by L. E. Horn
Much to her surprise, Hannah led Lianndra straight into her lower abdomen, and stopped as if waiting for her to look around. So Lianndra did, checking her friend’s intestinal tract, bladder, and kidneys, which all seemed healthy. She moved on with less certainty to the reproductive tract. The mutagens the Fang injected into them had altered their internal reproductive organs, although the external anatomy remained much the same. As a result, Lianndra could look for any signs of infection, but she remained unsure she would notice anything unusual about the tract itself.
I can compare one side to the other.
The genetic changes seemed bilateral, so the two sides should be the same. There were two horns to the uterus, rather than just one, and the Fallopian tubes formed loops. She paused. One uterine horn appeared larger than the other. She concentrated, following the cellular structure . . . and found something present in one horn but not the other.
Something that had a heart beating to a rhythm all its own.
Oh my God! Lianndra pulled out so fast she gasped when she surfaced. She opened her eyes and saw Hannah smiling at her.
“Hannah, you’re pregnant!” Lianndra cried out in astonishment. She looked around, wondering who might have overheard.
“Pregnant?” Michael’s deep voice sounded as surprised as Lianndra’s. She turned to see him, Andrea, and Drake approaching. Michael grabbed Drake’s hand and clapped him hard enough on the shoulder that the man staggered a little. “You were holding out on me. ‘We’re sweet,’ he says to me, with no mention of ‘We have a mini-bloke or sheila in progress’. Pregnant!” The news had obviously caught Michael off guard.
As Lianndra hugged her friend, sensing Hannah’s joy as well as her fear, the ground seemed to drop from beneath her. She and Michael hadn’t discussed the future. With all they’d been through, they were content with being welcomed here and had not taken it beyond that. At least not yet. But children? Hannah’s pregnancy reminded everyone that, despite their wishes and desires, Fate marched to a drum all its own.
Andrea took her turn embracing Hannah while Lianndra’s heart and mind raced. She had no way to know what effect Hannah’s genetic changes would have on the pregnancy. Would the baby be okay? They hadn’t thought about what the future might hold. ‘Will we live’ has been the predominating theme, and we have answered that with a yes. But will we have children? We’ve barely had time to draw breath!
As she met Michael’s gaze, she saw her thoughts echoed in his eyes. They assumed she would be sterile due to the mutations. Even if they hadn’t made her sterile, she thought the collar kept her from cycling.
None of us recognized we could be fertile now that we’ve deactivated the collars, she thought.
This revelation blew everything out of the water. And unlike Drake, Michael possessed further genetic modifications. From her blood. What effect would that have on a baby?
Drake had his arm around Hannah, his eyes shining. Andrea babbled excitedly. Something about planning, of all things, a baby shower. Michael moved to stand behind Lianndra, putting a warm hand on her shoulder. She linked her fingers with his, feeling Michael’s pulse beating as rapidly as her own. The smile plastered on her face felt stiff, forced.
Hannah’s pregnancy turned all their assumptions on end.
Any Healers’ offspring would have either normal human fathers—like Drake—or those genetically enhanced over generations. Michael is a step beyond even the so-called elite males.
We might see the birth of a new species, Lianndra thought. A baby. What next? What other surprises does life hold in store for us?
LIANNDRA SAT ALONE ON THE edge of a cliff, looking down at the Gryphon valley. She had a decision to make, one that might seem trivial to anyone other than herself. Yet this particular decision revealed something significant taking place within her.
Hannah’s condition effected a fundamental change in Lianndra. More than the worry she might become—or was already—pregnant, bringing a new life into this world raised the stakes. Keeping themselves alive now seemed possible, but raising children?
So many unknowns, and a lot of them were terrifying. With the Fang gone, they no longer had access to vital answers, such as whether the Healers could give birth to viable offspring. They would have to explore this path on their own, and it could be fraught with danger and potential heartbreak for mother and child.
It was a danger that Lianndra could not yet embrace. She feared what she might find if she looked too closely, so much so that she had yet to do so. Regardless of what the future might hold, nothing altered the reality that the Healers were no longer fully human. For better or worse, they had changed into something else. Any chance of the modifications being reversed disappeared with the Fang.
Who knows, she thought, perhaps, given enough time, humans would have evolved to look like us. Plus or minus the tail.
Lianndra looked at what she held in her hands. She had tweaked the end of her tail to create a golden, fluffy tuft, but it did little to hide the stump’s abruptness. She’d known for some time that she could regrow it, or alternatively, eliminate it completely. She delayed doing either, undecided. The tail represented how she felt about herself. Or a sign of what I will become.
The decision before her seemed simple. Either she acknowledged herself as a deformed Earth human, or an advanced Tarin Healer.
Monster or miracle, that’s me, she thought. Her gaze intense, she went within.
Slowly, the tail grew.
Tarin will be witness to the rise of a new race, she thought. One with abilities we have only just begun to explore. I have avoided the obvious for way too long.
Veritas vos liberabit.
And the truth shall set you free.
Epilogue
WHILE THE TLOK’MK REMAINED ONE of the most ruthless species in the universe, the Bernaf had always proven to be insidiously clever.
The ultimate keeper of secrets, mystery cloaked the Bernaf’s every move as they traveled through the universe. The quality of their space vessels, technology, and weaponry provided evidence of their success. Ever elusive, Bernaf ships could only be captured by the tremendous resources available to the Tlok’mk Motherships. In this case, when the Tlok’mk captured the Bernaf ship, the major prize seemed the enslavement of all the crew. Bernaf proved to be valuable slaves and, with their home planet a well-kept secret, the only way for the Tlok’mk to acquire the clever aliens was to capture one of their ships.
In the beginning, there appeared nothing unusual about this particular Bernaf crew. The Tlok’mk seized the ship near the Drant Trading Hub while on a routine passage through the system. Just another day of business for the Tlok’mk, but upon processing the Bernaf crew, things ceased to be routine.
Standard procedure involved interrogating the Bernaf before collars and duties were assigned. Bernaf traveled far across the universe, and the information the clever species collected in such travels often led to new slave conquests for the Tlok’mk. Under interrogation, even the most stalwart Bernaf relinquished their secrets—or they died.
The resistance of these slaves surprised the interrogating Fara. She lost three valuable Bernaf before she called in her superiors to assess the problem. This time, the gray aliens hid a secret they would die to protect.
Being Tlok’mk, the interrogators became more brutal. Eventually, they gleaned what they needed: information on a creature from a remote planet, a creature possessing talents that if properly harnessed could make the Tlok’mk one of the most powerful species in the universe.
The Fara in charge of interrogations contacted her Chamber of Elders that, in turn, contacted those of the other Motherships in the sector. The elders arrived at a swift consensus: obtain the species by any means necessary.
The decision led to the war with the Gryphon on Tarin, and the initiative turned out rather poorly for the Tlok’mk. Their efforts to attain the species through sheer force brought their people to the brink of collapse.
Throughout
it all, the Bernaf watched and waited. They observed while the Tlok’mk did all the hard work. They waited until the planet’s defense shield, a remarkably effective bit of technology, succumbed to the might of the Tlok’mk plasma cannon.
They watched the Tlok’mk limp away without the prize.The door remained open. All the Bernaf had to do was walk through it.
The adventure continues!
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Thank You! L.E. Horn
IT IS TRUE THAT NO book is published without an army of support, and the Gryphon Saga is no exception. My friend/publisher/editor/consultant Susan Lisoway stayed entrenched for a much longer haul than anticipated. The loyalty of the entire Hayek clan remained impressive and I couldn’t have done it without Pat, Stewart, Gillian, Austin, Ann Marie, and Phil. Support came in many forms, including the early editing assistance of A.P. Fuchs, who showed me I had much to learn, and the inspiration of my friend, Wendy Mackie, who taught me I could do anything I set my mind to. I will be forever grateful to my friends, alpha readers, and beta critics who provided invaluable assistance with the finishing touches of the stories and encouragement that I was onto something that people would enjoy—Kathy Asseiro, Donna Horn, Larry Paetkau, Michele Campbell, Lori Zebiere, Autumn Robbie-Draward, Randy Draward, Angelina Temple, and Bonny Bonneville. My proofreader, Barbara Holliday, polished my writing to a brilliant shine. Last, but certainly not least, my husband, who encouraged my quirky desire to create an alternate universe and then tolerated the exposure of my eccentricity when I wrote it all down!
Thanks to all of you from the depths of my heart!
Author and artist, L.E. Horn, is a full-time, speculative fiction writer.
Her interests led to a degree in Animal Science and a lifelong fascination with our unconscious connections to the natural world. She particularly loves to explore the qualities we believe distinguish us from the creatures whose planet we share. Her discoveries, combined with her vivid imagination, spill over into everything she writes and lend depth and insight to her interspecies relationships.
L.E. Horn shares her country home with her husband and several interesting animals that, as she puts it, “Inspire me by pointing out what should be obvious on a minute-by-minute basis. The challenge keeps me happy and humble.”
Visit lehorn.ca/about to learn more.