Mating Flight

by Mating Flight (lit)

  "What time is it, Lefair?"

  Lefair looked at her wrist chrono. "It's after eight in the evening. Kelfer wanted to see you when you woke up. I'll go sit with Kleet and relieve him." She rose and came to the bed. "I'm glad you're going to be all right, Sheleigh."

  "Thank you."

  In a few minutes Kelfer entered the room and walked up to her bed. "Are you feeling better, Sheleigh?"

  "Yes. I guess I acted strangely earlier today. All I remember is really bad nightmares."

  "We don't know yet all the native chemicals that might affect you adversely. The anesthesia is obviously one of those we need to be careful of in the future." He patted her hand. "I need to ask you questions about this morning, if you're up to it."

  "I'm up to it. Did they catch the man who shot Kleet?"

  "Not yet. Those canyons are a warren of escape routes. We've posted a million credit reward, though. Someone will sell him out for the reward money.

  "Sheleigh, did you see him? Did you see anything that could help identify him?"

  "I didn't know anything was happening until Kleet hit me in the back. I didn't even know he'd been shot until minutes after it happened. After that I was too busy worrying about dying to notice anything but the ground rushing up at us."

  "Has anyone approached you, sent you communications, followed you, or shown undue interest in your life or your daily schedule?"

  "No, but I haven't paid attention to things like that. I didn't know I had to. No one notified us that there was impending violence on this planet."

  "I didn't take the rumblings of discontent seriously enough. Now I'm deadly serious about these radicals. Do the other humans know your schedule?"

  Sheleigh looked at Kelfer in shock. "They didn't have anything to do with what happened today! I resent your implication that they did." She pulled her hand away from him.

  "Perhaps indirectly one of them mentioned something to someone they didn't realize was a radical, or who works with the radical faction. It's hard to tell who's in league with whom. One of your group may have spoken about you and not understood what information they were giving away. We're going to have to question your entire group."

  "Sure, begin your hunt with the aliens. You didn't have any problems before we came, did you?" she asked bitterly. Because of her connection to Kleet, her group would be interrogated and suspected, possibly victimized. It was like the history of Earth repeating itself on Avera.

  "It's a logical place to begin, Sheleigh ..."

  "Kleet and I have been flying mating flights three days a week for a month. We use almost the same three days each week, go the same time each day, fly the same way there and the same way back, use the same cliff. We fly a similar flight each time and spend a similar number of minutes in the air. We've developed a pattern. We're predictable. And I was told it's common knowledge that the heir was having difficulty binding my alien self to him. Even the doctor had heard the story. The whole planet surely knows the heir has not bound me and that he flies me regularly to accomplish this goal." Her words were bitter. "Look to your own species for suspects."

  "I ... wasn't aware the story was that widespread or that you'd heard it."

  "I heard it for the first time today. I assume Kleet has heard it?"

  "Yes. I asked him about it and he assured me you were physically bound to him."

  "I am, and I have been since the first mating flight. He's been trying to make me love him."

  Kelfer sputtered, "By flying you?" Then his eyes grew crafty. "Will he succeed?"

  "The shooting today accomplished that goal. When I knelt in the dirt with Kleet's bloody body in my arms I realized that I can't live without him. I gave myself completely to him at that moment."

  He sighed. "Then there is one good thing to come out of this horrible mess. Lefair told you that you're to be confined to your bed for the next month?"

  "Yes. I'll go crazy being stuck in bed. I'll want my work. I must have something to do."

  "I'll have a medical bed installed in the common area of the house before you're released from here. Someone can carry you downstairs each day so that you won't be all alone. But if I find out you're overexerting, I'll order you to your bedroom and there you'll stay.

  "And that brings up another topic I must address. With you and Kleet both injured, you won't be able to share the same bed without causing one another pain. I'll move your things to the bedroom across the hall from Kleet's room."

  "Kleet won't agree to that."

  "I'll make it an order. You've had serious surgery and mustn't be jolted too much. He'll be restless with pain while he heals. He'll make the sacrifice for you because he loves you. And you'll do the same for him because you love him."

  "I think Kleet will need me, don't you?"

  "You'll have a week together here in the medical center, then a week, maybe two at home. You'll have plenty of time together."

  But not physical time together. If they were both in physical pain they would be wary of touching one another in case they made the pain worse. Kleet wouldn't get the support he needed if he and she had to hold back. His father had watched Kleet be an independent man for most of his thirty-five years. He must have forgotten what it was like to be newly mated and to yearn for your mate with all of your being, to feel incomplete without your mate. Because he'd forgotten, he didn't realize that this was the stage of Kleet's relationship with her. Kleet wasn't as independent as he'd been before they mated. Now he was a half of a whole. But how could she tell Kleet's father that Kleet was needy. His father wouldn't believe it. She couldn't think of any argument that Kelfer would hear and she wasn't physically able to make demands right now. But she felt strongly that Kelfer was making a serious mistake.

  "Tell me how you helped Kleet to fly." His voice was tinged with awe. "I couldn't believe it when the guard told me."

  She relayed the events of that morning from her perspective and relived again in her mind the terrifying descent and the desperation that drove her to act as she did for their survival. She was amazed at her own actions, now that she could see them from a distance of time and with clear-headedness. Having nothing else to consume her thoughts, she could tell from her memories that they had hit the ground much harder than she thought they had when it happened. Her adrenalin must have been sky high for her not to have felt the impact more.

  "The wonder is that you and Kleet weren't hurt more seriously than you were."

  "I was just thinking a similar thought. I was pumped full of adrenalin. Kleet must have been, too."

  "Your actions averted a terrible tragedy. I thank you for saving my son's life. And your own, and my grandchildren's, of course."

  "I know this is painful for you, but I need to know how Kleet will react to being flightless."

  "We don't know that for a certainty. As long as he has wings, there's still hope."

  "I saw the doctors' faces in the surgery. The damage was extensive. They don't believe he'll ever fly again."

  "We can buy the best reconstructionists on the planet to fix Kleet's wing. It might take awhile, but he'll fly again. You'll see. We're very stubborn, we Kryszans. Kleet comes from a long line of strong men. This is just a temporary setback for him."

  So it was going to be denied instead of faced head on. She sighed. Denial would make it harder on everyone in the long run. She would have to research the stages of grief, because she remembered something about denial being one of the stages. She would have to drop the subject for now. Lethargy pulled at her and her eyes grew heavy.

  "I've tired you, my dear. You need to sleep to regain your strength. Rest now."

  "I don't want to be alone." Her voice was plaintive.

  "Lefair will come and sit with you awhile until the medical center tells us it's time to leave."

  "Kleet," her last conscious thought was to want her mate.

  Chapter Fifteen

  The moment Sheleigh saw Kleet didn't come fast, but after she saw him she forgot all abo
ut the wait.

  "Shel, you're hurt!" he exclaimed.

  She couldn't answer for a moment as she breathed through the pain of being moved into the bed next to Kleet's. Even though they were gentle, the jostling to the incision stole her breath. Kelfer stepped agilely into the silence.

  "Sheleigh had surgery. The fall caused an aneurism that ruptured. She's fine now, but she's confined to bed for a month."

  "But I remember my feet being on the ground. We didn't fall." Kleet's voice was harried.

  "How hard did you touch down?"

  "I don't remember. But my feet were on the ground."

  "You were running," Sheleigh managed to say at last.

  Kleet looked at her with apology written on his face and she realized suddenly that no one had told him about his wing. Oh, damn. Obviously they wanted her presence before they talked to Kleet.

  "How do you feel?" he asked her, his voice intimate and loving, and she was warmed clear through. She wished his bed was closer so that she could hold his hand.

  "It hurts to move. A lot. I've never had abdominal surgery before ..."

  "Abdominal surgery! The babies, are they all right?" He tried to rise from the bed.

  Kelfer placed a restraining hand on his agitated son. "Calm down. The babies are just fine. The medical staff has monitored Sheleigh and the babies very closely for the past day." That was news to her. "Dr. Rotairn has been here overseeing both of your care. In fact, he'll be here soon to check on both of you again."

  Oh, double damn. The news was about to be presented and she didn't think she was ready for it. "Kleet, how do you feel?"

  "I also hurt to move. I wish someone would help me turn over on my stomach. It hurts terribly to lie on my wing. It hurts more now than when I was shot."

  "Oh, Kleet. If only I'd known, I would have thrown my body in front of you to protect you."

  "No! No, Shel. You would've been killed."

  "I thought you were dying yesterday. All that blood and then you lay so still after we landed. I would rather have given my own life than to see you killed."

  There was a strange light in Kleet's eyes and a question was clearly forming on his lips, but it went unasked as Dr. Rotairn entered the room. He must have been waiting until she got settled in her bed.

  "Kleet, I'm glad you're awake. We need to discuss your condition." Clearly the man was unhappy about having to break his news, because his smile kept slipping. He walked up to Kleet's bedside, on the side closest to her so that she was behind him where Kleet could see her. Kleet's parents stood on the opposite side of his bed.

  "Kleet, you received some terrible wounds yesterday. The wound to your side will heal eventually. The wounds to your wing ... well, we're just not sure. If they heal as they are now, you won't be able to use that wing. Your father has mentioned reconstructionists to me. Now I'm not sure what they can do for you, but I think we should try one and see what he or she recommends."

  Kleet had paled. "What are you trying to say? You said I can't use the wing the way it is. You mean I can't fly, at all, until a reconstructionist works on it? What would a reconstructionist do?"

  "Well, I'm not a reconstructionist, but there was damage to the major vanes, to the muscles, and structural damage. That would all have to be repaired, rebuilt."

  "You can't rebuild wings." Kleet's voice was hoarse. "We don't have the technology and knowledge to do that."

  Kelfer tried to calm his son. "We don't know exactly what needs to be done yet, Kleet. Wait until the reconstructionist examines you."

  Kleet's expression was strained. "How long would these repairs take, if they could be done?"

  Dr. Rotairn answered him. "I'm just making a guess, you understand. But I think we're talking several months soonest and perhaps several years if multiple corrective procedures are required."

  "Months. Years. And you're making guesses because at this point I don't think you're sure they can even repair the damage, are you doctor?"

  "Everything I say is speculation, because I'm not a reconstructionist."

  "If I wasn't the heir, what would you be telling me?'

  Dr. Rotairn looked towards Kelfer, but Kleet recaptured his attention. "Tell me, the boy you helped bring into this world. Don't look at my father."

  Dr. Rotairn looked down at Kleet, and whatever Kleet saw in the doctor's face made him pale further. "Kleet, it's my personal medical opinion that you'll never fly with that wing again." Sheleigh saw Kleet swallow and her heart hurt for him. "But I think you should see the reconstructionists and hear what they have to say. We live in a modern age now. We have technological advances we never had before. We have visitors from other planets among us." The doctor gestured her way. "Perhaps they have knowledge we don't ..."

  "We don't show our wings to outsiders," Kleet snapped, and she flinched.

  "If what they know can heal you ..." the doctor let the sentence trail.

  Kleet's face twisted in agony. "Because what we know can't."

  "I told you ..."

  "Yes, I heard you. May. Might. Possibly. You have no guarantees for me. And you can give me no hope." His words were bitter.

  Sheleigh tried to give him hope. "Kleet, I hadn't thought about what USP knows, but surely ten species must know something that can help you."

  "You don't think they'll guess from seeing me that the population of this planet is winged?" It was said sarcastically. "And what one of them knows they'll all know."

  Sheleigh mentally reared back from his words. Here was an intolerance of others who were different from him that he'd never shown her before. The condescension he put into the words "them" and "they'll" was chilling. Was he truly prejudiced against other species, or was this his anger at his plight lashing out? Was how she felt now the way the non-wingeds felt?

  "Then they must know already." She couldn't help a little lashing out of her own, now that he made her wonder what he really thought of her as a non-Averan.

  But immediately she knew it had been the wrong thing to say. Her heart told her so, and the four faces who turned horrified eyes to her confirmed it.

  Kelfer, as the ruler of the planet, spoke first. "You told them we have wings?"

  "No."

  "Then why did you say they know already? We let you into our trust, Sheleigh. Now you tell us you've broken it?"

  "No! I didn't tell anyone." She had to do something to remove the look of betrayal from Kleet's face. "I didn't like what you said," she directed this part to Kleet. "About 'what one of them knows they'll all know.' It sounds biased against non-Averans. It smacks of intolerance and prejudice. Since I'm one of 'them,' I took affront for all of USP."

  "You're Kleet's mate, Sheleigh. You're not one of them." Kelfer tried to split hairs. "Anyway, we've gotten away from what's important. Kleet, it might not hurt to let our top reconstructionists talk to the visitors in a general way. No one has to mention wings or let visitors look at you. They can discuss aerodynamics from a scientific viewpoint and no one will be the wiser."

  "But I need to be able to fly now, not in months or years! I have to fly Sheleigh. It can't wait! She has to be flown until ..." He broke off and she knew he tried not to admit why he flew her three times a week.

  "But Kleet, you don't have to fly me anymore. I love you." She admitted the truth she'd discovered only yesterday, glad to be able to offer this lifeline in his moment of need.

  But instead of glorious wonder on his face, his features twisted with derision and revulsion. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. "I don't need your pity, Sheleigh."

  "Pity!" she sputtered. "It's not pity. It's what you wanted. I love you."

  "Don't lie to me because I'm crippled," he shouted, anger and distaste dripping from his words.

  She recoiled from the verbal blow. He didn't believe her! He was throwing her love back in her face.

  Kelfer stepped into the reverberating silence. "Kleet, listen to your mate. She admitted it to me yesterday ..."

  "I didn't
fly her yesterday. I was shot down from the sky," he refuted his father's words bitterly. "So there's no way it could have happened yesterday. Do you pity the cripple, too?"

  Kelfer's face twisted with grief. "You might be able to fly again. We haven't even tried the reconstructionists yet."

  "You didn't answer my question, Father. Do you pity the cripple?"

  Kelfer's mouth worked, but no sound came out. Lefair's grip on his arm was white knuckled and her face was strained as she glanced between her mate and son. Finally he said heavily, "You're my son, my first born child, my heir. I didn't want something like this to happen to you."

  Kleet's face leeched of all color. "Thank you for the truth at last." He spoke quietly and tonelessly. "I'd like to be alone now. Dr. Rotairn, would you have the staff turn me over onto my stomach. And would you get Sheleigh her own room, please."

  "No, Kleet! I want to stay here with you." She watched his face twist again.

  "Doctor, please do as I ask."

  "Kleet, your mate ..." Kelfer began, only to be interrupted by his son.

  "I've been wounded. I need to heal. To do that I need peace and quiet. Sheleigh needs peace and quiet, too. She needs her own room. Don't you want me to get better, Father?"

  Kelfer shut his mouth with a snap, but Sheleigh needed to fight before it was too late. "Kleet, I need to be close to you so that I can get well. Don't you want me to heal?"

  He at least looked at her this time, but his eyes held disillusionment and pain. "You're mistaken, Sheleigh. We all make mistakes."

  A chill went through her. He couldn't mean ... no. He'd said that he loved her.

  "Doctor, please do as I asked." Dr. Rotairn left the room.

  "Kleet," Lefair cried, "this is terrible. Please reconsider." Her expression was stricken.

  "Mother, please go with father now. I'm tired and I need to rest."

  Kelfer pulled Lefair with him out the door. Each of them gave their son a last painful look.