside him resisted the idea of other warriors in his dwelling, but, still, the picture of living with Susannah and his small warriors persisted in his mind. She was a breeder a warrior could be proud of. She’d do anything to keep his small warriors safe.
“I have the schematics for the ship. You will have to familiarize yourself with the control functions,” Azagor told Zorlof who towered over him.
Zorlof nodded. He rarely talked, and only Natalie and Larz seemed able to draw him out. That quiet watchfulness was the first sign that Zorlof would be different. Dangerous. Azagor had been responsible for their training after they went through their first change. He’d suspected then and had very carefully told Zacar that Zorlof was dangerous. What he might become. The Zyrgin had ways of hearing things. Azagor been careful not to use the words powers or increased strengths.
“When will you tell Natalie?” He planned to be far away on that day.
Zorlof stiffened and growled at him. “I will tell her in my own time.”
Azagor and Zacar exchanged a glance. This level of aggression was another sign that he was coming into his powers. Soon they would not be able to hide him from The Zyrgin. Zorlof had manifested erratic powers for months now.
Azagor’s communicator beeped, and he checked the data on his wrist comms. “The search for Susannah’s Noah has yielded some information,” he told Zacar, ignoring a still growling Zorlof. Susannah had suffered for Zorlof’s safety. Azagor knew it wasn’t Zorlof’s fault, but, still, he found it hard to look at him.
“Use my console,” Zacar said.
The search had found a deserted farm, stripped of anything useful. It looked like Susannah’s farm after the others left her. The search matched a footprint with one found on Susannah’s farm. It was bigger than the other footprints and had to belong to Joseph. He and Caine were the only men who were on that farm. Caine was a lucky man. If he still lived, he would have died a slow and tortured death for daring to touch Susannah.
“I want to take Susannah there in a shuttle.” He would’ve preferred to go to the deserted farm alone, but Susannah knew these people, might see something he’d miss. Some indication of where they’d gone.
All the way back to their dwelling, he saw Joseph locking her up in that hole. The fear on her face. Heard her frightened crying. He wouldn’t rest until Joseph was suffering and the other women on the farm were punished for their deeds.
She sat at the kitchen counter, symbols hovering in front of her. She touched a button and smiled when the program dinged. He knew Joseph punished her for smiling. He’d seen her turn away or hide her smile behind her hand. This smile was small and sad, and he wondered what would she be like if she had her child back, if she felt safe enough to trust.
“Susannah,” he tried to say softly, but she still jumped up and looked as if she wanted to hide the TC from him. Yes, Brother Joseph would be dealt with.
“Did you find him?” Desperate hope in her every word.
“I found an abandoned farm.”
Her shoulders drooped. “The soil probably became infertile,” she said matter-of-factly.
The humans had almost destroyed the environment they needed to survive, and, still, they practiced such short-sighted methods.
The Zyrgin home planet was a hard, inhospitable one. Zyrgins had to use every scrap of technology, all the Zyrgin power, to make their own planet habitable. To ensure it could support the coming generations. They’d save this planet before the humans destroyed it. “I want you to come with me. You might see something that can tell us where they went.” Unfortunately, monitoring the whole state for more farms would take time.
“How will we get there?” she asked with open suspicion.
“We’ll take a shuttle.”
Her shoulders sagged. She nibbled on her lip and seemed to come to a decision. He doubted anything but the chance to find Noah would’ve gotten her into a shuttle again. “Can I bring Killer?”
“Yes.” The rat should be safe enough and holding him would comfort her. “You should wear your jeans and boots without heels.” She preferred long, tight-fitting skirts that fitted over her buttocks in a way he enjoyed almost as much as seeing her in tight jeans. Unfortunately, she rarely wore the jeans.
“When will we go?”
“Tomorrow morning. It will be be
tter to go during daylight.” He didn’t trust the men who ran these farms. They were bullies who’d created the perfect life to be able to continue preying on the weak. If he went alone, he’d go at night, but he wouldn’t take chances with Susannah’s safety.
He held her in his arms all night, and she didn’t refuse his silent comfort. She clung to him with her arms and legs in painful desperation. He wanted to do a first knowing with her, ached to do it, but she would only do it for Noah. He wanted her to do it with him because she wanted him as her warrior.
They got up early, and she wore the blue jeans and shirt. She walked up and down, testing out the boots he’d brought her. She preferred the boots with heels, but these would be better on the farm. “I love these boots. They are so soft and comfortable. They feel even better than my heels.” She stopped walking up and down and folded her hands in front of her chest. “Do you think we’ll find something that will tell us where Noah is?” The hope in her beautiful midnight eyes was painful to see.
“Yes.”
It was more likely that they’d find indications of where Joseph went. The DNA scan was still going on, but the fact that it didn’t pick up on any human sharing DNA with Susannah was worrying. How would he tell Susannah that her son was most likely dead and his body burned?
***
Susannah touched her hair. In her haste to get dressed, she’d forgotten to comb it. She shrugged. Speed was more important than her appearance. He’d said the farm was deserted but what if they were simply at prayer? That could last for hours. Her heartbeat sped up. If they found clues, she could hold Noah in her arms soon.
They walked to the cave to find a shuttle. She was determined to learn the proper names of everything and how it worked. When they found Noah, she wanted him to think his mother was clever.
Soon she sat strapped in. Killer refused to stay put. He ran around sniffing everything.
She held Killer tight when they landed, and the door of the shuttle opened. They walked for about half an hour, and the buildings came into view. The buildings were different than the farm she grew up on, and yet it was strangely the same. “We should look at the church. Cousin Maria told me on the farm where she was before, they hid things in the church. And she said most other farms have offices where they keep all the papers.”