Saving Jax

by L. M. Brown

  "Maybe I should try to access my own credits?" Cal suggested. "It might be less risky than you or Jax doing the same. It's not like they're even looking for me."

  Ty shook his head. "You might not have been mentioned in the news reports, but I'm sure your accounts are being watched as closely as ours."

  Jax pointed at a sign for the exit. "Come on, let's find somewhere quiet where we can try to find Blanche and also assure Cal of how much he means to us."

  "I know that already," Cal replied as he followed them.

  "I think you need reminding," Jax said as he slowed down for Cal to pass him, just so he could give his arse a squeeze.

  They checked into a small hostel which seemed to be populated by young avians, who didn't appear to be bothered by the crying babies. After contributing by helping out in the kitchen, they settled down to eat and start connecting to each of the nests with a feline.

  With only one holo-projector between them, it was slow going.

  Finally, in the early hours of the morning, Blanche appeared on the holo-screen. "What sort of idiot transmits at this time of the morning?"

  Jax cringed. They had been trying to connect with the felines in the later time zones of the planet, but he guessed they had miscalculated. It was a hazard of being in unfamiliar territory, where the length of the day and night wasn't the same as the last world.

  "Blanche?" Jax asked as he spun the holo-screen round to face his sister.

  "Jax?" Blanche suddenly appeared wide awake, if a little stunned. "Is that you?"

  "It's me," Jax confirmed, grinning from ear to ear. "We thought we'd come and pay you a visit. It's long overdue."

  Blanche frowned at him. "Uncle Orin kicked you out too?"

  Jax shook his head. "Not exactly."

  "Please tell me he's not with you."

  "No, no. He's not here, I swear."

  Blanche visibly relaxed. "Good. He's the last feline I want to see. So, how did you convince him to let you come visit the family whore?"

  Jax didn't like hearing Blanche refer to herself in that way, but she didn't appear shamed by the term. "I guess you don't get much news from Furyne here."

  "We get some, but usually months after the events. Why?"

  Jax sent her a record of the abduction story from the Canine Information Network and waited for her to read it.

  "Oh dear," Blanche said after she'd finished reading. "Are these canines with you now?"

  "What? No, I've not been abducted. I'm on the run with Ty and Cal."

  "Who's Cal?" Blanche turned back to the story as though she might have missed something.

  Cal poked his head into shot. "I'm the forgotten mate."

  Jax rolled his eyes. "Not forgotten by those who matter."

  Blanche shook her head. "Where are you, exactly?"

  "At a hostel just near the spaceport."

  "Which port?"

  "Lower Forest," Jax confirmed.

  "Got it," Blanche said. "Stay there tonight and then get the northern sky car in the morning. You'll need to travel north for about eight hours, then change over for the western line. Then… never mind, I'll send you a route map. Do you have credits to pay for the sky car?"

  "It depends how expensive it is," Jax said.

  "I'll send you some credits to be picked up at the collection branch opposite the sky car terminal."

  "Thank you."

  "Anything for my baby brother. I'll see you in a couple of days."

  "Days?"

  Blanche shrugged. "Well, if you'd let me know you were coming I'd have told you that there are two spaceports nearer than the one you used. Actually, why did you travel to a commercial port instead of a public transport one?"

  "Long story," Jax said. "I'll fill you in when we get there. Two days, right?"

  "Unless you can find someone at the port to fly you to one of the public ports up here, but it'll probably cost you even more than the sky car. Landing commercial ships at public ports needs a special permit or you pay a huge fine."

  "We'll take the sky car," Jax confirmed. "The pilot who flew us here will have taken off for his next job a few hours ago."

  Jax grinned at his mates as he shut down the connection.

  "Happy?" Ty asked, with a wide smile of his own.

  "Very," Jax replied as he hugged Ty and drew Cal close too. Reconnecting with his sister had helped to ease some of his worries. She clearly wasn't in contact with their uncle, which meant they were safe for the moment.

  *****

  Blanche was waiting for them when they reached the end of their sky car journey. Jax had checked in with her at the various connection changeovers, but they had only had a few minutes at each stop. Unfortunately, the holo-projector signal was weak as they travelled over the uninhabited areas, so they had not had much time to catch up.

  "You didn't tell me you'd had a litter?" Blanche scolded as she hurried to help by taking one of the babies into her arms. "What, didn't you think I'd want to know? Or maybe you thought it wasn't important?"

  "There just wasn't enough time to tell you everything."

  Blanche snorted and shook her head. "You told me about the amusing story you'd read on the network about the human settlers and their reactions to felines. If you can find time to tell me that, you could have made time to tell me you'd had a litter. Er, they are yours, aren't they?"

  "Yes, of course," Jax replied. "Who else's?"

  Blanche nodded at Cal. "They could have been his. Obviously they're too young to be your other mate's."

  "Cal isn't dual-gendered. No, they're mine. Just don't ask me their names as we've not decided yet."

  Blanche cooed over her niece. Jax could see the moment the truth hit her. She stared at his two mates, then at his daughter. "Oh Jax, what sort of trouble are you in?"

  Jax hadn't managed to form a single word before Blanche steered them towards a staircase leading high into the trees. When he glanced up, he saw buildings built within the branches. Each of the structures was connected to others by dozens of walkways. Even though they had an abundance of trees on Furyne, none of their people would have considered living in them.

  Once they were on the higher level, Blanche explained the nest she lived in was just a short walk away. Cal appeared most relieved to hear that, since he had the bulk of the luggage, despite Blanche's escort helping him with some of the heavier items.

  Since Blanche wasn't pressing him for an explanation, Jax kept quiet and tried to gather his thoughts. He wasn't looking forward to telling Blanche about how foolish he had been.

  "Here we are," Blanche said. "Welcome to the nest."

  "It seems fairly quiet here," Cal commented. "I thought nests would be busy with lots of people in them."

  "There are five of us altogether," Blanche said as she flopped onto a large cushion and waved at them to make themselves at home.

  "How is Manu?" Jax asked, hoping he had correctly remembered the name of her mate.

  Blanche frowned. "He was well last time I saw him. His nest is about three days travel from here."

  "You mean you aren't living with him?" Jax wondered if that was normal behaviour amongst nests.

  "No, of course not. He prefers males."

  "But didn't you and he get caught… er…?"

  Blanche growled under her breath. "Manu and I didn't do anything other than talk."

  "But Uncle Orin said…"

  "I know what he said and it was all a load of lies, which, if he'd bothered to get to know his guests properly, he'd have known. Manu never made any secret of his preference for males."

  "I don't understand. What happened?"

  Blanche, still holding Jax's daughter, avoided his gaze as she cooed at the baby. "I presume the litter is Lyndon's?"

  The change of subject took Jax by surprise. "Yes, how did you know?"

  Blanche snorted. "It didn't take a genius to figure that out. Lyndon the Lecher is what I used to call him. He was sniffing around you before you even came of age."<
br />
  Jax couldn't meet his sister's knowing gaze.

  "I warned him to stay away from you," Blanche continued. "That's why he told Uncle Orin he'd caught me being fucked by Manu. Our uncle believed him—he'd never doubt the word of his primary food source—and I was labelled a whore and tossed out by the tail, leaving no one to stand between Lyndon and my baby brother. I'm so sorry, Jax."

  Jax felt sick to his stomach when he realised it was his fault Blanche had been turned out of her home. In protecting him she had lost everything. Jax rushed to his sister and wrapped his arms around her neck. "It wasn't your fault. I was the one who was stupid enough to believe Lyndon cared for me."

  "You were young and he was always lavishing attention on you," Blanche said. "I should have warned you he was trouble, but I had no proof, and all he'd really done was appear to show you kindness. I tried to see you after the fight, but they wouldn't let me."

  "I know. They wouldn't even let me say goodbye to you before you left Furyne."

  Blanche patted his back and eased him onto the cushion beside her. "I'd have brought you with me if I could, but I had no idea what was going to happen to me. The falcons brought me here, but I wasn't part of a nest. I wasn't allowed to bring my primary food source from Furyne either. I might not have been a whore when Lyndon made his accusation, but it was that or starve."

  "I'm so sorry."

  Blanche shrugged. "We all do what we must to survive. I'm a member of a stable nest now, and that part of my life is behind me. But that's enough about me, so how about you fill me in on what happened between you and Lyndon?"

  Jax had hoped to put it off a little longer, but Blanche's tone made it clear she wasn't going to stand for any stalling on his part. This was so much harder than he thought it would be. Stumbling over his words, he told Blanche everything, from the first time he had given himself to Lyndon, to the realisation that he was carrying the second litter of someone who didn't want him or them. His sister didn't interrupt except to ask for clarification on a few points. When he was finally done, he couldn't bear to look at her. His sons began to whimper in their cribs, and Jax hurried over to them. Cal and Ty were there first, each picking up one of the boys.

  "Are they hungry?" Jax asked.

  "Stop avoiding me," Blanche scolded.

  Jax peered over his shoulder, nervous as to what he would see in his sister's eyes. Instead of censure or blame, he saw only understanding. It made him feel even worse.

  "Lyndon is selfish and stupid," Blanche said.

  "He wasn't the one who was foolish enough to keep spreading his legs," Jax muttered.

  "No," Blanche agreed. "But thankfully your taste in males has got better. I certainly approve of your two mates."

  Ty, who hadn't said much at all since their arrival, other than to ask where the facilities were, laughed lightly. "I'm glad to hear it. Now, what we need to do is figure out how to fix this mess we've got ourselves into."

  Blanche appeared as though she was giving the matter some serious thought. "I presume you know you're already breaching this contract by not allowing the lecher to be a part of your household?"

  "Of course."

  "And what else is in this contract that's stopping you from simply telling them to fuck their contract and walk away?"

  Ty grimaced. "Mostly land and farming rights. If Orin declares the contract breached, he'll be able to claim damages and we could lose a large part of our lands to him."

  "As if he doesn't have enough land anyway," Blanche muttered. "Is that all?"

  "Yes. I wouldn't care about it myself, but it's not exactly my land to lose, it's my parents'. I would never have agreed to the clause about Lyndon, but Orin made it clear that it was non-negotiable. I thought we could find a way out of it, but now I'm wondering if there is one. As you said, I'm already in breach of the contract."

  "I presume you haven't talked to your parents about any of this?"

  Ty shook his head. "No, we just went off-world. Keeping Jax and his babies safe was the only thing we were concerned with."

  "I can understand that, but perhaps they can find a way to break the contract, they are the ones who wrote it, after all."

  "I wish we'd taken a copy of it with us when we left," Cal said.

  "It would help to see what's in it," Blanche agreed.

  Jax nodded. "Blanche is right. Maybe you could contact you father and ask him to send a copy?"

  "Are you sure?" Ty asked. "It would let him know where we are."

  "We can't run forever."

  "I know, but the last thing we want is your uncle or Lyndon coming here."

  "They won't be allowed into the nest without the owner's permission," Blanche said. "I had to get permission for you to enter before I brought you up here."

  "You did?"

  "Yes."

  "What would you have done if the owner—what is his name?—said no?"

  "His name is Valor and I know him well enough to know he would never refuse my request."

  "It sounds as if you're his favourite."

  "No, I'm not his Prime Beak, but he's fair and kind. He knows that allowing you entrance would make me happy. My request was little more than a formality."

  "And he can refuse entrance to Uncle Orin?"

  "Yes. In fact, he'll no doubt do that without my even asking. He is aware of what happened to me back on Furyne already."

  Ty passed the baby he held to Jax and pulled out the holo-projector. "I'll send a message to my father, though it might take a while to reach him."

  Blanche waved to the doorway behind him. "I'll show you to the guest rooms. You're welcome to come and go as you please, but I would advise against straying too far until you're familiar with the area. It's rather easy to get lost around here."

  Jax and his mates followed Blanche through the nest and into the rooms allocated to them. With his big sister watching out for him, he felt a lot better about everything.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The incoming message alert woke Ty. He glanced out of the window, saw it was still dark, and considered ignoring it.

  There was only one person who was going to contact him on the avian communication device, and ignoring his father was never a wise move. Letting the incessant bleeps wake his sleeping mates wasn't very smart either.

  "Hello, father," he said, once the connection was established. The picture wasn't great, it wavered and flickered, but that was only to be expected, considering the distance between their two planets and how many spaceports the signal had to be routed through.

  "At last," his father said. He had clearly been waiting for everything to align for some time. "Ty, what in the name of Furyne were you thinking?"

  Ty ran his fingers through his fur. "Apparently, I wasn't. But I promise we're safe, all of us."

  "Of course you're safe. Did you really think we'd believe that half-hearted attempt to make your departure look like an abduction?"

  "You mean you didn't? But the news reports said—"

  "Of course we didn't believe it. Your mother and I aren't stupid. But we had to tell the news gatherers something and since Orin had already spoken to them and mentioned the signs of a struggle, they had got that idea in their heads. We simply let them run with it."

  Ty felt a little foolish. "I'm glad to hear you weren't worried that we'd been abducted by canines."

  "What would a bunch of canines want with you?" his father asked. "That isn't to say we weren't concerned about you. What were we supposed to think when you just vanished off-world without a trace? Travelling under false names and hiding like some kind of criminals."

  "I'm sorry."

  His father sighed. "Just start explaining, and make it fast because the alignment won't last long enough for some lengthy convoluted nonsense."

  Any thoughts of Ty trying to pass Jax's litter off as his own vanished. The general public might have believed it, but his father wouldn't fall for the lie, especially after seeing the black and white patches of his daugh
ter.

  "Jax was pregnant," Ty said.

  "You only claimed him the night before the contracts were signed. You can't possibly have known that for sure when you ran off."

  "He was pregnant before I claimed him," Ty clarified.

  "Oh." His father appeared speechless. "Does he know who the father is?"

  Ty glared at his father and hoped his fury transmitted with crystal clarity. "Yes, that would be Lyndon, the same feline who fathered his first litter."

  "Are you sure about that?"

  "Yes. I have no reason to doubt Jax's word."

  "You remember what we spoke about before? You are taking Jax's word as truth, when you barely know him."

  Ty sighed and shook his head. "You must have spent time with Orin and Lyndon these last few months, tell me, Father, do they strike you as trustworthy? Do they seem concerned about Jax or are they simply worried about the contract? When they talk about Jax, do they sound worried or angry?"

  The connection broke before his father could reply. He hoped he had given him something to think about, because he would need his father's expertise and guidance to get them all out of this mess.

  *****

  Ty expected his father to check in when everything was in alignment again, so he was rather surprised when he didn't.

  When neither of his parents contacted him on the third opportunity, he initiated the connection himself.

  His father's chief adviser appeared in holographic form a few minutes later.

  "Is my father there?" Ty asked.

  "No, Master Ty, he's off-world at the moment."

  "What? Are you sure?" His father never went off-world. Ty wasn't sure he had even visited the spaceport in his life.

  "Quite sure. Your parents are on their way to Falcair. You should anticipate their arrival in just over four weeks."

  For a moment Ty thought he had hallucinated. Both of his parents were coming here. This was not good at all. He wasn't particularly worried about his father's arrival, but he could do without his mother descending on Blanche's nest. She was going to be furious and Ty had no idea which direction her temper would fly. Felines often joked that their females were more dangerous than the males, and Ty suspected there was more than a grain of truth in that saying. With both of them on their way, Ty couldn't even say whether it was a good sign or a bad that they were coming to see him in person.