Endurance

by neetha Napew

  “I don’t need”-I uttered a single sound as he penetrated me-“to sleep...” I couldn’t think, not with his flippers lifting me up, positioning my knees, cupping my breasts. Not with the way he was moving inside me. “After we...”

  It took another hour to get to the after-we stage. By then I’d fallen asleep in my lover’s arms. Even when I woke up, it was to a sense of total satisfaction.

  This is much better than sitting in that damn solitary confinement pit.

  The pel. I sat straight up and disengaged myself from Noarr’s embrace. “Enough fooling around, pal.” I swung my legs off the platform and groped for a tunic. Since my garments were in shreds, I went to his storage unit and rummaged through his supplies. “Get up. Get dressed.”

  “You need to sleep.”

  “You need to hear about the visitor I got in the solitary confinement pit.” I went on and described my encounter with the pel, and what I’d asked it to do. “We had a chunk of this crystal on the Sunlace. I knew it could access other life-forms’ thoughts tele-pathically, but I had no idea I could carry on a conversation with it.”

  “It cannot, or it would have communicated with others long before this.”

  “It has. Me. I need to get in touch with the Sunlace and talk to Xonea.”

  “It will take time to encode the transmission.” Noarr switched on the lights and regarded me with that hooded, enigmatic gaze of his. “Your Clan-Brother will ask if you have made your Choice.”

  “I’m sure he will, nosy as he is.” I rolled my eyes.

  “Do you Choose me, woman?”

  He actually sounded nervous. I could make him suffer, a little bit, considering what he’d put me through. “Since the Ruling Council has given me a divorce, and premarital sex is forbidden among my adopted family-“ I grinned. “Stop thinking what you’re thinking. Of course I Choose you.”

  “You didn’t tell me you were a telepath.”

  “I’m not.” I reconsidered that as I pulled on a pair of his trousers and rolled them up until my feet emerged. “Okay, maybe a little.” I concentrated. “Though I was just guessing. I can’t seem to pick up what you’re thinking.”

  “Let me know when you can.”

  I gave him an ironic glance. There was a lot I needed to let him know.

  Noarr took some time to encrypt the signal transmitters against Hsktskt detection, then helped me to signal the Sunlace.

  Xonea gazed at me, first with relief, then with a large grin. “You appear to have made your Choice, ClanSister.”

  “Oh, stop it.” I swiped a hand over my disheveled hair and turned pink. “Yes, I’ve Chosen Noarr. Enough about my personal life. I need to talk to you about the plan to liberate the compound.”

  I filled Xonea in on what I knew, and sent messages of affection to the entire ship.

  “I look forward to meeting your Chosen,” my big brother said. “Until then, walk within beauty, Cherijo.”

  As for my Chosen, well, when we weren’t making love, we argued. For the next two days, ad infinitum, until I strained several muscles, then threatened to bash Noarr over the head with a blunt object.

  “I’m not leaving Catopsa and that’s final!” I shouted, causing Jgrap and Kroni to get up from their half-finished meals and scurry out of the galley.

  Noarr tried the fierce, glittery look that I already knew as mostly bluff. “You know what will happen if I take you back to the compound, woman.”

  “So don’t take me back.” I drained my server of tea and shoved myself away from the table. “I’ll stay on your ship. But I’m not abandoning those prisoners, not with the Aksellans and Jorenians about to arrive. And don’t call me woman.”

  Right on cue, Jgrap popped back in through the door panel. “Incoming encrypted message for you, Noarr. From the commander of the Aksellan fleet.”

  My lover gave me a dark look before sweeping out to deal with the communication.

  I cleared the table and wondered how hard it would be to sneak back into the compound without Noarr’s assistance. I knew two of the outer access hatches, and there had to be a schematic of more around the ship somewhere. Maybe I could break into the main database through the prep console.

  “Might as well give it a shot.”

  An hour later, I had produced nine different types of vegetarian lasagna, twenty-two varieties of synthetic herbal tea, but had completely run out of swear words.

  “Cherijo.”

  I stopped trying to reroute my bogus access code through the recipe submenu. “The spider calvary has arrived?”

  “In a manner of speaking.” Noarr came to stand beside me. “You are thirsty?”

  “Ha. Ha. Ha.” I shut down the unit and swiveled my chair around to face him. “So? What’s the plan?”

  “I must go back to the compound and pass the information to Wonlee.”

  I got up. “I’m going with you.”

  He pushed me back down. “No, you are not.”

  “But-“

  “TssVar has doubled security since I took you from the crying chambers. If I am captured, you must take my place.” He handed me a disc and closed my fingers over it. “Plans and signal encodes for the liberation forces, and a diagram of all the viable pel tunnels.”

  I wanted to throw the disc across the room. “Don’t ask me to do this. Please.”

  “Waenara.” His flipper stroked my arm. “You are the only one I can ask.”

  “All right.”

  He kissed me, then left me alone at the prep unit to stare at the rapidly cooling servers around me.

  I only spent a few minutes feeling sorry for myself. Since I had the disc, it would help to review it. I placed it in the prep console and switched the display to view. Encrypted data scrolled onto the screen, shifted, then became readable text.

  According to the data, nine Aksellan scout ships currently maintained a position on the opposite side of Catopsa, matching rotation with the asteroid to keep it between them and the Hsktskt perimeter scanners. Eighty more were due to arrive within the next day or so, and they wouldn’t be hiding. They planned to offer a frontal assault, to draw the Hsktskt out into open space.

  That’s when the Jorenian fleet would transition into orbit directly behind the Hsktskt, and box them in.

  “Yikes.” I skipped over the specific orbital battle attacks and went on to the information and maps Noarr had designed of the prison compound. He’d not only mapped every tunnel in existence, but had indicated the current number of tul growths and where they rendered the passages unusable. Over half still remained blocked, which wouldn’t make the liberation any easier.

  Jgrap and Kroni emerged from their chamber complaining of hunger a short time after I’d memorized the data. I fed them, and decided to give Kroni her first prenatal exam. Jgrap insisted on using their chamber and staying to watch the procedure.

  “You’re about nine weeks along, Kroni.” I stripped off my gloves and made some notes on a data pad. “I’m outlining a nutritional plan and I want you to follow it.” Jgrap was practically hopping up and down with excitement, and I frowned. “What?”

  “Look.” He pointed to the scanner display, which showed the internal view of Kroni’s reproductive system. “Twelve, my love, at least twelve!”

  “What?” I peered at the scanner. “No, pal, there’s only one fetus in there.”

  “Oh, Jgrap.” Kroni sighed, her eyes dreamy. “I would want nothing more than that.” She smiled at my perplexed look. “What my darling one means, Doc, is the number of upper limbs. Females have ten, males have twelve or more.”

  “So it’s a boy.” I grinned, too. “Congratulations.”

  “A bit premature, Doctor.”

  I turned my head to see Reever step into the chamber, then flinched at the clatter of the data pad that had slipped out of my hands and hit the deck.

  After locking the Forharees in their chamber, Reever escorted me to the helm so we could, in his words, “discuss the situation.”

&nb
sp; “What situation?” I dropped into a control seat and crossed my arms. The rifle in his hands made me angry. “You caught us. We surrender. Put the damn gun away.”

  He deactivated the weapon and placed it on a sensor console near his side. “The Forharee female is expecting a child. How is that possible?”

  “Lousy planning on the part of the lizards.” I smirked. “Forharee physiology requires oral doses of the chemical inhibitor-infusions don’t work. Those kids haven’t been swallowing their pills.”

  Reever studied me. “And you refused to terminate the pregnancy.”

  “Refused? No. I just found out about it. But even if I had know, I wouldn’t have even considered it.”

  He leaned closer. “You know what the Hsktskt do to breeding female slaves.”

  “She’s not a slave anymore. The Hsktskt won’t get their claws on her.” I rubbed my fingers against my temples. A squad of Hsktskt centurons might be on their way. “Unless you turn them over to the centurons, and I’ll kill you myself before I let that happen.”

  You don’t want me dead, Cherijo.

  My teeth clenched against the familiar voice speaking behind my eyes. No, I didn’t. “Get out of my brain, Reever.”

  He did exactly that, then gazed around him. “You plan to use this ship to transport the Forharees off Catopsa as well?”

  “Probably.”

  “Be sure to stay on that safe world when you arrive, Cherijo. Do not return.”

  That was it. He started to walk back toward the air lock.

  So that’s how he’s going to play it. My initial amazement faded and I went after him. “Reever, wait. We need to talk about this.”

  He stopped, and looked over his shoulder at me. “My presence is required back at the compound. I cannot delay my return.” He reached for my hand and held it between his for a moment. “Good luck, Cherijo.” He reached for the air lock controls.

  “Duncan-“ I started to tell him what I knew, then saw the indicators go red. “Hold on, don’t open it!”

  Someone had accessed the outer hull panel in order to enter the ship. And I knew it wasn’t Noarr. Without another word I ran back to the Forharees’ chamber and released the door panel to stick my head inside. “Jgrap, take Kroni and hide in one of the storage containers. Whatever you do, don’t make a sound.”

  I darted back across the small corridor into the galley, and tried to find a place to conceal myself. Within seconds, the centurons blasted through the secured panel and cornered me against the cleansing unit.

  TssVar lumbered in through the ruined panel, and regarded me with faint disgust. “I suspected as much. Put her in a suit and take her back to the compound. Inform SrrokVar I have apprehended both Terrans.”

  “Gael.” I struggled as the guards hauled me out of the galley. “You leave him alone, he’s done noth... ing...” My stomach lurched when I saw two more guards holding Reever between them. “What’s going on here?”

  TssVar ignored me and went over to Reever. “You knew the location of the vessel, and concealed it from me.”

  Reever inclined his head. “Yes, OverLord.”

  “For what reason? The life of a female?” The Hsktskt flung a limb toward me. “Is she worth your rank, your connections, your life?”

  That scared me. “No. I’m not.”

  “She is.” Reever simply wouldn’t shut up. Half the time I’d known him I couldn’t get a word edgewise out of his mouth, and now he spilled like a defective infuser line. “Of all those I have ever experienced, she remains the only one I have ever loved. She deserves the right to her work. Her freedom. Her life.” His eyes turned a beautiful, haunting shade of blue. “She is worth all of that, and more.”

  TssVar hit Reever, hard enough to send him to his knees. “This will be your last betrayal, HalaVar. Our bond is broken. Your membership in the Faction rescinded.” He paused, then spoken to one of the guards holding Reever. “Place him in the slave tiers.”

  The party wasn’t over yet. When the Hsktskt escorted me and Reever back to the compound, SrrokVar was waiting for us.

  “OverLord.” He made the obligatory bow. “I demand this Terran male be executed, for crimes of treason against the Faction.”

  TssVar was in no mood to grant something as quick as an execution, judging by the way he was stomping past SrrokVar. “File your request with my assistant.”

  “Prisoners Wonlee and Kelly must be executed, as well.”

  “Why?” Once more I tested the grip of my escorts’ claws. “Are you having all the torturing equipment cleaned and recalibrated?”

  “Take her to my chambers,” SrrokVar said, and then stepped back as TssVar whirled suddenly.

  “I will not permit further research, Lord.” TssVar turned to address his centurons. “Remove the slaves being held in SrrokVar’s chambers, and confine them to the auction holding cell until further notice.”

  “TssVar.” I waited until he looked at me directly. “I need to treat those prisoners.”

  He paused for a long moment, then inclined his head. “Allow the doctor to see to them.”

  I mouthed a silent thank-you as I walked past him. One echoed many times by the battered, pathetically grateful prisoners I later treated in the holding cell.

  Gael Kelly came to me the moment I was thrust into the cell and produced a med kit. “I think you’ll be wanting this, dote.”

  I gave him an enthusiastic hug, glad to see his winsome grin had returned. My smile tightened as I thought of what SrrokVar had requested. “Give me a hand with these people, will you?”

  The Irishman made a good assistant, mostly by keeping my patients distracted and calm. Everyone settled down as we took care of the last of the injured and discussed the situation in low tones.

  “He’ll not sell these knackers, not as they are.” Gael scanned the twenty prisoners and sighed. “Bushed, the whole gang of them. I’m gobsmacked they didn’t do away with them on the spot.”

  That reminded me. “Gael, I need to tell you something important.” I relayed the standoff between TssVar and SrrokVar, then the sadist’s requests for execution.

  He didn’t say anything for a long time. “As thick as two planks, I am. Should have expected it. Letting on like I was going back to Clare.” He sat back against a wall and closed his eyes. “Pisses me off, it does. Can’t scatter from this one. Unless...”

  I nudged him with my elbow. “Unless?”

  “You could give up the sleeven and save us all.”

  “The sleeven.” It took a moment to recall what that meant. “Oh, no, Gael, not Noarr. He didn’t betray us.”

  “Didn’t he?” Gael swept his hand around the cell. “I begged him to help me get these knackers to safety, Doc. Scaldy chancer said no.”

  “But that’s only because-“ I stopped. I couldn’t exactly blurt out the details of what I knew, and the coming attack. “Trust me, Noarr had his reasons for refusing.”

  “Away on.” Gael got to his feet. “I’ll not give out to you about Noarr. You’ll see what he is, when they come for us.”

  “We’re not going to die,” I said, not totally convinced I was right.

  “Everyone dies, Doc.” He gave me a strange smile. “Some poor bastards a little sooner than others. This time, you get to pick when.”

  I didn’t get to pick anything that happened after that. I barely got the details, and those left me stunned.

  TssVar’s stubborn refusal to execute me, Reever, Gael, or any of the injured prisoners created a rift straight down the center of his ranks. Half the centurons apparently agreed with SrrokVar’s demands to rid the compound of the unhealthy and the perennial troublemakers. The other half were intensely loyal to the OverLord and supported his decision.

  In the end, it didn’t matter whose side anyone was on. SrrokVar directly petitioned the Faction Hanar, the supreme ruler over all Hsktskt, and demanded TssVar be replaced immediately.

  In a completely unexpected, stunning move, the Hanar agreed and sen
t back orders to do just that.

  SrrokVar was promoted to the rank of OverLord and given full command over the Catopsa facility. After being publicly reprimanded and demoted to Lord, TssVar was to return to the Hsktskt homeworld.

  As his last official act, TssVar had me removed from the holding cell and returned to the infirmary. There he brought his mate, FurreVa’s brood, and the quints just before they were scheduled to leave the compound.

  “OverLord.” I nodded to his mate and gave the kids an encouraging smile. “I was sorry to hear you’re leaving.” Sorrier than he could ever know, now that I faced the prospect of the sadist running things on the rock.

  “I regret it has come to this absurdity.”

  “SrrokVar will do a lot more than that.” I lowered my voice. “We may not have much in common as people, but what he’s doing to these prisoners is insufferable. Is there anything you can do to get your ruler to prohibit this research of his?”

  The huge yellow eyes blinked. “Even now, you do not try to plead for yourself.”

  I lifted my shoulder in a helpless shrug. Pleading for myself wouldn’t do anything.

  TssVar glanced at his brood, then drew me to one side and bent his massive head down. “I will go before the Hanar when I return, and inform him of the damage being inflicted on Hsktskt property. That is all I can promise, Doctor.”

  “That should be plenty.” I curled my small hand around one clawed appendage end. “Thank you.”

  Before they made their dignified exit, my namesake tugged on the edge of my tunic. “I will continue to work hard at my studies. You will find no fault with me when I become a physician, Designate.”

  I couldn’t exactly hug her, but I gave her an affectionate stroke on one limb. “I know I won’t.”

  TssVar and his family left without looking back. I made unnecessary rounds and swore under my breath every time I sniffed.

  We waited to hear when the first of the executions was scheduled to take place. I kept my fingers crossed, hoping the Aksellans and Jorenians would be ready in time to stop them.

  No one quite knew what to do when SrrokVar announced that he had cancelled every single one of the executions.