The troops blinked, exchanged looks. For several heartbeats Eden was afraid that they would refuse to follow her orders. Abruptly, Lt. Carter saluted, stepped forward and grabbed Captain Sterling’s wrist. Too shocked by the seizure to move, Ivy merely stared at her second in command as two more soldiers stepped forward and grabbed her, jerking her hands behind her back and securing her wrists.
Relief flooded through Eden. “Take her to the brig infirmary and see that she’s treated for space dementia,” she said sharply.
“What about the Xtanians, Madam President?” Lt. Carter asked.
“Release them and allow them to return peacefully to the alien citadel. Until I’ve thoroughly investigated the incident, I have no idea where we stand, but the militia should remain on high alert until we can see just how badly we’ve blundered.”
Nodding, Lt. Carter gave the command and Eden sagged as she watched the troops escort the Xtanians from the city and close the gate once more. Feeling weak and ill, all she wanted to do was to retreat to her quarters now that the worst seemed to have passed off without deadly incident. She knew it was important, though, to get to the bottom of the incident as quickly as possible. She couldn’t try to negotiate peace with no idea of what had happened.
“Locate the culprits,” she told Lt. Carter, “secure them in the jail and let me know as soon as you have them in custody. I’m going to the infirmary to check on the Xtanian’s condition.”
“They’ve been arrested. They’re in the drunk tank.”
Eden’s brows rose in surprise. A faint smile curled her lips. “That was quick.”
Sarah Carter shrugged. “I can’t take credit for it, Madam President. Captain Sterling ordered a squad off to retrace the Xtanian’s tracks the moment he staggered onto the green and collapsed. We met up with two of the perps almost at once---They were trying to sneak back to the party before their absence was noticed. They were happy to supply us with the names of the other four ‘ladies’.”
Eden considered the new information. “It won’t hurt to let them stew a while,” she said tightly. “Thank you, Lt. Carter. Keep me informed of any unusual activity in the alien citadel.”
“Madam President?” Sarah asked as Eden started to turn away.
Eden turned back, lifting her brows questioningly. “What will become of Captain Sterling?”
Eden’s lips tightened. “We’ll have her evaluated.”
Sarah looked uncomfortable. “Do you really think she’s suffering from space dementia?”
“No. I think that she perceives the potential for disaster the same as I do, but she also perceives a far different solution that I. She’ll be facing disciplinary action at the very least.”
Eden found when she reached the infirmary that the Xtanian was unconscious. “Do you think it was wise to sedate him?” she asked Deb, who’d come to stand with her at the observation window.
“I don’t and we didn’t. We pumped his stomach. Those idiots had poured enough alcohol down him I’m surprised he didn’t drown. I just hope we managed to pump enough out of him to keep him from dying of alcohol poisoning.”
Rage suffused Eden. She tamped it with an effort. “What the hell were they thinking?” she muttered.
“They weren’t. They’d had way too much themselves to have a thimble full of sense between the lot of them. Four of them had already passed out when the MPs arrived and hauled them off. The other two barely had control of their motor functions. What do you think’s going to happen?” she ended worriedly.
Eden stared at the unconscious man grimly. “A lot depends, I think, on whether or not he pulls through … and how much he remembers. Do you have any idea what happened beyond them getting him dead drunk?”
Deb eyed her a moment. “They took turns with him. When the ring leader proposed another round the guy took off. I’m still not sure whether they meant another round of drinks or another round of him. Not sure he knew.”
Eden considered that for several moments and felt the blood drain from her face. “The only group sex that’s acceptable to them is ONE queen and her brood. I don’t think they could’ve done worse if they’d set out to start a war.”
Deb looked a little ill. “I could try to manipulate his memories,” she offered hesitantly.
A coldness speared through Eden. “Don’t! We don’t know enough about them and the one thing I don’t want is to return him to them as a vegetable. You think he’ll recover?”
“From the shock? Or the alcohol?”
“Both.”
Deb shrugged. “It’s too early to tell. We’ve got him stable right now. Give it a few hours and check back with me. By that time we’ll have a pretty good idea of what’s happening with him.”
Eden nodded duly. “How many injured in the riot?”
Deb blew out a gusty sigh. “We’ve treated about twenty with minor injuries. Another dozen with broken bones. Three fell and were trampled, but they’re stable. I think they’ll be alright.”
Eden rubbed her temples, applying counter pressure to the throbbing pain. “My god!”
Deb placed a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t beat yourself up. You did the right thing--the only thing you could’ve done. The crowd should have dispersed in an orderly manner and no one would’ve been hurt if they had. It was the one’s who panicked that caused the problems. No one knew what was happening. They couldn’t see anything except the women that ran and they reacted to the possibility of a threat.”
“Which means there are probably a lot of colonists right now who think the Xtanians attacked.”
Deb grimaced. “Probably.”
“I need to make a broadcast,” Eden said decisively. “And then I’m going to my quarters to try to think where to go from here.”
“You want something for your nerves?”
Eden smiled wanly. “Can’t afford it--but thanks for the offer.”
Chapter Thirteen
Baen had himself well in hand when he stopped at the stone that indicated the end of the gateway and waited to be acknowledged, but the darkness of fear was not entirely dormant. In point of fact, he was fairly certain that it was fear that had driven him to seek an audience. The populace of the entire kzatha was falling apart with the strain of waiting, and the expectation of sudden and complete annihilation. For they were just as certain that they had broken the peace as they were that the women of the city had weapons far beyond any that they had, or had protection against.
He’d come because he could no longer bear the waiting. The sun had risen five times since the disaster. If he was going to die, he wanted to do so now, while he still had some dignity left to him, before the waiting drove him beyond his self-control.
“What is your business here?”
A jolt went through Baen. He saluted when he spied the female warrior atop the wall and then knelt and bowed his head respectfully. “I crave an audience with my queen,” he said evenly, relieved that none of his anxiety shamed him by being evident in his voice.
A prolonged silence followed his request and he had begun to wonder if he was being dismissed, or if they simply hadn’t understood his request when the queen spoke again. “Who is your queen?”
He glanced up in surprise, feeling his belly knot as it occurred to him to wonder if his brood had been mistaken about being selected.
Or perhaps, after what had happened, Eden had decided to rescind her choice?
“Queen Eden.”
There was a commotion among the warriors. “Baen?”
Baen wasn’t certain whether to feel relieved or more apprehensive when he recognized her voice. Before he could repeat his request, however, he heard the faint sizzle that he’d learned to recognize as the opening of the portal. “Come in.”
Rising, he straightened his shoulders and focused on Eden as she came forward to meet him.
She looked as nervous as he felt. He tried not to think that that might mean he was in someone’s crosshairs, but he was fairly certain he was.
/>
“You wished to speak with me?”
There a faint breathless quality to her voice that rippled through him pleasantly. He was so attuned to the sound of her voice, he didn’t actually listen to the translation from the device on her head and his brain was slow to assimilate what she’d said.
“I need ….” He broke off and tried again. “I wished to know if our peoples are still at peace since Letheen transgressed and if you had come to a decision about the kzatha.”
Eden merely stared at him while her mind processed the little he’d given her to feel her way. Letheen had transgressed--As impossible as she found it to credit, it seemed they were laboring under the impression that the fault was all theirs, or at least Letheen’s. She knew that had to be the poor man the colonists had nearly killed forcing booze down him and then taking advantage of his state.
It was the chance she’d been hoping for, hadn’t dared to consider a possibility. She supposed the meeting should take place before the council, but she sensed that Baen was far more uneasy than he was willing to show and she didn’t want to take a chance that someone might inadvertently do or say something to upset the tentative truce.
Besides, she needed time to think what would be the best approach.
She forced a polite smile. “Please, come with me. We’ll talk.”
He seemed to relax fractionally and followed her readily enough as she turned and headed back along the corridor. She only glanced back at him once, when they stepped onto the roadway.
Acting commander, Lt. Carter joined them when they reached the first intersection. “Do you think it’s wise to take him to your quarters?”
Eden resisted the urge to glance back at Baen. “He’s come to make sure the incident the other day didn’t disrupt our peaceful relations. I decided a friendly, relaxed atmosphere would be more conducive to peace than cold formality before the council.”
Carter studied her a moment and leaned close, closing a fist over the mouthpiece of the translator. “I will have you on my monitor.”
Eden nodded and smiled as the Lt. stepped away instead of telling Sarah she didn’t think that was necessary.
The truth was, she wasn’t completely easy in her mind and it was comforting to think she would have back up.
When they reached her domicile, she indicated that Baen take a seat and offered him some refreshment--water, because she was afraid to offer him anything else. “How is Letheen?” she asked when she’d settled on a lounge across from him.
He looked puzzled, but finally shrugged. “He and his brood are disgraced. We do not see them.”
Eden blinked several times and sat up, placing her feet on the floor and sitting rigidly erect. “Because of …what happened? His whole brood?”
He looked surprised. “Latheen transgressed. The brood shares the disgrace. They will be banished from the kzatha and most likely will seek lscindee (ritual suicide) for being doubly disgraced. We would have slain them at once, but Latheen was returned in health and we were not certain, at first, that he had been dismissed by his queen.”
Eden bowed her head and covered her face with her hands, feeling vaguely ill. She knew the perps had not expected or intended anything so drastic to come of their little ‘lark’, but that didn’t change the fact that the repercussions were very serious indeed. And she found that most of her sympathy was with the Xtanians. Not only had their overtures of peace been violated, but an entire brood was suffering for something that they were completely innocent of.
She couldn’t excuse the behavior of the women. They weren’t children, although they’d behaved as thoughtlessly as children. They had been ordered not to give the Xtanians anything of an alcoholic nature, and been told, moreover, that great delicacy was required in dealing with the Xtanians until they understood them better.
They’d disregarded everything in search of their amusement.
Eden’s anger toward the colonists very quickly displaced the sense of pity she felt about the Xtanians’ plight. “He was not dismissed,” she said, dropping her hands and looking at Baen as she abruptly came to a decision. “His queen only awaits a … uh. Our customs dictate that the brood must build a home to receive their queen, for the city is only for those who have no brood.” She gestured toward the room. “As you’ve seen for yourself it simply isn’t big enough. And I have seen the domiciles of the kzatha. That wouldn’t do at all.
“You must go back and tell Latheen and his brood, and everyone else. We are pleased and they are not disgraced.” She formed her lips into a facsimile of a smile.
He stared at her in blank faced surprise for several moments before a slow smile curled his lips that made Eden’s heart flutter. A chuckle escaped him. “This is what we have done wrong?”
Eden suddenly felt as relieved as he obviously was. She smiled more easily. “You haven’t done anything wrong,” she assured him, and with perfect truth, reaching across the space between them to pat his hand reassuringly. “To be honest, we were wondering if we’d done something wrong. I have been … waiting to speak to you until I could talk to everyone and understand better what had happened.”
Of course, she and they knew they had been in the wrong, but fortunately for all concerned, the Xtanians didn’t seem to know it. She’d spent days trying to figure out how to gloss over the incident to prevent serious repercussions, questioning the women who were still in lock up pending trial--because they weren’t certain what to charge them with, questioning the Xtanian about what he remembered, tracking down and questioning everyone who’d witnessed any part of the incident. It was such a relief to discover the breach could be mended fairly simply that she felt almost giddy.
The sticking point was the women who’d almost caused a disaster to start with, but they were accountable and she rather thought that, of the options she was prepared to offer, they would be only too happy to take the consequences of their actions.
He studied her hand where it rested upon his for several moments musingly and placed his free hand over hers. “I will take your message back to the others. They will be relieved to know that it was only a misunderstanding.”
Reluctantly, Eden removed her hand and settled back again. “This should be a lesson to us all,” she said carefully. “We must agree to strive for tolerance of our cultural dissimilarities so that we can learn to co-exist peacefully. It’s inescapable that there are vast differences between the social structures and customs of our two peoples, but as long as we understand that, and don’t allow ourselves to lose our tempers over the misunderstandings that are bound to arise, I believe we can work out a compromise.”
Nodding, Baen rose to leave. Eden rose, as well, and found herself standing almost toe to toe with him. His proximity, she quickly discovered, was enough in itself to resurrect the attraction she’d felt for him from the first that had grown progressively more pronounced, not less so, with familiarity. Her awareness sparked a shy awkwardness. Disordered by it, she extended her hand to shake on their agreement before it occurred to her that that, too, was and Earth custom and one moreover that wasn’t even practiced everywhere on Earth.
Before she could recover the blunder, he took her hand, fitting his palm against hers and curling his thumb over to stroke it along the back of her hand. “Your hands are not like the hands of our women,” he said musingly.
Eden frowned, trying to cast her memory back to the time she’d spoken with his mother queen, Sademeen, but the image had been grainy and indistinct and she couldn’t recall noticing anything about Sademeen’s hands. She wasn’t certain she could have anyway. His touch was stirring currents of warmth inside of her that made it difficult to focus her mind on anything else. “No?” she said a little shakily.
He lifted his head until he met her gaze. His throat worked as he swallowed. He seemed to struggle with himself for a moment before he spoke. “I have thought of you and little else since last I came. When I close my eyes at night, I think I can almost feel your lips and it torments
me, because I feel things that are not my right to feel, and wish for things that are forbidden to me.”
Heat rose in Eden at that, bringing a flush to her cheeks. She swallowed against the dryness in her mouth, struggling against the urge to tell him she’d thought of little besides him since she’d first seen him. Guilt warred with her own desires. She was as irresponsible in her own way, she realized, as the women they’d imprisoned. Her desire for Baen had led her to breach yet another boundary that was taboo to them. And yet all she could think about was that she wanted to do it again, to tear it down completely. “I should not have kissed you,” she said a little hoarsely.
Several different emotions flickered across his features. Finally, his face hardened with resolve. “That is not forbidden to me.”
Doubt shook her, but her desire magnified until she was breathless. “No?”
He cupped her jaw in his hand, tilting her face up as he lowered his head toward hers until scarcely a hair’s breadth separated them. His eyes gleamed with heated desire that matched hers as his gaze locked with hers. His lips curled faintly. “No. Because it is not our custom at all,” he murmured, a half smile curling his lips.
It was splitting hairs, and she knew that. She also knew that he did, but she found the offer enthralling, impossible to resist. Closing the distance that separated them, she aligned her lips with his, pressing lightly, feeling a heady rush at the warmth and texture and tautness of his lips beneath hers, and the faint but distinctive and infinitely desirable scent that was him wafted along her senses, mingled with hers, coursed through her lungs into her heart and through her blood stream. He released a gusty sigh, shifting infinitesimally closer as she withdrew just enough to brush her lips lightly, caressingly across his. Heat surged between them, engulfing them in a conflagration that threatened to consume them both, but she couldn’t quite bring herself to stop at that. Just a little more, she thought, tracing the seam where his lips met with the tip of her tongue, only a little. His lips parted at the teasing stroke of her tongue and she nipped at his lips with her own, lightly sucking at first the full lower lip and then the upper.
Ninth Orb Page 13