by Gail Gernat
“Milady,” she asked, “with so many women unable to conceive these days why is it you do not market it and become very wealthy?”
“In most cases, it is a problem with the fathers as much as the mothers. They are more reluctant to be treated, besides Sumi, I’m already wealthy. Years back, every time I invented something my mother and father got angry with me because Petra and Steph couldn’t keep up with me. Some weeks I would have six or seven new products. Anyway, I got in the habit of squirreling them away, not putting them into production. I just never got around to changing my habits. I still just hide things away.”
“Wealth is one of the main markers of status is it not? And do you not want to move up in status review to avoid Lord Barone?”
“Yes, wealth first, then contract spouse, and social and birth standing,” recited Radhya.
A brilliant smile lit up her face. “Sumi, I could kiss you.”
She clattered down the stairs to Geo’s office.
“Geo, I want all my patents put into production and I want them on the market yesterday. I’m going to get richer, so rich Lord Noel Barone hasn’t a hope in heaven of catching me.”
Her interplanetary team moved into action. Radhya’s wealth doubled, then tripled, and finally almost two years later it had quintupled.
Chapter 20
Africa was a huge hunting preserve covering an entire continent. The plains Chandrans had devastated it in their lifetime, leaving only soil and sand and barren rock. After Padr had mapped the ten climatic zones, he designed ecosystems for each area. It was left to run riot and be as wild as it could grow. Each of the ten areas had its own base camp, which would later become local lodges for that section of the continent.
On the southeast coast was the main hunting lodge, the stepping off place for the hunting preserve, the only landscaped area of the continent, and it was as spectacular as the rest of Padr’s work. Buildings of rustic red logs and grey local stone could accommodate about two hundred aristocratic visitors and their slaves while catering to them in its bucolic restaurant. Aninya trained the cooks, and the housekeepers who cared for the needs of the visitors and Radhya created separate log quarters for all the slaves who worked for her at the lodge, and who would eventually be the guides.
Max was in charge of hollowing out part of a mountain for use as a hanger. The fleet of heliplanes was to bring the hunters to their specific targets when they were finished being used for the construction. Max was melting the rock and foaming it back on the walls of the outside to provide the appearance of untouched stone.
Supervising the entire operation, Radhya was eager to release the reconstructed animals to populate the continent. Will learned many of her genetic manipulations while he assisted. Waiting in the med lab until she finished her daily morning business meeting on the holophone with Geo, he could just hear her voice speaking.
“So my Tango Dancer and Son-O-War are great successes?” she asked.
“Oh yes,” the old man laughed. “You’ve really set the racing community on its ear. All those people affiliated with Barone and Jabin especially. There are a number who scratch their horses as soon as they hear Tango or Son is entered. They keep trying to say you engineered them, but all the evidence says otherwise. Clever of you to make sure they were bred on Kentucky. It does my old heart good.”
“Well you know, genetics originally started in breeding the best to the best. I don’t know why it should be so surprising that I can say which stallion should cover which mare and have good results with the offspring.”
“Ah well, they have been trying it for years without your kind of success. What about your breeding program down there?”
“All the small herbivores have been released. I’m losing the bigger herbivores today. Deer, moose, zebras, a whole bunch of different kinds of antelope, chechuns, bison, camels, sharpias, gorillas, elephants, rhino, hippo, mosletalons, and skeens...”
“Enough, enough. I don’t have time for your entire inventory.”
“It’s going to seem very empty around here with most of the pens cleared out. I’ll only have the carnivores left. But all the females are pregnant, and I want them to settle in and have their babies in the wild.”
“Be careful, my dear, I know you always are, but be careful anyway. I’ll speak to you tomorrow.”
“Take care as well, Geo,” she returned softly.
She was rubbing her hands together as she met up with Will outside the office door.
“Ready to ship them out partner?” she asked him.
“You bet,” he answered.
The pair left the lodge and crossed a hanging bridge over a deep chasm. It looked rickety and old, but Max had woven monofilament into the frayed rope holding the structure aloft, so it was actually stronger than steel. Radhya bounced the bridge causing Will to grab the side ropes and hang on. Laughing, she ran across to the other side. Will followed more slowly and cautiously.
Once they passed through the screening pines, the smells and sounds of the critter camp smote them. Pens, fences, and people were everywhere. In a broad clearing for the heliplane at the far end, one of them was descending out of the sun, adding its mechanical noise to the squeals, whinnies, and trumpeting of the crated, confined herbivores. Many crates were shrouded with blankets in a vain attempt to keep the inmates quiet.
“Sounds like everyone is unhappy this morning doesn’t it?” she yelled at Will.
“I would be too, locked up in a crate since before dawn.”
Making their way to the settled heliplane, Will and Radhya saw Padr leap from the cockpit.
“There you are,” he said giving her a quick smile of greeting. “All the vegetation in every zone is more than capable of supporting at least double the numbers you’re going to release.”
“Good. We have most of them crated and ready to go,” she replied. “Let’s get started.”
They worked steadily, making sure the large loaders were gentle with their cargo, loading vehicle after vehicle. Each would lift to its zone as soon as it was filled and another heliplane would spiral down to take its place. Padr tapped Radhya on the shoulder.
“I’m going to get something to eat and go to bed. I’ve been up since last evening surveying the vegetation.”
“Go ahead. Sleep well,” Radhya ran a hand down his arm in farewell.
“Four more loads, I think,” spoke Will.
“Looks about right. Four more loads and we’ll be done. It’s just the last of the savannah animals,” answered Radhya, backing away as the heliplane lifted from the circle of dust.
Dust billowed everywhere, whirling in miniature tornados from the downwash of the blades. The ten rhinos waiting their turn at departure in their separate crates took exception to the noise and bashed into the sides of their container. One loosened a plank and began to hit repeatedly on the weak spot.
“Look out!” yelled Radhya.
Will dashed to get a nail gun to repair the crate. The rhino hit again. The box quivered, and the front gave way. Two tons of angry, horned mammal was loose with fifty people in the yard. Most of the slaves scattered.
“She’s coming for you,” yelled Radhya at a small female slave standing frozen amid the confusion.
The furious beast charged. Radhya ran, but it was too late. The girl was flung high over the creature’s back, landing in the dust, her head at an unnatural angle.
Radhya sped to a crate, snatching the blanket off. The cheechuns inside erupted into a cacophony of noise. The loose rhino turned to see what the commotion was.
“Get a tranquilizer gun. Shoot her and hurry!” Radhya yelled at the top of her lungs. “Hurry!”
The great beast charged straight at her. Radhya flapped the blanket. The animal made for it, picking up speed with every stride. At the last second, Radhya flipped the blanket up and twirled away.
“No!” screamed Will. “Get out of there!”
“There’s no place to go!” she yelled back.
H
e raced towards her. The rhino stopped itself and spun for another charge. Head lowered, it snorted several times, throwing plumes of dust backward with its churning feet. Looking at Will, then Radhya, then Will again, it charged the running man. Radhya flapped the blanket frantically, but the behemoth was immune to the disturbance. She screamed, jumping up and down, but it ignored her. With a sickening thud, it impacted Will, throwing him sideways, seven meters from its horn. He landed on his side; a pool of blood spreading from a wound in his abdomen, staining the dust of the ground. The violet light in Radhya’s mind flickered.
She tried to go to him, but a loud snort brought her to a standstill. Turning, she saw to see the rhino charging her again. She held out the blanket and flapped it wildly, moving as quickly as was safe away from Will. It raced towards her, catching the blanket on its horn and ripping it from her grasp.
Radhya stood defenseless. She knew it could sprint thirty-five klicks an hour, far faster than she could ever run. There was no way she could climb out of its reach. She mentally sent a farewell of blue emotion to Padr, Max, and Will’s flickering presence, feeling his life force weakening. He needed her. His desperate need flowed to her down the bond. No one else could help him, and she would not do without his warm companionship. The beast snorted again, finally rid of the blanket, and began its charge. Radhya remembered a faint scrap of very ancient history, the Minotaur, and bull-leaping. It might work; better than letting Will bleed to death in front of her. Radhya ran towards the rhino as it was charging. Sudden gold and green strength flooded into her. The horn lowered to pierce her body and throw her. They came together. Radhya leapt as never before clearing the head. Her hands hit the rhino’s back, and she was over, as if vaulting a giant pommel horse.
She landed on her feet running. A double thwak thwak sounded behind her. Storn, the slave in charge of the animal compound, was facing the rhino with a gun still pointed at it. The animal crumpled its nose into the dust at his feet. Radhya raised an arm in salute and thanks. Max and Padr raced towards Will from the path to the bridge. Radhya sprinted as well, reaching him first.
She was on her knees examining him as they dashed up, panting. Together the three poured strength and healing down the bond to him. Radhya tore Max’s tunic from him and folded it to make a pressure bandage to reduce the bleeding. Padr removed his tunic and tore it into strips to bind the pad to the wound. Together they poured their essences into the flickering violet presence.
“It’s no good,” despaired Max. “He’s bleeding too much. We can’t hold him.”
“Get him to the med lab at the lodge. I can fix this if we can get him there alive.” Radhya raced ahead as fast as she could.
Padr and Max lifted Will and carried him ever so gently between them to the hanging bridge and across to the lodge. Guided by the sparkling blue presence, they carried him to the med lab and lay him on a table. The streetlights were already on. Radhya was dressed in surgical green, masked, with gloves already on. In a tub of clear liquid beside the table, electrodes were bubbling the fluid. Radhya attached the waiting IV to attempt to stabilize his blood pressure.
“Padr, Max stay with him. Don’t let him go. I only need an hour. I’ll give what I can, but I need to concentrate, and I need him to stay alive for an hour.”
“Don’t worry Radhya; we’ll keep him with us,” Max assured her.
Radhya inserted a long needle and drew out some of Will’s liver cells, which she could tell through the bond and by the scanner was damaged beyond repair. Using the hypospray to create a local condition in his blood that prevented him from bleeding to death, she dropped the liver cells into the tub. A new liver began to grow at a highly accelerated pace. She shot him with another compound designed to increase his red cell production. Radhya then put Will under anesthetic and opened him up at the site of the wound.
Although there was very little bleeding because of her treatment, Will’s liver was shredded. Slowly and carefully, she removed the fragments of it. By then the new one had grown, and she inserted it and hooked up the vital blood supply. Giving the local antidote to the clotting substance in order for the blood to flow, she checked for further damage, but the rest of Will’s insides seemed to be fine. She applied the healing bacteria layer by layer. The incision closed and the final drops of clean blood were wiped from the last layer of fresh skin. She put on a new saline IV and switched off the sterilight.
“Thank you,” she told Padr and Max with tears in her voice. “Thank you. You saved him. You saved his life.”
“No Radhya. You saved him,” Padr replied softly, wiping her tears with the back of his hand.
“No, if you two hadn’t come to keep him alive, through the bond, I couldn’t have saved him.”
“But if you couldn’t grow a new liver, the bond wouldn’t have been able to keep him alive,” he retorted.
They laughed in relief.
“Sometimes, I feel like I have three extra limbs or something,” laughed Max. “And I have to take care of all of you all and keep you out of trouble. One of these days I’m going to get mixed up and make one of you do something I want to do.”
“Oh, I think we all have pretty distinct personalities,” Radhya argued.
“I know, and it’s hard for a private person like me to share so many emotions, so widely,” Padr retorted.
“Oh, and wasn’t it you, a while ago, who told me I wouldn’t know an honest emotion if it bit me or something,” she returned sweetly.
“Would you really like to be all alone again?” queried Max.
“No,” Padr replied, “I need you all to keep me crazy.”
They all dissolved into helpless laughter. Leaving, Radhya told Storn to supervise the rest of the loading and releases. Her group was off duty for a day or two.
Chapter 21
The next morning Will was pale but hale and healthy.
“I could think only of losing you,” he gave Radhya as his excuse.
“You think I would be better off losing you, than you losing me?” she queried.
“I don’t think any of us needs to be lost,” Max finished the argument. “But where in the creator’s ideas did you think to vault over that beast?”
“It was something I once read about the Minotaur, like a half man and half bull creature. I think that was how they defeated him. I don’t exactly remember it now. It’s very vague.”
“Well, it worked. Although I thought my heart would stop when I saw you running towards it,” Padr said. “I thought you were going to bulldog it or something.”
“I would never have made it without your help. Thank you for that. But I’m late to talk to Geo now.”
She left the men together reliving the event, and made her way to the office. The holophone was barely on when Geo’s angry face appeared.
“How dare you take chances like that. Do you know how important you are? You can’t go around jumping over wildlife young lady.”
“But Geo, if I hadn’t jumped I would be dead now, and so would Will. If Max and Padr hadn’t given me their strength, I wouldn’t have made it either. I wasn’t doing it for fun.”
“No, I suppose not, and I apologize, but I was so frightened when I heard what happened. Is Will all right?”
“Yes. I had to use ‘the Geo process’ on him, but he’s perfectly fine, just a little weak from blood loss.”
“You performed the surgery?”
“Yes, I had to. There was no one else. It’s funny, like he was helping me himself, putting skill into my hands. I don’t know. It’s hard to describe.”
“Well done, my dear, well done. How would you like another half planet?”
“What?”
“Lady Kemmira is having a plague on her planet. She’s willing to offer you either half of her land or half of her income for ten years to fix it.”
“Will I have time? I still planned on the Animal Island complex. I have that to do with Padr before the review committee visits.”
“Why don�
�t you leave Padr here? He could be in charge of it. It’s only the architecture and landscaping; all the animals are already there.”
“I guess it would help my chances to stay away from Barone if I had another half-world. It should increase my status quite a bit although I think maybe the income might be better. Check and see which is greater then set up the contracts. I’ll be home as soon as Will feels able to travel.”
Radhya signed off. Will was dressed and on his feet when she returned to the infirmary. Throwing his arms around her neck, he drew her close, his lips descending and kissing her slowly. Violet shimmering light enveloped her, an upwelling of respect, gratitude, and love. Max and Padr joined in the emotions, but Radhya pulled away embarrassed.
“I needed to thank you,” Will explained.
Radhya laughed. “Embarrassing me to death is a great thank you. You know I don’t like hands on me.”
“Tit for tat,” he responded. “You had your hands inside me yesterday.”
“Okay, I’ll give you that. You are forgiven. Now look, we have work to do.”
“Oh no more rhinos, please. They give me a pain,” moaned Will, doubled over in mock pain.
“Ha ha. Padr, how would you feel about staying behind and overseeing the Animal Island complex? I have been offered half a planet to stop a problem and get an economy functioning again.
A pang shivered down the emerald strand in her mind.
“If I have to, I suppose I can,” he replied, “However, I don’t feel right about being that far apart from you and the others.”
Radhya thought for a moment. Leaving Padr behind created uneasiness situated somewhere in the vicinity of her stomach, but she dismissed it.
“So the rest of you get packed. We’re going to Kemmira’s World.”
Radhya, Max and Will took a heliplane to the spaceport, meeting Rory and Stane at the Arrow. Brief preparations over, they were off planet and headed for the stars. A restless discomfort bloomed in them. Will and Max grew uneasy while Radhya developed a splitting headache, the first since the bonding.