Ninth Orb

by Kaitlyn O'Connor

  As she’d also expected, they also tended to ignore the down side to the Xtanian’s customs but the first to have the opportunity discovered quickly enough that it wasn’t merely propaganda devised to manipulate them and they were no happier than Eden, Ivy and Liz had been.

  Eden was secretly glad, because it quieted the mob and dampened their enthusiasm--at least temporarily. She knew, though, that it wouldn’t last any longer than it took for the brood to begin to adjust to the preferences of their ‘queens’.

  Regardless, the unrest was enough to keep her busier than usual, and she might have forgotten her promise to Deb to go in for a checkup except for one circumstance.

  The vague sense of nausea became a regular occurrence.

  Eden wasn’t certain whether Baen had caught the gist of her conversation with Deb, but after Deb had finally left and she flicked a glance at Baen to see if he seemed to have understood any of what had been discussed, she saw that he looked a little ill himself as he examined her face searchingly.

  Disconcerted, she considered asking him point blank if he’d understood the conversation--or any part of the conversation she’d had with the others.

  She hesitated to back him into a corner, however, because there were only two possibilities that she could think of. Either he’d picked up only a handful of words and had grasped enough to understand Deb was concerned about her, or he was trying to hide the fact that he’d learned far more than he’d given her reason to believe and he’d understood everything, or pretty much everything, that had been discussed.

  He might only have understood enough that, put together with Deb’s tone and body language, he’d figured out she was concerned.

  She wasn’t certain she wanted to delve into any reasons he might have for keeping it secret from her if he had learned enough to follow her conversations.

  Besides, how much faith could she place in her interpretation of his expression?

  He would only be unsettled if he cared about her and she wanted to believe he did.

  Dismissing it after a time, she focused on her work.

  Sooner or later, she would know for certain just how much Baen understood and in the meanwhile she was taking all of the precautions she possibly could to protect the interests of the colony.

  Despite the problems of the day, and the fact that Eden had begun the day feeling much the worse for wear, she found herself looking forward to spending ‘quality’ time with Baen and his brood. She might not have if not for the fact that Trar and Vladiv had stirred her up just enough to tease her throughout the day with possibilities, but they had and she wasn’t at all reluctant to engage in a little more sensible recreation.

  Baen, to her surprise and a touch of both amusement and irritation, nixed that idea. As soon as she’d been carried to bed and settled, he’d ordered his brood out to allow her to rest.

  She didn’t protest. She was tired, a little randy after her invigorating bath and massage, but it wasn’t anything she couldn’t deal with. She was a little less pleased and amused the following night and became downright indignant by the third night.

  “I’m not that tired,” she protested.

  He pretended he had no idea what she’d said, but he made no attempt to fetch her translator to find out either.

  Deciding after several tense moments that she really didn’t want to fight with him about it, she finally flounced onto her side and stewed over it until she fell asleep, but she was resolved to confront him about it by the time she’d reached her office.

  The problem, she discovered, was that it was a rather delicate subject--at least as far as she was concerned and once she’d marched over to him to give him a piece of mind she simply stared at him for several moments, trying to decide how to phrase her complaint. “I’m the – uh – head of the pazaan, right?”

  He studied her warily for a moment. “Yes.”

  “Then its my decision whether or not I take one of the pazaan – uh – into my bed, or more than one,” she said, stabbing him with the point of her index finger for emphasize.

  Anger glittered in his eyes. “No.”

  Eden gaped at him in surprise. “What do you mean ‘no’?” she demanded indignantly.

  “I am high warrior, and you are my responsibility. At any time that I deem it necessary to protect you, even from yourself, it is my duty to do so.”

  Taken aback by the response, which she certainly hadn’t expected, Eden went back to gaping at him. “I don’t need to be protected from--that!”

  “You were hurt and ill the day after,” he reminded her. “And for two days since you have scarcely eaten.”

  Eden felt her face heat. “Sore, not injured,” she retorted. “I’m not as weak as you obviously think I am.”

  His expression softened after a moment. Amusement took the place of his anger. He lifted a hand to stroke her cheek gently. “You are not nearly as fragile as I had believed, nor as strong as you believe.”

  Disconcerted, uncomfortable with the conversation anyway, Eden decided to drop the subject. “Maybe not,” she muttered as she turned away and settled at her desk, “but I don’t need someone else to tell me when I’m hungry, sleepy--or horny, damn it! I’ve been teased for days, and next week I won’t be with you--and your brood,” she added after a considerable pause.

  She was somewhat mollified by Baen’s explanation, but as grateful as she was for a reprieve to recover from overindulgence and a little more time to rest, his behavior seemed inconsistent with what she’d thought she understood about the Xtanians and it made her more than a little uneasy, made her worry that she was seeing changes within her brood that weren’t at all customary for the Xtanians.

  Baen and Cal made love with her that night with infinite care, but with a thoroughness that left her breathless and completely sated and the following night Vladiv and Trar. It seemed indisputable that they were all chastened by her condition the morning after her wild romp, or had been castigated by Baen, because thereafter all of the others vanished as soon as she’d made her choice for the night and she didn’t get seconds, much less thirds.

  It annoyed her, in more ways than one, but mostly because she couldn’t help but feel that she and Baen were locked in a power struggle to see which of them was actually in charge of the mezooku.

  On the bright side, Baen was equally strict with the other broods, denying them nightly access to her, giving her one night to rest undisturbed every other night. They yielded to his orders without any apparent anger or resentment, but they seemed surprised, which seemed to her to indicate that his behavior was not the norm.

  She might have spent more time worrying about it except for the fact that she discovered the vague nausea she felt every morning not only didn’t go away, it got worse and she began to wonder if she was being poisoned.

  Chapter Twenty Three

  “Eden? Eden Chisholm?” Deb exclaimed in pleased surprise.

  Eden gave her a look. “Very funny!”

  Chuckling, Deb ushered Eden into her office. “It’s just that I haven’t seen you in so long! What’s it been?”

  Ignoring the chair Deb indicated, Eden paced to the window to stare out at the city below. “You know I’ve been busy,” Eden retorted irritably.

  “Haven’t we all? Wait! My memory’s starting to come back. Didn’t you tell me you’d come in for a check up about three weeks ago?”

  Sighing, Eden turned away from the window and moved to the chair Deb had indicated when she’d come in. Flouncing into it, she flicked a glance toward her shadow, Baen, and focused on Deb again.

  “Has it been that long?”

  “Give or take. I assumed since you didn’t show that you’d adjusted and/or had no problems that concerned you. But you still look pale and tired. Not getting enough sleep?”

  Color crept into Eden’s cheeks. “I’m glad you’re in such a good humor,” Eden retorted dryly.

  Deb studied her for several moments and finally sat back in her chair. “You
aren’t feeling well, are you?”

  Eden shrugged. “I suppose I’ve been feeling a little more tired than usual, but I’ve taken to waking up during the night so I figured that was why.” She hesitated for several moments before she continued. “Vague nausea from time to time.”

  Deb’s brows rose. “Something in your diet, you think?”

  “Not that I can figure out. That’s what I was hoping you could tell me.”

  Nodding, Deb got to her feet. “Well, I know you’re a very busy woman, so why don’t we just go ahead and do a full scan and see what we see?”

  Relief flooded Eden. “Good. I’ll feel better if you cover everything,” she said pointedly.

  Deb sent her a piercing look then, but merely nodded, gesturing for Eden to precede her into the examination room. When Eden had settled on the table and stretched out, trying to relax, Deb began to move the various electronics into position. “You ok with having the hulking brute hovering over you? Or would you like for me to call security to escort him down the hall to wait?”

  Eden resisted the urge to glance toward Baen, but she saw in her peripheral vision that he was looking the array of equipment over with a thoroughness that probably missed very little. Apparently satisfied, he moved to a position along the wall that put him in direct line with her vision.

  She wasn’t certain of whether he’d chosen that particular spot because it was the clearest, or because it gave him the clearest view of her and the monitors.

  “It’s all right.”

  “You’re sure? It would bother the hell out of me to be under watch at all times.”

  Eden smiled wryly. “I am under watch at all times,” she reminded Deb.

  Deb thought it over and finally shrugged. “The monitoring devices aren’t quite as intrusive, however.”

  “You’re only saying that because you’re not under surveillance all the time.”

  Deb chuckled. “With the weight of office …. It’s your fault you’re the most important person on the planet. That’s what you get for being so damned good at your job that everybody’s terrified to let you out of their sight.”

  Eden knew she was teasing, but the comments warmed her. “It’s nice to get a pat on the back occasionally. Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome. I’m going to start the scan now. Just close your eyes and try to relax and keep movements to a minimum.”

  Eden nodded and closed her eyes as she felt the slight warmth of the laser touch the top of her skull, breathing slowly and evenly and counting off the seconds in her head as it moved slowly across her forehead and continued its journey down the length of her body. She was so totally relaxed by the time the scan reached her toes and started back up that she dozed for a handful of seconds.

  A faint sound jolted her awake again moments later and she opened her eyes, blinked them several times to clear her vision and searched for Deb.

  Deb, she saw, had moved around to study the readouts.

  It was only then that she realized Deb had switched audio off and was reading the stats the system was displaying. Instantly, she tensed. “Anything interesting?” she asked when Deb simply stood staring at the display, her expression stern with either concentration or dismay. Eden wasn’t certain which, but she didn’t particularly like the idea that Deb was reluctant to tell her what the readings were.

  Deb glanced at her a little distractedly. “Nothing alarming,” she said soothingly. “Something a little unexpected--although I’m not sure why I’m surprised. That’s a shut out. Home team wins.”

  Irritation surged through Eden, along with alarm. She surged upward. “In English, if you don’t mind,” she snapped irritably.

  Deb grinned. “Patience. Lie still. I want to run another scan.”

  “Why?” Eden demanded suspiciously.

  “Because I’m the med tech and I get to be boss here.”

  Resentfully, Eden settled again. “Is it something I’m eating that’s making me nauseous?”

  “Shhh!”

  Eden pursed her lips, but when the scan skipped her upper body and then slowed to scan her lower body, she tensed again. “What is it?”

  “Four.”

  Ignoring the order to lay still, Eden tried to struggle up again. Deb planted a hand on her shoulder and pushed her flat. “Be still!”

  “Four what?” Eden demanded.

  “That’s what I’m trying to see here,” Deb said testily. “If you’ll be still, I’ll tell you in a minute.”

  Eden stilled, but she found it impossible to relax.

  “Wise woman,” Deb murmured after a moment. “Not that I’m completely certain you had anything to do with it. Ordinarily, of course, it would be entirely up to you, but this is just weird and totally out of my realm of understanding.”

  “What is weird and beyond your understanding?”

  Deb shrugged and finally swiveled the monitor so that Eden could see it. She might have saved herself the trouble. Eden had no idea what she was supposed to be looking at. The holographic 3D display just looked like layers and layers of flesh ghosted one on top of another. Deb took her pen and pointed to a roughly lozenge shape. “Male.” She pointed to another just a little distance away. “Male, female, female,” she added when she’d pointed out three more. “I’m going to have to order at least three more incu-sys … unless you don’t want to do one au naturale. Probably ought to order a dozen.”

  Eden stared at the shapes Deb had pointed out blankly, glanced at Deb and then studied the monitor again. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  Deb’s brows rose. “The babies.”

  Shock instantly closed over Eden. “What?” she asked faintly.

  Something about the tone of her voice penetrated Deb’s abstraction. She sent Eden a sharp look. “Breathe.”

  Obediently, Eden sucked in a deep, gasping breath.

  “Did you take the fertility drugs?”

  Eden merely stared at her. “Fertility?” she echoed blankly.

  Deb studied her a moment. “I didn’t think so.”

  Eden’s mouth was desert dry. “You’re saying … you’re telling me that I’m … I’m ….”

  “Yes, you are. Tired, nauseated, not sleeping well … My god, Eden. Don’t tell me you didn’t even suspect?”

  “I thought I was being poisoned,” Eden said faintly.

  Deb gaped at her in stunned disbelief, blinking rapidly. “Why would you think that?”

  Eden closed her eyes. “Because I’m so popular around here? There’s no mistake?” she asked abruptly, opening her eyes again.

  Deb gave her a look. “Nothing in the tox screen. You’re as healthy as you were the last time I checked you, which is to say in excellent condition. You’re pregnant. That’s all that’s wrong with you. Except … Well, I suppose it’s a matter of opinion whether it’s actually wrong. It just isn’t anything I’d expected and it’s unprecedented among us, that’s for sure. I should be used to it by now, though. Want to know who the fathers are?”

  Eden stared at her blankly. “Fathers?”

  Deb shrugged. “Well, can’t tell you exactly until I run some tests on the prospectives. But this little lady here,” she tapped one of the lozenges, “belongs to that great hulking brute standing over there like someone pole axed him.”

  Eden’s gaze moved automatically to Baen. She saw that Deb was right. He was so pale that she thought for several moments that he was going to keel over. “Baen’s?” she asked faintly.

  “Mmmhmm. DNA matches that sample you sent around a while back. The other three are his brothers’. I can tell you that much, at least. If you want to know which ones, you’ll have to get them to come in.”

  The shock still hadn’t worn off and Eden couldn’t seem to gather her wits. The only thing that kept cycling in her brain was four--pregnant--and Baen. “That’s possible?”

  “Ordinarily, no. But these aren’t ordinary circumstances. From what I’ve been able to figure out the Xtanians aren’t the
only ones ‘adjusting’. So far every female that I’ve checked that’s taken on a pazaan has turned up pregnant. I haven’t gotten the chance to test any of them, but I’m guessing they must secrete hormones during intercourse that rev up the female reproductive cycle--in our case that would be super revving since we, as you well know, are infertile most of the time due to the anti-aging drugs.”

  She paused, studying Eden critically for several moments. “I think you need a little time to adjust to the news,” she said intuitively. “I can give you a few weeks--it’ll take that long to build the incu-sys, but you need to give some thought to which ones you want me to take.”

  Eden merely stared at her blankly.

  Deb patted her shoulder. “You can’t carry them all, you know.”

  Nodding, Eden finally pushed herself upright, sat staring down at her toes for a few moments and finally slipped off the examination table. She didn’t look at Baen as she left the room. She didn’t hear what Deb called after her. She merely nodded and kept going.

  It was fortunate, she supposed, that she was such a creature of habit. She found herself in her office without any memory of having headed that way. After looking around the room a little vaguely, she sat down at her desk. She merely stared at her computer monitor, however.

  She was fairly certain she would not have been as shocked if Deb had told her it was poison that was causing the listlessness, the difficulty sleeping, the vague, and sometime very pronounced nausea.

  She thought she had covered every possible scenario, but she had not considered that any of them were likely to conceive. She certainly hadn’t thought about the possibility for herself, although she had no reason to think she was any less likely to conceive than the others.

  Four. Deb had said four. How could she have gotten pregnant at all? Let alone with four?

  Infertile meant rare egg production, not a half a damned dozen at one cycle!