"Not exactly."
"Then what?" Tren asked. "You've been in a dominance battle phase after phase. It will continue to worsen until the changeover takes place, until you become like in mind and accept each other as equals."
"We attempted to capture her away from the tribe," Calem began. "But this Tribunal subaltern, I believe it was this Jardia the Pontiff spoke of …."
"Kicked his scrawny ass before we were able to snatch our Tina away." Arjim snickered.
A growl rumbled from Calem's throat. He puffed up his chest, while moving closer to Arjim, attempting to loom over him threateningly. "I believe it was you she felled first, cousin."
Tren watched them guardedly. His agitated sentries were nose to nose and snarling, their aggressiveness toward one another re-emerging. He signaled Aurus and Vean to stand in alert, just in case their muscle was needed again. "You have eased into her subconscious I assume?"
"Uyo, sir," Calem answered though he kept his steely glare on Arjim. "She has a perception of us."
"Then she knows why you seek her?"
When neither of the brethren answered, Tren glowered at them. "Does she know where you are from?"
Arjim and Calem both swallowed, their gazes still locked.
"Does your Tina even know where she is?"
"Sir," Calem gave him and inquisitive look. "We know she crashed, but exactly how did she get here?"
"A cloaked wormhole," Tren answered. He then addressed Rjant. "Intelligence informed me there's a possibility that the Radicals are aware of its existence. Zupol Egrin's fleet is positioned in the Ward to guard the area. Egrin's own star vessel is poised to slip through it should the need to prepare the inhabitants on the other side becomes vital."
After explaining the situation to his brethren and Chief Loyal, Tren redirected his attention to Calem and Arjim. "We need to use your link to locate and inform your Tina of the danger she is in. Hopefully your Tina will come to us. She does know where she is correct?"
Calem responded this time. "We began to tell her Commander, but …."
"She is not a Tertani woman," Tren interrupted. "Surely she at the very least knows that you indeed exist and aren't just a figment in her mind?"
The brethren dropped their heads, shoulders slumping as if deflated. The anger inside of them faltered. Arjim answered, "We have sort of told her."
"Sort of?" Tren furled his brow.
"Our link to her is defective, Commander," Calem dolefully informed him.
Aurus snorted and then mumbled. "This is getting interesting."
"Defective … how?" Rjant asked. He glanced at Tren who shook his head in the negative, indicating he hadn't a clue as to what they meant by that.
"Despite our transdelta linking being strong there seems to be a deficient connection to her," Calem responded. "She fades to and from our thoughts beyond our control."
"Fades?" Tren gave them a curious look. "I have never heard of such a thing. How can this be?"
"We do not know, though we have managed to begin the Edification to a degree."
"Without her knowing a blazing hades thing about you?" Tren's brow lifted. "Ka! The poor female must be completely confused."
"She knows us from her -- our childhood, sir."
"At least she will flee in earnest," Rjant remarked. "The Triconjugal Hunt should be a pleasurable one, particularly with the Prowlers stalking her in the traditional way."
Arjim's wrinkled his brow. "Traditional, Chief?"
A slow smile eased across Tren's face as Rjant's transmitted explanation materialized in his brain. "It would appear my Chief Loyal and esteemed brethren have been presumptuous."
"How so Commander?" Calem asked.
"I was relatively convinced," Rjant began. "That this intruder was the Tina you were seeking."
"Quite insightful, brethren," Tren remarked.
"Uyo, was it not?" The smug, nonchalant façade Rjant presented was unconvincing, and they all stared at him. In answer, he shrugged. "What?"
When he was met with skeptical expressions, Rjant laughed and then confessed, "Ka, so maybe not so insightful, the Pontiff Jer informed me."
"How would the Pontiff know what transpired between us?" Calem exchanged glances with Arjim.
"He overheard it in the temple," Rjant told them. "The two of you talk aloud while you're linked."
"That's embarrassing." Aurus chuckled.
"Regardless," Rjant nodded in Gre'aecha's direction and then continued, "The Pontiff and the Esotarian Tribunal have agreed to remain at bay to allow you to prowl for your Tina."
"This is a good thing." Arjim smiled.
"Under a certain condition," Rjant began. "It is demanded that if we are to hunt your Tina in tribal territory, we do so in the traditions of old as their clans are doing so now."
The mere mentioning of a traditional hunt had Calem and Arjim groaning impatiently. Every Tertani male alive adored the primal nature of the Triconjugal stalking, and it would be especially erotic to engage in the Trigon mating rituals by dictates of the ancient ways. It was just what Calem and Arjim needed to help ease the growing combat between them.
"I have no concerns with Gre'aecha's request," Tren remarked. "However, once you have your mate captured she must be held in quarantine to be tested for Brits Scorn."
"Understood," Calem returned.
"You do also understand it is likely the Allegiance will serve charges upon her? Our only hope of exonerating her is to convince them she indeed is a Tertani mate and that her manner of dissension upon us was by divinity offering and of no threat to the Allegiance and our galactic cause."
"Uyo, sir."
"In light of that," Tren continued. "And you will comply."
"Uyo sir?" Calem exchanged a look of apprehension with Arjim. Ka, I'm getting a very uneasy feeling, brethren.
As am I, cousin, Arjim answered Calem's unspoken concern and then aloud he asked. "And that would be, Commander?"
Tren's gaze shifted back and forth between them, his long hesitation increasing their edginess. The discomfort worsened when his expression seemed to fill with sympathy.
"Choose your Trigon Prowlers," Tren stated. "Capturing her will be easier with the Triconjugal mind-link."
"We can do that, Commander," Arjim answered, and then mumbled I think. Calem mentally reflected the same concern to his cousin. The problems they'd had with linking to their Tina had them worried that perhaps the Triconjugal link to prowling brethren might not work either.
Tren exchanged glances with his brethren, Rjant and then spoke to Calem and Arjim. "You will also bid the Esotarian Sh'em to the linking. The additional Prowlers chasing after her will hopefully speed her capture.
"But how can we gain the Esotarian's cooperation if we cannot gain their trust, Commander?" Arjim frowned.
"Gre' aecha, will inform them that you are brethren on the prowl, one in the divinity spirit. He wants her removed quickly from these lands. They will cooperate." Tren's expression became pensive as he rubbed his chin. "I can only hope the alteration in what is expected following her capture will not disconcert them."
"Disconcert?" Calem glanced worriedly at Arjim and then returned his attention to the Commander.
Tren winced. He opened his mouth to speak, hesitated, closed his mouth briefly and then finally issued the order. "There will be no mating."
At first Calem and Arjim stared at Tren in disbelief. If they didn't mate with their woman soon, they would surely try to slaughter each other, and this time one of them might succeed.
No mating? Arjim repeated silently. No mating meant an escalation in their battle for dominance. They might actually kill each other.
"No mating, Commander?" Calem asked, needing verification for Tren's incomprehensible statement.
Tren reiterated, "You are forbidden to mate with her."
"But …," Arjim began to say.
You heard me!" Tren's voice grew louder and even more unyielding. No mating!"
?
/>
Chapter Nine
"Damn it, Tren!" Alea yelled into the commlink unit. "She's from Earth. You can't do this!"
Tren's brow creased at his She'mana's distressed reaction. He didn't like it when she was upset.
"I think you should've kept your mouth shut, brethren," Rjant, who stood next to him, remarked.
"What about the Trigon Rituals?" Alea pressed him for answers. "That's sacrilegious!"
Tren couldn't hide his guilty expression.
"I agree, brethren." Rjant folded one arm over the other. "It is rather deplorable of us."
"So you have no intention of including me in the Triconjugal hunt?" Alea continued.
"With the savage tribes roaming about, and the possibility of Liquidator intrusion Alea," Tren explained. "It's too dangerous for you here. You could get hurt, or worse."
"But what about Bligh? Her mates, Bjead and Larimon have been chosen as Triconjugal Hunters and she's there!"
"Alea, Bligh is a trained sentry. She knows how to fight."
Alea glared at him, and then his motive dawned on her. Her lips separated and she was at a momentary loss for words. "Does Bligh know about this?"
"Alea…" Tren began. "You haven't let me finish explaining. We are using the hunt to…"
"She's an earth woman, Tren. She is one of my own. How could you!"
"Alea, we are at war."
"And your rituals have nothing to do with this war!" Alea had had enough. At her wits end, she slapped off the switch and disconnected from her Sh'em. Tapping her foot rapidly, she thought for a moment and then turned toward her mother-in-law, Dmor, and stared at her in clear frustration.
Dmor didn't say a word. She merely picked up Alea's son, her Ashe'aem, her grandchild, and set him upon her waist.
"What should I do?" Alea implored.
One of Dmor's brows lifted and she looked at Alea as if the answer should be simple. "What do you think a true-natured Tertani woman do?"
"How should I know I'm an Earth woman?"
"Are you Alea?" Dmor lifted a brow. "Are you not one of our own?"
Alea pursed her lips and became pensive. After a short time her expression relaxed. A sly grin spread on her mouth. "You'll stay with the children?"
"Of course," Dmor answered her.
Alea nodded. "I am a Tertani woman!" Hear me roar!
She then stomped from the dwelling she shared with Rjant and Tren. Once outside, she headed toward Tren's hover cycle, straddled the vehicle, and revved the engine. Grabbing the helmet that was attached to the side, she shoved it on her head and sped off. She'd be damned if she was going to let them turn the Trigon Rituals into a fallacy. They wanted a hunt? Well she'd give them one!
* * * *
It rumbled through her like a wooden rollercoaster car, and it seemed just as jolting and noisy. Fast and furious Sydney felt the intense magnetic draw to…
What?
What on mother earth was it?
After the warrior woman had jerked her from the chaotic scene, she along with several other women traversed the territory making camp at night and climbing along mountain crevices and pushing through a series of forests. The entire way Sydney felt as if she was half in a stupor, the voices plaguing her mind almost every step of the way. Now they rested, and Sydney found herself surrounded by nothing but strangely painted forest greenery. Or should she say maroonery?
Snort, I've been marooned.
Sydney looked around before her gaze stalled on some nearby shrubbery. Her attention then darted from one tree trunk to the next--brick red tree trunks--and then she tipped her head upward to examine the octagon-shaped leaves hanging from the tree branches above. Well, some of the colors were maroon … ish … but a lot of the shrubbery around her had hues that were closer to a deep-purplish-red, and they were absolutely, prehistoric-sized ginormous! Even weirder was that Sydney didn't see any growth that was green. Not one little leaf anywhere. Zip, nada, nothing. Sydney curled her bare toes into the soft, warm dirt, noting its rich, amber color. With a frown on her face, she considered the scene and categorically decided that this was proof positive she was on an alien planet. She took a whiff. The air smelled like wet grass, but it wasn't humid or moldy smelling. It was refreshing and unpolluted.
Sydney grunted as her attention shifted to where the female warrior woman was. Her name was Gardenia, or something close to that, if she'd read the woman's lips correctly when they attempted to chat. Sydney stared at the woman's ass. Not because she wanted to but because it was the only body part sticking out of the wall of bushes they were hiding behind. The other women were out hunting she supposed. They always came back with food or their flasks filled with that pinkish drink after disappearing, but as for her, Sydney, she sat for what seemed like hours, with nothing to do but focus on the pain in her ears. She was getting a little grumpy. Releasing a sigh, she fingered the collar of her flight suit that lay on the ground next to her. Gardenia had retrieved it along with her boots and underclothing from beneath a rock--a honey-yellow rock, after Sydney used every charade she could think of to communicate that she needed to have the garment back. The six loose tablets of over-the-counter pain killers were still in the pocket, and she readily downed eight hundred milligrams. It dulled the pain to a degree, enough to make it barely tolerable. As for her prescription meds, much to Sydney's dismay, they were gone. Leaning back against the trunk of the tree behind her, Sydney smoothed her hands along the thin cover still tied around her waist. She was wearing the white, cotton tank top she always wore beneath her flight suit. She'd also donned her panties for modesty and safety's sake, but had chosen to keep wearing the thin cover for the time being since the weather was so warm, and the running had her sweating, and she was still trying to cool off from it. Aside from that, it would make her look less inconspicuous to the natives of this world, or at least she hoped it would. Sydney rested the back of her head against the tree trunk and sucked in a breath, wondering what was going to happen next. As she exhaled her mind began to bend and she was suddenly woozy … she was suddenly drifting ….
A humming in her head began … male hums.
Our woman ….
"Wha…?" Sydney struggled to bring her subconscious mind to state to the reality's surface. She didn't want to be drawn to them, didn't want them clouding her judgment, making her believe …. "Please go away."
She gasped in exasperation, but much to her relief, they at least weren't bickering this time. Something else was happening. Male voices hummed in her mind, beginning softly and then growing louder, until it became clear they were chanting. Arkis umdja ohal fe asi lehiamen.
Sydney understood the words--By the grace of the Mahatma Divinities we open our hearts ….
Rajel egruam elo dgesmail agrakisi mudia alaihj greamu. Lfer kesisata pg'achiel suost ambiaq veiso udal em felio tiai eamba wai lej…
…our minds, our spirits for these rituals … bind us brethren of the Trigon, bring us a prosperous hunt and blessing in what thou has begun we humbly accept this linking to complete this sacred hunt and tripling ….
Tripling? Is that anything like a coupling?
It is time, Sydney, our woman. We come for you. Only death alone has the power to put our conjugate asunder.
Once young and boyish they had raided her thoughts, chatted with her and teased her. Within the dreamy state in which Sydney interacted with them, they gave her comfort when she cried, held her hands, kissed her cheek. She missed the hugs and the silly games they had played--their bickering, always, always were they bickering and wrestling with each other, as if they had something to prove. Sydney sighed. She had missed them painfully when they were banished from her brain.
Did she really want to banish them again? Sydney thought about the scarce few times she'd relented and let them meander through her mind, the last few times before this recent return. She was on her first menses during one of those earlier instances, and they'd been somewhat wild and insistent with her. It scared her a little, we
ll sort of … okay it scared her a lot. They were sniffing her all over, fondling her and making sexual advances. She was torn between surrendering to them, allowing them to have their way with her, allowing them to fully inhabit and captivate her mind, but she chose sanity, and pushed them away. In truth her heart was shattering. She allowed them mental access only one time after that, when she was barely an adult, believing that she could handle it, but she couldn't. They were overwhelming, larger, even more sexual, more frightening to her. It wasn't fear of their carnal aggressiveness toward her that turned Sydney away, however. What had her retreating was her own lurid thoughts and how badly she obsessed over them to the point of being unable to get involved with anyone else--delusional fantasies! It was then she made the decision to prohibit them from ever invading her life again. Yet the loss of them was so devastating that she nearly overdosed on sleeping pills that night she made the decision to permanently send them away, else she be put away for being looney. My god I was so young.
Sydney's thoughts drifted from past to present, and she couldn't help but grin. Their sexy, deep, voices, their trespasses on her body, now roused her in a way she was reluctant to resist. They were tormenting her libido, teasing her lust to a craving ache that she wanted to satiate. To make matters worse, they were louder and clearer and even more intense than ever before.
Oh get a grip, Sydney! She chastised herself for the ridiculous musings. You're behaving like a nutcase, talking to and fantasizing about imaginary mates.
Yum … two imaginary mates.
Mates? It was how she felt about them.
We are not imaginary, Sydney. One of them said. We are coming for you, woman.
Get in line.
You are in distress, Tina.
Nice guess Einstein.
A sensual male voice chuckled. Who's Einstein?
Apparently not you, Sydney answered. And why are you rubbing my leg?
You feel exquisite, Tina. The other male spoke.
You…
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