by KD Jones
“Did you do that? Calm me?” Syd asked.
“Yes. I am a moderator. I can control emotions.” The tall man looked at his leader. “He should be in control now.”
“Thank you, MalIC. We may need you to come with us,” Leader LarIS told him.
“Leader, we could not locate Leader AshOR,” another lieutenant said as he rushed into the room.
Commander TylOR looked suddenly pale. “Where would he take the female?”
Leader LarIS shook his head. Why would Ash do this? “Probably the only place he would feel safe—his sister’s.”
TylOR looked shocked. “I did not know I had a sister.”
“Ash’s twin sister, EllinOR. She and her mate live on the outskirts of the city.” Leader LarIS ordered a shuttle prepared. He turned to SydEL. “We will get her back, Prime Medic.”
Kat was lying on a bed. The room was unfamiliar. She tried to sit up, but her hands and feet were tied to the bed. She tried to pull herself free, but it was no use. She wasn’t hurt, just restrained, confused, and scared. She wanted Syd.
“Do not hurt yourself. The ties are too tight to loosen by pulling,” a deep voice said from the other side of the room.
Kat jerked her head in the direction of the voice. Leader AshOR sat in a chair by a fireplace watching her. “Why did you take me? You know Syd will demand the death penalty for this.”
“Probably, but I need to find out the truth of why the Kiljorns and Katierans have come to the Colony.”
“We came here to do research on the mutations so we can help with the breeding problems all three nations have suffered.”
“I don’t believe it. That is just a lie they are telling. They are here for our females,” AshOR accused angrily.
“Why would they come for your females?” Kat asked, tugging at the ropes again.
“Because our females can breed.”
“They can? We did not know that,” Kat told him.
“She sounds like she’s telling the truth, brother,” a female voice said from the doorway.
Kat turned her head to see a beautiful woman there. She looked like the other Katieran women Kat had seen, tall and athletically built. Her dark hair was long. She was also pregnant, probably close to giving birth.
“I told you not to come in here, EllinOR.” AshOR stood up to go over to his sister.
“You brought her into my home. I have a right to see if she is a threat to my family.” EllinOR walked closer to the bed Kat was lying on. “She is small.”
“I won’t be for long. I am pregnant, just like you.” Kat hoped to gain the other woman’s sympathy.
“Pregnant means breeding?” EllinOR asked, surprised.
“Yes. I am mated to Prime Medic SydEL of Katiera. We just found out that I am pregnant—breeding,” Kat told her with a trembling voice.
EllinOR turned on her brother. “You took a breeding female mated to a Prime from Katiera? You could be instigating a war that our people cannot win!”
AshOR turned pale. His bald head was sweating. “We needed answers. I didn’t know she was breeding.”
EllinOR looked Kat directly in the eyes. “Are the Katierans and Kiljorns here for our females?”
Kat shook her head. “No. There is no need. They have transported females from my home world, Earth. We are compatible.”
EllinOR bent down to release her. Kat rubbed her wrists and ankles. She wasn’t hurt, just sore from struggling against the ties. She eyed the pair suspiciously.
“I apologize for my brother. He acts rashly sometimes, but he means well. He wants only to protect our people.” EllinOR punched her brother’s arm.
“You are only here for research?” AshOR asked.
“Yes. We thought if we could get samples from the Colony and compare them to the samples we have already collected form Katiera and Kiljor, it might give us some answers for the reproductive problems.” She rubbed her stomach as it growled. “Sorry, I guess I’m hungry.”
“Of course you are. You are breeding. You need to eat.” EllinOR stood up and motioned for Kat to follow her.
They went into the kitchen, where there was a table with tons of food. Kat’s stomach growled again. “Sorry.”
EllinOR laughed. “Please help yourself to the food. AshOR will notify your people of your location so that they can come and get you.”
“EllinOR,” AshOR protested.
“I don’t want to hear your excuses. My mate will be back in a few hours. I don’t want him to come home to this mess.” EllinOR sat down and started shoveling food in her mouth.
Kat could hear AshOR on his comm link explaining why he did what he did. He apologized. Then he turned to Kat. “Your mate wishes to speak with you so that he knows you are okay.” He handed her his comm link.
Kat held it up to her ear. “Syd?”
“Kat! Are you okay? Is the young okay?” He sounded worried.
“I’m fine. We’re fine. AshOR thought we were here to take their females.” Kat tried to explain and lessen the situation.
“I will be there in an hour or less. Keep yourself safe. I feel much love for you.” Syd’s voice cracked with emotion.
“I love you too. More than anything.” Kat replied with tears in her eyes. She handed the comm link back to AshOR.
“May I ask you some questions about your females?” Kat asked EllinOR.
“Yes, of course.”
“I didn’t see any women or children when we arrived here. Why?”
“Our females are able to breed easily, but there aren’t very many of us. Only a handful of young survive childbirth. We are not sure why. I have lost two already. It is heartbreaking.”
Kat couldn’t help but touch her own belly. She was already feeling protective. She began to ask EllinOR questions about the problems at childbirth. Some of the symptoms described sounded similar to gestational diabetes. If the medics were trained to perform C-sections, the babies might have made it. She couldn’t wait to discuss her theories with Syd.
Suddenly, EllinOR dropped her plate onto the floor. “Oh, no.”
Kat looked at the other woman and immediately knew what was happening. EllinOR was going into labor. Kat turned to AshOR, who was coming back into the room. “Call SydEL again. Tell him I need supplies for a C-section.”
“What is a C-Section?” AshOR asked her, confused.
“Your sister is in labor and may lose this baby if you don’t do what I say!” She was no longer a scared, kidnapped woman; she was a strong, take-charge doctor.
While AshOR did what she said, Kat turned her focus on a scared EllinOR. “It’s okay. I’m a doctor, a medic. Let’s get you to a bed.” She walked EllinOR to her bedroom and helped her settle on the bed.
“I have never met a female medic before,” EllinOR said warily.
“I have been a medic for many years on my home world Earth. I delivered many children there. Recently I delivered a beautiful pair of twins to the Prime Leader of Katiera and his mate, Prima Cassie.”
“Twins? Really?” EllinOR was distracted by Kat’s recount of the twins’ birth.
“Yes. They named them Prima GabriELa and Prima IsabELa.”
AshOR sniffed the air. “They are almost here. Probably another five minutes.”
Kat was anxious to see Syd. There had been a moment when she was caught in between unconsciousness and wakefulness that she had thought she might never see him again. She focused on the current situation. Her mate was coming to ‘rescue’ her and he would probably tear AshOR apart. This would not help their relationship with the Colony.
“AshOR, I think you should leave,” she suggested.
AshOR shook his head. “I won’t leave my sister.”
“I’m a medic. My mate is a medic. We will help your sister more than you can. But what she needs is her mate to be here. Go and get him,” Kat said persistently. AshOR looked at his sister, nodded his agreement, then left.
“Thank you,” EllinOR said to Kat.
Ka
t looked at her with surprise. “For what?”
“Getting my brother out of here before your mate arrives. There is nothing scarier than a male in protective mode.” She rubbed her swollen belly.
Kat still wore the watch she had brought with her from Earth. It was a habit she couldn’t seem to break. She had been timing EllinOR’s contractions. They were now five minutes apart. Her biggest concern was the strain on EllinOR’s face. She seemed to be losing color fast.
“Try some breathing techniques with me.” She demonstrated some breathing exercises and EllinOR immediately began trying them. She needed something to do.
EllinOR took in another breath and let it out. She sniffed the air. “They are here.”
“Kat!” Syd yelled from the doorway at the front of the house.
Kat got up to meet him, but before she could reach the bedroom door, Syd came charging in. He took her into his arms and spun her. He kissed her forehead, her eyelids, both cheeks, and finally her lips. He didn’t seem to want to let her go.
In between kisses, Kat reassured him that she was okay. “Baby, we can kiss all you want later. I need the things AshOR called you for.”
Syd pulled back only far enough to scan her body head to toe. “You are unharmed?”
“Yes. I am completely fine.”
“Where is Leader AshOR?” Syd growled angrily. How dare the male take his mate, his breeding mate.
“He went to get EllinOR’s mate. She is going into labor.” She pulled him with her to the bedside.
“EllinOR, this is my mate, Prime Medic SydEL.” Kat introduced them.
EllinOR would have clasped the Prime Medic’s forearm, but just then she had a huge, painful contraction. She screamed from the pain.
“Remember the breathing exercises.” Kat breathed with her. She motioned to Syd for the medical bag.
“You are planning to perform a C-section?” he asked.
“Yes. We need to give her the programmed anesthetic.” Kat was all professional. She told Syd what she needed and he got it for her, working now as the perfect team.
“Kat . . . sh sh sh . . . who is that man by the door?” EllinOR asked in between her breathing exercises.
Kat looked up and smiled. “Commander, please come closer. Commander TylOR, this is EllinOR. EllinOR, this is Commander TylOR of the Kiljorn Nation. Your older brother, I believe.”
Brother and sister looked at each other for a long, silent moment. Then EllinOR reached out her hand and TylOR grasped it. “You look just like our father and AshOR. Welcome, brother.”
“We need everyone who is not a medic to clear out of this room,” Kat ordered.
TylOR looked reluctant to leave the sister he had only just met, but Prime Medic SydEL pushed him out of the room. “Will she be okay?”
“Kat and I will do everything we can to help her and the young. We need you to keep things calm on this side of the door. Her mate and your brother will be coming soon. It is critical that you keep them from interrupting us,” Syd told him sternly.
“They will not disturb you,” TylOR swore.
Twenty minutes later AshOR and his sister’s mate arrived, almost tearing through the door. “Where is she? Where is my mate?” a large male with a shocking shade of pale hair asked.
“MalIC, we need your assistance,” Leader LarIS called out.
Moments later calmness settled over everyone in the room. “Your mate is in labor in the other room. There are two medics with her now. We need to keep all disturbances down so that they can concentrate,” LarIS said to the two men.
Commander TylOR glared at his younger brother. As soon as possible, he was going to knock the other male on his ass for taking a female. Obviously, their father had not given him a good example to go by.
Three hours later, SydEL stepped out of the bedroom. He looked tired. He spotted the female’s mate immediately and went over to him. “I am Prime Medic SydEL of Katiera. Your mate is doing fine, and so is your son. They are both recovering from the C-section we had to perform.”
“I have a son?” The male, who had been looking like he was on the verge of passing out, suddenly became extremely excited. “I have a son!” he yelled.
They moved EllinOR and the baby to the Medic facility so that the medics there could keep watch for any problems that might arise. Nanos had been administered to both mother and son to ensure their speedy recoveries. Syd wanted Kat to go back to their suite to rest—under guard, of course—but she knew what was coming. She refused to leave his side.
Leader AshOR was taken by security to a meeting room where Leader LarIS and the members of the Colony’s council would determine his punishment. Kat didn’t like what he had done, but having been around the Katierans and Kiljorns, she understood his fear that they would try to take viable females from the Colony.
Kat stayed by Syd’s side. He held her hand tightly. She needed to make sure that this situation did not escalate. Did she want to be alone with AshOR? No way. But if she could turn things around somehow, it might help all of them.
Leader LariS stood at the front of the room. AshOR was brought to stand before him, with two Colony warriors holding him in place. He spoke. “The Colony may have broken away from the Katieran and Kiljorn Nations many years ago, but we still hold the same Primary Laws. First Law is to protect all females and young. You took the Prime Medic’s mate, who is breeding, against her will. The minimum punishment would be banishment. Can you tell the council why you did this?”
AshOR said nothing in his defense. He simply stood there with his head hung down.
“May I say something?” Kat’s trembling voice asked the room.
“Kat, leave it to their council to handle,” Syd urged.
Leader LarIS looked at her oddly. “The female who is the victim here would like to speak. I think we should hear her out.”
Kat stepped forward. Syd tried to pull her back behind him but she gave him a frustrated look, which brought a small smile to his lips. “I need to do this. Let me. Please.” He let her go reluctantly. She turned to address the room. AshOR still held his head down.
“I do not approve of AshOR’s methods. He did take me away without my approval. But if he had told me about his sister first, I would have gone willingly.” There were many gasps in the room. AshOR lifted his head to stare at Kat. “When we came here to the Colony, we didn’t know that your females could breed. AshOR was worried that we were here to take your females away.”
Many of the Colonists present were uncomfortable with the mention of their females. Obviously it was a protected secret, the main reason all previous requests from the Katierans and Kiljorns to visit had been denied.
“I may be out of line speaking for the Katierans and Kiljorns, but we are not here to take your females. AshOR only took me to find the truth. Once I explained this, I was let go immediately. I could have walked away then, but I stayed, and it’s a good thing that I did. Your females, the few that you do have, are able to breed easily. However, they lose just as many babies at birth. I believe that I know why. If they are given a special treatment during their pregnancy, their breeding period, they will be able to have healthy births without resorting to the surgical procedure that Prime Medic SydEL and I had to perform.”
The council members grouped together to discuss what had been said. They conferred with Leader LarIS. He nodded his agreement. “Thank you, Doctor Morris, for saving EllinOR and her young. We appreciate any assistance you can give in helping our other breeding females. All our resources are at your disposal. Your compassion for Leader AshOR is commendable, but the law requires some sort of punishment.”
“But—” Kat tried to speak up but LarIS continued, ignoring her protest.
“Leader AshOR’s title and position as Leader is revoked. He will be banished from the Colony for a period no less than three months. He will need to be under a guardianship until his banishment period is served. Once we find an appropriate guardian.” Leader LarIS looked at Commander
TylOR as he said the last bit.
“I will serve as his guardian,” Commander TylOR offered.
“No!” AshOR yelled.
“Agreed. Commander TylOR will be guardian to AshOR for no less than three months until the banishment term has been served. AshOR, if you hope to return to the Colony, you will need to honor the terms of your punishment. Do you understand?” Leader LarIS asked him.
“Yes, Leader,” AshOR agreed stubbornly. He glared at his older brother TylOR.
Well, that’s going to be fun. Kat thought to herself as she turned into Syd’s side. Then she heard a male voice in her head.
Are all females from your planet so headstrong?
Stop getting in my head! And yes, we are. Kat gave him a stubborn lift of her chin.
“Prime Medic, we would be honored to welcome females from Earth to our Colonial Planet,” Leader LarIS said.
“I will speak with Prime Leader RendEL. Currently all transports to and from Earth have been halted until the path can be secured and made safe from Morin attacks,” Syd replied, ushering his mate out of the room.
Syd pulled Kat into their suite and took her into his arms. “You are to never, ever leave my sight again.” He kissed her reverently. “And we will have a mating ceremony immediately.”
Epilogue
A month later, Kat found herself waiting anxiously for Syd. All her dreams were coming true tonight. There were times she didn’t think it would come to pass. Syd had pleaded to have the mating ceremony on board the Kiljorn transport like Kyd and Jaxon, but Kat refused. She reminded him that AriELa would be devastated if she was not allowed to help plan the event on Katiera, and Kat really wanted their family and friends to be there.
She didn’t want a big ceremony, though. She was firm with AriELa about that. So AriELa planned an evening ceremony on a large balcony with just Syd’s family and their friends. It seemed appropriate to hold it there under the stars.
Kat really had no part in the planning. She was too busy helping the medics work out a treatment plan for the breeding females. Her theory of gestational diabetes was viable, but just in case, she was also helping train medics on Katiera, Kiljor, and the Colonial planet to perform a C-section in the event that one was needed.