by Marie Dry
Those big sad eyes continued to watch him warily as Azagor took out the clean clothes he’d brought. Baring his teeth at the smell coming from the baby, he also took out fresh diapers and cloths to clean him. He would not take a dirty baby to Susannah. She’d endured enough.
Viglar continued to scan the small human.
Azagor took the dirty little shirt by the hem to draw it over Noah’s head.”
“Stop,” Viglar said.
Noah whimpered softly, but he stopped almost immediately. What did the humans do to him? Azagor had seen that behavior among their prisoners when they tried to make sure they did not draw any attention to themselves. He’d also seen it among the women in the raider camps.
“He has broken bones,” Viglar said.
Again, Azagor had to resist the urge to go out and kill every person on this farm. He knew enough from observing Alissa and Maribel to know such control over showing pain was not normal for a human baby. Taking out his knife he carefully cut away the dirty clothes and then hissed when he saw the bruises that the dirt on the little body could not disguise.
Viglar knelt next to him and held the scanner over the baby’s left arm. “His arm is broken, and he has several fractures.”
Azagor stroked the sunken cheekbone. His finger looked big and rough against the fine human skin. “What have they done to you, small human?”
“When we return, we will wipe out this nest of woumbers,” Viglar said through clenched teeth. Always a bad sign with that bad-tempered warrior.
Susannah had told Azagor once that she sometimes saw black spots in front of her when she got angry--mostly at Joseph--and how hard it had been not to kill him with a farm implement. Azagor understood it now. He saw the baby through black and red spots.
“You will hurt it if you try to dress it or change its smelly pants,” Viglar said.
“Can we travel with him like this?”
“Yes, I will secure his arm against his body? It is too badly broken to set it here. Back at headquarters, I can help him. For now, I will inject him with something that will strengthen him for the trip.”
“We have to get him to the infirmary fast. Susannah will not survive if he dies before you can help him.” Azagor held the small human while Viglar taped the fragile broken arm to the baby’s body. Noah didn’t even whimper.
Viglar spoke without looking away from his task. “Human children never hold still, and babies wiggle a lot when you work with them. It is difficult to get anything done to help them. Your small human endured severe trauma to hold this still when I am hurting him.”
“When I come back, I will break their bones, until they are nothing but dust.”
“I will help you.”
“I will return and make them scream for what they did to you,” Azagor told the baby. When he had ensured Noah was safe and healthy and back with Susannah, Azagor would return and wipe these lazy males off the face of the planet. “I will punish them for hurting you.”
Viglar went to take Noah, but Azagor held him against his own chest. He didn’t understand why, but he needed to be the one carrying Susannah’s son. “I have to carry him,” he said.
He set Noah down, and Viglar carefully wrapped him in a clean cloth then handed him back to Azagor. “I have given him something for the pain. We need to hurry.”
They ran for the shuttle, camouflaging the small human as well. It made no sound, and Azagor feared that, in spite of the shot Viglar had given him, running with him like this hurt the child.
Azagor sent the humans outside a filthy look. It might take a while to get Noah healed and settled, but Azagor would be back. And he suspected that more than just Viglar would join him.
They reached the shuttle. Viglar settled the silent little human inside a hollow space padded with cushions. “I will stay with him. Get us to headquarters.”
Azagor briefly touched its head. “You may cry, small human. It will not reflect badly on your honor.”
Big brown eyes swam with tears, but no sound escaped the small body. In that moment, Azagor claimed the human child. He didn’t do it merely to make Susannah happy, to keep his promise. This brave little human was his to protect, his to train.
“Contact Zacar and ask him to make sure Madison is at the infirmary. She is good with babies,” Viglar said.
Viglar did well with small humans, but Azagor contacted Zacar.
“She will be there,” Zacar said.
The shuttle cut through the air at top speed, and, still, the trip took too long. Noah had to get to the infirmary. If he died on the way there, Azagor would never see emotion in Susannah’s eyes again.
He landed in the spot closest to the infirmary and took Noah from Viglar. The small human might stink, but he was Azagor’s stinking little human. Holding the slight weight of the child secure in his arms, trying not to jar him, Azagor ran to Viglar’s infirmary.
Madison’s red hair glowed in the artificial light. She stood with her instrument around her neck and a Zyrgin scanner in her hand, waiting for them. She choked off a cry when he placed Noah on the examining table and opened the blanket.
“Who did this?” Her green eyes flashed murder.
“The people on the farms.”
“The farms where Susannah used to live?” she asked as she very carefully unwrapped the blanket while she made soothing noises at the baby.
“Another farm, but the same people, I will return there,” Viglar said
Madison smiled at the child. “Aren’t you a cutie?” She wrinkled her nose as she took off the diaper. “A cutie that needs a change.”
The baby ignored her and stared at Viglar with its big soulful eyes.
Madison sighed. “I just can’t figure out how all the kids like Mr. Charming over here.” Madison jerked her head in Viglar’s direction. She finished unwrapping the child and hissed at the sores and bruises it revealed.
Viglar’s eyes flashed red.
Azagor appreciated Madison and Viglar’s assistance and Viglar’s intent to exact revenge on the humans. But Noah was his breeder’s small human and, as such, he should be looking at Azagor and not Viglar. He stepped closer and held the small hand between his thumb and forefinger. Those up-tilted eyes turned toward him, where they belonged.
As she revealed each new bruise and laceration, sparks flew in Madison’s eyes, but she kept talking to the baby in that crooning voice. “I give the kids sweets, and I smile at them, and Mr. Grumpy over there is rude and short with them, and what do they do? They love him.”
“I will assist you with the torture of the woumbers who hurt your small human,” Viglar said in Zyrgin.
Madison carefully examined the child. “I know you are speaking in Zyrgin so I wouldn’t understand, but I know what you’re going to do. I want to go with you, and I want a gun.” She carefully cleaned the baby, revealing more bruises. “A big one.”
Viglar just grunted, his focus on the baby’s broken arm.
“Azagor, you need to bring Susannah here,” Madison said.
“No, I will take him to her clean and healthy.”
She shook her head, and red glints glowed in her ugly hair. “She’s a mother. Seeing him like this will be hard for her, but she’ll never forgive you if you exclude her from this. All mothers want to hold their babies when they’re hurt.”
Azagor touched the small head. “I will return with your mother. You are safe. These people will look after you while I am away.”
It was on his way to their dwelling that he realized that the child had not reacted to the fact that he was different. He didn’t scream and panic the way Susannah had the first time she saw him.
He found Susannah studying. After her initial resistance, she now absorbed facts like a sponge. She sat staring down at the TC, her eyes unblinking.
“I found your Noah.”
She dropped the TC and turned to him, her movements clumsy. Her face became the same color as the walls. She said something, but only a small distressed sound e
scaped her lips. She cleared her throat and tried speaking again. “Where is he, where is my son?”
“I took him to the infirmary.” He would never forget that Madison gave him such good advice. If anyone told her how ugly her hair was, he’d beat them for her.
Susannah paled. “He’s hurt? Take me to him. Now.”
They rushed to the infirmary. Susannah trembled so much and kept stumbling, so he picked her up and ran.
“What did they do to him?” she asked.
“They neglected him and broke his arm,” he told her while he ran. He had no doubt that one of the humans did it deliberately. “He will live, and he will be well. Viglar is a good doctor, and Madison is adequate.”
She made small, distressed sounds in her throat, and, to distract her, he said, “I did a DNA test. He is definitely yours.”
A glance from big brown eyes exactly like the one the small human had given him. “I don’t have to recognize him?”
“He has your eyes. I would’ve recognized him without the DNA test.” He didn’t like to see that vulnerable worried look on her face. “The DNA confirmed he is yours.”
They passed Zurian going in the direction of the dwellings. “I will assist you in torturing the woumbers who hurt your small human,” he said in Zyrgin.
“As soon as Noah is healed,” Azagor said without slowing down.
They reached the infirmary and, instead of jumping out of his arms like he half expected, Susannah clung to him, her eyes glued to where her son lay on the examining table. Noah stared fixedly at Viglar, who held an instrument over his injured left arm. Noah reached out with his small hand to grab the instrument, and Viglar grunted at him.
In Azagor’s arms, Susannah moaned softly. Azagor knew Viglar was healing the break from the inside, but he wished Susannah didn’t have to see her child broken and bruised this first time.
She squirmed until he put her down, then she rushed forward with a small cry. Noah’s soulful eyes fixed on her. Azagor didn’t know if small humans would recognize their mothers if they had never seen them.
“My baby.”
***
Susannah threw off the sudden paralysis and rushed forward, only vaguely aware of Madison moving to give her room, Viglar not hesitating in his task.
Susannah whimpered when she saw the bruises on her baby’s arms and legs. She wanted to grab him and hold him in her arms, but he was too hurt. Carefully, barely touching him, she stroked a trembling finger over his skin. His little body was covered in sores.
“He is malnourished and had been left to--”
“Viglar,” Azagor said.
The doctor shrugged but kept quiet. Noah’s left arm was swollen, but as she watched, the rude doctor held one of his silver things over that arm, and the swelling went down. Of all the magical things she’d seen here, this was the best. She knew of brothers and cousins who had died from broken bones, their suffering terrible.
Susannah wiped away the tears before they could fall. She wouldn’t cry the first time her son saw her. He would know that his mother was a sea-faring frog. Big brown eyes, like hers, stared up at her. She gently touched his right arm. It wasn’t swollen like the other one, but just as bruised.
“It’s okay, baby, Mommy’s here.” She knew how someone could do unspeakable violence. But how could anyone do this to a baby? Whenever Joseph punished her and she saw the meanness, the pure enjoyment on his face, she’d promised herself she wouldn’t become like that and not to let hatred rule her. Looking down at her son, seeing what they’d done to him, changed her mind. She’d find and shoot each and every person who’d hurt her child.
Azagor moved until he stood tight against her back. “Viglar is healing his arm from the inside. It was broken, but the bone is healing.”
“The bruising will be gone soon,” Madison added.
Susannah reached back for Azagor’s hand with the one she didn’t hold Noah with. He anchored her. During the time when she’d believed Noah was dead, he’d been there. In spite of his strange beliefs about male children, he’d brought her son to her, knowing she’d never allow herself to be separated from Noah again. That meant more to her than all the riches in the world.
Joy and hatred tore through her body until she feared she’d fly into tiny pieces made up of anger and hatred and sheer joy at having her baby back. It took every scrap of humanity she had to push aside the hatred. Her child needed a loving mother, not a hate-filled monster. She trusted Azagor, and she had no doubt that he’d deal with the people who could hurt a baby. Her baby.
“They will die,” Azagor said, as if he’d read her thoughts.
Susannah stared into her baby’s eyes. This was a miracle, as always brought to her by Azagor. “I know you’ll deal with them,” she said, without looking away from Noah. She knew it was irrational, but she was afraid that if she looked away, he’d be taken from her, the way he was taken after his birth.
“If you both go away and let me work, you can take him to your dwelling in an hour,” Viglar said.
Heart hammering, Susannah stepped closer to the precious little person on the hard examination table. Madison threw Susannah a sympathetic glance and looked ready to argue with her surly warrior.
“We will not leave, and you will have him ready in an hour,” Azagor said before Madison could speak.
“Then be quiet and stay out of my way,” Viglar snarled at them in English.
Susannah noticed that, in spite of his words, he touched Noah very carefully, and Noah seemed fascinated with him. Her baby stared up at the harsh green face above him, and then his gaze would return to Susannah, as if he sensed his mother. That was what she’d like to believe, anyway.
Azagor stood behind her, and she leaned weakly against him, never letting go of Noah’s little hand. Even holding his hand, she had this disorienting feeling that none of this was real. That she’d wake and it would be just another dream.
She’d thought him dead, had known she’d have to accept it somehow and move on, but she hadn’t been able to do that yet. And now out of the blue Azagor had brought him to her. “It has to be real.”
Madison smiled at her. “Want me to pinch you to make sure?”
They laughed, and Noah stared at her and then at Madison. Susannah doubted he’d ever seen anyone smile before. She’d make sure that his life was full of laughter from now on. They’d celebrate every day of their freedom from the brothers.
It felt like a century later when Viglar straightened. “He will recover. You may take him home, but he is to stay in bed for two days. Now go away, tell me when we go to torture the woumbers on that farm.”
“I’ll help as well,” Madison said. She winked at Susannah, and she knew the redhead was just teasing Viglar. Madison was much braver than Susannah could hope to be. Never would she dare tease that surly alien.
“You will stay at the hospital,” Viglar said, as if they discussed the weather.
Through the whole process, Noah had been relaxed, and he’d reach out as if to touch Viglar every now and then. Susannah would’ve been jealous if he hadn’t clung to her hand and kept checking that she didn’t leave.
Azagor stepped forward, and Susannah quickly picked up her son. “I’ll carry him.” Never again would he leave her sight. Azagor didn’t insist, merely walked close to her. They left the infirmary, and Larz and Zorlof stood outside.
“We are coming with you when you go to torture the woumbers on the farm,” Larz said. Zorlof didn’t seem to speak much. They spoke English, so she assumed they wanted her to hear.
“When Noah is healed,” Azagor said.
Azagor and Susannah walked to their dwelling. She looked around and smiled at Azagor. “Look, the flowers are blooming.”
Azagor put his arm around her. “I can carry you and our small human. The ground is treacherous.” Unlike her warrior who was rock solid and would never betray her.
She was about to object when she saw the raw need to have them in his arms in his eye
s. “Thank you, I feel a little shaky on my feet.”
He picked her up and held her easily. Noah stared at him and then stared up at the sky, looking confused. “This is the big blue Montana sky, my son.” She lifted her face to soak in the rays of the sun, trusting Azagor to keep her from falling. “You will play under it and become strong again.”
Azagor had only taken a few steps to their dwelling, when a warrior she hadn’t seen before stepped in front of them.
He said something in their language to Azagor and moved on.
All the way to their dwelling, warriors stopped them and grunted at Azagor. She wouldn’t be surprised if they wanted in on the torture of the brothers.
“Will you help the cousins after you deal with the brothers?” She’d never had any choices, but maybe some of the cousins wanted to be there, enjoyed life on the farms. But she’d like to think there was a better life possible for them.
“Margaret has a program to help with the women and children we save. She will know what to do.”
The door to their dwelling opened, and Azagor walked inside, putting her down on the couch. She held Noah carefully in her arms, but suddenly he jumped and would’ve fallen on the floor if Azagor hadn’t braced him with a gentle hand on his chest.
Noah made a strange crowing sound, his eyes fixed on Killer who stood growling at them. Noah tried to get to him again and, with a growl, Killer moved back a few steps. The hair on his back standing upright.
“We’re going to have a problem,” she told Azagor.
He looked from Noah to Killer and then cocked his head. “I will build a safe space for Killer where Noah cannot get to him.”
“That will help, if Noah grabs him or try to play with him, he could kill him.”
“We will have to train Noah to always touch Killer with care. Your rat is intelligent. Already he runs and hides when he sees Noah.”
Killer had disappeared behind the couch.
She hiccupped a teary laugh, and Noah put his small hand on her cheek. She smiled down at him. “Yes, we are talking about you. I know you like the dog, but he’s not a toy, and we have to be careful with him.” Did he understand her? She had no idea from what age babies understood what you said to them. He stared up at her in that serious way, and she almost thought he understood her.