CHAPTER FIFTEEN

 

 

- Bren

The private conference call to my brother went better than I expected. My only regret now was how quickly I had to leave Hannah. I know she is hurting and the timing couldn’t have been worse. But when I received the private acceptance and signal that I could reach him, I knew I needed to take the chance and leave her. At least I was able to feed her before leaving. She seems so small and fragile right now, with her red eyes and sad demeanor.

“What are you doing?” He demanded as I started unfastening my flight suit. His disgust turned to shock though, as I peeled it back and exposed my chest. There was no point in trying to explain. Who would believe me? If the roles were reversed, I would not believe him either.

He recovered quickly and after studying my mating marks, said that he would find out everything he could in the old archives. Unfortunately, it has been thousands of years since we were able to mate with the opposite sex. The general consensus is that mating was a primitive need before nanos and cloning and selective breeding programs. I don’t pretend to understand all of what happened over the years, but the mating phenomenon has faded into history as a phase of our life that is better forgotten.

Now that I have experienced it though, I realize the truth of the lie. To be able to have attraction and need flow through your body, not needing drugs or nanos to help have and keep an erection and to actually feel the pull sexually to another? These are all things that have been missing in our reproduction for so long, no one even realizes they exist!

How is that possible?

My brother, trapped in a marriage for the whims of his wife, is the perfect example. He looked at me in horror and pity when I first showed him. He doesn’t see it as the blessing it actually is.

Now, all I can think about is Hannah. I’m drawn to her and want to be with her. She’s everything to me. All my hopes and dreams are now wrapped up in one tiny female.

Quickly, I open the urgent message that was interrupting my call with Matthias every thirty seconds. “Play,” I command and settle back into the conference room chair bracing myself.

This could be another message from Vina Likana and I would rather get it here than back in my room in front of Hannah. “Bren Khar, you have been summoned back to Quasar at the request of The Ruling Council. You are being relieved of your duties for the foreseeable future to fulfill your Ermada Commitment. Congratulations to you and your entire family and we will see you soon.”

The air leaves my lungs in a wheeze as I digest what Vina has done. It’s not unheard of but definitely not common. And why? Why now? Could she have heard something that made her do this in the last rotation?

I have always heard the rumors, that different ships have spies reporting back to The Ruling Council. It always seemed like a conspiracy theory to me. And what is the down side? If you aren’t doing anything wrong, then it’s not a big deal.

This is the first time that I have been in a position where I purposely want to keep some information from the council. I’m aware it can’t be for long. Just a couple of days or weeks, until I can find out what my rights are and how they are likely to legally respond. I have no idea how they are going to react to the fact that one of their eligible males is now mated to an unknown race.

Not totally unknown though. We are aware of all the planets with civilization and the point they are at in their development. There are ranges for the categories and we don’t have all the details. Earth and humans fall under the Ashen’s protection, which limits everyone. This is done purposely due to greed. The more of their information that is available, the more likely it is to fall into unscrupulous hands and their resources may be exploited.

Now that I have listened to the message, it’s undoubtedly been passed along to everyone on the ship. Quickly, I input Atticus’s connection while I still have the privacy. “Sir.” His respectful greeting is almost a mockery.

“I’m coming over right now.”

“Yes sir.”

Striding quickly through the halls, I’m congratulated on every side. Lucky me.

Travek falls into step beside me as I exit the elevator for the medical floor. “Let me know if you need me to help with your situation in the next little while. I’m putting together a transport to separate from the Discovery in the next half rotation. It would be great if you could ignore that too.”

Fuck! He sure knows how to make a shit storm into a cyclone. Travek is one of the only people who can get away with just disappearing for an extended period of time. His family connections are ideal for that although he never throws them in your face or uses them to get out of trouble. He’s gone before I can respond. I have enough other issues to deal with.

The door to Atticus’s Medical Bay slides open soundlessly and I’m not surprised to see his partner Brock there with him waiting for me. Ushering me back to a more secluded area, I follow them through a narrow hallway and into their combined living space.

Brock starts making tea while Atticus motions me into a chair across from him.

“What is going on? We received the communication that we are heading back early.” His eyes drill into mine as if this is all my fault somehow.

“How the hell would I know? I’m almost thinking someone told Vina that we picked up a human female and she is in my quarters. Everything is happening so fast.” Scrubbing my hands over my face, I let out a sigh and try to gather my thoughts. “She contacted me to let me know that she is planning things early. She had some irrelevant excuse about a star alignment. Then, I heard from Matthias that now was an appropriate time to contact him. I left my quarters to have a private conversation and by the time I was done, the message from the council was distributed.”

Atticus just stares at me thoughtfully. He is probably having the same thoughts I am. Tea is set in front of me by Brock and he settles into a chair. “So it wasn’t you who contacted her? We wondered.” Brock takes a sip of his hot drink as his eyes flicker to Atticus.

“No, of course not. She must have been checking on me. When she called, I was in my room with Hannah. Thankfully, Hannah was in the shower but she heard part of the end of the conversation and now knows about her. She was terribly upset and says she wants to go home. I can understand her disappointment, but it doesn’t change what happened between us. It’s done.”

“So you were dressed?” Atticus smirks.

“Yes. Vina didn’t see my mating marks.”

Brock interjects again. “Does Hannah know what has happened? Have you used the words mating and life long attachment?”

My mind blanks as I review what we have discussed. It’s not much. I thought I showed her. “No, but we had sex. We’ve had sex multiple times.”

Brock rolls his eyes and Atticus laughs. “Yes Bren, but most of us have had sex. I understand that you haven’t but most of us have taken the opportunity to get Canasta and have sex. It doesn’t mean we are committed to that person. It’s just sex.” He cracks his knuckles and then leans back in his chair. “Has she said whether she has ever had sex before? With a human man?”

A growl immediately crawls up my throat and my voice deepens as I answer. “She did allude to previous relationships, but I was so preoccupied with staying calm that I tried not to think about it. I’m now dealing with some uncontrollable rage. That is actually something that I was coming over here about.”

Lowering my voice, I lean forward. “I can’t explain to you what I’m dealing with, but it seems to be getting worse. I can’t think of anything but her. And I want to kill anyone who wants to see her, let alone does. How am I going to live like this?”

Atticus looks serious but Brock just barks out a laugh, making fun as he answers. “What? I think part of the reason you probably feel that way right now is because you are separated. Separation anxiety is a classic symptom of being away from one another and it only heightens that mating weakness.”

“Brock did a study on the biological changes in our society over the last millennium for one of his classes. The mating process was a part of his paper.” Atticus raises his eyebrows and tilts his head towards Brock.

“Only because we know so little about it. There would be a lot more done on it if we could find information on it. This happening to you is going to bring up a lot of questions. There are many doctors who are going to want to document it.”

Gods no. The fear must show on my face because Atticus quickly cuts in. “Bren, you must have considered this? You have potentially disrupted our society and reproductive social classes, not to mention the religious implications.”

Slumping back, I drop my head into my hands. I’m beginning to shake from the realization of what all the repercussions from this could be.

“Don’t panic. We are here and will step up and take over any studies as your private physicians. We will try to keep a hold of this. We are already on our way back in and I almost think that we should be setting this up and getting everything structured before reaching orbit.”

What he is saying makes sense. He takes a sip of tea before continuing. “But right now, the most important thing is getting Hannah informed. She needs to know what our society is like. What a phenomenal, ground breaking event this mating is in our world.”

“Hasn’t she noticed the mating marks?” Brock turns to Atticus quizzically. “Didn’t you tell me she has them on her neck and back?”

“As far as I know, she hasn’t noticed them. I believe she would have mentioned them if she saw them. She traces mine. She would recognize that they are identical.” I sigh as I consider all the possibilities and consequences this all has.

“Well, let’s go discuss this with her. Tell her our history and make sure she understands what a miracle this is.” Atticus hesitates. “This is a miracle, right? You are happy about this?”

“Of course I am! I’m not an idiot. I was about to go back and end up in a marriage with twelve other males, one of them my brother. I have my own woman now. If we end up being compatible, I’ll have my own children conceived without genetic interference or drugs. That is a miracle.”

“We don’t have any reason to believe that you won’t be compatible. The very fact that you have mated means you are compatible.” Atticus finishes the last of his drink before dropping it unceremoniously.

I’ve never considered children before except in a vague, abstract way. But now with Hannah, I want them. I can’t help the broad smile that spreads across my face.