Ninth Orb

by Kaitlyn O'Connor

  Before she could try for another position, Baen moved--so swiftly she missed most of it, slamming one fist into his opponent’s mid-section and the other almost instantaneously into the man’s jaw as he bent double. The man toppled backwards like a felled tree, slammed into the men ranged behind him, bounced off and settled heavily to the rocky ground.

  Eden was so surprised it took her several moments to realize that everyone was so completely stunned that no one, either on the tower with her, or on the ground below, moved for several moments.

  “And it’s a knock out!” Sarah muttered with a chuckle.

  “Did you see that? I missed it! What happened?”

  “He sucker punched the guy. Can you believe that? One minute he’s standing there all cool and bored looking while the guy rants and raves and the next the guy’s on the ground!” Janine babbled giddily.

  Apparently the Xtanians emerged from their stunned surprise at about the same moment the Earthlings did, because the nearly identical expressions of disbelief on the faces of those in the ‘enemy’ camp slowly gave way to anger and then blazing fury. As Baen’s brothers moved forward, ranging beside him and completely blocking her view of him, Eden swept past them to discover that Cal and the other spectators were now jeering and gesturing at the other brood.

  Tensing, Eden swung the glasses back so quickly the movement made her dizzy and she had trouble focusing on the warring groups. To her relief, she saw when she finally did bring them into focus that Latheen and his brood brothers had apparently decided the building site wasn’t worth an all out battle. The laborers surged forward to collect their fallen man and hauled him to his feet.

  He still looked dazed and wobbly as they led him away.

  Baen and his brothers stood watching them, still tensed for battle until the group had disappeared from sight, apparently having decided to search for a building site a goodly distance from their rivals.

  “Amazingly well disciplined but clearly territorial,” Lt. Carter observed.

  Eden, who’d watched until Baen settled himself at the foot of the tree with his back to it, lowered her glasses and stepped back from the wall as Baen looked up at the tower. She immediately regretted the impulse to ‘hide’, because she was fairly certain that he couldn’t identify her even if he had spotted her, but the sudden movement was bound to draw attention.

  “They haven’t seemed aggressive,” she said sharply in response to Sarah’s comment.

  Lt. Carter turned to look at her. “Before now, you mean?”

  Eden frowned. “If anyone was being aggressive it was Latheen’s group.”

  Sarah studied her a long moment and finally grinned. “It was Baen that swung the punches.”

  Eden shrugged irritably. “Even I could see the guy was working himself up to attack. I just don’t understand why they were arguing anyway. Obviously, the entire planet is up for grabs.”

  Sarah shrugged and turned to watch the activity below. “But Baen and his brood brothers settled on the most ideal spot closest to New Savannah. They headed straight for it as they crossed the valley, as if they’d already staked it out. If I was a betting woman, I’d say Baen had thoroughly checked it out before they were ‘invited’ to settle nearby.”

  “If they’d already chosen the site, then that’s all the more reason to refuse to give it up. Why is it the best spot?”

  Sarah motioned for Eden to join her at the wall. “I doubt he can recognize you from here,” she said when Eden looked reluctant.

  Curious, Eden moved to the wall beside her.

  “… Unless, of course, he recognizes the hair,” Sarah added teasingly as Eden settled.

  Self consciously Eden swiftly lifted a hand to her hair. “It’s dark. A lot of us have dark hair,” she said stiffly, irritated that Sarah obviously knew exactly why she didn’t want to stand by the wall in clear view of the men below them.

  “But it catches fire in the sunlight, goes all bright and coppery. Not everybody’s hair does that. And I’d be willing to bet he’s noticed. I doubt there’s much about you he hasn’t noticed.”

  Eden felt a breathless fluttery sensation grip her. It took an effort to resist the temptation to prod Sarah for more of her insights about Baen, but she firmly tamped it. “I didn’t realize you’d had that much opportunity to observe him,” she retorted, completely unable to keep a note of jealousy from creeping into her voice.

  Sarah sobered. “Begging pardon, ma’am, but you are the most important person here and it’s my job to watch you carefully and everyone you come into contact with. Captain Sterling was concerned about your interest in him, and even more concerned about his interest in you. Anyone with a trained soldier’s eye can see that he has the potential of being a formidable foe.”

  She hesitated, turning to study the subject of her conversation thoughtfully. “He’s a cool one. Outwardly, if you discount the fact that he’s built like a gorilla and is probably twice as strong as any man alive, he seems almost as gentle and unthreatening as a lamb--very gentlemanly, respectful, but it’s my considered opinion that he doesn’t miss much. I’m guessing that, by now, he’s figured out exactly how many soldiers guard New Savannah. When you take into account the fact that the Xtanians, by their own admission, have no designated leader as a whole, and yet no one challenged him when he assumed that role, you have to figure they know something about him we don’t.”

  Eden frowned. “You think he’s a threat to the colony?” she demanded, feeling vaguely ill at the thought.

  Sarah shrugged. “He could be. Whether he is or not probably depends on where his loyalties lie.”

  Eden glanced at her sharply. “A man with shifting loyalties isn’t exactly trustworthy,” she said tartly.

  Sarah gave her a steady look. “He is if his first loyalty is to his blood.”

  Heat rose in Eden’s cheeks in spite of all she could do. “You’re suggesting ….”

  “I wouldn’t take it upon myself to suggest anything, Madam President. I was merely pointing out that it’s a happy circumstance when duty and desire go hand in hand.

  “Baen obviously intends to have you. I am as certain that you’ve given them no reason to expect a commitment as I am that he and his brood brothers are determined to get one from you. Only two broods came--the one you’d summoned to collect their queen, who gave Latheen every reason to think she had accepted him when she had sex with him. And Baen’s brood, who obviously already had a site chosen to build on.

  “Baen singled you out the moment he set eyes on you. It’s up to you to figure out whether that was because of his own desires, or because he knew you were our leader. What did he call you? The queen of queens?”

  Chapter Fifteen

  As unpleasant as the lieutenant’s comments were, Eden realized immediately that her points were valid and she could not lightly dismiss Carter’s concerns. Instead, she merely nodded and stood for a time watching as three of Baen’s brothers picked up tools they had brought with them and set about clearing the area they’d chosen for a building site. The remaining two, after moving almost aimlessly about for a while, settled to digging.

  After a time, she moved away from her vantage point and crossed the observation deck to see what had become of Latheen’s brood. Discovering that they had moved to the opposite side of New Savannah and settled to work as the others had, she returned to her office and spent the remainder of the day struggling to focus on her work while her subconscious mind picked at the puzzle of the Xtanians.

  By the time she’d finished reviewing the endless reports compiled by the section chiefs regarding their progress, she’d come to a conclusion.

  The activity below their walls was an opportunity to better understand the Xtanians and it was important to make the best of it. The fact that that decision coincided with her own curiosity was beside the point, she decided. After contacting Carter for a report on the activity, she made arrangements for a military escort for her and Liz Chin to go out the following mor
ning and contacted Liz directly to finalize the plan.

  Her rest period was hardly restful. Her mind was still filled with the problems reported by the sector chiefs when it wasn’t struggling with the dilemma of how to deal with the Xtanians. Facing what she knew would probably be a near sleepless night, she reluctantly popped a sleeping pill to help her rest, waited until she became drowsy and finally sought her bed. The pill worked after a fashion, but her dreams were filled with heated images that left her achy, tense, and miserably sluggish when she awoke early the following morning.

  Resisting the temptation to find an antidote for the sluggishness in a bottle as she had for her restlessness the night before, she studied her wardrobe for the clothing she thought would be most comfortable for a day spent outside the controlled environment of the city and dressed.

  Liz and a handful of soldiers were waiting for her when she reached the rendezvous point at the corridor. Dismissing all but two of the soldiers, they proceeded outside.

  She didn’t want a show of force that might suggest a lack of trust. In any case, their vitals monitor would lock with the transporter the moment they stepped outside. That would be sufficient protection from any threat, she felt certain, and she and Liz would not be fettered by such a crowd that they found it difficult to focus on their task.

  The moment they stepped from the corridor, Eden’s senses were inundated with stimuli from every direction. A cacophony of various sounds reverberated against her eardrums. The smell of freshly turned soil tickled at her nostrils, and other smells she found harder to identify.

  And on the plain that separated the two cities, a blur of activity filled her sight as at least a dozen groups of Xtanians marched purposefully about, carefully examining and surveying and clearing.

  Eden and Liz shared a significant glance and halted to survey the bustle for some minutes.

  “There are others in the forest,” Liz said after a time, breaking into Eden’s chaotic thoughts. “They’re felling the trees.”

  Frowning, Eden followed the direction of Liz’s gaze and scanned the dense vegetation. As she watched, the top of one of the great trees began to thrash about and abruptly disappeared in an explosion of sound.

  After sharing another uneasy glance, she and Liz struck off in that direction as if they’d verbally agreed to do so.

  Their progress did not go unnoticed. Eden was keenly conscious of the fact that, one by one, the Xtanians paused in their tasks, stood for many moments watching them and then returned their attention to what they’d been doing. The two guards accompanying them tensed, their hands moving to the butt of their pistols. After a moment, when they saw that none of the Xtanians seemed inclined to approach closer, they all relaxed fractionally.

  They’d covered perhaps a third of the distance between New Savannah and the edge of the forest when a new sound brought the party to a halt. Frowning, Eden glanced around for the source and finally looked up.

  Her heart seemed to stand still in her chest for a painful moment.

  “They do fly,” Liz gasped, a mixture of awe and alarm in her voice. Abruptly recalling herself, she made a grab for her recorder and began babbling her impressions and observations into the piece.

  “Hold!” Eden ordered as she finally dragged her gaze from the winged man coming toward them and noticed that the guards had drawn their pistols. When she saw that they had heeded her, she returned her attention to the man just in time to see him alight on the plain less than twenty feet away, fold his wings, and march decisively toward them.

  “That was the most amazing thing I’ve ever witnessed in my life,” Liz breathed the words in a barely audible whisper.

  Eden felt a knot form in her throat, but she wasn’t certain whether it was because she was as entranced as Liz by the sight, because it was Baen, or because she had been so awed she’d barely had the presence of mind to prevent the guards from firing on him. “Set your weapons to stun only, and holster them,” she said sharply.

  The guards sent her a startled glance, but after that brief hesitation did as she’d told them, though both kept one hand on their pistol butts and the holsters unfastened.

  Baen knelt in the traditional Xtanian salute when he neared them. “I will escort you.”

  Eden frowned uncertainly, wondering if it was purely her imagination that she detected a hint of possessiveness in his statement, or if he was merely following protocol. “We have escort,” she said finally. “It’s kind of you to offer, but unnecessary.”

  If she had not been studying his bowed head, she might have missed the frown that drew his dark brows together. By the time he lifted his head to look up at her, the frown had vanished. “I must check on the other laborers anyway. If you permit, I will escort you.”

  Eden exchanged a glance with Liz. Clearly he had not been heading that way as he indicated. If it had only been that, she doubted he would have felt the need to rush, or rather fly, to close the distance so quickly. Finally, however, she merely smiled. “Thank you. Your company is welcome.”

  He merely nodded, but she thought she detected a hint of relief in his manner.

  Irritation surfaced. If Sarah Carter hadn’t put her in mind of the possibility of a hidden agenda, she wondered if she would have detected anything at all. Now she had to wonder if she was seeing something that wasn’t there only because the thought had been planted in her mind.

  As their party turned and headed out once more, she wondered if her judgment had been so impaired by her physical attraction that she’d ignored warning signs she shouldn’t have, or if Sarah had been completely wrong.

  By and large, she trusted her instincts about the people around her and the people she dealt with from opposing camps. Obviously, the committee that had chosen her for her position also trusted her judgment, otherwise they wouldn’t have entrusted her with the power they’d given her.

  Everyone had their weak points, however, she thought wryly, and she wasn’t so enthralled with Baen that she didn’t realize he was hers.

  Although Baen trailed them at a respectful distance as he generally did, when they reached the edge of the forest, he moved around them. “I should lead now,” he said. “The laborers are felling trees and I can show you the safest route.”

  Without waiting for a response, he scanned the forest and finally forged ahead.

  “Why are they felling the trees?” Liz asked as she carefully picked her way through the low growing brush.

  He glanced back at her. “We will need timbers to complete the meznooku, and of course to build the furnishings for comfort.”

  Their language decoder tabulated for several moments and finally produced the ‘guess’ that meznooku, since meznook seemed to refer to clan, or family unit, that meznooku ‘perhaps’ suggested the place of the meznook.

  Eden wanted clarification. “This is where the pazaan will live with their queen?”

  Baen sent her a look that she could only interpret as ‘warm’. “Yes.”

  Swallowing with some difficulty, Eden glanced at Liz, wondering if she’d interpreted that look in the same way. From the faint smile Liz quickly hid, she concluded that she hadn’t misinterpreted it.

  Apparently reminded that she was included in the party to make observations that she could later collate so that they could begin to get a better picture of the Xtanians’ social structure, Liz took out her recorder again and asked Baen whatever questions came to mind as they trudged through the forest.

  Everyone fell silent, though, as they came at last to a huge clearing.

  At a quick estimate, Eden figured there were nearly as many Xtanians working in the forest as there had been in the open. When they halted in surprise at the wreckage before them, Baen excused himself and picked his way around the fallen trees until he reached a group of men working on the other side.

  Curious, Eden watched him until he stopped to speak to another warrior who was watching a handful of men hack the branches from the tree they’d just felled.
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  “Isn’t that ….” Liz broke off, peered toward the group of men, and finally shook her head. “I not really familiar enough with any of the Xtanian’s to recognize them on sight--except Baen--but doesn’t that man look a lot like the one that was sitting with us at the celebration?”

  Eden felt a cold sweat pop from her pores despite the unaccustomed warmth of the natural air. “I’m fairly certain it is,” she said a little faintly.

  Liz digested that in silence for several moments. “I was under the impression that the broods didn’t really interact, at least not in division of labor. Baen looks like he’s overseeing the work, though, doesn’t he? Why would he ….?” Breaking off, she sent Eden a wide eyed glance. “He’s one of the ones you chose for the celebration, isn’t he?”

  Without waiting for a response, she began to scan the other men in the area carefully, paling as she realized that many of those present were the same men that had attended the celebration.

  “Eden! Do they think …? Tell me this isn’t what it looks like to me!”

  “I’d hoped I was wrong.”

  Liz blinked at her rapidly for several moments and then searched her face with frowning intensity. “This isn’t funny,” she said tightly.

  “If I thought it was just a little misunderstanding, I’d say it was hysterical,” Eden retorted tartly, “but there’s nothing ‘little’ about this misapprehension. The problem is I don’t know if they willfully misconstrued the selection, or if it actually coincides with their own selection process. And worse, I don’t have a clue of what the hell we’re going to do about clearing it up.”

  Liz’s jaw dropped. “I’m still trying to wrap my mind around their ideas of a family unit that includes a whole brood. Now you’re saying we may already have ‘inadvertently’ chosen two or three broods each?”

  Eden glanced around. None of the Xtanians were looking directly at them, but she had the sense that their ‘ears were pricked’. “This is not the place to discuss anything of a sensitive nature,” she said quietly.