by Shae Mills
Chelan shook her head anxiously. Then she paused, staring into his chest. "Maybe it's best that I'm out." Then she looked up at him. "Oh, I don't know!" she cried. "I just want it to be over."
Korba pressed her close and looked at Stose with indecision.
The doctor took a deep breath. "Maybe it would help her to decide if I gave her a sedative. It would ease her anxiety no matter what she chooses."
Korba tipped her face up to his. "Is that okay?"
She nodded, swallowing back the tears that threatened to flow.
Korba's voice was soft and mellow. "You will be fine," he soothed. "Are you ready?"
Chelan nodded weakly again.
Korba looked at Stose. "We're ready," he whispered.
Stose rose and guided them into a private examining room, where he began preparing some medication. Then he turned and faced them. As he approached, he watched Chelan shrink into Korba, seeking the Warlord's protection. His stomach knotted, and he took a deep and uneasy breath. He had to control himself carefully. "Okay, Chelan. I want you to drink this. It will simply make you relax."
Chelan took the small container and looked up at Korba. He smiled and nodded to her, and she swallowed it quickly.
Her knees gave way instantly, and Korba lurched to catch her, his eyes wide with shock. He gathered her limp body into his arms, as he glared at Stose.
The doctor swallowed hard. "I'm sorry, my Lord. But I assure you that it was for the best. I know how she reacted in here when she first came to us. She would not have handled the testing well."
Korba remained quiet as he laid her peaceful body on the table. "That is not your normal procedure, I hope."
Stose remained still, hoping his life had not been put on the line by his act. "No, my Lord. With our women I can do most of the tests even before the nerve block is given. But I didn't feel that approach was appropriate here, nor did I feel it would go over well with you. Her anxiety would have been most disturbing to all concerned. After all, you have already experienced it, my Lord. You saw the discomfort she was willing to tolerate to avoid me and my help."
Korba turned to him and a small smile touched his lips. "You're right. And whatever that was, it appears to be very effective."
Stose returned his Commander's smile with relief. "Yes, Sire. It works every time."
Korba glanced at Chelan. "I just hope she does not feel that we deceived her."
"If she does, my Lord, you know that I will explain that it was my decision alone."
A low rumbled emanated from Korba's chest. "That would not be such a wise choice in this situation, Stose. For reasons I will not explain, you are already walking on thin ice with her trust simply by virtue of the profession you have chosen." Korba then turned from the perplexed doctor. Though the room was relatively warm, he draped her upper body with a blanket out of respect for her modesty. Gently, he slid her gown up her slender legs and over her smooth hips. Then fulfilling his promise, he pulled up a chair and sat by her, holding her hand and stroking her soft cheek as Stose set to work.
The procedures did not take long, and when he was finished, Stose rushed all the precious samples off to his own personal lab. Then he returned promptly with an antidote to the serum he had given her and waited patiently for the Warlord's okay.
Korba adjusted Chelan's gown and lifted her gently from the table, cradling her in his lap. He nodded to Stose, and the doctor injected her with the drug.
She came around almost as quickly as she had collapsed, her eyes momentarily clouded and her mouth dry. "Oh," she groaned as she attempted to clear her mind. "What was that stuff?"
Stose smiled as he pulled up a chair next to them. "It's okay, Chelan. Everything is over with, and now I'm going to give you some information."
Chelan looked at Stose, her brow furrowed. Then she looked to Korba, for confirmation.
Korba smiled. "We're all finished."
Chelan nodded and then curled up in his lap, still feeling a little disoriented.
Stose spoke. "Chelan, you're going to have some mild cramping and maybe some spotting, but I don't expect any. However, if the cramping becomes severe or persists beyond a couple of days, or if you begin to bleed, you get Korba to bring you in here. Okay?"
Chelan nodded.
"Okay. The next thing is, reproductively, you appear to be healthy and disease-free. So if we are the same species, and I won't know that until the testing is complete, and as long as your body chemistry is not hostile or antagonistic to Korba's, you should be able to conceive." Stose smiled at them. "And I guess the news that is of the most importance to the both of you right now is that you have healed completely, Chelan. There may be some tenderness at the site, but I gave you a long-acting local anesthetic that should alleviate any discomfort. I hereby relieve you of my restrictions, barring one word of caution to you, my Lord. From what I can tell so far, her body tissue is much finer and thinner than our own. She is devoid of several protective layers of skin that we have acquired. This deficit is body-wide, and you should be conscious of that fact during your future activities with her." Stose smiled. "She will simply not be quite as durable as our own women, so to speak. So gentle is the word."
Korba nodded and smiled down at Chelan. "I've always felt she was fragile."
Chelan looked up at him from under her thick, dark lashes. "I'm not that fragile, my Lord. Don't press your luck."
All of them chuckled, and Stose shook his head at them. "Now," he began, "as far as the tests are concerned, I'll have them completed in about two days. I will do the work myself and bring the report directly to you."
"No," Korba interjected firmly. "No written reports. I want you to give me an oral summary only. I want no evidence of the testing left anywhere. I want nothing written down or entered into any of the computers. You will use your own personal computer for any work to be done, and then you will obliterate any files made. There will be no chance of any of this information leaking out. And after you have reported to me directly, you will wipe this meeting from your thoughts. I want no trouble in the future from the Guild."
"Understood, my Lord."
All were silent for a moment until Stose spoke again. "Well, that's pretty much everything unless you have any questions about what I did, Chelan, or about what I am going to do with the samples?"
Chelan paused. "Am I okay, I mean, the testing you just did... can we... I..."
Stose smiled. "The biopsy and extractions sites were all internal, and Korba can do nothing to hurt them. There is always a slight chance of infection, but that is remote. So you two may continue, unhindered. Any other questions?"
Chelan's thoughts merged into coherency as the effects of the tranquilizer finally sloughed off fully. All Stose's words suddenly replayed in her mind. She was fine, she was whole, and she had not been maimed. Relief washed through her like a cleansing wave. Her past demon had not been able to mark her physically for life, and that in itself was a huge victory.
"Chelan?" Korba prompted softly.
"Huh? Oh, no, no more questions," she finally answered.
Stose smiled. "Very well. Oh, there is one other thing, Chelan." He stood and rounded a counter, where he opened a drawer. He returned to her with two bottles of white pills. "Dar asked me to get these for you. He said he would pick them up later, but I might as well give them to you now."
Chelan blushed as Stose went to pass her the pills. But Korba intercepted the bottles. He rolled them around in his hand and then looked first at Chelan, and then to the doctor. "What are these for?"
Stose glanced at Chelan. "Ahh, I see that we haven't had the time to fill in our Commander on all the details of one's self, have we?"
Chelan glared at Stose and then looked into Korba's questioning eyes. She snatched the pills from his hand and looked down at them. "They're for my periods," she whispered shyly. "Dar and Fremma used to bring them to me when I needed them."
Korba's eyes grew wide as he looked back to Stose. "I see yo
u've given her a lifetime supply. Do you intend on leaving our services?"
Stose frowned. "When are you ever going to become comfortable with yourself, Chelan?"
Chelan threw Stose a cutting glance as she crawled out of Korba's lap and headed for the door. "I'd like to go home now," she whispered.
Korba's eyes narrowed. "Hold on, Chelan. Tell me what's going on here."
Chelan turned her back to him in embarrassment. "It's no big deal," she mumbled.
Stose sighed and stepped up to the Warlord as he rose. "Beware, my Lord, of beginning your family before you expect to, as Chelan comes into estrus once every twenty-one Iceanean days rather than once a year."
Korba hesitated. His voice was low and restrained. "I will heed your warning, Stose, as it appears we could have gotten into trouble sooner than anticipated."
Chelan remained still, unable to face the two men.
Korba nodded to the doctor. "Thank you for everything. I look forward to hearing from you soon." Korba turned and walked up to Chelan. "Come on. Let's go."
Once inside the Command Center, Chelan headed directly for the sleeping quarters without speaking a word.
"Ah, not so fast," came Korba's deep voice as he reached out and grabbed her arm. He turned her to him, but she looked down, refusing to meet his gaze. Korba knelt before her, forcing her to look at him. "Why does this embarrass you, Chelan?" he asked softly as he reached up and stroked her cheek.
"I guess because I consider it personal," she whispered. She shifted her weight uneasily. "And because it is associated with a part of my body which you know I have not been comfortable with."
Korba sat back on his heels, resting his hands on his knees. He took a deep breath and thought briefly of her past. Instantly, his thoughts translated into plans and actions, the implementation of which would come about very soon.
Placing his newly formulated undertaking into the background of his mind, he rose to his feet and stepped up to her. "Nothing about you is too personal that you cannot share it with me, Chelan. You are not my kind. You must teach me about yourself, as I will teach you about me. I cannot guess everything about you. You held back telling me about your cycles when you knew that they were different from our people's. It could have caused a premature pregnancy between us, and that could have had far-reaching repercussions."
Chelan was beginning to quiver, for though his candor was soft, his words were harsh. Immediately, her earlier embarrassment and discomfort turned to distress. "But you do not release inside me. So it does not matter."
Korba looked down at her and shook his head. "It is usually not done, Chelan, but the intensity of the release and of the orgasm achieved is far greater and very different than when we do not. It could have happened between us, my Lady, and I may not have known about your receptivity."
"I'm sorry," she uttered. Her fists clenched the small bottles and her heart began to break. She felt she had been dishonest with him, deceiving him and his love for her. "May I go?" she whispered. "I need to rest."
Korba was taken aback by the magnitude of her reaction, and his heart ached. He knelt back down in front of her, taking the pills from her clenched fists and tucking them in his shroud. He looked up into her sad eyes. "Oh, Chelan, I did not mean to hurt you. I only wish to point out that all is not obvious between us. You must talk to me, for we are not the same. I am not one of your humans, and our bodies differ superficially and possibly deeply."
Korba took his glove off and rolled up the black second skin of his uniform. Then he reached for her arm and held it next to his. "Your skin is porcelain white with the texture of silk. Yet look, your arm, your face, and your entire body are completely coated with a fine down of nearly imperceptible hair." He hesitated as he lovingly touched her soft cheek, her doe eyes causing his heart to melt. He looked down at his own arm. "I am the color of bronze, and my skin contains no active hair follicles except for those of my head, brows and lashes. It is as if my muscles were coated with malleable metal. But our differences run much deeper, Chelan. Let my eyes remind you of that each time we look at each other. You say that they glow. It is with their azure intensity that they can cut through the dark. But Chelan, I cannot see through you. I have been trained for decades to perfect the art of reading bodies. I cannot read minds. My mind's abilities and my body's strengths may far surpass those of the men of your world, but I am not infallible, and I am far from perfect. I am not one of your world's gods, my Lady. I need your help to learn as much as you need mine." He paused, taking her shaking hands in his. "Even if our genetics indicate that we are the same species, I am not a man of Earth, Chelan. I need you to talk to me."
He hesitated, watching her as she took a deep, wavering breath. "Chelan, tell me what you are feeling," he pleaded tenderly.
Chelan looked into his eyes. "I did not mean to deceive you," she blurted. "I was not trying to trap you by getting pregnant."
Korba drew her down to him and hugged her into his hard body. His shroud enveloped her as he struggled to console her. "You did not deceive me, Chelan. And I would not feel trapped by you if you carried my child. You simply omitted information under the false assumption that it did not matter." He hugged her closer as her breathing eased. "That is not deceit, Chelan, that is simply a misunderstanding, and that can be cured with open communication."
He pulled her back slightly and looked down into her lovely eyes. "Are you okay?"
"Yes," she whispered.
Korba smiled. "Now, from what I can deduce, and from what I have seen, your short life on this ship has been nothing but a series of serious emotional lows." He hesitated as he looked at the scar on her throat, and he swallowed hard. "From now on I want that to change. You're a very resilient woman, Chelan, but I know you can only bounce back so many times, and I have already witnessed you snap because of my neglect. I never want any of that to happen to you again. You don't deserve that."
Korba smiled at her; her pretty eyes were intent upon him. "You are brilliant, and you are beautiful, but you are restricted by a severe lack of self-confidence. That undoubtedly worked against you on Earth as it does here. We will work on that together, and with time you will stand as tall and as confidently as your status and position in our culture allows. And that, Chelan, as long as you are by my side, will be at the top.
"In the meantime, I'm going to spend as much of the remainder of the trip as I can here with you, talking with you and learning about you. And I want nothing held back, no matter how seemingly insignificant. I want you to tell me about your needs and desires, and about your fears. If something or someone bothers you, I want you to tell me.
"Chelan, when you're down, I want to share your tears, and when you are happy, I want to share your joy. And I can assure you that there is nothing you can do that will ever disappoint me. You are too precious to me, and I love you too much."
Chelan looked into his luminous eyes, her love for him spilling from her heart. She kissed his lips. Their embrace was long and tender, and then Chelan withdrew. "I want to spend the rest of the day and night alone with you, in bed." Her eyes searched his. "I want you to make love to me, never letting me go throughout the entire time."
Korba continued to look at her, his eyes gorging on her angelic beauty. He stroked her silky hair. "That's more like it," he whispered, and he kissed her briefly. He stood and led her down the stairs to the main console. "In the future, Chelan, you will have access to me at any time and anywhere on the ship. I will teach you how to use the intercoms and the security codes that allow you access. You will no longer have to wait for my arrival if you have a problem or simply need me."
Chelan nodded to him, and he smiled at her. His eyes remained on her as he reached for a switch.
"Bridge, my Lord."
"Who's on duty, Van?"
"Commander Tarn, my Lord. He requested the time."
Korba saw Chelan finch at the mention of Tarn's name, and he made a mental note of it for later. "Where's Commander Dar?"
"On a few hours' rest, my Lord. He's due back shortly."
"Status on the mission, Van?"
"The last of the ships arrived on board one hour ago, except for the contingency that you ordered to remain behind. All battle statistics have been compiled and all equipment secured. Sickbay reports all casualties accounted for and under treatment. No further deaths expected."
Chelan watched Korba, marveling at the mind that worked with such cool, calculating efficiency. His eyes remained on her.
"Send messages to the officers that there will be a status report meeting in the main hall of RIBUS 7 in two days at standard time. Have Commander Dar approve that and get back to me no sooner than tomorrow morning."
Chelan blushed at Korba's timing.
"Yes, my Lord. Is there anything else, Sire?"
"Yes, Van. Announce that the Koll will be set for one week from today at standard time, to be held on this vessel."
"Yes, my Lord."
"Thank you, Van."
Chelan watched him as he turned off the intercom. Without hesitation, he drew her to him, taking her lips gently, penetrating her soft mouth with his tongue. He felt her respond immediately, and he smiled at her as he withdrew. He continued to watch her as he reached behind himself and hit another switch.
"Yes, my Lord."
"Lazen, I want no disturbances whatsoever until tomorrow morning. Direct any problems to Commander Dar if necessary." Korba hesitated as he watched his hand caress over Chelan's cheek and down her slender throat. "But relay any messages from Stose should he come by."
"Yes, Sire."
Korba hit the off switch, and his face became serious. He placed his hands on either side of her face and held her firmly as he looked intently into her eyes. He leaned forward and brushed her lips with his. He could feel her muscles beginning to quiver with anticipation as she clutched his shroud to her.