She felt the words gathering like a lump in her throat, too bulky to be swallowed, too unruly to be spoken. She looked down, trying to hide the tears that were wetting her eyes. Stupid hormones.
The men stayed silent, waiting for her to continue, not attempting to rush her or speak for her. It took her a long minute, but she finally went on.
“My mom wasn’t a very good person. She really hated being a mother, and she told me all the time about how having kids ruined her life. She left me and my brother with our grandparents one day when she went to ceramics class. The only problem is that she never came back.”
Theyn reached out for her sympathetically, but she pulled back, so he dropped his hand again. “How old were you?”
“I was six.” She wiped away a tear that had escaped, feeling foolish and weak. “It was twenty years ago.”
“But it still hurts,” Beno said, “obviously. And you shouldn’t be ashamed of that.”
She clasped her hands together as if squeezing them would help her throttle her own emotions. “My grandma and grandpa did their best with us, they did, but they weren’t equipped to raise two kids. My brother was only four at the time, and they were both in their eighties. They weren’t financially able to really care for us, and they both were so old and frail. Grandpa died the next year, and Grandma passed away four years later.”
Theyn whispered, “So you were ten and your brother was eight when you were left alone.”
She nodded.
“Where was your father?” Beno asked.
“We didn’t know him. I don’t even know his name. Mom never said who he was, and she was sort of the village bicycle, you know? Could’ve been anyone.”
It was clear that neither man really understood the bicycle reference, but Beno was telepathic enough to pick up her gist. He nodded. “So you were alone. What happened?”
“We were put into foster care in two different families. I lost track of my brother, and I have no idea where he is, or if he’s even still alive.” She took a deep breath. “I don’t have any family to give a child. I don’t know how to be a parent, except in the bad ways. I’m going to screw this kid up so bad.”
Beno grasped her hand and pulled her toward him, and she went, no longer wanting to be separate from them and yearning for comfort. He pulled her into his lap and wrapped his strong arms around her, holding her tight. Theyn pulled his chair over and sat with his arms around her, too, his cheek pressed to her shoulder.
“None of us have a family now,” he whispered, and Beno nodded. “The only family we can offer our child is each other. I don’t know anything about being a father, or raising a child, either.”
Beno stroked her hair back from her face. “I grew up with five sisters,” he said. “My family was freakishly large by Ylian standards, but I know kids and I know how to take care of them. I was the oldest, so I saw and helped out with a lot with my siblings. I know how to feed a baby, how to clothe him, how to wash him, how to care for him. I think we will all know how to love him… or her.” He smiled. “Girls are rare on Ylia, but I think that if anyone would give birth to a daughter on the first try, it would be you.”
She sniffed and chuckled. “You make it sound so special.”
“It is. I told you before, males outnumber females by a factor of four to one. That’s why the male pairing was developed.”
Sera straightened, the anthropologist in her intrigued. “Developed? You mean, it was deliberate?”
He nodded. “Ylian males on our own aren’t very fertile, and many are underdeveloped sexually.”
“Not your problem, either of you,” she said, winking at Theyn, who blushed but smiled.
Beno grinned and continued. “That’s because we were paired. We were the lucky ones. Males who don’t find a pair in childhood, who don’t have the right physiochemistry for the merging, never really reach sexual maturity. It’s only by merging with another male that we are able to produce offspring. One Ylian male isn’t able to produce enough motile sperm to result in a viable conception.”
Theyn smiled and leaned his chin on her shoulder. “I was the Empress Kina’s only son, and they looked all through the aristocracy for a pair for me. The matching never worked.”
“To match boys, they combine their blood and childhood skin secretions with a catalyst, and if the factors are right for merging, the combination will sublimate. If the factors aren’t there, then it won’t. You either get a test tube full of liquid that turns to vapor under heat, or you get a test tube full of sludge,” Beno explained.
“They started looking for my pair mate when I was born,” Theyn said. “Mother was practically obsessed about it, even though all signs were that my sister, Thena, would be able to carry on the family line without any trouble. She had passed the screening and had been shown to be genetically viable for the next generation.”
Beno chuckled. “They went through all of the sons of the aristocracy, then all of the sons of the merchant class, then all of the sons of the upper ranks of the military, looking for Theyn’s match.”
“So where were you hiding?”
“The last place they’d look,” he grinned. “In the garden.”
“Beno’s mother was my mother’s gardener,” Theyn said. “Not exactly the pair the Empress was dreaming of, but she allowed it… and I will be forever grateful.”
“As will I.” He put his hand on her abdomen. “If they hadn’t kept looking, I never would have had a pair mate. Matching like that wasn’t something that the underclasses normally had access to, unless it was accidental and found through happenstance. And if they’d never found me, we would never have been matched, and I would be dead now, and this - this tiny, growing miracle inside you - would never have occurred.”
She put her arms around both of their necks and pulled them close, kissing first Beno, then Theyn. She pulled back. “I don’t know if I’m happy or sad or just scared,” she said. “I do know that I’m not going to do anything to jeopardize this baby’s life.”
Theyn seemed to relax at her words. “I know you have the option of terminating the pregnancy,” he said softly, “and I wouldn’t stop you if you wanted to do that. I’m just so glad you don’t want to.”
They embraced for a moment, then Sera said, “I don’t know what kind of life this baby is going to have if we’re constantly on the run.”
“Then we’ll find someplace to stop running,” Beno said. “We’ll find a place to live, away from prying eyes, and we’ll try to make our own way in this world. Truthfully, Sera, we don’t have a choice. We can’t go home. We don’t have the equipment to go anywhere else. All we have is each other and the stuff we have here, and that’s going to wear out eventually. Everything mechanical does, especially when there are no appropriate power sources or replacement parts.”
She looked into his shining eyes. “That must be frightening for you.”
“Of course it is,” he nodded, “but it’s a little exciting, too. I don’t run from a challenge.”
Theyn smiled. “My partner is very bold. You might have noticed.”
Beno crinkled his nose at her. “You haven’t seen anything yet.”
“Don’t scare the woman,” Theyn chided playfully. “Honestly.”
She took a deep breath and hugged them again. “This isn’t what I planned for,” she said thoughtfully, “but I don’t run from challenges either.”
The brunet put a hand to her chin and turned her to face him. He claimed her lips in a gentle kiss. “I love that about you.”
She hesitated, a question in her mind that she wasn’t brave enough to articulate.
Thank goodness for telepathy. Beno nodded. Yes. I love you.
And I love you, too, Theyn confessed. We will both love you until the day we die.
Since her grandparents’ death, nobody had offered her more of themselves than a few hours at a time. She heard these two men now offering her the rest of their lives, fully and completely and without hesitation,
and it was the most beautiful thing she’d ever experienced. The tears sprang up in her eyes again, and she tried not to weep as she pulled them close.
I don’t know if I love you yet, she told them. I haven’t had time, and there’s so much that should make it impossible, or at least ill advised. But… I trust you. And that’s something I’ve never had with any man before.
Trust is rarer than love, and infinitely more fragile, Beno said. You honor us.
And if love comes later, Theyn said, then we will be waiting here with open arms.
She didn’t know what to say, and expressing emotions had never been her strong suit, anyway. It was why she preferred to work with people who were already dead. Speechless, she merely embraced them for a long, long time.
Chapter Fourteen
Asa spat blood onto the metal floor beside his chair. He hoped that he had managed to hit his tormentor’s shoes, but with his eyes blindfolded, he couldn’t tell. His wrists and upper arms were bound behind his back, but his legs were free. He supposed that they posed no threat to his captors, considering both ankles were broken. He wasn’t going anywhere, at least not fast.
“You can’t do this to me,” he protested, his words slurred by the swelling in his mouth. “I’m an American citizen.”
“Actually, you are a missing person,” responded Colonel Vasquez, his voice smooth and sounding amused. “You’re on an unregistered ship in international waters and nobody is looking for you here. By the time anyone who cares about your citizenship shows up, you’ll either be released with our thanks for your cooperation, or you’ll be dead. That’s entirely up to you.”
Asa glowered fiercely, and the blindfold ruined the effect. “Fuck you.”
Vasquez chuckled. “A predictable response,” he said. “But that sort of thing won’t help you.”
He could hear the colonel walking around him, the tap-tap-tap of a metal rod on the floor making Asa sweat. He had already felt that rod one too many times.
“I already told you, I don’t know where they went. They stole the car and ran.” He spat another mouthful of blood. “I don’t know what you want from me.”
“Where would they have gone?”
“Away,” he growled. “How should I know?”
Vasquez grabbed his chin and squeezed, his thumb pressing painfully against the bone. Asa groaned. “I think you know what they were planning, and where they were going.”
“Then you’re an idiot along with bein’ an asshole,” he managed to say.
The colonel slashed his metal rod across Asa’s knee caps, and the Texan roared in pain. The door to the room opened, and a woman spoke to Vasquez in rapid Spanish. The colonel muttered something under his breath.
“We will continue this soon,” he promised Asa, giving his jaw one last squeeze before he turned and left the room.
He struggled against his bonds, but his arms were secured too tightly, and his legs were no use. The pain from his injuries choked him, and he stopped moving, trying to catch his breath. His head was swimming, and he was deeply afraid.
This wasn’t how it was supposed to end.
Outside the room where he was being held, he could hear people running and shouting, and then there were gunshots. He cringed when the gun fire erupted in the corridor, and then something large and heavy – probably someone’s body – fell against the door. The sound of the running gunfight proceeded down the hallway and away from his room, leaving him alone and in sudden quiet.
The scent of blood was thick in the air, and it was all he could do to keep from retching. The seconds stretched out like hours, and he found himself holding his breath. The gun battle was continuing, but far away from where he was. He could hear only a few scattered echoes and the distant shouts of combat. Soon, even that went silent, and he struggled with hoping that the shooters wouldn’t find him and hoping that they would.
He heard footsteps approach, and then the door opened. Someone came in, heavy boots hitting the floor. The blindfold was pulled off of his face abruptly, and then he was blinking in the sudden brightness of the overhead lights. A man in a black tactical outfit was standing in front of him, his face covered with a skull mask and a rifle slung over his shoulder. His helmet was equipped with dark vision goggles, which were obviously not needed right now.
“Asa Brunner?” the man asked.
“Yeah.”
The man pulled a knife and cut the zip ties holding his arms behind his back. Without another word, he picked Asa up and slung him over his shoulder, carrying him out of the cell.
***
Beno retrieved the road atlas from the car and laid it out on the table. “Where are we?” he asked.
Sera opened to the page for Texas and pointed out San Antonio. “Right here, sort of by this highway exit.”
He pointed to a large swath of open land on the map, a place with no towns and few roads. “What is this?”
“Uh…that’s the high desert. Presidio County.” She looked closer. “Specifically, you’re pointing at Marfa. That’s a tiny little town that’s known for some art galleries and the Marfa Lights.”
Theyn leaned in to have a look. “Marfa Lights?”
“They’re lights that people see over the desert. Orbs, I guess. Mystery lights. Some people think they’re ghosts or UFOs. Most likely, it’s headlights from the interstate.” She saw them looking at one another, and Beno’s face slowly lit with a smile. “What am I missing?”
“UFOs,” her blond lover said. “Marfa might be a good place to go if we want to watch for Taluans or listen for communication.”
She started to scoff, but bit back on her words. She could hardly dispute the existence of UFOs with two aliens sitting beside her and an alien baby growing in her belly. Beno grinned at her.
“Something you wanted to say?” he teased.
“Nope. Not going there,” she said, smiling.
“Are there places to stay in Marfa?” Theyn asked.
Sera shrugged. “I’m sure there are. There’s a tourist draw with the lights, so I’m certain there would be hotels and such.”
Beno nodded. “We’ll need to go to a few more ATMs on the way. I want to get enough to live on for a long time, and enough to obtain some raw materials I can use to create a listening post.”
“I don’t know what raw materials you’d need, but I’ll bet that most of what you’re thinking of isn’t here on Earth.”
Theyn shrugged. “You might be surprised.”
She looked down at the map. “Okay, then. Marfa, here we come.”
***
Joely looked up in surprise as the door to her cell was opened by a man in black tactical dress. He had a rifle in his hands, and when he first came in, it was pointed at her. She squeaked and threw her hands up into the air.
“Don’t shoot! I’m not… whatever you want to kill. I’m not.”
The man snickered. “Joely Thompson?”
“Yes.”
“Come with me.”
He led her out of the room and into the corridor of the ship. She had seen a lot of this place, a reworked and down-market retired cruise ship, on the way down into her lonely corner of the hold. The man was leading her to the top deck, and as he did, they passed Colonel Vasquez and his men on their knees in the main mess. More men in black were standing over them, guns at the ready.
Joely’s escort brought her to a waiting helicopter, and she was both relieved and alarmed to see a very battered Asa already in one of the seats. She clambered inside, and her black-garbed guard joined them, as well. He took off his helmet and put on a headset, leaving his skull mask in place so they couldn’t see his face. He spoke tersely to the pilot.
“Let’s go.”
The chopper lifted off and banked away from the ship where they had been held captive. She looked at Asa anxiously, and he pressed his lips into a tight line, shaking his head. Joely took a deep breath and kept herself from babbling.
The man across from her cradled his rifle in
his hands, his easy stance not fooling her at all. They had left one form of imprisonment for another, and she had no idea what was happening. She only knew that she was afraid, and she hoped that Sera and the aliens were worth all of this trouble.
They flew for just under an hour, then descended to the deck of a cargo ship, landing where the shipping containers should have been. There was another man in black waiting for him, his face covered with a skull mask like all of the rest. When the helicopter landed, he stepped up and leaned into the cabin.
“Ms. Thompson,” he said, his voice modulated and precise. “Mr. Brunner. I’m so pleased you could join us. Sergeant, please see to it that Mr. Brunner is taken to medical to have his injuries addressed.”
“Yes, sir.” Their escort manhandled Asa into a fireman’s carry and took him away.
Joely turned to the remaining masked man and licked her lips nervously. “Who … what…”
“We mean you no harm,” he said.
“So you’re friends?”
“I wouldn’t go that far, but I would agree that we are not your enemies.” He held out his hand. “Come with me, please, Miss Thompson.”
She hesitated, but accepted his hand and his help alighting from the helicopter. Once she was steadily on her feet, he led her off of the deck and through a door in a square structure, then up a staircase. He proceeded to take her through a confusing warren of hallways and arches until finally she was in a room with a tiny bed.
“This is your billet for the duration,” he said. “If you need help finding your way around, just use the intercom on the wall to ask someone to come escort you. We would prefer that you stay put just for now, until we get under way.”
“What is this place?” She looked around. There was a military feel to this operation, despite the civilian exterior. “Who are you people?”
“Our captain will explain it all once we’re away,” he said. “I’m the first officer, and you can call me Randall.”
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