by CS Hale
The general’s eyebrows rose, even though he’d known my position from, literally, my position. I was seated on a throne.
“Assimilation does not negate the offense.”
“She didn’t have to call you,” Valemar interjected. “She could have lived out all her days with everyone believing she’d died like her comrades.”
“What did happen to the Palmas Cove?” the general asked.
“Oh, now you want to know?” Valemar said. “Strange behavior for someone charged with upholding peace. Arrest first, ask questions later. She is guilty in your eyes no matter what has happened.”
The general smiled an indulgent smile of his own. “Yes. That’s the way it works.”
“Strange laws,” Valemar said. “Do not contact a planet and interfere with its development, but when circumstances force that law to be broken for self-preservation and a much more serious offense is discovered —” Valemar’s face became a mask of confusion. “Or am I wrong? Illegal trade in chalcopyrite and supply of Awrakian armor on purpose, truly changing a world forever — something you wouldn’t have known without her — is a lesser offense than saving your own life?”
“She knew the rules.”
“She tried to contact you. Nine days of distress calls blocked by the Hormani mother ship.” Valemar drew himself up and sneered down at the general. “You ought to be down on your knees thanking her. Without her, this planet would have been ravaged by war brought about by that illegal armor and our resources plundered. You weren’t there to stop them. She was.”
“I’m not here to debate you,” the general said.
“Ah, but you are. For we disagree on whom you are looking for. And my wife, whom I vowed to protect from cold and sun and harm, is not going to be taken by someone who intends her harm.”
The general sighed and turned to me. “Specialist Carr, you know where this is going to go. Don’t let it.”
“Would you really inflict further harm on these people by taking me away?” I asked. “Think about how my Alfari have worked with you, welcomed you. They ask for just this one thing. Remember what happened on Earth and on Tiniak. That has not been your experience here. These people were looking for a protector to come from the moon. My contacting you has saved them. Would you turn their warm welcome into hate and distrust, all for one person whose choices had been Teridun Four or death?”
The word hung in the air. People began to inch together and away from the Shororato. Hands went to sword hilts among the King’s Guard. The general’s eyes scanned the room, a new wariness apparent in them.
“Is there nothing that would save her?” Shale’s voice sounded loudly from beside us. My head was among those that turned. A sly, cat-like smile lit up her face.
“No,” the general said. “The rules are quite clear.”
“The rules.” Shale nodded. “Like how nothing can be taken off the planet without its citizens’ consent.”
The general sighed. “Really, Specialist Carr. This charade needs to stop.”
The patience of both groups was beginning to wear thin. I nodded and rose. Valemar’s hand shot out toward mine. “Astrid!”
“She’s pregnant!” Shale shouted over the din that erupted.
“Shale, they have ways of checking. They’ll know I can’t —” I said, even as the general whipped out a scanner and mounted the steps. The sound of steel rang through room as swords were drawn. I stood and held my arms out, difficult to do while I was also attempting to push Valemar back into his seat.
A sudden silence filled the room as the general ran the scanner over my abdomen. Silent enough for the swishing sound of a heartbeat to fill the room.
“Can’t take her now,” Shale said as I landed hard on the seat of my throne. My legs wouldn’t hold me.
“I can’t be pregnant,” I said, dazed. “It isn’t possible.”
“We’ve tried enough,” Valemar said.
I looked up at the general. The Shororato were known for their ruthlessness, not their humor, but this had to be some kind of joke. “It isn’t possible. My DNA wouldn’t be compatible.”
He checked the scanner’s display again. “Apparently, it is.”
“But … but that’s —”
“More than a million odds against it. But you are pregnant.” He tucked the scanner back into his belt. “I’m going to need to consult with the High Justice, but your friend in red is right. Taking an alien child from its world is a much bigger deal than a simple no-contact violation. I’ll let you get used to the news and return this evening.” The general’s serious expression transformed into a wry smile. “And Specialist Carr —”
“Yeah, yeah.” I waved my hand absently, my mind still reeling. “Chip. You know where to find me.”
The general laughed. “That, too. I was going to say, ‘Congratulations.’”
I STILL COULDN’T absorb what had happened. There had to be some mistake.
The general and his soldiers left to joyous cheers, for they had brought the news that Bánalfar was expecting an heir. Bemused smiles kept lifting and falling on the faces of all the Shororato. I guessed they weren’t used to being greeted with such adoration.
Shale slipped quietly away in the commotion that followed, so it was just Valemar and me who retired to the anteroom. I leaned into him as his hands traced the length of my back. “I can’t be pregnant,” I said again.
My cheek buzzed against Valemar’s chest as he laughed. “What will it take for you to believe it? A swollen belly?”
“Desire alone can cause the swollen belly of a false pregnancy,” I said. Mary Tudor of England had suffered two of them.
“The child kicking?”
The child kicking. I pressed a hand against my stomach. If the scan was accurate, there was a little life in there that one day I would feel move.
“Huh.” My head bounced with Valemar’s huff. “Do Earth women not feel sick with early pregnancy? You’ve been ill a lot lately”
Ill. “Oh, my God! The blood.” My stomach rolled with fear. “I drank the heichdar blood. What if I’ve harmed the child?”
Valemar’s hand embraced my head. “Hush. Did you not hear the heartbeat? Nice and strong.”
It had been. And when could you first hear the heartbeat? How far along was I? “When did I last bleed?” I asked Valemar, raising my eyes to his.
“I don’t know.” His eyes darted from side to side as he thought. “I don’t think you have since you’ve returned.”
Then it was possible I could already be two months pregnant. “How did I not notice?”
Valemar kissed the top of my head. “There have been many things to distract you. It wasn’t something you were looking for.”
Hoped for. I had hoped. And prayed. And offered my blood.
And my prayers had been answered. My fingers traced circles along my abdomen. Pregnant. I was pregnant.
For now.
Valemar felt me tremble. “What new concern steals your strength?”
“What if I lose it?”
Valemar lifted my chin and kissed me. “Then we will try again. But I don’t think you need to worry. You fell from the moon. You’ve driven back the outsiders. And now you have created new life.”
“Technically that order is wrong.”
“Yes, but had we known you were with child, I’d have never let you call the Shororato.”
That was true. I never would have risked Valemar’s child. And the attempts on my life would have continued. I hugged my husband and rubbed my cheek against his chest. “I get to stay. I get to stay and give you a child.”
Valemar laughed lightly. “Sometimes prayers do get answered.”
General Creskin returned just before dinner though he declined to stay. “The details will be worked out over the next few days, but the High Justice has agreed that, due to the circumstances, you will remain on Teridun Four.”
“Crenfor,” I corrected. “The inhabitants call this planet Crenfor.”
&
nbsp; The general chuckled. “Which is why they’ve recommended that you be appointed the Council ambassador to this planet. Due to the Hormani interference, Teridun … Crenfor is about to take its place within the Astrun Federation. Your experience both as a protocol specialist and as an inhabitant of this planet make you the perfect candidate.”
“So she’ll be able to communicate with other planets?” Valemar asked. He squeezed my hand hopefully.
“Uh, no.” The general didn’t meet my gaze. “She will officially be listed as having perished with the crew of the Palmas Cove. Your planet is not ready to fully join the Federation and will continue to have protected status. Probably for the next several hundred years. Until you’ve developed technology on your own that will allow you to travel within space.”
I bit my lip. My parents would never know that I had survived. That they had another grandchild. Or that I was married and happy.
Valemar squeezed my hand again.
But this was an outcome I could live with. I had called the Shororato fully expecting to give up everything, taking only my tattoos and my wedding mark with me. And now, I got to stay. I had a new job. And a new life was growing inside me.
The general rose. “I don’t understand why you did it … Ambassador Carr.”
“Carbrev,” I corrected.
“You could have lived here undetected. If not for your miraculous pregnancy, you’d already be on a ship bound for Krajiny Five.”
I looked at Valemar and smiled. “Doing nothing was not something that the daughter of kings could have lived with.”
The general frowned. “The what?”
“The one who fell from the moon,” I said, finally claiming the title that I’d hated. “She had a job to do. And doing the hard thing is always the right thing to do.”
Sometimes it just took a while to get there. Especially if it was too fantastic to believe.