PROMISES TO KEEP

by

Janet Miller

© copyright June 2004, Janet Miller
Cover art by Eliza Black, © copyright June 2004
New Concepts Publishing
5202 Humphreys Rd.
Lake Park, GA 31636
www.newconceptspublishing.com

Prologue

Somewhere in space

Symon turned and stared at the tall, dark-haired man, dressed in his usual black uniform. "We need women, Garran. If we don’t get them from Earth, where do you expect them to come from? The Outer Colonies have their own troubles, they can’t provide for us."

General Garran Doranth stared at his second-in-command. He had no answer, as Symon had already known. Instead of dealing with the question, he shifted in the chair and scowled. "I don’t like bringing Earthers to Gaia. I still believe it’s a mistake."

On the other side of the conference table, Bethan, Symon’s wife, stirred and exchanged glances with her husband. From the head of the table, Garran watched the silent nods and raised eyebrows as the pair silently communicated and a fleeting amusement passed through him at how well they understood each other. She squared her shoulders and returned her gaze to meet his eyes. Garran stiffened under his sister-in-law’s stare.

It was apparently her turn to persuade him.

"I understand how you feel, Garran. We both do, but what choice do we have?"

Briefly, he let her gentle voice soothe him. It was so like Metta’s--but it wasn’t and he’d never hear his wife’s sweet voice again. Old pain eliminated the brief comfort he’d taken.

Oblivious, Bethan continued. "The situation is simple: we have too many men and not enough women. No matter how you dislike it, this is the only solution available. Have you been in the crew quarters recently? They grow impatient, weary of waiting. There has been talk…."

The word caught Garran’s attention. "Talk?"

Symon took up the battle. "Yes, talk. Talk of going out on their own to find women. And you know what a disaster that could be. You may not like it, but this is the only choice we have."

No, he didn’t like it. "It might not even work. They might not be suitable."

"It’s worked in the past. Even you can’t deny that. And you can’t argue that the few Earth women we have acquired haven’t made excellent wives."

Garran nodded grudgingly. He’d been angry when the ship’s doctor had attached, but the woman had turned into a good addition to his crew, in spite of his misgivings. But to bring in others.… "They will change us. We need so many, it will change who we are."

Bethan laughed. "And who’s to say it wouldn’t be good for us to suffer a little change? We’ve become too isolated. That was part of the problem in the first place." At his ill-humored grunt, she reached over and patted his arm. "Who knows, Garran, perhaps you could find someone…."

Fury sprang within him without warning. Clenching his fists he turned on her. "Not … even … in … jest!" His voice felt like a raw wound.

She stared at him, white-faced, and Symon moved to her side, slipped a comforting arm around her waist. The hurt in her eyes made him pause. After all, they were his best friends, the only people Garran could name as family, and slowly he reined in his temper. When he spoke again his voice was gentler. "Both of you know better than that." He tried a reassuring smile but failed in its accomplishment. "Besides, you know I’m immune."

They moved closer and stood as a couple, united against him. "We promised them," Symon told him. "It’s been five years now, and we swore we would find our men wives."

"And we always keep our promises, don’t we?" Garran stood and moved to the far side of the room and examined the star field in the view-screen. The individual points of light moved leisurely past, and just as slowly he nodded. "A man should not live alone. I’m proof enough of that. Very well, I agree. As you say, we have no other options. Our men need the women and this is the best way to get them."

The wall next to the screen held a small picture, a holopic of a woman holding a small child. The three-dimensional image caught his attention. This image was all that he had left of his wife and daughter. A chill passed through him and he placed one large hand next to it on the wall.

"No one should have to be alone."

Chapter One

Earth, 2488

"No one should be alone at a time like this." Sarah stepped into the dingy hospital corridor and flagged down a passing nurse’s aide. "Andrea. I need you!"

Andrea glanced down at the stack of white towels she carried, a worried look on her face. "But Dr. Johnson, Dr. Masterson asked me to bring these to his office."

In a swift movement Sarah grabbed the towels and dumped them on a nearby gurney. "You work on my floor and I decide what your duties are. You come here, and I’ll deal with our chief-of-staff." She pulled the younger woman into the cramped labor room. Its walls and ceilings were the same ugly gray-green as the rest of the hospital, but enlivened by old paper posters of flowers and animals, Sarah’s attempt to cheer up the otherwise barren environment. One wall held the diagnostic panel, the only sign this room lived in the twenty-fifth century. With a practiced eye, Sarah checked the screen for the progress of the labor, the amount of dilation. It would be hours yet before this baby would be born.

The laboring woman on the narrow bed reached out a hand to them. A ripple passed along her swollen belly and she cried out, eyes wide in alarm.

Andrea instantly grabbed the woman’s hand. "There, there, it’s going to be okay. Breathe with me." She began a slow pant, coaxing the frightened woman into doing the same. They breathed in unison and a sense of calm entered the room. Andrea glanced back at Sarah, her concern over the towels gone. "Go on, Dr. Johnson. I’ll stay with her."

Sarah smiled her relief. "You’re in the best of hands, Maria. Andrea will let me know when I need to take over."

She re-entered the corridor and glanced at the slightly disheveled pile of towels. Maria was the third woman to arrive alone today. Dr. Masterson had to stop purloining her aides. She needed them for patients. It was bad enough she had to help these poor women without drugs or equipment too expensive for the state supported hospital to afford.

Sometimes she felt like she might as well be practicing medicine in the twentieth century for all the advances made in the past five hundred years. Only a laboring woman in serious jeopardy would be allowed a transfer to the few rooms where more costly equipment was available.

Of course dissatisfaction with her job was only part of her problem. Lately her whole life seemed to lack…something.

Down the hall someone called for her. Putting aside her contemplative thoughts, Sarah ran to answer them.

Several hours later, Sarah exited Maria’s room, pulled off her gloves and gown, and dumped them down the sanitizer chute outside the door. A baby girl, Maria had a baby girl. Surprisingly healthy, too, for an unplanned pregnancy. Leaning against the wall, she tried to relax and ignore her nagging discontent. Was it that she envied Maria? Could she be jealous of that small bundle of life, or envy Maria the dark-haired man who’d shown up just in time to see his daughter born?

A baby of her own, a man of her own. Maybe that’s what she was missing, why she kept feeling this odd restlessness. Wanting to move, go somewhere else, do something besides….

"Dr. Johnson!"

She cringed. Do something besides play stupid power games with her boss. She straightened to face him. "Dr. Masterson. Did you want something?"

"My towels. I asked for fresh towels over two hours ago."

Sarah nodded to the stack still sitting on the gurney nearby. "There they are."

He narrowed his eyes. "And the aide? Where is she?"

An inward groan almost escaped her. Of course, Andrea’s blond prettiness--towels indeed! "She’s where she should be, with her patients. We had six unplanned deliveries today…."

He gave an impatient wave of his hand. "Your problems are not my concern, Dr. Johnson. But when I want something, I expect to get it." He glanced down her body, a leer on his face. "You could be replaced, you know. There are three obstetricians to every post these days. Not too many people having babies anymore."

"If there are so many out-of-work doctors, then why not hire more? I could use some help."

"We can’t afford it. Staffing is over-budget as it is."

Right. She’d seen the budget and there’d been an increase in spending. Where was the money going--to Masterson’s new office with attached full bath, perhaps? But even she didn’t dare say anything about that.

His leer deepened. "You know, Sarah, I might be able to find more help for you, but I’d have to make cuts elsewhere. Maybe you could have dinner with me tonight and discuss it." He came closer, reached out to stroke her cheek. "You have such nice skin."

Her stomach churned and she jerked away. "I don’t like being touched, Doctor!"

He withdrew his hand, fingers slowly folding into a fist. A look of contempt crossed his face. "Yes, I remember. Pity. You’re not a beauty, but there is an appeal. Oh, well." He turned to leave.

"Dr. Masterson." Sarah’s voice was subdued.

"Yes?" He glanced back, sudden interest in his voice.

"Don’t forget your towels."

* * * *

"You told him to take his own towels?" Laura crowed with delight. "What did he do then?"

Sarah shrugged. "Snarled something, picked them up and left."

Her three companions howled in appreciation. "Oh I wish I’d been there to see that!" Alexia said.

"This calls for another round." Jessie picked up the wine bottle and topped off everyone’s glass. "Sarah finally got one back at slime-ball Masterson."

It was Sarah’s turn in the Tuesday night bitching-feast. Each week she and her friends met for dinner to converse and complain about their lives. As oldest she usually went last.

Laura Thomas, her closest friend, worked as an obstetric nurse, Alexia Simmons and Jessie Williams were lab techs at the hospital, and no one liked Masterson.

The restaurant, Hannah’s Hideaway, was their favorite. Inexpensive, good food, and better wine. The red draperies across the windows were made of real cloth--the battered tables and chairs were simulated wood. Artificial plants hung from the ceiling in woven baskets and Sarah had been told once they resembled something called a ‘fern’.

The only condescension to the times was the wall with a large media panel in the center, showing news bulletins, ads, and public announcements. The sound was kept off most of the time and only something important would override the mute.

Sarah sighed as she recalled the rest. "Well, he got one back at me, too. He called later and told me I have to come in tomorrow afternoon. I only get a half-day off this week."

All moaned in sympathy with her.

"I’m sorry, Sarah," Laura told her. "Maybe we can do something in the morning. So, is that the last of it? What else happened today?"

She sipped her wine. The cool tartness danced on her tongue. "I ran out of coffee this morning and it’ll be a week before I can get more."

Her friends groaned. Sarah’s fondness for the black beverage was renowned and they knew after a week’s lack she’d be hard to deal with.

Jessie tried to be helpful. "Well, at least you can get some at the hospital."

Now Sarah groaned. "A week of that brown swill and I may swear off the stuff for good."

Too unlikely. They all laughed.

"So, anything else?" Alexia prompted.

Sarah stared into her glass. "I got groped on the p-tran on the way over here."

"Eww, " they said in unison. Men often took advantage of the crowded public transport cars to fondle a woman without her permission. Getting groped was a daily hazard. Sarah’s stomach turned as she remembered the feel of the man's fingers, pawing at her skin in the anonymous crush. She didn’t like being touched. It made her…queasy. "I wish I knew why they always pick on me. That’s the third time this week."

"Well, if you didn’t wear such flashy colors," Jessie said.

Sarah glanced down at her light green coverall and narrowed her eyes. "I refuse to dress in black…."

Laura nodded knowingly. "She has a thing about dark colors, ever since ‘the Beast’ showed up wearing them."

"General Garran Doranth is not the reason I don’t wear black!"

"He’s the main one. I swear, Sarah, that man has more influence on you than old Masterson does." She nodded confidentially to Alexia and Jessie. "She talks about him all the time, you’d think she had a thing for him."

"He is really good looking…for a Gaian," Alexia said sweetly.

Sarah’s mouth dropped open. "You…you…I don’t believe this. I detest the man. He’s evil, loathsome." She tried to calm her breathing and failed. "He killed Karen."

Laura patted her hand. "No, Sarah. I know Karen was like a sister to you. But it was a war and people died. That happens. You can’t hold a single man responsible for it."

Even after five years it still hurt. "The Hope was a hospital ship," she said stubbornly. "It shouldn’t have been attacked. And besides, he was so callous about it. I copied that broadcast he made when he announced the fleet’s destruction and every once in a while I watch it."

Laura’s jaw dropped. "Why would you do that?"

"To remind myself that no matter how bad Masterson gets, I’ll never hate anyone worse than General Garran, the Gaian Beast!"

Jessie flashed her an amused glance. "Well, trust Sarah to find a good use for it," she said dryly.

"At least the war is over, now," Alexia said. "No one else will die. The Gaians have the freedom to choose their future and that’s more than we have."

Sarah’s restlessness returned. "You’re right. They have a future, and we should, too. I want more than this."

"Like what?" Laura asked.

She leaned forward. "Like a family, a man to love me, a child of my own. Think that’s going to happen here? When was the last time you went to a wedding? No man wants to commit anymore to one woman. And it shows in the birthrate. We see fewer and fewer babies being born with a father around."

All three nodded in agreement. Jessie, ever the practical one, pointed out the obvious. "You’re right, there aren’t many men around willing to commit. So what can we do about it?"

"Yeah, Sarah. I want a husband, same as you," Laura told her. "But show me where I can find one."

Before she could respond, the media panel gave off a great gong, drawing their attention, and as the sound faded, Sarah became sharply aware of a child’s laugh. The screen turned black then the center showed the face of a baby, its eyes bright and mouth open in a cooing smile. The image panned out and revealed a man holding the child, cradling it carefully in his arms. He smiled and laughed as the infant gurgled at him. The happy sounds cut right through Sarah.

He wore a loose fitting, light-blue shirt, open at the neck. The color alone was enough to catch her attention. So few people dressed in anything but black or grays. His hair was dark and fell to his shoulders with one lock hanging across his forehead. When he looked at the camera, his eyes were light brown. He looked healthy, happy, and devastatingly handsome.

Laura gaped. "Well, he’d do!"

Sarah didn’t say anything, but her heart flip-flopped in her chest. Sometimes she dreamed of a man like this--wonderful dreams. His body, hands, everything but the face was just like the man who visited her sleeping hours. Of course, she couldn’t recognize the face--her lover’s face was always a blank.

Lettering appeared. "Seeking a new life? Want children, a husband, a home of your own? If you’re unmarried and between nineteen and thirty-five years old, come to Exavier Hall at twenty-one hours to learn more about this exciting offer." The media panel faded to black.

Alexia was the one to break the silence. "Sarah, where’s Exavier Hall?"

* * * *

Exavier Hall was on the old college grounds, about five minutes from the restaurant by p-tran. It wasn’t the best part of town, but as the vehicle rattled to a jerky stop, they noticed quite a few patrollers around. Many other women got off with them.

The patrolmen were rough and unsmiling, and Sarah and the others kept well away from them. It was unlikely a security man would molest a woman with so many people about, but it was usually better to err on the side of caution. At least the official security people would keep the unofficial ruffians away.

Sarah came to a sudden stop in front of the building, awestruck. "There’s a tree here." The other three stared with her. "It must be the last one in the city."

It was huge, taller than the hall by a hundred meters or more. Broad limbs spread across the courtyard, spilling out above the clear unscalable fence surrounding the trunk. Stunned, Sarah wandered under the canopy of leaves.

Jessie stood next to her and sniffed. "The air is fresher here."

Laura and Alexia joined them. "So beautiful," Laura said. "Why did they stop planting them, Sarah?"

"They said trees took up too much water." Sarah took a deep breath. Usually the city air had a metallic tang to it, but under the tree it seemed…cleaner. As she gazed up into the canopy, a leaf detached and spiraled down. Reaching out, she plucked it from the air. It felt strange, smooth and bumpy. Looking close, she saw unhealthy yellow and brown blotches on the green surface.

Alexia took it from her and examined it. "Diseased, I think." She looked up and pointed to the many other leaves like it, the bare branches in other parts of the tree. "It’s gotten old and they haven’t taken care of it. I suspect it’s dying."

"They don’t take care of the p-tran cars or the hospital, why would they take care of a tree?" Jessie asked.

Sarah looked up again, this time feeling sad. Dying. The last tree in the city was dying. It was too much a symbol of everything she hated about her life.

She shuddered. "Let’s go inside."

In the hall, there were a number of banners with the picture of the baby and the man on them, as well as the words "Seek a new life in the stars" and "Find happiness with us."

They found four seats together. Sarah looked around and noticed very few seats left empty. There must have been close to a thousand women in the hall. After a short time, a well-dressed man strode onto the stage before them.

"Welcome, all of you!" He smiled and looked out at the filled room. "I am Mosan, a representative of the New Life Collective. I guess we must have found a way to get your attention." He pointed to the banner with the baby’s face.

The audience laughed. It was true the short media announcement had managed to collect quite a crowd.

"Well, I’m going to assume that you’re here because this is what you want. You want husbands, children, and a place to call your own. And I’m going to tell you how you can get these things. First of all, I’m going to guess you’ve looked for them here and haven’t found them. That man of your dreams, well, that seems to be where he lives because you haven’t found him here in real life.

"And that baby you want … ladies, we are all adults here, I don’t have to tell you what comes before the baby." Mosan grinned at them.

At this, several women laughed outright. He pointed to them and said, "Yes, you know what I’m talking about! And it all comes down to this: what you need are men willing to be husbands and fathers to your children. And not just any man, you need one who can provide a home for you so you can live in security and peace. Am I right?"

"Right!" the crowd roared back at him. Sarah giggled and noticed her friends doing the same. This was taking on the aspect of a carnival show. Still, Mosan’s words held more than a little truth.

"So, ladies, you’ve looked on Earth and have you found this man to provide all this?"

"No!" the crowd replied.

"Do you want me to tell you how to find him?"

"Yes!"

"All right then!" He waited a moment, letting the suspense build. "You haven’t found this man because you’ve been looking for him here, on Earth. And he isn’t here."

He stared at them, his eyes glinting.

"The man you want is in the stars."

At this, several women began talking loudly. A couple near the aisle even got up to leave. Mosan put his hands up and waved them back to their seats. "Sit down, ladies, please, hear me out. What I’m talking about are the Outer Colonies, loyal to Earth. These colonies have thousands of men, just like this one--" he pointed to the man on the banner. The standing women reclaimed their seats, intrigued enough to listen further.

"These men are strong and handsome. They want the things you want--a loving spouse, beautiful children, and a cozy home. And like you, they are lonely, waiting for the woman of their dreams to come to them.

"Ladies, the New Life Collective is here to recruit women for these men. We want women willing to take a chance on a new life. We need young women, healthy women, to help build these new families in the outer colonies. We prefer women who are skilled or professional, but anyone who meets the basic requirements is free to apply.

"So come and visit our offices. You have nothing to lose by doing so, and much to gain. Remember our name, we are the New Life Collective, or NLC for short. Please, pick up a card on your way out."

He left the stage and Sarah and her friends got up to leave. They were quiet as they filed out of the room. At the door, people wearing NLC buttons offered small cards to those passing by.

"What do you think, Sarah?" Laura asked with a laugh. "You want to go to the stars to find a man?"

"I don’t know," Sarah replied slowly. She reached out to take a card. "But I’m going to think about it."

* * * *

His hands were warm, large, his fingers strong, yet gentle as they touched her. He caressed her skin, one hand along her back, one on her face. Soft lips touched hers, a gentle kiss she could barely feel, then those lips moved down along the side of her face to her jaw, leaving ripples that lingered as he traced the path to her neck. She opened her eyes to see his face, but all she glimpsed was the image of dark hair, black against her auburn strands.

Her dream lover, come to her, his touch loving, insistent, and arousing. Everything a man should be, and never was, not in her world.

The hand on her back moved further down to cup her bottom, massaging it, pulling her closer to him. His body was solid muscle pressed against hers. The other hand dropped to her shoulder and rested there, a soft weight. Sarah moaned.

The hand on her shoulder shrank, became no larger than one of her own, and shook her gently. "Sarah, wake up. We are almost at your stop."

The last of her lover faded into empty air. Shaking her head to clear it, Sarah opened her eyes to the shabby and stained interior of the p-tran car--and Laura’s amused face. "Sorry. I must have fallen asleep."

Laura laughed. "That must have been some dream. I’ve never heard you make that noise before."

Sarah’s cheeks burned, but she was saved from answering by the announcement of her stop. Quickly she said goodnight and stepped from the car.

Falling asleep on the p-tran, and having an erotic dream to boot. Clearly it was time for her to do something else with her life! She began the short trudge down the narrow concrete walkway to her home.

The man from the broadcast had probably inspired her dream. He’d looked so…well, so healthy. It wasn’t that Earth didn’t have good-looking men, there just weren’t many who looked like he did. Healthy…and happy. Probably intelligent, the kind of man a woman could talk to. His large hands would be gentle. She saw that from the way he held the child. A man with gentle hands, just like the one in her dream.

And the baby. She figured the child to be about two months old. Adorable, sweet. She’d do almost anything to have a child like that.

Would ‘anything’ include leaving Earth?

She got home, bolted the door and wandered into the kitchen. Even though it was late, she didn’t feel sleepy. Instead of going to bed, Sarah made a hot toddy of warm milk, nutmeg, and raw alcohol. It was rare she drank anything other than wine, but now it seemed called for. She felt flustered and over-aware of her own body, still aroused from her dream.

Activating the kitchen terminal, she searched the public info channels for the New Life Collective. There were several news articles. Some included the clips of the man and baby. Sarah copied the clips to her private files before reading the articles themselves.

The NLC had been around for about two months. Its stated goal was to provide wives to the Outer Colonies, particularly the emerging frontier colonies where there were more men than women. Some of the articles were in favor of the NLC, most written by people Sarah knew to be connected either to Earth’s government or to the military arm, Earthforce.

Other articles weren’t so positive, hinting that the ‘wives for the Outer Colonies’ effort was actually a ploy of some sort, one even going so far as to suggest it was an attempt to weed out the most intelligent and ambitious women on Earth and send them elsewhere. It seemed likely that the government was behind the NLC, at least in part. Their headquarters were in an expensive part of town and broadcasts like tonight were costly. There had to be money behind the project.

Looking at the NLC literature itself, Sarah noticed some odd things about what they were looking for. They wanted young, healthy, unmarried women, capable of bearing children. That made sense. But the requirements went on to say that professional women were wanted, doctors, lawyers, and women with careers that included management and advertising. Why would a backward colony need lawyers or advertisers? Her own profession was logical. She could expect a great deal of work with so many new families.

A tremulous spark of excitement jolted her. Was she actually thinking about doing this?

The last NLC requirement made the least sense. They didn’t want women who had close family in Earthforce or who worked directly for the government. Her job was at a government-supported hospital, but that wasn’t the same as being a government employee. And while she’d known people in Earthforce, none of them had been family, not even Karen.

How could she do this? Earth was her home. Still…. Sarah looked around her kitchen. When her parents had been alive, it’d never felt so cramped, even with all three of them there. The rest of the house seemed smaller, too.

Taking her drink, Sarah wandered into her parents’ old bedroom. It was just as it had been when they’d died a year ago, in a p-tran accident that hadn’t merited more than a two-minute mention on a public info channel. She’d taken some comfort sitting in their room during the first few months after their deaths.

No longer did she feel her parents’ presence in the old furniture and faded linens, the dusty smell of unused space. They were gone now and nothing was going to bring them back. She was alone in the house.

Alone. That’s what she’d said to Maria today, that no one should be alone. And that’s what she was, and if she stayed, she’d remain that way. There was no point in living in the past. If she wanted someone to love, she’d have to do something about it.

The wall above the bed held a collection of old photographs. One attracted Sarah’s attention. Margaret Sullivan Johnson, her great-great-many-more-greats-grandmother. During the late nineteenth century, Maggie had left Ireland for what was then San Francisco, to escape the dreariness of life in her old home, traveling across an ocean and a continent to find a husband and happiness.

The old photo showed an unsmiling woman wearing a fluffy white blouse and a flat hat perched on her long braided hair. The image was black and white, and faded with time, but Sarah had read Maggie’s diary and knew her ancestor had hair the same fiery red as her own. Even now, she saw a bit of herself in the determined face.

Maggie’s story impressed her, the resolve to better her life. "What would you do, Maggie?" she asked the photo. "Would you go to another world to find your dream?"

The com-link in the kitchen trilled and Sarah answered it.ff

"Sarah," Laura said. "I’ve been looking into the NLC thing. We have the morning off tomorrow, how would you like to go with me and check these people out in person?"

Suddenly Sarah knew exactly what Maggie would do. "What time do you want to go?"

Chapter Two

Sarah moaned. One large gentle hand moved down to cup her bottom, massaging it, pulling her closer to him. His other hand moved to the juncture of her legs.

Oh yes. She licked her lips in anticipation, and spread her legs wider to give him better access.

"Please, touch me…"

A blast of sound shattered her dream. Damn it, it was just getting good! She opened her eyes to the glare of the red flashing light above the door and for a moment couldn’t place where she was. In the eerie, red-tinged glow she read the chronograph next to the bed. Third hour, middle of the night in ship’s time.

Ship’s time? Now fully awake, Sarah’s situation came back to her. Of course, she was on the NLC ship, The Dove. It was five weeks after the meeting at Exavier Hall, three weeks since she’d said good-bye to Earth, destined for the Outer Colonies where men were eager for brides.

They had tested the alarms once when she had first come on board, but had promised they wouldn’t do so again. This must be a real ship emergency!

She swung out of the narrow bed and bumped her head on the overhead cabinet. "Damn it." That had to be the tenth time she’d done that since she boarded. It was a tiny cabin, cramped, its only luxury that she hadn’t had to share it with anyone. Well, no one had ever said her trip was going to be a pleasure cruise.

With the alarm still ringing, she pulled her old robe over her nightgown and slipped into her slippers. Grabbing her emergency medical bag, she stepped into the narrow corridor, illuminated by pulsating lights showing the way to the life-pod station. The ship’s crew had been very specific that all passengers must report to these stations as soon as they heard the alarms.

As she moved down the corridor, she said a little prayer. Oh please, please, please, don’t let them need me as a doctor before I find some coffee!

She arrived at the emergency life-pod bay to find Laura already there, along with thirty other women, the group assigned to that location. The other women milled around with anxious faces, but Sarah noted with pride that in spite of the emergency, no one was actually crying.

A crewman noticed her arrival. "Sarah Johnson?" When she nodded, he made a mark on his e-tab. "She’s the last. They’re all here."

Laura reached her first. "Sarah, do you know what’s going on?"

"Not at all. Have you asked them?" She indicated the crew.

"All they’ll say is that we need to evacuate."

"Well, I’ll try," Sarah said. "They made me a group leader, maybe I can get more information."

The crew was giving instructions on how to load into the pod as quickly as possible. Sarah touched the arm of the officer in charge. "I’m Dr. Johnson. What’s the problem?"

"We need to evacuate you." His voice was clipped and his eyes darted around, arousing Sarah’s suspicions. He didn’t sound like he was telling the truth.

"Why? Is the ship in danger?"

"Yes, yes, great danger," he said, gaze everywhere but on her face. "There’s another ship that has threatened to fire on us. We need to get you to safety and we only have a few minutes."

Finally he looked into her eyes and she at last sensed honesty in him. "You’ll be all right. The pod will be picked up later, when it’s safe."

Behind her, the crew herded the other women into the narrow hatch of the life-pod. Sarah turned just in time to see Laura pushed inside by a large and determined crew member. He turned and reached for her and Sarah decided not to fight any longer. It wouldn’t do to be thrown into the pod.

She avoided the man’s grasp and slipped though the hatch on her own. Laura waved her to the empty seat next to her and Sarah buckled in. Once the door screwed shut, the noise of the alarms from The Dove was cut off. The only sound was the quiet, urgent talk of the women trapped within. Sarah heard the clank of the pod's release, and it moved beneath her, drifting slowly away from the ship.

Laura’s eyes were worried. "Did you find out anything?"

"Not much," Sarah admitted. "He said another ship threatened them, but I didn’t believe him."

"Why not?"

"Just a feeling." She thought about it. "The crew was more worried about getting us off the ship than in saving their own skins. Seems unlikely they’d be that way."

"Aren’t you frightened?" Her voice shook.

Sarah almost smiled. "Not really. The one thing he told me that seemed true was that we would be all right. I don’t think he lied about that." She glanced about the smooth curved walls and noted the lack of a window or view-screen. They wouldn’t be able to ‘see’ where they were going. She also noted that no crew members from The Dove were in the pod. Interesting. They really hadn’t been trying to save themselves.

If only she'd had time to get dressed before leaving the ship. Her nightgown and robe were hardly appropriate attire for a life-pod. Her pink fuzzy slippers had seen far better days and she suddenly wished she'd thought to replace them before leaving Earth.

Laura chattered on nervously. "I wish we had a view-screen or window or something. I’d like to know what’s going on. I’d even settle for what time it is. How long have we been in here?"

Sarah frowned. She’d left her chrono in the cabin, but…. She pulled her emergency kit from its storage under the seat. Inside were labeled hypos, a couple of stat-readers for measuring body temperature, respiration, and blood pressure, a wound sealer, and even an old-fashioned suturing kit. The usual equipment a doctor might need. She also carried a small set of birthing tools, although she could count on one hand the number of times those had been needed. So few people had babies anymore.

Reaching into a side pocket, she found her spare chrono and wrapped it around her wrist, happy she’d thought to set it to ship’s time earlier. It was twenty minutes since she’d awakened and it had taken about five to load the pod. They’d been drifting about fifteen minutes.

Laura looked over at the kit. "Well, I’m glad at least one of us was thinking like a medic this morning." She raised one eyebrow. "I don’t suppose you have some cards in there. We could play a game of four-hand."

In spite of the situation, Sarah had to grin. "Now I know you’re bored, to volunteer for a trouncing." She shook her head sadly. "No, sorry. I’ll have to slip a deck in for real emergencies."

The rest of the women were settling down, some dozing off. Sarah watched Laura yawn. "Go ahead and sleep," she said. "I’ll keep watch and wake you if something happens."

Time passed slowly and Sarah had to fight nodding off as well. She came instantly alert when she felt the pod move, as if a giant hand had grabbed it. The 'hand' pulled slowly, moving the pod until it jerked to a stop. Sounds like clamps being fixed to the doorway were heard, and finally the pod was still. The door unscrewed and a slim man wearing dark brown pants and a light blue shirt stuck his head through the opening. As he placed a hand inside the pod, she noticed a small armband around his wrist.

He was no one she’d remembered from The Dove. They must be on another ship.

He looked at the disheveled anxious faces and smiled, a bright welcoming smile. "Welcome. Is everyone all right?"

Frightened, the women looked at each other. As group leader, Sarah took charge. "Yes, so far, I guess we are. And you would be?"

The man grinned at her. "I’m Symon. Our ship collected your pod and several others. Why don’t you come with me and we’ll see if we can make you more comfortable."

It was the best offer they’d had that morning. Quickly, they unbuckled themselves and grabbed whatever they’d brought with them. As Sarah left the pod, she passed other men dressed like Symon, in loose fitting brown or blue pants and open-necked shirts. Each shirt was a color out of the rainbow, not a black or brown one to be seen. And everyone looked friendly, a smile on every face. People from Earth didn’t smile this much and it made Sarah wonder what was going on.

Symon led them to a large room already filled with other women from the ship. Sarah recognized several of the others standing near the large double doors on the opposite wall and went toward them, Laura in tow.

The room was large and stylish, with plush carpeting, cushioned couches, and attractive paintings, more like the ballroom of a fine hotel than a ship’s assembly hall. Sarah felt awkwardly underdressed in her worn robe and slippers. It was embarrassing.

Symon told them to wait, then disappeared. The men accompanying him came in and lined the walls. Sarah wondered if the men were there to protect or to keep an eye on them.

As far as she could see, all The Dove passengers were there, still in the nightclothes they were wearing when rousted out of bed. Again Sarah was struck by the fact that none of the crew of their former transport had made it into the life-pods. Some of the women looked frightened, some angry, and all of them surprised to find themselves in such elegant surroundings.

The large doors near her opened and several more men entered, taking up positions on either side. Symon returned and positioned himself as if waiting for someone else.

Finally a single man strode in. Pale-complexioned and dark haired, he had a thin mouth and piercing, dark-blue eyes. Not an ugly face. Some people might actually call him handsome. In odd contrast to the other men in their bright colored clothing, his outfit was completely black.

Sarah’s heart sped up and her mouth went dry. Evil, loathsome, she’d called him. General Garran in the flesh, leader of the Gaian opposition.

Karen’s killer.

As he entered, dead silence ruled the room. The women closest to the doors moved back, eyes wide, bodies poised to run. One large woman named Jenny gasped in terror. Sarah had met her during orientation and learned she’d been a cook at Hannah’s Hideaway. Jenny wasn’t very intelligent, but she had a big heart and Sarah liked her.

The General approached them. "Ladies, welcome to The Promise."

Jenny cried out. "The Promise? Oh no! Oh no, mercy no. It’s the ‘Beast,’ we’re all going to be killed!" She covered her face with her hands.

He stared at her with a fierce scowl. "Oh, shut up, you idiot woman. No one is going to hurt you!"

Jenny collapsed in hysterical tears.

Fury flooded Sarah. THAT. WAS. IT! Awakened from a pleasant dream, stuffed into a life-pod wearing only her bedclothes, no coffee, and now this, a bullying black-shirted tyrant! Before Sarah could think, she marched over to the man. Her hand swung around hard, striking the General across the face. The sound of the slap ricocheted in the silence of the room, louder than Jenny’s sobbing. He stared at her, stepped back, putting his hand to his reddening cheek.

Her hand tingled. Ignoring it, Sarah thrust it onto her hip and glared. "How dare you, you monster! How dare you talk to her like that? She’s frightened enough without you making it worse!"

The General’s eyes widened. His mouth opened, then closed, like a fish out of water. The rest of his face reddened to match the cheek where she’d struck him. An odd, unfocused expression filled his face and one hand reached for her. Instinctively she stepped back.

He turned and rushed from the room as if driven by demons.

Symon stared after him, his mouth agape. He turned, his voice urgent. "Please wait, I’ll be right back!" then hurried out, closing the doors behind him.

Immediately the room erupted into cheers.

"Way to go, Sarah!"

"That’s telling him!"

"I guess he won’t try and mess with us again!"

Jenny flung her arms around Sarah and hugged her so tight it forced the breath from her lungs, exasperating the disorientation already flooding through her. "Heaven bless you, Sarah."

As the big woman let her go Sarah’s knees buckled and Laura caught her and pulled her to one of the couches. Dizzy and overwhelmed, she tried to make sense of it. They were on The Promise, the General’s personal flagship and pride of the Gaian fleet.

How in all of the universe had they ended up here?

Chapter Three

The wall felt cool under his forehead, heat from his skin radiating into the metal. Both his hands pressed hard against the smooth surface, seeking a comforting stability, and for a moment his presence of mind returned. Lifting his head, Garran looked around, but no one was about, no one had followed him from the meeting chamber. He was alone in the corridor.

Thanks heavens for small favors. That’s all he needed, to be seen in this condition.

Deep breaths, in, out, in--repeat. Remember the training, how to handle the intense sensation of attachment, lessons he’d learned so long ago. Training he’d never thought to need again.

Memory flared, of Metta, his wife, and the day he’d attached to her. Briefly he tried to call up her face, but his sweet lady’s beloved features were obscured, washed out, somehow replaced by a visage with red hair and green eyes.

No, it couldn’t be. After all this time, why now, why one of these women? In the past year he’d tried four times to reattach, five hundred women in all and nothing had happened. ‘Immune’ the doctors had finally labeled him, once they’d finished their tests. He’d become immune to the attachment essence a woman exuded from her skin, her hair, through the very breath of her body. He had an unwanted immunity to that which would give him someone to love, a companion, and a family.

So, why now? Why her, a woman with fire in her hair--and a strong right arm? His face still hurt where she’d struck him, but that wasn’t half as uncomfortable as the bulge in his pants.

Hell on Earth, he was a man again.

"Garran." Symon appeared at his side and slowly Garran turned from the wall to face him. The idiot was practically grinning at him. "Did you just do what I think you just did?"

Flushed, he pushed away from the wall, turned, scowled. "You needn’t look so pleased, Symon. I’m certainly not."

From inside the room, came a loud commotion. Symon cocked his head and listened, chuckling. "They are shouting her name. I guess taking you on makes her their leader." He looked back, smug. "Oh yeah--her name is ‘Sarah’."

If anything, his erection actually got harder. Sarah? What kind of a name was that? An Earth name, he answered himself. Groaning, he banged his head on the wall behind him. "It’s impossible. ‘Gaian Beast.’ ‘Monster.’ That’s what she called me, a monster. Even if I wanted to accept her--and I don’t--she would never accept me."

Symon’s smile faded a little. "Well, we’ll have to see about that. At the moment you’re in no condition for accepting anything. Maybe you should go to your quarters before anyone else comes by."

It was good advice. The men inside the room would surely know, but they were married and wouldn’t gossip. All he needed was one of the unattached ones to find out--it would be all over the ship before the next meal. Garran nodded, turned to leave. "I’ll watch from there."

"You won’t be able to," Symon warned. "Bethan ordered all the imagers blocked. She felt the ladies would need some privacy."

An unexpected emotion shot through him. It bubbled up through his chest, into his throat, and finally, a rusty, hoarse chuckle escaped his lips, followed by another, and another. Garran turned back to Symon, who stared at him in astonishment. "She soft-blocked the imagers?"

Symon lost some of his cocky sureness. "Yes, what of it?"

Garran tried to regain his composure, succeeding briefly. "We have on this ship five hundred of the best unattached male minds on Gaia." He nodded to the door. "Inside that room is their future. We’ve trained them to take over systems, alien systems, no less. Do you honestly believe they will let a little thing like a software block keep them from taking a peek at that future?" He lost it again, laughter bubbling out. "I’m sure if you check the crew quarters you’ll find those ladies on every view-screen available."

Symon groaned. "I hadn’t thought of that. Should have made it a hardware override." Concern filled his features. "Bethan’s going to kill me."

Garran managed to regain control, his amusement fading a little. Odd. When was the last time he’d laughed like that. Years? "Look on the bright side, maybe it’ll dampen their enthusiasm, seeing those ladies in their nightclothes. Might make it easier to keep them patient."

"Oh, sure, like it did you." Symon cocked his head to one side. "Garran, do you realize you just attached to a woman wearing fuzzy slippers?"

The image of the Earther who’d bewitched him returned. "Pink," he decided. "They were pink. Maybe that’s what those five hundred Gaian women lacked, pink fuzzy slippers." For a moment longer Garran stared at the door, one hand idly rubbing his sore cheek. Defiant shouts still came from inside and he could hear her name.

Sarah. To see her again, even if only on a view-screen. "I’ll be in my quarters."

* * * *

Sarah’s light-headedness began to abate. She’d almost fainted, for the first time ever. Why? Because for once she’d lost control of her temper and actually hit someone? And not just anyone--General Garran, the Beast himself! Her hand still tingled. Had she hit him that hard, enough to injure her hand?

Repercussions were likely. The Gaian’s hadn’t just won the war. They’d gone well beyond what was needed to win. Gaian forces had destroyed every ship that had come after them.

In five years no Earth ships had come home, nor had any of their crewmembers been found. Perhaps Jenny was right, maybe they were all going to be killed. But then, why bring them on board? Why not simply blast the life-pods to pieces? It would have been much less messy.

Sarah took a glance around at their elegant surroundings. A slaughter in here would ruin the upholstery.

Besides, until the general had shown up, she’d been prepared to like these people. There was something about Symon that simply begged her to trust him. She glanced at the guards still lining the walls. They bore side-arms, stunners from the looks of them, but kept them holstered, even with the women rallying around her. The men didn’t look angry or even alarmed. If anything, the glances they exchanged seemed amused, as if they passed some kind of private joke around the room.

Laura threw an arm around her shoulders and whispered into her ear. "Sarah, you need to talk to everyone. Get them to calm down." She glanced about, worried. "They’ll listen to you, I think."

Surprise filled her. "Me? Why me?"

"You hit the General. They all look up to you." She turned to the big woman who still hovered protectively. "Jenny, help me get Sarah on her feet."

Before she could protest further, she was helped up to stand on one of the couches. All eyes turned to her as Jenny stabilized her on the soft, unstable surface, one arm around her waist. She’d never seen so many eyes at once. Instantly everyone quieted down.

"Shh, Sarah is going to talk," one cried.

"I … I." She lost her nerve. Expectantly, everyone waited, hope and admiration in their faces.

Crud. Deep breath. Sarah took glance at Laura and her supportive smile. "All right, everyone. Let’s all calm down. They haven’t hurt us, at least not yet." She glanced over at the guards who looked more likely to break out with laughter than with their weapons.

She took another deep breath. "I don’t think we’re in any danger. Let’s quiet down, wait for them to tell us what they want." The other women looked at each other, nodded, sat down, and began talking quietly to each other.

Jenny helped her back to her seat and Laura settled next to her. "Good job. Now let’s see how long they make us wait." Laura glanced over. "Too bad you don’t have that deck of cards."

The wait wasn’t long at all. Sarah’s chronometer only measured out ten minutes before the big doors opened again. Sarah tensed, waiting for the return of the General. If he came, and wanted revenge for hitting him, she’d make sure she was the only one to be affected. Surely he’d let everyone else off the hook.

A petite woman with short, curly black hair entered, closing the door behind her. She was dressed in a simple scoop-necked blouse, white with bright trim around the neck, and an ankle-length skirt in deep blue that swirled around her legs as she moved through the room past the women in their nightclothes and robes. She stopped a few feet away from Sarah. For a moment she looked somber, then a smile slipped out and settled on her face. The woman glanced at Sarah, an intense look that caught her off-guard. Her black eyes seemed to twinkle.

"Well, ladies, again, welcome to The Promise." There was an amused glance at the quiet moans of despair. "I’m Bethan Curlain, Chief Executive Officer of the ship. I imagine you have a lot of questions, and I intend to see that we answer them. But the first thing to do is make you more comfortable." She gestured, and the men on either side of the double doors opened them.

From the hallway came a small army of women, carrying bundles or pushing carts. The carts went to one side, the bundles to the other. The newcomers were dressed as Bethan was, and wore the same happy smiles on their faces the guards had. Some of the carts held large silvery urns and Sarah was sitting close enough to catch a whiff as they went by.

Her nose went of full alert at the smell. Coffee! Things were beginning to look up.

Without thinking, she headed for the cart. Bethan met her there, filled a mug and handed it to her. "I guess you need this more than fresh clothing."

The smell was intoxicating and Sarah’s mouth watered. It was hot so she sipped carefully. The rich brown liquid flowed across her tongue. Instantly, the early morning rousting, the life-pod, even the dreaded General Garran took on a lesser significance. She closed her eyes. "Wonderful. Best coffee I ever had."

She heard the gentle chuckle and opened her eyes to see Bethan’s amused smile. "Well, it isn’t really coffee. It’s made from a root vegetable created specially to grow on Gaia. Rather like a carrot, but it has properties similar to those of the coffee bean. We call it ‘javi’."

Coffee from carrots? "I don’t care what you call it, so long as I can have some more." She’d managed to finish her mug, just in the length of time Bethan had spoken.

Laughing, Bethan obliged her with a refill.

On the other side of the room, women from The Dove were being fitted with clothes similar to what the Gaian ladies wore. Sarah carried her cup over to one of the stations giving out garments, Jenny and Laura dancing attendance. To her surprise, Bethan followed.

"Could I know your name?" the dark haired woman asked.

"Dr. Sarah Johnson"

"You’re a doctor?"

"An obstetrician."

Bethan’s face lit up. "How lovely, and so appropriate given the circumstances."

Sarah’s uneasiness returned. "What circumstances?"

The Gaian woman grinned mysteriously. "Why, the circumstances we’re in, of course. Here, why don’t you try these on?" From a bundle she handed Sarah a dark green skirt and a blouse in a paler shade of green. "I think these will suit you."

The clothes the Gaians offered were pullover blouses with scooped necks made of soft light fabrics in bright colors. The skirts were of a heavier material, with fastenings that adjusted to the waist, all solid colors. There was also an assortment of fresh undergarments and simple slip-on shoes in a variety of sizes to complete the outfits.

Some of the other Gaian women started handing out small plastic boxes, as well. These turned out to contain a new hairbrush, comb, and other toiletries, and there was one for each of the women from the ship.

Along the outside walls of the ballroom were sanitary facilities, which the Earth women took turns using to clean up and get dressed. Eventually, all were sitting on the assembly room couches in their new clothes, eating breakfast cakes from the carts, sipping "javi", and chatting with the Gaians who’d provided all.

It was getting too much like a party, a nice, friendly party. But it wasn’t a party they had been invited to and the questions forming in Sarah’s brain were starting to add up. She felt some answers were due.

"Bethan" she started, trying to be diplomatic, "this is a lot of fun, and I’m sure we are all grateful that your ship rescued us, but when are we going back to ours?"

Bethan’s face became watchful. "That could take some doing. The truth is we had The Dove unload you on purpose and we aren’t planning on returning you at all."

This news didn’t go over well--all women within hearing distance turned to stare at her.

One lady, tall with sharp features and dark hair, looked particularly angry. "You stopped our ship and forced them to put us into the lifepods--why?" Sarah thought she remembered her from one of the early meetings as having been a lawyer on Earth.

Bethan sipped her javi. "We thought you might want to come with us instead."

"How nice," Sarah said, unable to avoid the sarcasm in her voice. "And why would we want to do that? We were supposed to be on our way to one of the outer world colonies. We were on our way to find husbands."

Bethan smiled. "Well, maybe we can make you a better offer? Hear us out, ladies, please."

One of the other women looked anxious. "My things were on the other ship, everything I brought with me from my home. What about those?"

"Oh, don’t worry," Bethan told her. "We collected all your belongings before The Dove left and they’re being transferred to your new quarters as we speak. A couple of hours from now you will be in one of our cabins and all your belongings will be there."

Symon returned and sat down next to Bethan. "And how are you getting along?" He smiled at her lovingly.

"Fine. I was just explaining how we dragged our guests off their ship."

Sarah was getting tired of her "kidnappers" pleasantries. "And just who are you?"

Bethan beamed at her. "Sarah, this is Symon Curlain, my husband and captain of The Promise."

Symon was Captain, and Bethan CEO? And they were husband and wife. This was getting way too cozy.

Sarah pressed on. "Isn’t taking us off that ship a violation of the peace treaty?"

The couple exchanged a look. "Well, actually no." Symon told her. "The Gaian-Earth peace treaty states that for one year we can stop ships carrying items that we have a particular interest in."

Now the lawyer broke in. "But The Dove has no cargo to speak of--just passengers and our belongings."

"It was the passengers The Dove carried that we were interested in," Symon told her.

Bethan added, "Sarah, you and the other ladies are here because we need women like you. You told us you were on your way to a new life. We say you still are. We just want you to consider making that life on Gaia."

Well that explained the gifts and how friendly everyone was. The Gaians wanted willing wives. "Living with you? How so?"

"You are women who want husbands. We have men who want wives. We want you to marry our men."

These Gaians expected Earth women to marry their former enemies? Sarah spoke out. "How can you expect us to do that? Our planets just finished fighting."

Bethan folded her hands and spoke reassuringly. "The point is that we did finish fighting. It’s time for Gaia and Earth to mend its relationship and to rebuild. We need women to mend our differences and that’s why we want you, enough to stop your ship and take you off of it."

Laura broke in. "Why do you need women so badly? From what I’ve heard, Gaia is an established planet with limited immigration. With a normal birthrate, there should be almost as many women as men."

Symon and Bethan looked at each other. Sarah got the impression that the answer to this question was something very serious and personal to them.

It was Symon who answered. "During the war, Carras, one of our girls schools was destroyed. It happened on the first strike Earth made at us. We lost many thousands of girls, adult women, and the young children who were living there."

"Because of losing Carras," Bethan added, "we have many young men who will not find wives unless we can replace those women. If we don’t then they must remain single, and that is not a good thing for our society."

One of the other women snickered. "I know a lot of guys on Earth that wouldn’t mind that situation. The reason I left was to find someone who wanted to get married."

Symon leaned forward and looked at her. "How do you think those ‘guys’ would feel about being single, if they weren’t able to make love? Ever."

Startled, the woman stared at him as Symon sat back and smiled ruefully. "Gaians can’t have sex unless they are married."

"Why not?" Sarah asked.

"Because, our men don’t acquire a sex drive until we meet a woman, a special woman. For each man, that woman is different."

He looked at Bethan, his face tender. "When I met Bethan, she became the only woman I would, or could, make love with. All Gaian men are like that. We pick a woman and she becomes our wife. And until we take a wife, we can’t make love with anyone."

Bethan returned her husband’s adoring gaze and turned to the fascinated Earth women. "When a Gaian man meets his mate, his sex drive wakes up. We call it ‘attachment’. Attachment can happen when our young men and women are just past puberty, so we keep them separate, from early puberty to young adulthood, about twenty years of age."

"You keep your teenagers apart?" Laura asked.

"Yes. We have boarding schools where they go. Otherwise, our children don’t have enough time to grow up before they marry and start having children of their own."

Laura and Sarah exchanged knowing looks. Both had seen enough teen pregnancies to understand the reasoning behind this. On a planet where mating for life was a reality, preventing it for as long as possible made good sense.

"So, when Carras was destroyed…." Sarah prompted.

"When we lost Carras, the future for a lot of our young men was jeopardized."

The lawyer raised her hand. Sarah thought she looked like she was addressing a witness at a trial. "So your plan is, collect us from The Dove and have us marry your extra men. But why would we want that?"

Bethan shrugged. "Why not? Our men are worthy. They will care for you, as well as any Earth man could, probably better. I certainly have no complaints." She turned to Symon, and placed the back of her hand on his cheek. He smiled at her and returned the gesture.

Around Sarah, the Earth women huddled in quiet discussion. From what she could hear of their conversation they seemed to be noting that they hadn’t met the men on the Outer Colonies and the men here certainly had appeal and looked like they’d make good husbands.

"Besides," Bethan continued, "You were on your way to an outskirts planet where the best you could expect was basic medical, living, and educational facilities. We can offer the finest of everything to our new wives. You will have well-furnished hospitals to give birth in, good schools to educate your children. A future with everything you could ask for. Our men are well educated, have skills, and excellent futures ahead of them. They will be able to provide well for their wives."

Symon chimed in. "All we ask is that you attend a marriage meet and look for a husband from among our men. If you don’t find one, or if you are not happy with him, you can always say no, and continue on to your original destination."

One of the other women interrupted. "When will we meet these men of yours? From what I can see, these aren’t very interested in us."

Sarah glanced around. It was true. The guards in the room were actually paying very little attention to them. If these were men without women, then it didn’t show.

"All of these are married men. See the wrist bands?" Symon held up his arm and showed them the bracelet-type band he wore and as they looked around they noticed all the other Gaians, men and women both, wore similar bands.

"We wouldn’t let the others anywhere near you until you agree to attend a marriage meet." Bethan answered. "Believe me, when you meet our unmarried men, you will have no trouble getting their attention. Well," she added with a grin. "You’ll have no trouble getting one of them to pay attention to you."

Flushed, the lawyer spoke again, her mouth a grim line. "You have us on your ship, and I don’t see how we can return to our planet without your help. I guess you can do with us as you will."

Again Sarah noticed the way Symon and Bethan looked at each other, almost as if they read each other’s thoughts. He spoke quietly. "We won’t force anyone to do anything they don’t want to do. At worse, this will be a slight detour in your plans. If you choose not to participate in our marriage meet, then we will simply return you to Earth or to one of the Outer Colonies, whichever you prefer."

"We believe that our men will make you better husbands than what you could find anywhere else in the universe." Bethan added. "If we aren’t able to convince you of that, then we promise you will be free to go."

* * * *

All over the ship, men watched view-screens. Imagers in the main ballroom caught the faces of the women as they listened, their expressions ones of dismay, concern, then curiosity and interest as they were told why they’d been taken from their ship. The imagers were supposed to have been disabled, on orders from Chief Bethan, but one of the more enterprising crewmembers had undone that work.

These were their women. Possibly soon, two hundred fifty of them would have wives, a future. They weren’t going to let a little order get in the way of having a glimpse of what awaited them.

The men were thrilled by that glimpse. Lovely ladies, all, even disheveled as they’d been on their arrival. Most envied the married guards who got to stand among them, despite knowing those men would have no real interest in these ladies. After all, they were already married, with their own women.

Young men stared at the faces, listened to the soft feminine voices that came through the speakers. Soon they’d get the chance to meet them, hopefully attach to them. Soon they would have women of their own, like their married brethren, the fulfillment of the promise made when they’d volunteered for duty in Gaia’s military.

In a separate room, Garran watched alone, but he didn’t scan the women, examining each face as the others did--he was only interested in one. He carefully focused the viewer and froze it, filling the screen with her image.

He caught his breath at the sight. Beautiful. That was the only word possible. He had to admit Sarah was beautiful. Dressed in Gaian clothes, she appeared to be everything he could want. Beautiful, proud, intelligent. Worthy. Only her hair gave away her Earth origin. No one on Gaia had red hair.

Well, no one used to. Maybe now.… Garran suddenly envisioned a small child with hair the color of…of what? What color was her hair, what could he compare it to? Redtrees were too dark. Her hair had highlights of gold mixed in. It reminded him of the leaves when the first cold hit, how they turned color. It would take a forest of such trees to match her hair.

Her eyes were less of a problem. They were green, the color of jade. But not the same: Her eyes weren’t cold like stone, they were warm, alive. What living thing matched her eyes? Moss--that was it. At Crescent Lake, the moss along the edge was just that color, and alive as well. He could spend the rest of his life gazing into those eyes.

Skin like…nothing he could imagine. It was as if it had never seen the sun, pale to almost transparent. She was nearly as light-skinned as he was, though his pallor was from staying in space for so long. It had been too long since he’d been home. He’d have to remedy that, have her walk outside with him, and give her face some color. But it looked so smooth. What would it be like to touch it?

Perhaps, soon, he would be allowed to see for himself.

Chapter Four

An hour later, the big doors opened and guards led the Earth women down long empty corridors to individual cabins. They met no one on the way, no random groups of Gaian men idling in the corridors as they might have expected to find on an Earth ship. On The Dove, it had been hard to move around without running into a member of the crew, usually leering or making comments about sex-starved females. In addition to the Gaians being more polite, Sarah decided they really were being kept isolated from contact with their future husbands.

When she reached her cabin it was larger than she’d expected and much nicer than the one she’d had on The Dove.

The cabin had a double bed, the bedding fresh and sweet smelling, a media panel with a slot for her datastore, and a comfortable chair with a reading lamp, perfect for relaxing in. The plush floor covering looked new, as did the bedding.

The private sanitary off the bedroom held a bathtub as well as a shower. When she tried the taps, water gushed forth, unlike the dry sonic cleansing that had been available on The Dove. For a moment she eyed the tub, and imagined how delightful a bath would feel after weeks of being in space. Compared to her cramped cabin on The Dove, this seemed like heaven.

She turned to Bethan, who still dogged her heels. "It’s beautiful."

"I’m glad you like it. We want you to be comfortable here."

Laughing, Sarah sat on the cushioned chair. "I half-expected to get hauled off to a cell, before. I hardly expected anything as nice as this."

Bethan’s eyebrows rose quizzically. "A cell? Why?"

"For striking the General." Sarah’s smile faded. "I don’t know what came over me--I’ve never done anything like that before. I suppose I should apologize to him." She glanced up at Bethan’s face. "He wasn’t hurt, was he?"

"I heard it was a slap--how could that have hurt him?"

"It must have been harder than that. My hand still tingles." Ruefully Sarah held up her injured palm.

Bethan’s eyes brightened, though her smile stayed the same. "I doubt you will see him for some time. I’ll tell him you’re sorry, if you like."

Sarah nodded her thanks, then continued to examine her surroundings. The view-screen on the media panel showed a beautiful landscape of mountains, trees, and a distant lake with a distinctive curve to its shoreline.

Bethan noticed the direction of her gaze. "That’s Crescent Lake, outside our main city. My sister had a home near there." She saddened at the mention of her sister, then the fleeting regret was gone. "I hope you get to see it someday, it’s a beautiful place. If you would like to see other places on Gaia, just browse using the terminal." She pointed to the keyboard sitting on the desk. "And as you can see, your luggage has followed you."

Sure enough, Sarah’s trunk and other things were arranged in a neat stack in the corner of the cabin.

"I’ll leave you to get settled," Bethan said. "When it is time for lunch, there will be a general call from the comm-link. Oh, and one more thing." Bethan sobered for a moment. "We need to ask you and all of the other ladies not to wander about on the ship. It is very important that we keep the men and women separate until the time comes. If you could wait in your cabin until called, we would appreciate it."

No matter how politely put, being asked to stay in her room did not go over well. Her temper flared. "Maybe I spoke too soon about this not being a cell. You mean we’re prisoners here?"

"No, not really." Bethan hesitated. "You must understand how our culture works. A married woman or man can go anywhere, but unmarried individuals must keep away from each other until the meetings can be arranged. I understand how different this is for you, but so few people on Gaia are unmarried once they reach adulthood, it’s rarely a problem." She paused on her way out the door. "Please be patient."

After Bethan left, it only took a few minutes for Sarah to organize her belongings in the large cabin. She hadn’t really unpacked on The Dove, what with the limited storage in the tiny space she’d had on that ship. There was far more room here, so she took advantage of it and hung most of her clothes, and moved her toiletry items into the sanitary, including the new ones the Gaians had given her. The brush in particular was much nicer than her old one.

Once in the sanitary, she again eyed the tub. With the early start to the day, not to mention everything else that had happened, a relaxing bath suddenly seemed like a very good idea. She found a nice collection of bubble makings on the shelf above the sink and indulged in one with a sweet, floral scent.

Undoing her long braid, she finger-combed her hair before stepping into the tub and submersing the deep-red mass in the water in preparation for washing it. It seemed longer than a few weeks since she’d been able to get her hair completely clean. A bottle of shampoo was included in the toiletries and it carried the smell of green, growing things. Sarah thrilled at how sensuous it made her hair feel.

Being on The Promise was turning out to be a lot better than The Dove. Sarah dipped below the water and let her cares float away into the warm water.

After her luxurious soak and using the instant dryer on her hair and skin, Sarah pulled her robe on and wandered back into her room. When she laid on it, she found the bed was even more comfortable than it looked, and within minutes she fell sound asleep.

* * * *

In Garran’s quarters, the door buzzed. With an impatient gesture, he activated the entry.

Symon stood in the doorway, looking cross. "You didn’t check to see who it was. I could have been anyone."

Garran dismissed his concern. "Why should ‘anyone’ want to hurt me? The only one who’s ever threatened me is locked in her part of the ship. They all are, for that matter."

Symon entered, and gestured a couple of much bigger men inside. Each seemed the size of a small mountain, the blond one banded, the brown-haired man not. "Maxxa, Sammul," he said, pointing to them in turn. "They‘re going to keep an eye on you from now on."

"Bodyguards?" Garran was incredulous. "Protecting me from what--a bunch of women?"

"We’ve heard rumors, Garran, from our people on Earth. It isn’t clear what, but there’s a threat to your safety. You are too valuable to us and too good a target to ignore them." Symon grimaced. "There are those in Earthforce who would love to see you dead."

He noticed Sarah’s image on the view-screen and grinned. "I see you’ve been busy. How did you get that?"

Garran grunted, unwilling to admit his fascination with the red-haired Earth woman. "From this morning, before you deactivated them. Bethan gave her some javi." He glanced at the sensuous smile. "She liked it."

"She smiled like that over a cup of javi?" Symon laughed. "Imagine if you really gave her something to smile about."

Yes, imagine. The idea of Sarah’s face in true ecstasy sent his senses temporarily reeling. Ruthlessly, Garran censored that thought. It was far too unlikely to ever happen.

Another buzz at the door and this time, one of the bodyguards, the blond one, Maxxa, answered it.

"Garran!" Bethan bounded into the room, nodded approvingly at the hulking man holding the door. "I see you found someone for the job, Symon. Good work." She returned her attention to Garran, her face one giant grin. "So, ‘immune,’ huh? Has the doctor been by?"

He nodded ruefully. "You missed him by an hour. He refused to give me the antidote. Said it would be better to let it end naturally."

The couple exchanged startled glances. "Garran, what are you talking about?" Bethan asked. She noticed the still present image of Sarah on the view-screen.

His gaze followed hers, and he felt his body tighten again at the euphoric smile. Determinedly he turned his back on the image. "This will never work. Better to end it than put us both through a matching that’s doomed."

"And what makes you say that it’s doomed? Her hand tingles."

Not possible. "She’s Earthen," he said, incredulous.

Bethan shrugged. "Perhaps. Maybe it was just from the slap. But that doesn’t explain the near fainting spell she had after you left. I saw that on the playback."

Really impossible. "No, I don’t believe it."

"Don’t believe it then. Let her walk to someone else if you like. She’s a strong potential, and if you aren’t there, another man is bound to attach to her."

No. Reluctantly he stared at Sarah’s frozen face, the suggestion of passion in her smile over no more than a cup of javi.

No, no one else could have her. "Perhaps it would be better if we didn’t keep her," he suggested. "We could send her on."

"Absolutely not," Symon told him. "We need her. Sarah has become the key to getting them to agree. We convince her, the rest will follow. Without her.…" He shrugged. "It’s going to be hard enough to convince those ladies our men are best for them. If we send her away, none of them may agree."

Symon and Bethan exchanged looks, the near imperceptible nods that made up their silent communication. Bitterness flooded him. Earth had cost him this, his own close companion. Clearly his friends wished to see his wife replaced with this new woman from Earth, the heart of his enemies. As if in answer, his cheek tingled.

"One more thing," Bethan said. "She asked about you."

Surprise overcame his reticence. "Why?"

"She wanted to apologize for striking you. She said it was first time she’d ever done something like that." Bethan touched his arm. "She’s a good woman, Garran. Give it a chance."

A good woman. An Earthen. He shook his head. He’d thought he could make it simple. Once the doctor had given him the detachment drug, his interest in Sarah would’ve faded, become an indistinct want. But now.… Garran sat on the couch, ran one hand on the cheek where she’d struck him. It no longer hurt, merely tingled--just as her hand tingled. Matched with one blow, struck in anger.

A grim amusement rose within him. That suddenly seemed singularly appropriate. She was his match, and no, he couldn’t give her up, not without a fight.

Without looking at them he spoke. "I understand. I’ll try."

* * * *

Several hours later Sarah woke to gentle chimes coming from the comm-link, signaling the start of lunch. She yawned and listened to the bright, musical sound. If this was a warship, it certainly was refined, far more like a passenger ship than their former transport had been.

Sarah redressed in the new green skirt and blouse. They were comfortable, and it didn’t seem a bad idea to appear accepting of the Gaians’ hospitality.

When she went to the door, she found it unlocked and stepped through. The corridor was filled with several other women talking quietly. All seemed to be satisfied with their new surroundings, and several had dressed as Sarah had, in Gaian clothes.

Eventually a man wearing a wristband and a friendly smile strode down the corridor, and led them to a large dining hall where the rest of the Earth women waited. The room could hold at least twice as many as their number, even with the many Gaian women and men who joined them. They all sat at tables that were set for 10 or 12, with at least one or two Gaians at each table.

The food was very good, starting with a salad of fresh greens, choices of meat, fish, or vegetarian dishes, and a clear drink that had a fruity taste. Even the water in the glass goblets on the table tasted fresh, as if captured directly from a mountain spring.

Sarah asked one of the Gaian women at her table about the greens and was informed that they came from the ship’s onboard gardens. It seemed that the ship was fitted for long trips through space and so had a great deal of self-sufficiency built into it.

"The Promise was not really meant to be a warship," the Gaian lady, who’d introduced herself as Marna, explained. "When it was designed, it had been intended to be a passenger ship for long journeys. When the war broke out it had just been completed. Our leader, General Garran had it completely overhauled for war, but left the cabins and common rooms as they’d originally been designed."

At the mention of the General, the Earth women at the table became quiet but the Gaians didn’t seem to notice how his name made them uncomfortable. It was clear from the pride in the lady’s voice that their opinions of the man were very different.

Better not to stir things up, Sarah thought.

After lunch, they were led to another room built like a theatre. After they were seated, the lights went down and a media screen at the back of the stage sprang to life. They were shown many images of Gaia, the open lands, clean lakes and rivers, modern looking cities. Also there were many pictures of men, tall and handsome, with the same gentle smiles that the men on the ship had.

There were also pictures of young children, each more darling than the last. The narrative explained what each of the images was, although when the children were on, only music was heard. As a recruitment message, it was very convincing.

Sarah looked for the image of Crescent Lake that had been on her screen, but didn’t see it. There was a similar image of what looked like the same area, but from a different angle that wasn’t nearly as interesting. She was a bit surprised at that, that they hadn’t used the better picture, but then they started showing images of babies and she didn’t think anymore about it.

Sarah loved babies. It was the reason she had become an obstetrician, and the reason for her being here. She wanted children of her own before she became much older. From the sounds of sniffling in the room, she wasn’t the only one feeling wistful when the children’s pictures were shown.

Finally the show ended and Bethan came onto the stage. She said, "Well, now you’ve seen what we think of Gaia. I hope you enjoyed it. I need to explain how we do our marriage meets. That’s what we call it when we bring our young men and women together."

She went on to explain that they would meet the men in a few days. "You will be given gowns and hooded robes that have masks built in. Once dressed, we will lead you through a hallway where the men will wait. They will be similarly dressed."

"We’re masked?" That was a question from one of the younger women. "How will we know what they look like?"

"You won’t," Bethan said. "We believe that it is best to not see the face of the person that attaches to you. That way you focus on other things, like how you react to them. Gaians have matched this way for centuries and it has served us well."

"What do you mean by match?" the same woman asked.

"When a man attaches and the woman accepts his touch, then we call that matching. You will feel a tingle at his presence. His touch will be attractive to you. You will want him to touch you."

"Well, sure. I’ve always liked it when some hunk touches me." Sarah recognized the new speaker as Alison, one of the younger women who’d been the most outspoken about the Gaians’ high-handedness in kidnapping them. Now she was wisecracking.

Sarah sighed. Probably most of the younger women were like Alison, experienced with men and not a good match for the Gaians. Alison wasn’t taking any of this seriously.

Bethan eyed the younger woman. "Perhaps that’s true for you, but for the ‘hunk’ as you’ve called him, it will be the first time he’s touched a woman that way. One of the reason’s you all left Earth was to find a man who will cherish you and make you his wife. Our men will do that...if you let them."

Alison shut her mouth and leaned back, looking unconvinced. Several of the young women sitting next to her did the same, but the older women, the ones who’d tried for years to find someone on Earth, listened as Bethan finished explaining the Gaian customs. By the end of her speech even some of the younger girls were looking interested.

Bethan described the claiming ceremony, where the men and women finally unmasked and were able to speak their names. "Once you’ve exchanged names, and seen your husband’s face, you will have three days to decide if you wish to change your mind instead of remaining married."

Bethan grinned. "For what it’s worth, that rarely happens."

Chapter Five

Sarah finished brushing her hair and re-braided it into a long rope, tying the end with a pink hair ribbon. Once again dressed in her nightgown, she pulled back the covers and slipped inside.

It was the most comfortable bed she’d ever enjoyed, soft yet firm, the sheets cool on her skin. Using the remote to turn off the light, she leaned back into the fluffy softness of her pillow.

After weeks in the tiny uncomfortable berth in her "stateroom" on The Hope, and considering the little sleep she’d gotten last night, Sarah looked forward to a peaceful--and complete--night’s sleep.

Meanwhile, in another part of the ship, the five youngest women from the Hope had their own plans for the evening, and they didn’t include bedding down.

From her open cabin doorway, Lindsey peered into the hallway, spotting Alison waiting with the others, Ellen, Anne, and Dana in the otherwise empty corridor. It was late in the ship’s day and no one else was about.

After the Gaian "recruitment" meeting they’d met and discussed what to do about the situation. While they respected Sarah, it didn’t seem like the older woman intended to do anything other than let the Gaians try and match them up with their men. Lindsey and the others took their own vote and none of the five wanted any part of the Gaians or their unattached men.

Alison had pointed out that only two guards were on duty at the end of the corridor, and that quite often one of them would take off for a short time leaving only one to worry about. It was clear that the Gaians weren’t really expecting the women to do anything--otherwise they’d be more prepared. The guards were armed with stunners, but they were kept holstered, and the men were far too relaxed when they were on duty.

It was a simple plan: break out of the area they were in, find the shuttle bay, and take off in one of the shuttle craft. Alison had gotten the mate of The Dove to give her some special training in running a shuttle and was convinced she could get one off the ship. Once in space, they would send help messages. Surely The Dove wouldn’t have gone very far and they would come back and pick them up.

Privately Lindsey wondered how much real training Alison could have gotten from the mate, but she didn’t have any better ideas. Anything seemed better than staying on The Promise. They moved out of their rooms quietly, carrying only a few belongings, and a blanket and some belts to tie up the guard.

They waited until only one of the older men was standing watch. Lindsey recognized him. The guard was named Jon and he was a nice man who’d talked to them earlier that day. Lindsey remembered that he’d told her that he had a daughter about thirteen years old at home and fervently she hoped they wouldn’t have to hurt him.

Alison went up to him while the rest hid. Lindsey watched as the other girl put a woebegone expression on her face including some realistic looking tears. What an actress she was! The softhearted Jon put his arm around her in a comforting fatherly way.

Lindsey heard his gentle voice. "Hey, don’t worry. One of those men is my younger brother and he’s a great guy."

Alison managed to get Jon to turn his back on the corridor while the rest of the women sneaked up from behind. Ellen threw the blanket over his head and held him with the belts, and while he was struggling Alison pulled his stunner and fired it. The man went limp under the blanket. Lindsey verified that he was breathing before they left while Alison pocketed the stunner.

They’d decided the shuttle bay would be back along the route they had taken from the reception room. Ellen had kept the route in mind while leaving there. Since it was late, they expected to run into no other people.

"This is going to be easy," Alison told them when they entered the empty hallway.

Sure enough, Ellen was able to guide them to the doorway they’d used when entering the Promise, and just a little further down the same corridor they found the entrance to a large open space, the inside of which was filled with small ships.

They’d found the shuttle bay!

The sound of men’s voices and clink of metal tools told them that they weren’t alone in the bay. A group of jump-suited men were gathered at one end of the space, near a ship with a number of open panels. Quietly the women attempted to approach one of the other shuttles without notice.

One of the men turned and spotted them and quickly approached. "Hi there! Can I help you?" He was much younger than the guards they’d seen earlier, tall, muscular, and good looking, and Lindsey noticed he had a nice smile. As he got closer though, the smile faded when he glanced at their wrists. "You’re some of the brides from The Dove. You shouldn’t be here!"

Alison smiled winningly at him. "Hi there, yourself. We felt cooped up and wanted to look around. Can you show us one of the shuttles?" She walked toward him, her hips swaying in a come-hither curve that likely hadn’t ever failed to capture a man’s attention.

It didn’t fail this time, although the result couldn’t have been what she’d had in mind. The young man’s eyes opened wider and he stumbled back towards the others, keeping his distance from Alison. If Lindsey hadn’t known better, she would’ve said he was afraid. It was almost comical watching him back away, near panic in his face.

The other men noticed them as well and one of them scurried over to a nearby com-link. "Security to shuttle-bay, now!"

Alison pulled the stunner from her pocket and aimed it at them. "Now, don’t do anything stupid, I know how to use this. All we want is one of the shuttles."

A man came around the ship behind Lindsey. Seeing the stunner in Alison’s hand, he threw the tool he held, knocking the stunner to the ground. Alison screamed in pain and held her hand where he’d hit her.

One of the other men grabbed the stunner from the ground. "All right," he said pointing it at them. "Just back off, everything is going to be just fine."

From behind Lindsey came a noise and she whirled around. The man who had thrown the tool stared at her, gasping for breath. He stood still for a couple of seconds, his breathing halted, and he bent forward slightly. His face flushed, and when he breathed again it was heavy and labored. He kept his eyes on her.

The way he stared.… Lindsey felt her own skin flush, her cheeks hot under his gaze. This wasn’t the way the married guards had looked at her!

"Oh, sweet Gaia, look at Tarren," one of the other men said. He glanced at his buddies. "Now we’re in trouble."

"He attached?" another one asked. "What do we do now? We can’t just leave him here." The rest of the men stared at each other, clearly at a loss, the one with the stunner keeping it trained on the women, holding them at bay.

Just then, Bethan arrived with several of the banded guards, also armed with stunners.

"Out of here, all of you," she said to the younger men, a stern look on her normally smiling face. The young man holding the stunner handed it over and they departed quickly, relief in their attitude. One made a grab for Tarren, but he shook his friend’s arm off, and moved closer to Lindsey, still breathing heavily, his eyes fixed on her.

At Bethan’s gesture, the guards approached the women with their stunners out. "All right now, the fun’s over. We need to take you back to where you belong," she told them.

Alison drew back, a snarl twisting her pretty face. "We belong on Earth, and that’s where we going. Run!" she screamed at the other girls.

They scattered through the bay. The guards chased and grabbed at them, the women kicking and screaming in response. After the first couple of well-placed kicks, the men stopped trying to be gentle.

Lindsey didn’t run, but instead drew closer to the still heavily breathing man next to her. She grabbed his arm. "Help me, please," she cried softly.

Tarren’s eyes opened wider and his jaw set. One arm snaked around her waist and he pulled her toward one of the walls, grabbing a chair as they passed. Holding it in front of him, he placed himself between the approaching guards and Lindsey.

He glared at them and threatened them with the chair. "Leave her alone!"

The older men gazed at each other in dismay. One tried to reason with Tarren. "Now come on, stop this. She shouldn’t be here and you know it. We aren’t going to hurt her, just take her back to her room."

The young man’s eyes flashed angrily. "No, she belongs with me, I won’t let you take her." Putting her hands on his waist, Lindsey crowded closer to him.

One of the guards called Bethan over. "We don’t want to stun him when he’s like this. It’s too dangerous--he could be permanently damaged."

Exasperated, she stared at Tarren, still holding the chair like a weapon, Lindsey cowering behind him. She groaned. "I guess I better wake up Symon and have him fetch some help."

* * * *

Dark hair slid along her cheek as her dream lover rubbed his chin across her face. The hair was smooth and silky, a contrast to the slight stubble of his beard.

Between her legs, she could feel his hand, gliding along her thigh, pausing just below that place that ached to be touched. His fingers twitched suggestively and she shivered in anticipation.

In her ear was a deep whisper. "Shall I?"

The question had only one reasonable response. Sarah opened her mouth to grant permission for him to continue his sensual exploration.

Buzzzzzzzzz. Sarah’s eyes jerked open, her lover vaporizing as the doorbell broke her dream. Lifting her head from the pillow, she glanced at the chronometer and groaned. The middle of the night--AGAIN? Grabbing her robe, she donned it as she headed for the door, her feet finding her slippers on the way.

Outside was Symon, looking upset, apologetic, and anxious all at once. Sarah sighed. Clearly some sort of emergency.

"Doctor Sarah, I hate to wake you, but we have a situation with some of the younger women off your ship. I think we need someone they will recognize, and your being a doctor could also help. Would you mind coming with me?"

Sarah nodded. "All right, give me a minute to dress, and I’ll join you." She closed the door, threw on her Gaian blouse and skirt, and grabbed her medical bag.

Symon led her to a different part of the ship, along corridors crowded with people, odd for this time of the night. Everywhere she looked were men and women wearing bands, watching her and Symon closely as they passed. For the first time since arriving on The Promise, no one smiled.

"What happened?" Sarah asked, trotting to keep up with him.

"Five of the young ladies we took off The Dove decided to leave their rooms, stunning the guard in the process. We think they may have been trying to steal a shuttle and leave," Symon told her. "They ran into a group of our men, working in the shuttle bay. Unmarried men," he said meaningfully.

The Gaians had warned them not to wander about for fear of just this sort of thing. "Are they all right? They weren’t hurt were they?" Sarah asked him anxiously.

"The women weren’t hurt, but there has been a bit of a disturbance. Here we are!"

They turned into a hanger bay where several shuttle-sized ships were parked. Sarah’s eye was caught by a group of people standing with Bethan. Most were men with bands, several of whom who were engaged in holding firmly by the arms four young women with angry scowls. The rest were trying to calm down another man who was holding a chair in a threatening manner. Behind him was crouched a fifth woman, her eyes wide in fright.

She spotted Sarah as they approached, and called out to her, "Dr. Johnson, help me!"

The rest of the women looked over at her. Sarah recognized Alison, Ellen, Anne, and Dana as those being held. The woman behind the man with the chair was Lindsey. They were some of the youngest of the NLS brides, none of them older than twenty-two. Any of them were perfectly capable of hatching a scheme like this, although she suspected Alison was the ringleader. The rest had likely gone along with the plan for lack of a better idea.

She was particularly disappointed in Ellen Martin, who she’d known for several years. Ellen had been studying to be a nurse, but had gotten side-tracked by a young man who’d wanted Ellen for many things, none of which included marriage. She’d even quit her training to help support him while he went to school.

Sarah had been delighted when she’d heard Ellen had gotten over his influence and had volunteered for the NLS. Ellen had deserved better.

When they got there, Symon looked over at the men holding the women. "Take them to one of the security rooms and hold them there." The men nodded and started dragging the women along, in spite of their kicking and yelling, a couple of others going with them for good measure.

Now he turned his attention to the enraged young man with the chair and Lindsey. "Tarren, put that thing down. This isn’t doing anyone any good."

Tarren stared at him, still brandishing the chair. To Sarah’s eyes he seemed distraught. "Please, no, don’t let them take her. She could be hurt."

Sarah glanced at his wrist and realized that Tarren wasn’t wearing a band. She whispered to Bethan, "Is this why you didn’t want us wandering about, because we might provoke this kind of behavior in your men?" she asked.

Bethan took her aside. "Tarren was one of a group of men working in here. It looks like he attached to Lindsey as soon as he was near her and now he won’t let us take her from him." She looked frustrated. "Not all men behave like this, but when she felt endangered, she appealed to him and he can’t help his reaction. He thinks he’s protecting her. What we need to do is get everyone calmed down."

"Let me talk to her," Sarah said. "Maybe if she stops being so frightened that will help."

Sarah approached them. Tarren held the chair up but didn’t try and hit her with it. "Hey," she said to him, "I’m on your side. Lindsey, tell him that no one’s going to hurt you, I’ll see to that."

Lindsey pulled at Tarren’s arm until he gazed at her. She smiled a little at him and he lowered the chair a bit. "It’s all right now, I’ll be fine. Dr. Johnson won’t let them hurt me." He lowered the chair more and his breathing slowed down. Raptly, he smiled into the young woman’s face.

He glanced at Symon and began to speak, his words falling over themselves. "Captain, I’m sorry. I … I mean they came in here, the women I mean, and I saw her, and then the others came in, the guards and they started grabbing the women and one was going to grab her, and, well, she screamed." He stared, as if pleading for understanding. "I had to help her, I had to." He put the chair down then backed up, still keeping one arm around Lindsey.

The rest of the men waited, didn’t try and rush him now that he had disarmed himself. Sarah noticed that the looks they were giving Tarren were more sympathetic than anything else. She guessed that they, too, had once felt like this young man, and in his situation could well have done something similar.

Tarren took a couple of deep breaths and seemed to wrestle himself under control. Anxiously he looked over at the guards, then Symon, finally Bethan. "I suppose this means I’ll be disqualified," he said finally.

Bethan frowned. "It’s possible. We will have to consider what to do." Her voice was stern and he flinched at the tone.

Tarren shook his head sadly, but there was a touch of defiance in his posture. A muscle in his jaw twitched. "Well then, it can’t possibly get any worse."

He turned to the young woman behind him, and reached out one hand. She stared as he stroked her cheek with the back of it, a caress that Sarah had seen Symon give Bethan. Then Tarren put his arms around Lindsey and pulled her close and kissed her full on the lips, a very long, passionate kiss. He broke off and closed his eyes, resting his forehead on hers. "It would have been nice," he said sadly.

He let go of her and went to the waiting men who took him by the arms. Symon went over to them. "Take him to holding for now."

Lindsey stood as if transfixed. Her eyes closed for several seconds and when she opened them she stared after Tarren as he was led away. She made no effort to escape as Sarah came over and took her by the arm, and she continued to be quiet all the way to the security room where the rest of the miscreants had been taken.

Chapter Six

When they arrived at the security room Alison was spewing vocal discontent with how they were being treated.

"This is too much. First you drag us off our ship against our will, and imprison us, and then you tell us you’re going to give us to your men. One of those same men hits me with a tool and then these married bullies come in and force us to come here." She held up her injured hand, distress in her face. "I’m hurt and no one has taken care of me."

It was quite a performance. Sarah almost felt like applauding, and might have if she hadn’t been dragged out of a nice warm bed because of these young ladies’ antics.

The "bullying" guards who’d dragged the women into the office also didn’t seem sympathetic to Alison’s plight. One of them displayed what looked like an Alison-sized bite mark on his arm. He glowered at her.

Symon interrupted Alison’s diatribe. "What did you think you were doing in our shuttle bay? We said you needed to stay in your area of the ship. Did you think we didn’t mean it?"

Alison’s nose went into the air. "I don’t know what you mean. We were taking a walk and got lost."

Sarah decided to get involved. "Taking a walk. In the middle of a sleep cycle?" She looked at each of them and decided which one was most likely to tell the truth. "Ellen, what were you doing in the shuttle bay?"

Ellen glanced at the others but apparently decided to come clean. "Alison thought that if we could get a shuttle we could get off the ship. Then we could signal for help and a passing ship would rescue us."

She shrugged. "When we got to the shuttle bay, we found these men there. You know, younger men, not like the ones with the bracelets. Alison tried talking to them like she usually does. But they didn’t really pay much attention to her. And one of them, all he could do was stare at Lindsey, he wouldn’t even look at Alison." She seemed impressed that some man would actually find Lindsey more interesting than Alison.

"And one of the young men called the guards?" asked Bethan.

"Yes, and then they all left, except for the one who liked Lindsey. He wouldn’t let the guards near her." She laughed. "I think he really thought he could fight them off with just a chair!"

"So you never got near the shuttles?"

"No, the men wouldn’t let us near them. All they said was that we were in the wrong place and that we should go back to our rooms." Ellen now looked disgusted with the whole adventure.

Symon fixed his stern gaze on them. "And which of you knows how to fly a shuttle?"

Alison spoke up. "It’s not that difficult. The mate on The Dove showed me how to make it go. We weren’t going to fly it very far, just off this ship." She glared defiantly.

"Do you have any idea how far off the normal shipping lanes we are?" Bethan asked. "You could have been drifting out there for days or weeks without being found." Her face clouded. "You could have died out there."

"Well it would have been better than being forced to marry a Gaian," Alison shouted. "Besides what do you care about whether or not we die? What are a few less Earth people to Gaians?"

Shock crossed Symon and Bethan faces, their eyes widening in horror. Finally Bethan spoke, her voice shaken by Alison’s accusation. "First of all, we care about what happens to you because we care about all human life, whether from Earth, Gaia, or anywhere else. Second, no one is going to force you to marry anyone. We told you before, if you don’t like the men we have here, you will be free to go. All we asked is that you meet them first. But we can’t have you wandering around this ship, for the very reason you discovered tonight. Our men can react very strongly when they meet the right woman, and we prefer that this happens under controlled circumstances."

She seemed to recover her usual calm. "Those young men behaved correctly tonight. They knew they shouldn’t be meeting you so soon, and they knew that you were in the wrong place. They were right to worry, since they could have been disqualified from the meet in a couple of days. None of these young men want that!" She looked at them sternly. "Most of them have waited for four years or more for the opportunity to find a wife. They wouldn’t jeopardize it just to chat with you!"

Lindsey, who had been quiet, now spoke up. "That man, Tarren, what did he mean that he was disqualified?"

Eyeing her, Bethan spoke carefully. "We have to be very careful with a marriage meet. The men are selected for their maturity and their ability to handle themselves. Tarren demonstrated poor judgment today by fighting the guards and he could be disqualified from participating."

Lindsey paled. "But that’s not fair, it wasn’t his fault," she cried, shock framing her eyes. "We broke in on them, he shouldn’t be punished. He was just trying to help me."

She glared at them and set her jaw. "If he can’t participate, then neither will I!" she said defiantly

Sarah thought she saw Bethan’s mouth twitch as if she was trying to keep from smiling. "What would you do if he was there? Suppose it was Terran who attached to you and asked you to be his wife--would you accept him?"

Lindsey face turned confused. "You mean he really would? He’d want to marry me? Well, I guess--he did kiss me…." her voice trailed off.

The other girls stared at her open mouthed. "He kissed you?" Ellen said.

Eyes flashing Alison turned on Lindsey. "What do you mean? You want to be part of this now? Just because a man kisses you?"

Equally angry, Lindsey glared at Alison. "You’re just upset that he liked me and not you, like every other man has."

She turned to Bethan again. "Do you think he might really want to marry me?" she asked. Sarah thought she sounded intrigued by the idea.

"Possible," Symon said, a hint of a humor in his eyes. "But you must understand, if he did ask you, he would be completely serious. He’d ask you to be his wife, hoping that you’d say yes, and if you did, then you’d be married. Really married." He was clearly trying to emphasize how important this was. "If you aren’t serious, it would be very painful for him if you refused him later."

Lindsey stared at him then nodded slowly. "I understand."

"And you still want to participate?" Symon asked.

"Only if he can too," she replied firmly.

Symon and Bethan looked at each other and Sarah thought she saw some kind of secret communication going between them, small nods and shrugs, the hint of a smile.

"We’ll let you know later," Bethan said finally. "We’ll need to discuss what to do. In the meantime, you five need to return to your rooms and this time, stay there!"

As the guards accompanied them out of the room, Sarah heard one of the girls say, "He kissed you and now you want to marry him? It must have been quite a kiss!"

After they were gone, Symon and Bethan looked at each other, and burst into laughter. Sarah wasn’t sure what the joke was, but she was glad to see the tension that had been in the room dissipate.

"If you don’t mind my asking, what’s so funny?" Sarah asked them.

Symon and Bethan grinned at each other. "Well," Symon began, "Bethan and I have been acting as counselors for marriage meets for awhile now, since the end of the war. So, we have seen a lot of men and women in this state."

Bethan nodded at her, agreeing with what he had said. "Yes, a lot of them."

"And in virtually every case," he continued, "practically the first thing any of them says is ‘will he or she be interested in me?’. It is almost like they suddenly get hit with an enormous dose of self doubt."

"So what you’re saying is that Lindsey was acting like one of your women," Sarah said. "Does that surprise you?"

"I believe ‘delight’ and ‘amaze’ are closer to how we feel about it," Bethan said. "At one point we were concerned that women from Earth would not meet our needs. Now not only do we find that our men attach to them as readily as they would a Gaian woman, but your women seem to react as ours do."

"Consider this, Sarah," Symon went on, "here was Tarren, trying to protect her against guards armed with stunners using a chair. Then he kisses her passionately. And after all that, she still isn’t sure if he’s interested!" He broke out laughing again.

Sarah smiled--to them it probably was obvious. "I think you might want to remember that Earth women are more used to men being around them all the time. Lindsey has no doubt been kissed before, and while she was impressed by it, she wouldn’t normally view it as a marriage proposal." She sighed. "We are used to being used that way, it doesn’t mean the same thing to us as it does to you."

"Still," Bethan said, "she was acting like she had matched to him, whether or not she did."

"Matched?"

"When a woman reacts to a man who’s attached to her. When a match happens, we are pretty sure it’s going to be a stable couple. The only problem we have now is Tarren. He over-reacted to the situation. We try and keep the meetings very secure, with a lot of married men and women around to handle problems. The men are very vulnerable when they first attach, and it can be very disturbing to them."

"But you are thinking about letting him do it, aren’t you?" Sarah asked.

Symon laughed. "Well, the young lady certainly made it clear that she wanted him to. And really, the rules are more guidelines than anything else," he said. "We can let him try and win her, if she is willing to go to the meet."

Bethan joined in his laughter. "Well, that’s one down, two hundred and forty-nine to go." Abruptly the couple seemed to remember they weren’t alone. Their laughter quieted and they turned to face Sarah.

Sarah felt the weight of their scrutiny. "You wanted me to see this, didn’t you? How a Gaian man would react to an Earth woman."

"We didn’t plan to let your women out of their rooms and stage an unprotected attachment if that’s what you’re asking. But I’m not sorry it happened," Bethan told her. "I think you can see why we need the women. We have thousands of men like Tarren, all waiting for someone."

"So if you succeed with us, you’ll kidnap more like us?"

A rich red stain colored Bethan’s cheeks. "That’s not what I meant. We don’t want to stop ships, but what can we do? You can imagine how it would be if we came to Earth to recruit women. It’s too soon after the war."

"Sure. Good thing the NLS is doing it instead. Convenient to just kidnap the women they collect."

Neither Gaian looked comfortable now. "It is, that." Symon said carefully. He lifted his chin and spoke more forcefully. "But we still think we’re better for you than what they offer."

Sarah waved her hand. "I know...better schools and hospitals, and that does make a difference. But to tie yourself to an enemy, one who was responsible for Earth deaths.…"

Bethan and Symon exchanged anxious glances. "Don’t forget there were deaths on both sides, Sarah. There is much that happened during the war that we can’t talk about. We still think that our men should be given a chance."

Sarah ran a finger across the desk in front of her. "Are all the men as... young as Tarren?"

Bethan’s face lost its flush and her eyes became watchful. "Many are. In standard years, he’d be twenty-two years of age."

Twenty-two. And she was twenty-eight, six years older. "I’m just wondering if any are more mature?"

Bethan’s lips twitched as if she wanted to laugh and had to hide it. "We have a wide range of ages. Attachment can happen between compatible people regardless of age, but usually the man is close in age to the woman."

Sarah knew her dream lover wasn’t a young man. His big hands held calluses from years of work. Would any of the Gaian men be tall, with dark hair? She stifled a sigh. It was too much to hope her mystery man would be here among the men at this marriage meet.

Symon cleared his throat. "Sarah, Lindsey has already agreed to the meet. The other women look up to you and if you tell them you’ll go as well, they will likely follow you."

"You’re asking me to agree to your marriage meet so the others will too."

Symon nodded. He took Bethan’s hand, and they waited for her answer.

Sarah stood and wandered around the security room. It was fairly bare, just a desk, a few chairs, empty walls. Only the artificial plant in the corner made it any different from a similar office back on Earth. She touched one of the leaves, surprised when it came off in her hand.

Horrified at breaking it, she held it out to them. "I’m sorry. Maybe it can be reattached."

Bethan waved an unconcerned hand. "Don’t worry, Sarah. It will grow a new one."

Sarah’s jaw dropped. "It’s a real plant?"

"Of course, all the plants on the ship are real. They’re part of the air-filtering system."

There were living plants on this ship. All over the ship, she’d seen them, in every room, but she hadn’t realized they weren’t artificial.

That’s how different Earth and Gaia was. Sarah had mourned the dying tree before the meeting at Xavier Hall, despaired over how so much of Earth had become barren, even to the death of the family, the relationship between men and women. Not only did the Gaians offer her a man guaranteed to be her mate, if she went with him she’d have living things around her all the time. It sounded like a dream come true.

But what about her other dreams...those of a tall dark-haired man with large gentle hands? While still back on Earth, she’d thought her dreams to be a quiet whisper that told her he was out here. Did she believe he was in the Outer Colonies? Maybe. Did she want to press on and find out? Part of her did.

Still, the Gaians had made a good point. The Outer Colonies were primitive places, frontier towns at best. She’d be better off on Gaia, as would the other women.

She’d come to the stars to meet a man who wanted a wife. The Gaians promised her one of their men would meet her needs better than one from the Outer Colonies. She couldn’t also hope he’d be the man in her dreams.

Besides, she was tired of dreams that left her wanting. It was time to wake up and smell the javi.

Sarah nodded slowly and turned to meet their friendly smiles. "Very well. I agree."

Chapter Seven

Garran adjusted his hood and the thin gauze mask that hid his features before slipping into line with the other men slowly moving into the hallway. Behind him, Sammul closed the side-door that Garran had taken into the corridor to avoid notice. As Garran looked back he saw a brief hint of melancholy on his unmarried bodyguard’s face. Sammul had foregone taking his place with the unmarried men, the better to keep Garran safe.

Safe from a bunch of women. Behind his mask Garran rolled his eyes but Symon and Bethan had been most insistent on keeping protection around him at all times. Only the anonymity of the meeting robes plus the guards that would be present gave them confidence enough to allow Garren to attend the meet without one of his bulky shadows.

He made a mental note to see what he could do to ditch the pair once he had Sarah to himself. The last thing a man needed when wooing a woman was another man hanging about.

Some of the other men in the hallway had yet to pull the masking hoods into place, their bright eyes and nervous smiles obvious even in the dim light. One of them jostled Garran’s arm in his eagerness to take his place in line, apologizing immediately. Garran muttered a low voiced acknowledgment, trying to disguise his voice.

It wouldn’t do for it to become common knowledge that the General himself competed with the younger men for a bride. Not that they’d begrudge his presence...but his antipathy to the Earth women was well known and the only way to explain his presence would be to let it slip he’d already attached to one of them. It would be best for everyone to keep that a secret if he failed to win the woman.

Especially if he failed to win the woman.

His stride halted at that uncomfortable thought, before determination took hold. He would win her. He had to, at least initially, Symon and Bethan had been most clear on that. If Sarah capitulated and took his band during the marriage meet, the rest of the women would be sure to follow her lead and accept attachment from the other men.

Of course another man might attach to her. Sarah could chose him and that would have the same result.... Garran’s hand clenched under his cloak. No, that would not happen. Sarah was his, and his alone.

The dark-clothed figures moved into the long corridor leading to the main assembly hall. Early in the construction of The Promise, it had been anticipated that the ship would be used to host marriage meets and so it was designed with that purpose in mind.

The corridor to the meeting room was long and wide enough to accommodate five hundred men standing on either side. The women would pass between them, the proximity close enough to allow attachment but still give a measure of comfort to the passing women.

Every few yards an unrobed guard stood, vigilant against any disturbance. There would be no violence, no fighting. Any man caught attempting violence would be expelled, and forbidden any further contact with the women. That threat was enough to keep the over-anxious in line.

All the men had taken position, stilling into dark-robed figures against the walls, hoods up and concealing masks in place. Garran was well along in the corridor, close to the middle of the route to the meeting room. He glanced at the still men to either side of him, then at the ones across the hall, and remembered his first meet, years ago, when he’d attached to Metta, then the fruitless marriage meets from the last year. The feeling was the same, the anticipation and the agony of waiting to know if a match would be made. Indecision, determination, and hope, especially hope.

This was what Bethan had told him, that the men needed hope, hope of attachment, hope of having a woman to love and cherish. Hope of becoming a couple, something greater than any one man could achieve.

At least he already knew a match existed for him, that a woman had captured his senses. Even now his body tightened at the thought of her and he blessed the tailoring of his baggy pants, which kept his condition from becoming public.

A faint odor reached his nose, musky, arising from the heightened awareness of the men around him. Garran felt a trickle of sweat dampen his undershirt and hoped it wouldn’t offend the woman he hoped to impress. Did Earth women distain honest sweat in a man? Would that be enough to cause rejection?

Garran straightened his shoulders. If they did, too bad. It would just be proof he’d been right all along, and that another solution would have to be found.

The tension in the corridor picked up and became almost a living thing, the musky odor increasing as a result. All heads turned as one to gaze down the hallway, masks hiding their faces, but anxiety in their poses. Garran swallowed and tensed with them, turning with the others, his heart beating as rapidly as the rest. He heard the distant shuffle of feet, small feet belonging to bodies lighter than the average man, moving cautiously through the corridor.

The women were coming.

* * * *

"It smells down there." Even with her face covered by the white gauze mask, Sarah could imagine the look of disgust on Laura’s face as she prepared to enter the hallway.

Apprehensive, Sarah looked down the corridor in front of her. Darkness lurked there, the feel of waiting men imparting heaviness to the air. There was, as Laura had noticed, an odor, but it didn’t bother her in the way the stench of the p-tran had. For some reason the smell enticed her, welcomed her, pooling in her center and turning her concern to excitement.

In spite of that, she hesitated. It had been her decision to go forward with the marriage meet, the other women from The Dove listening and agreeing as well. When time had come to don the white costumes the Gaians had insisted they wear, she’d pulled hers on first, and had taken the front position in line to walk by the men.

Now she was posed to do just that. She gazed down the long corridor before her. Dark robed figures lined the walls as far as she could see, with a man or woman in normal Gaian clothing every few yards. They were there, she’d been told, to insure peace. No one would hurt them, or even touch them unless they allowed it.

All she had to do was walk down the hall between the men waiting quietly. One of them could become her husband, his face hidden for now, his identity unknown until her decision was made. That’s how the Gaians selected their mates, sight unseen, depending on the attachment of a man to a woman and her reaction to him to make the decision. Depending on chemistry.

She’d never liked a man’s touch and even now walking close to so many raised a tendril of fear. Suppose one of them grabbed her...but no, that’s what the guards were for. She would be safe...they all would. That was the promise made, and Gaians kept their promises.

A leap of faith, that. Behind her the other women lingered, expectant of her decision. If she didn’t go in, most likely neither would they.

Bethan stood by the hallway waiting to lead them through, her face showing only a hint of the concern Sarah suspected she felt. She waited to for a sign from Sarah to proceed.

It all depended on her.…

Squaring her shoulders, Sarah moved to the entryway and motioned to Bethan, who took the lead, her relief palpable. Together they began the long trek past the line of dark-robed figures.

She thought she could hear the beat of her own heart in the quiet. Only the sound of quiet breathing from the lungs of five hundred men, broke the odd silence in the hall. The dark figures stood tensed against the wall but maintained the space the women needed to pass. No hand reached out to grab her and slowly Sarah’s anxiety faded. It would be her choice to accept any hand offered.

Behind her there was a sound of a man gasping, searching for his breath. Bethan stopped, and the line halted as well. Sarah turned and watched as one of the dark robed figures leaned forward, obviously the origin of the noise. After a moment, he straightened and stepped away from the wall to stand near the woman closest to him. One of the men near him clapped him gently on the shoulder and the rest seemed to nod in congratulations as well.

The woman, an anonymous figure in her white robe, seemed poised to jump away until he stopped without touching her. Instead, he waited a respectful distance. For a moment the pair seem to judge each other, then he held out his hand. Sarah could feel the woman’s hesitation before she placed her hand in his.

Along the corridor, the dark figures leaned toward each other and a soft whisper fled down the hallway, the news spreading rapidly. A man had attached.

Bethan tapped her shoulder and Sarah turned to see a smile on her face. Nodding, she led the way forward again, this time slower.

Within moments, the sharp sounding gasp of breath happened again, but this time Bethan didn’t stop and the man had to recover and move quickly to catch up to the white robed woman he’d attached to. Sarah glanced over her shoulder, to see him offer his hand to the moving woman and her take it, no hesitation this time.

The women knew what to expect now and weren’t as concerned as they had been. The men stood expectant but Sarah felt less anxiety coming from the dark robed figures now that a few of them had attached. Perhaps they’d been worried it wouldn’t happen, and that they’d have kidnapped the Earthwomen in vain.

Now it was clear attachment was possible, and each waited for it to happen to them.

Along the corridor, the sharp gasp and heavy breathing of initial attachment became a commonplace sound and soon the line was filled with the heavier footfalls of men walking with the women they’d matched.

No one walked with Sarah. She began listening for the sound of attachment near her, waiting for it, her own breath catching in her throat in anticipation. They were nearly halfway to the assembly room, where the newly attached couples could sit together and speak quietly.

It didn’t happen the way she expected. He made no noise, didn’t seem affected by her coming close to him at all. The tall brown robed man simply straightened as she came by and stepped away from the wall to fall into step with her without any problem with in catching his breath. They walked several paces down the hall before she realized he was holding his hand out to her.

She kept her hand by her side, continuing to follow Bethan down the hallway. He didn’t withdraw but walked with her, his hand stretched out to her. They continued that way for several paces, until she finally surrendered and placed her hand in his.

Sarah waited for the inevitable surge of nausea a man’s touch usually provoked, and was surprised when it didn’t happen. His hand was huge, hers small in his gentle grip, and the warmth of it spread up her arm, a tingling sensation that soon covered her body. Caught in the spell of his touch, she barely registered when they reached the meeting room and he led her to a cushioned couch several yards from the doorway.

* * * *

She was so small, so delicate to the touch. Her hand felt like that of a child’s...although it had hit him hard enough, he remembered, a wry grin hidden behind his gauze mask.

Then she’d been angry and decisive, seeking control of the situation, if not her temper. Now there was softness to her hand, and an uncertainty in her that he could read even without seeing her face. He held her hand and she enjoyed it, he could feel her reaction--even if she didn’t seem sure about it. He directed her to the couch and took the seat next to her, close enough to feel the heat from her thigh but not enough to touch it. Not yet.

Win her to his side…that was the goal of this first meeting. Hold her hand, talk softly to her, and make her want more of both. Only once before had he done this and for the first time he questioned how he’d been able to accomplish it. This was an Earth woman and no doubt she had plenty of experience being sweet-talked by a man. What could he say that she’d never heard before?

No innocent, his fiery Earth-born woman. He knew about Earth and their ways. She’d probably had her first lover before leaving her teens. But there was something ingenuous about her now, the way she trembled as he captured both her hands and raised them to kiss them gently through his mask. If she’d been born Gaian, she couldn’t have behaved more like an unschooled girl, and he couldn’t be more charmed by the air of sweetness about her.

He would have to fight it, not be taken in. No woman raised on Earth would remain untouched by the corruption there. She breathed out, and her scent captured him again, his body aching in reaction.

"Are you sure you attached to me?" Uncertainty colored her voice and he realized what she meant. He hadn’t made any of the characteristic sounds a man made during initial attachment and she was clever enough to notice. For a moment he considered pulling her hand to his crotch to show her just how attached he was, the thought of her touch making him even harder.

No, even a non-innocent Earther would be offended by that blatant an action. He laughed quietly. "You are my match, not to worry. I’m just quieter about it, I suppose."

"Oh." Her head bent as she seemed to study his hands clasping hers. She stretched out her fingers to compare them to his, the length of his half again as long. "You have large hands."

"I’m a big man. Big hands go with it."

She could measure the height and breath of him for herself. His commenting on them wasn’t needed. By comparison, her white clothed figure seemed tiny.

"I don’t mind your touch." Puzzlement was in her voice.

"I don’t mind yours, either." He put her hands on his shoulders, directed them to slide across his chest to his waist. "I like the feel of your hands, Earth woman."

She pulled her hands from him. "Is that what you intend to call me?"

Amusement at her reaction made him tease her. "Perhaps--until I know your name--and that’s not for a day, yet. Until we agree this is what we want and exchange bands."

"I see. You don’t sound like you have much love for Earth."

She’d heard the harshness in his voice. He’d have to watch that. Garran touched her face beneath the mask, using the back of his hand to feel the contours of her cheek. "That won’t stop me from having love for one of its women. I attached to you.… I can love you."

"Is that what this is, love? A physical reaction to my smell, and you’re in love?" she scoffed.

"It’s more than just your smell." It was a lot more than that, but he couldn’t tell her he liked the moss-green color of her eyes and had imagined a child with her wild red hair. He also couldn’t say that he’d watched her with the other women and admired her spirit, that there was something in her that made her worthy to be his bride.

He wasn’t supposed to know who she was, or what she looked like.

"Is it?" She didn’t sound so sure. "Hard to believe that two people can create a relationship based on no more than this." Her hand took in the room and the robed figures sitting together.

Irritation flashed at her criticism. "It’s what we’ve done for many generations now, chosen our mates this way. It worked for my parents, and their parents. We don’t have divorce or unmarried people."

"So I’m told. It’s just hard to understand why."

"I’ll show you, then. What do you think about me?"

"I don’t know what to think."

"Then what do you know?"

She paused, considering. "I know you are tall, with big shoulders. You have a deep voice, a nice voice. Something about it is familiar.…"

"What else?" Garran broke in quickly. If she remembered where she’d heard his voice, she might recognize who he was.

A soft laugh escaped her. "You have big hands and are gentle with them. I’ve dreamed of such a man."

His breath caught in his throat. "Dreams? About what?"

"Nothing really," she said quickly.

Some emotion colored her voice. Embarrassment? Interesting. "Perhaps I should tell you what I know about you."

Another soft laugh and she folded her hands in her lap. "So tell me."

He grabbed her hands and pulled them to his face, feeling the palm and fingers carefully. "I know you have soft hands, but that you’ve worked with them. There is strength in your fingers and calluses that comes from use. I know your smell is that of sweetness, that you like cleanliness, you are most likely an orderly person."

Garran touched her shoulders under the gown, then ran his hands lightly down to her waist, keeping his touch light. "You are small, but have the size of a woman, particularly here." His hands moved to her hips and molded around them. "Definitely a woman," he told her.

He gave her waist the lightest of caresses before releasing her. "I know you are strong willed and that you question everything. You ask questions when others merely experience. That’s what we are intended to do now, you know. Experience."

"Experience what?"

"What it is to be a couple. When it comes down to it, two people alone in the dark is what it’s all about. How we relate to each other without sight, by touch, that’s what makes a Gaian couple."

"I’m not Gaian."

No, she wasn’t. "If you were, we wouldn’t be talking like this. But if you join with me, you will be."

"I see."

"Maybe you do, maybe you don’t. But you will. I like your touch and I think you like mine." He ran a hand along her arm, felt the tingle there, and heard her soft gasp at the sensation. She was his match, no doubt about it.

"I want this to continue.... Do you?"

Her voice was pitched low. "I think so. It’s still hard to accept."

"You think too much, Earth woman. I’ll have to show you.…"

A soft chime filled the room, and soft groans resulted as couples broke apart. Bethan took the center of the room. "Only two more minutes for tonight."

Sarah pulled away from him, and he permitted it, more reluctant than he’d expected to be at losing her from his arms. Reaching into the pocket of his pants, Garran found the narrow band he’d made for her and placed it into her hand, closing her fingers over it. "You will wear it tomorrow if you wish to continue this with me. Think on it...please."

He’d added the pleasantry as an afterthought, but her soft laughter made him glad he had. "I will think on it."

The chime sounded again and he rose to his feet.

"Oh, Gaian man, I think I know one more thing about you." Her voice was soft, a mocking tone in it, but he found it intriguing rather than annoying.

"What would that be?"

She held up the marriage band. "You probably find it hard to take ‘no’ for an answer."

He leaned over her, holding her shoulders, letting her feel his strength, of body--and of purpose. "And in that you would be most correct, my little Earth woman. I don’t intend to take ‘no’ from you. Not when ‘yes’ would be so good--for both of us."

Her bemused laughter followed him as he joined the other men leaving the room.

Chapter Eight

Sarah and the others gathered in the dining room down the hall from their sleeping quarters. The big, open room had become the common gathering place for the women to congregate in during the past couple of days since being brought onto The Promise. Their meeting with the men over for the past hour, they’d collected there after changing from the meeting robes into regular clothing.

They could have stayed in their rooms, but somehow no one wanted to, not tonight, not after the excitement of having a man attach to them.

Sarah remembered the big man who’d offered his hand and the tingle of his caress. She wondered at it, how for once a man’s touch hadn’t caused her to feel ill and instead made her giddy with desire.

Sarah shivered in apprehensive delight. Only in her dreams had a man provoked this kind of response. She could almost believe it had been her dream man in that corridor, holding her hand, caressing her hips. Absently she reached into her pocket and stroked the band he’d given her. Her nipples tightened, her imagination providing her unknown lover’s touch on them.

"So, what did you think, Sarah?" Laura dropped onto the seat next to her, scattering Sarah’s thoughts. She felt heat in her cheeks at her friend’s bemused scrutiny.

"Interesting. Certainly that."

Laura laughed. "Interesting? I saw that big guy haul you away and could see you with him. You were more than interested."

Well, perhaps, but she wasn’t going to talk about it here! The best defense was a good offense. "And how did you like your man?"

"Which one?" Laura laughed. "There were two who followed me."

"Two?" Sarah gasped.

"Yeah," A trace of embarrassment colored her friend’s face. "Two men came and sat with me, but after a moment one left. It was odd, I liked them both, but the one who stayed...something about him just seemed--nicer, I guess." She shook her head. "The man who left patted his friend on the shoulder, I guess to congratulate him."

Holding up her arm, she showed off the narrow band decorating her arm. An image was cut into the flat portion of the band, resembling a tree. Laura traced the figure. "I wonder what this means to him," she said, her voice pensive. "Maybe he likes growing things. I hope so. I want to live where there are lots of trees."

Sarah stared in surprise. "You’re already wearing it?"

Laura rested her head on her hands and gazed longingly at the band. "I’ve already made up my mind. I can’t imagine being with anyone but him."

Sarah looked around and realized that several of the women were wearing the bands, others looking at theirs with expressions not unlike Laura’s. She fingered the band in her pocket and pulled it out. When she’d gotten to her room, she’d examined it, and noticed the emblem it bore, a slender crescent moon. The image reminded her of the pictures the view-screen in her room often displayed. Many times there was an exquisite view of Crescent Lake, which seemed to be one of the more picturesque locations on Gaia. To Sarah’s nature-starved eyes, the place looked like heaven with its unusually shaped deep blue lake surrounded by tall green and red trees.

A coincidence? Most likely. Still, it pleased her that the man who’d asked to be her husband would pick that particular symbol.

She began to think about what symbol she would pick--assuming she decided to go along with this. It seemed the Gaians used the images on their bands to tell their prospective spouse something about themselves.

An idea for a symbol she might use came into her mind. Yes, that would work, Sarah thought and she grinned at the whimsy in it.

The quiet in the room dissipated as the women compared bands and talked about their experiences during the meet. As the intensity of the marriage meet faded away the women began chatting away merrily, excitement building as they realized that the men they’d met really did intend to become their husbands.

They hadn’t seen their faces, but those dark loose robes couldn’t hide a well-constructed body, and the men’s voices, even speaking quietly, had spoken enticing words demonstrating intelligent minds and loving dispositions.

Sarah remembered her would-be husband’s voice and a delicious shiver ran down her spine, again firing her latent desire. When he’d told her how he’d not take no for an answer when yes could be so good.… Sarah couldn’t resist the thrill his voice had given her.

"Look at this!" Lindsey bounced over to the table, her smile triumphant. On her wrist was the band she’d been given. Proudly she pointed to the emblem on the band.

Sarah peered at it closely, then burst into laughter. The symbol was a chair, not unlike the one Terran had used to defend Lindsey the night he attached to her. Obviously he’d managed to recognize her during the marriage meet.

"Did you know it was him?" Sarah whispered to the happy young woman. They’d agreed to keep it quiet that the young woman had attempted an escape and that Lindsey had attracted one of the Gaian men’s attention prior to the meet.

The expression on Lindsey’s became dreamy. "Oh, from the moment he took my hand. It was him, I’d know him anywhere."

She played with the band, twisting it back and forth. "I can’t believe it happened so quickly." Turning her attention to Sarah’s empty wrist. "Didn’t you find someone Sarah?"

"Oh I found him. Or I guess he found me. I’m just not quite ready to accept him." Why wasn’t she ready, she wondered? Was it that he’d seemed too good to be true? Even his hands...large, warm, and gentle--they’d reminded her of the man she’d dreamed about. He wasn’t necessarily a mild-mannered man...she didn’t get that impression of him, not with the intensity of his words when he spoke to her. This would be a man to demand what he wanted, not beg or plead. But that didn’t discourage her...far from it!

Only in one corner of the room were the women quiet. Sarah noticed that Bethan was sitting there, talking earnestly to them. Leaving Laura to chat with Lindsey, each trying to outdo the other with tales of how charming and witty their newfound mates were, Sarah stood to find out what was going on.

As she got closer she realized that Alison and Jenny were among the dozen women at the table and that no one was smiling. She heard what Bethan was saying.

"Just because a man didn’t attach to you this time doesn’t mean that one won’t. We have many other men, some even on this ship."

Jenny spied Sarah over Bethan’s shoulder and cast a woeful gaze at her. It was clearly all the big woman could do to not burst into tears.

Alison folded her arms under her sizable bosom and scowled at Bethan. "I wasn’t thrilled with doing this in the first place. Imagine a man picking a wife without seeing her." She tossed her head and pushed a golden lock behind her ear, her face in a sneer. "It’s not surprising no one chose me, wearing that sack."

"The meeting gown is designed to keep the man from focusing on the surface image of a woman," Bethan explained. "The chemistry will happen with or without seeing what a woman looks like, but a man needs to feel acceptance to attach to her."

"I was trying to accept," Jenny interjected, threatening tears evident in her voice. "I was!"

Bethan spoke soothingly. "I know, Jenny. Sometimes a woman has a very specific man for her." She patted the big woman’s hand. "He just wasn’t there this evening."

"And when will he be there?" Sarah asked, stepping into sight and the conversation. "Are you planning another opportunity for the ones who are left over?"

Bethan turned, eyes wide. "Sarah!" She faltered, then raised her gaze to meet Sarah’s stare. "Perhaps that would be best, to arrange a second meet. There are men who didn’t get the chance to be here tonight." She rose to her feet. "I could make arrangements for it."

"Don’t do it on my account." Alison drawled. She stood and headed for the door. "I wouldn’t do this again on a bet."

The rest of them followed Alison’s example, leaving Jenny with Bethan and Sarah. She looked at them, wide-eyed. "Bethan, I wouldn’t mind. I want someone so much." Her voice turned desperate. Jenny turned to Sarah. "I can cook! Tell her, please. I’m a good cook, really. I’d make a man a good wife."

Sarah hugged the big woman. "Of course you will. It’s just like Bethan said. The man for you wasn’t there tonight. He exists and we’ll find him."

It just wasn’t fair. Jenny, who wanted someone to care for her so much, was left alone. Sarah exchanged glances with Bethan. Surely there was someone for this good-hearted woman.

Bethan nodded. "We’ll arrange another meet as soon as we can. Don’t worry, Jenny."

Mollified, Jenny pulled herself to her feet. She glanced wistfully at the rest of the ladies, chatting excitedly about the men they’d met. "I’m not picky. Any man will do." Her broad face grimaced. "Well, any man but the Beast, I guess. I’d be too terrified of him." Without another word she took off for her cabin.

Bethan frowned as she watched Jenny leave. "What does she mean by that, Sarah?"

Bethan must not know about the General’s nickname. "She’s talking about General Doranth. During the war he was called ‘The Gaian Beast’."

The dark-haired woman’s mouth dropped open. "Why would he be called that?"

Sarah sighed. Bethan obviously cared for the man but apparently didn’t know how hated her friend was and why. "The broadcasts he made. The ones that made jokes about the Earthforce ships that were lost."

Bethan’s frown intensified. "Broadcasts? The ones reporting the ships we’d taken? But those.…" Her eyes went wide. "You saw those broadcasts?"

"Everyone on Earth saw them. They were sent out on the network channels at the start of the war."

Bethan’s posture stiffened and her lips settled into a thin line. "I believe I understand some things now. We’d wondered why his name kept coming up as a target."

She patted Sarah’s hand and glanced at her wrist. "You received a band, didn’t you?"

Sarah pulled it from her pocket and showed it to her. "I haven’t made up my mind yet."

Running a finger over the crescent moon design, Bethan’s face turned thoughtful. "I hope you can give him a chance, Sarah. Take the time to get to know him before making any quick judgments." She rose to her feet.

Before she left, Bethan made one further comment, her face once more flushed with anger. "Don’t believe everything you were told about the war, Sarah. Governments lie."

"Even Gaia? Have we been lied to, Bethan?"

For a moment Sarah wondered if Bethan was going to say more. The woman looked like she had too many secrets and needed to get one off her chest. Then she shook her head. "There are things we can’t speak of, Sarah, not yet. But believe me when I say that we don’t like lying and we never wanted to hurt anyone."

* * * *

After Bethan left, the women gathered around the machine the Gaians had brought in and began to design bands for their husbands. Again Sarah thought about her choice, but she wasn’t ready to commit to making a band for this man of hers. Not yet. Instead she left the dining hall for her private quarters.

Once in her room, Sarah took the time to plug in her datastore and review everything she’d recorded about the war and the Gaians. It was interesting viewing. There were the terrible images of General Doranth announcing the destruction of the Earthforce fleets, but otherwise there was little about how the Gaians had fought the war or about why Earth had finally capitulated. With more questions than answers, Sarah turned off her machine and instead tried to find information from the Gaian network.

She found little of use there, nothing to explain Bethan’s cryptic remarks. There were many files describing Gaian philosophy, the reliance of the family unit, the couple, man and woman the fundamental building block of their society. There was also a firm belief in fairness and in the right of all creatures to life and happiness, something she found strikingly refreshing after her life on Earth.

When she was done, Sarah thought she understood why Bethan and Symon had been so upset at the younger women’s accusations of not caring whether they lived or died. The Gaians did care about the lives of others...passionately. No Gaian would harm another deliberately and that reluctance for violence extended to others as well.

It even extended to Earth people.

Confused, Sarah ceased her search. Relaxing in the big comfortable armchair in her room, she considered the facts.

The Gaians respected life, almost to a fault. And yet, they’d destroyed countless numbers of Earthforce personnel during the war. Or so it seemed. Certainly those individuals had never come home.

So what did it mean that the Gaians respected life and the Earth people hadn’t come home? She couldn’t figure it out--too little data.

So what did she know? Sarah leaned back and let the view-screen change to its usual image, the view of Crescent Lake. The lovely picture soothed her and reminded her of the band in her pocket, the one she still hadn’t put on, signifying her acceptance of her Gaian lover’s suit.

He wanted her to be his wife. That was what the gift of the band meant. A man, unseen, but real, had asked to be her husband. He’d touched her, caressed her and told her it would be good between them.

And she believed him. Again Sarah felt that odd thrill at the thought of her would-be husband. For the first time in her life a man’s touch had excited rather than repelled her, made her feel passionate rather than queasy. This unknown man had given her a glimpse into what her more knowledgeable friends had talked about, the world of physical love.

He would become her lover, her husband, and father of her children. Unlike her dream lover, he was a man of flesh and blood who wouldn’t fade away in the morning, but stand beside her.

It could be so very good between them--he’d said so himself. And all she had to do was say yes. Sarah pulled the band from her pocket, examined the crescent moon shape, comparing it to the image of the lake on the wall. A good sign that it so closely matched her favorite picture of Gaia. Maybe he’d take her to see the lake sometime.

Her hand was steady although inside she quivered like a leaf on the trees near that distant lake. Sarah took the band and carefully fastened it around her wrist. It didn’t matter what secrets the Gaians kept. This man wanted her and for reasons she couldn’t name she wanted him. They were matched as Bethan liked to put it.

Rising to her feet, she headed back to the dining hall. If she was going to accept her unknown lover, she needed to make him a band as well.

Chapter Nine

Men crowded the room, watching the wall’s view-screen with eager and anxious eyes. From his position at the back, Maxxa waited, nearly as anxious as the younger men were...but not for himself. Sammul had stayed with Garran last night leaving Maxxa free to spend time with his wife, Gretta, but like many of the other married people on The Promise, Maxxa had gotten up early to learn the results of the meet.

Last night the women who’d decided to continue with the meet had registered the bands they’d received and created ones of their own. By scanning the symbols into the computer they indicated their choice and now the men waited to see if their symbol would show up--if today they would be granted the opportunity to meet again with their lady and collect a band of their own, a band that would make them married men.

Maxxa thought he’d never seen the men so tense. It was far worse than when he’d attached to Gretta. But then, Gretta was born Gaian and was used to the Gaian method of courtship. No one could guess how the Earth women would react to a blind selection of mates, the reliance on attachment and matching. Perhaps many of them would reject their would-be husbands and insist on leaving The Promise to continue to the Outer Colonies.

Perhaps none of them would wish to stay.

Maxxa’s gaze wandered over the unmarried men’s faces, their blank stares and tensed jaws. Many had a haggard look to their eyes and gulped cups of javi with desperate speed. Sympathetic humor provoked a wry grin that Maxxa struggled to suppress. He remembered his own experience with the physical aspects of first attachment, what happened when that part of his body suddenly woke up. He doubted if many of the men had gotten much sleep last night.

The view-screen flashed, and as one the all faces turned to it, all eyes fixed on the blank screen. The room quieted to the point that Maxxa thought he could’ve dropped the feather from a green-goose and heard it hit the floor.

The first lines appeared. "Results of Promise Marriage Meet 1. Number of women - 250. Number of men - 514. Number of women to receive bands - 238."

There was a collective gasp. They’d known that most of the Earth women had attracted a man, but this was even better that expected. Over ninety-five percent of the women had been attached to. But the next statistic would be the critical one. How many of those who’d received bands would accept them and enter the symbols, indicating their willingness to give a band of their own?

The next line displayed. "Number of symbols recorded - 238."

There was a collective gasp and then a nearly deafening cheer went up that echoed through the room. They’d all been accepted--all of them!

Maxxa clapped the shoulder of the nearest man grinning with joy and relief and stepped forward as the screen began to scroll with symbols and times, indicating when attached men and women would next meet. He saw the slender crescent moon come up and noted it was in the first group, less than an hour from now. The big man took off for the general’s suite.

* * * *

She’d accepted him. Garran turned his sleep-deprived eyes to his media panel as the marriage-meet results were announced and could scarcely believe it when he saw the slender crescent moon symbol scroll across the screen. He’d been unable to sleep...too much to think about, and he’d found one advantage to having a bodyguard. At least he’d had someone to play cards with.

Garran’s excitement turned to shock as he notice the time of the next meet and realized he had less than an hour to get ready. This time they’d meet alone, in the dark so he could pull his mask off...and his robe...and whatever else seemed appropriate. Abruptly he remembered that he hadn’t bathed yesterday after the meet and he’d been worried about sweat.

Sammul looked amused as Garran jumped up from the table where they’d been playing, dropping his cards in the process. Sammul had almost won the last hand as the general’s concentration had flagged during the long night.

"I better wash up."

"Take your time." Sammul grabbed the brown robes where they’d been tossed after Garran’s return from the meet. A brief sniff, and he held them further away as he headed in the direction of the sanitizer. "You might consider some stronger deodorant, General. I’ll get these cleaned up."

Suppressing a groan, Garran headed for his bedroom and the adjacent sanitary. He must have some kind of antiperspirant that would make him agreeable to his lady.

He nearly tripped when he got to the door, realizing what he’d thought. His lady. That’s what Sarah was now. Grinning, Garran fled through the doorway, tearing his clothes off in his haste.

Freshly laundered brown robes waited for him on his bed when he exited the sanitary. Dismayed, Garran eyed the narrow bed as he pulled on the trousers and loose top. It would be too small for two unless those two were very friendly, and he couldn’t predict Sarah would be friendly enough to sleep in such a small bed with him. Maybe Bethan could find a bigger mattress somewhere. He decided to ask her about it when he saw her.

Of course, first he had to get a band from Sarah. First things first, after all.

In the lounge he found that Maxxa had arrived and both he and Sammul waited for him, apparently intending to accompany him.

That’s all he needed, was two of them hovering over him when he went to meet Sarah. "Sammul, why don’t you go back to your quarters?"

The big man folded his arms and glared with narrowed eyes at Garran. "Nope, I’m coming with you."

No way Garran was going to be saddled with both bodyguards. "You didn’t get any sleep last night. How can you protect me if you’re too tired to stay awake?"

Obviously Sammul didn’t like that observation, but he seemed stuck for a reasonable argument in response. He glowered at Garran then nodded reluctantly. "Yeah, I guess you’re right." He nodded at Maxxa. "Take good care of him."

* * * *

In the main assembly hall, Sarah and the other twenty-nine women assigned to her time-period took seats on the large couches to wait for their men.

Their men...her man...it still seemed like a dream come true. This time tomorrow, if everything went well, she’d be married. Nervously Sarah fiddled with her hooded robe, the crescent moon band around one wrist, and the men’s sized wristband she’d placed on her other. She’d give one or the other band to her unknown man, depending on whether or not she decided to be his wife.

Be his wife. Oh wow, it was really happening. Sarah took a deep breath and tried to calm her raging heartbeat. For a moment she was grateful for the masking garments that hid her features from the rest of the people in the room, including the other women and the normally dressed Gaian guards. Of course, the women were probably as anxious as she was. She could hear nervous laughter from some of them as the time came for the men to appear.

The tall doors at the side of the room opened and dark robed figures flowed in, moving as fast as the inhibiting outer garments would allow them. Sarah subdued her own tense chuckle at the men’s rapid approach. It seemed they were as eager for this meet as the women were.

When they reached the women, there was some quick shuffling as the men sought the one white-gowned lady that held his band. As Sarah watched, the pairing seemed to take no time. Even without seeing her face, each man seemed to recognize his own lady, his attachment sense locating her amongst the rest.

When a man found his lady, he collected her hand and raised it to his masked lips. That it also put the band she wore in eyeshot almost seemed beside the point. These men knew their woman, sight unseen. If she hadn’t witnessed it herself, Sarah would have never believed it. As it was, the matching process intrigued her.

Wouldn’t Karen have found it fascinating? Her friend had been interested in unusual hormonal problems in humans. She could have done an entire study on the Gaians. What a pity they were the ones responsible for her death.

Sarah subdued the unwelcome melancholy thinking about her friend gave her. As Bethan had said, people died in the war, on both sides. Obviously Bethan and Symon had lost someone close to them due to Earth’s actions, and they didn’t blame her for that. Let the dead lie buried. She should give the Gaians, including her unknown would-be husband, the benefit of her doubt.

Speaking of whom, the man was late. All the other couples had formed, the brown-robed men sitting with their ladies, low voices talking earnestly. Sarah was the only woman sitting alone.

Surely he hadn’t forgotten, or worse, changed his mind. She felt the band with the crescent moon, his pledge. No, he’d be here. This meet was scheduled for an hour, he was just a little late.

As she looked around for her wayward male, one of the couples stood, the man taking the woman’s hand and leading her to a side corridor. Sarah had been told that rooms had been prepared there, rooms without lights, but furnished with soft cushions. Once in a "dark room" a couple could engage in whatever activity most appealed to them.

At least that’s the way Bethan had phrased it. Sarah blushed clear to her toes thinking about what a man and woman could do under those circumstances and once again was grateful for her covering garment.

As she watched, another couple stood and followed the first one, the man’s arm around the waist of his lady, then a third rose to their feet. Wistfully her gaze followed them to the door of the dark room corridor.

"My deepest apologies. You’ve been waiting." She’d only heard his voice once before, but knew it immediately. Swiveling, Sarah gazed at the hooded dark figure that had appeared behind her. As he took her hand she noticed another man behind him dressed in the same uniform as the Gaian guards, but much bigger. Sarah gaped as the pale-haired man moved away to stand with the other Gaians guarding the room. She’d thought the man beside her was big, but this other was the biggest human being she’d ever seen.

Her wayward male took a seat next to her, still holding her hand. He squeezed it, reclaiming her attention. "Hey, Earth woman. I’m over here."

"So you are. I was just noticing how big your friend was. What is he, some sort of bodyguard?"

He gave a low chuckle. "Why do you ask? Is my body in danger?" One hand slid along her wrist, fingering the narrow band with the symbol she’d chosen. "Perhaps I need someone to protect me from you?"

His touch flustered her. She wasn’t used to a man’s caress being so...pleasant! "You have nothing to fear from me."

"Oh, I think I do. My heart could definitely be in danger from you, Earth woman." His voice teased her and put shivers up her spine and ripples into her core.

Endangered, him? She was in far more danger than he was.

He pulled her arm with the larger band up closer, apparently curious about the symbol on it. One finger tapped it. "What creature is this?"

Sarah resisted the urge to laugh. "It’s an Earth bird, common a long time ago. There were still a few in the zoological parks when I was a child. It’s called a stork."

He did laugh. "A stork. I’d heard of such animals, but didn’t know they still existed. Why would you choose this, I wonder. Could it be a hint about who or what you are?" His hand moved to her thigh, stroking it gently. "Or are you just boasting about what long legs you have?"

Warmth flowed from the places his hand touched, and Sarah reveled in it. She could get used to this kind of attention.

She gave him an answer that was no answer. "I thought it appropriate at the time. Are you going to tell me why you picked a crescent moon?"

"Not today...eventually, I will. Assuming there is an eventually for us." She felt his arm go around her waist, and she leaned into him, felt the strength of his broad shoulders under the shapeless garments. His deep voice whispered into her ear. "What do you say, Earth woman? Shall we find someplace secluded where we can make up our minds about the future?"

Sarah stiffened. He wanted to go to the dark room. Raising her head she realized they were the only couple left, the rest of the hooded figures having already sought the private spaces put aside for them.

He wanted to go to a dark room and when they were there.… Sarah pulled away, out of his arms.

"Is something wrong? Is there a problem?" Concern colored his voice and at it, she felt embarrassment at her reluctance. He probably expected her to be comfortable with having men touch her and if they were to become man and wife, being intimate would be part of it.

"Its hard to explain. I’m not sure I’m ready for...." She let her voice trail off then took hold of her flagging courage. "I’m not used to being alone with a man."

"Particularly one you’ve barely met?" His fingers moved enticingly along her waist and he buried his face into her neck. She felt the heat of his breath through the hood of her garment and it seemed to flow down the front of her dress to her breasts, leaving them aching.

"Something like that." Even to her ears she sounded shaky and it wouldn’t take much for this man to figure out how he was affecting her. Firmly she tried to gain control of her wayward emotions, barely able to restrain herself from putting her own arms around him.

"Do you trust me, Earth woman? If I promise that nothing will happen without your permission and cooperation, will you come with me?"

"Do you promise that?"

"With all my heart." He stood and pulled her to her feet. "Come, I promise to do nothing more than fulfill your dreams."

Sarah allowed him to direct along the path the other couples had taken, her suitor’s arm keeping her close but taking no liberties. At least not yet, she reminded herself.

His promise had caught her off-guard. Could this stranger really know about the kind of dreams she tended to have? A shudder that had nothing to do with fear ran through her as they moved through the doorway.

* * * *

What was wrong with this woman? She was as skittish as a newly-hatched charner. Garran kept his arm around her, as much to give her support as to satisfy his own desire to touch her. This was nothing like his first time with Metta--she’d practically dragged him to the dark room, her eagerness for their matching nearly surpassing his own.

Sarah acted as if she was afraid to be alone with him and why would she fear him? He’d caused her no harm.

A dark thought occurred to him. Perhaps she’d been abused by a man...possibly even raped while on Earth? Anger surged through him, fury at the thought of someone hurting his lady, bruising the soft skin he’d not even gotten the chance to feel yet. Her head barely cleared his shoulder. She was so small, felt so delicate on his arm--it was easy to imagine an Earthen frackscum taking advantage of her.

Of course, just the thought of anyone touching this woman, with or without her permission, made him feel murderous. She would be his and no one else’s.

She leaned into him, her warm curves and sweet scent teasing his rage into need. Pure desire hardened his body and he adjusted his hold to move Sarah further to one side, to keep the evidence away from her notice. If a man had hurt her during sex, he didn’t want her to believe he’d do the same thing.

Not that he didn’t want sex. At this point he could think of little more he wanted than to have Sarah’s body under his, encasing his newly regained hardness with her sweet warmth. He leaned closer and filled his nose with her aroma, distinctive even through the heavy robes. He knew what it was--her body was reacting to him, making her ready for possession. It was a normal part of the matching process, but significant in that it was between a Gaian man and Earth woman. She really did act like a woman of his people.

Garran acknowledged that fact even as he struggled to control his reaction to it. It’d been a long time since he’d smelled the arousal of a woman, and hers drove him wild.

He needed to keep calm, not let her know how deeply he was affect by her. With her innate nervousness, Sarah didn’t need him rutting all over her. At least not yet. Garran suppressed a chuckle he didn’t want to explain to the woman under his arm.

They’d reached the dark rooms and one of the guards indicated the one reserved for him and Sarah. Heavy black curtains covered the doorway, needed to keep the dim lighting of the corridor from infiltrating the shadowed interior. Sarah turned and he could feel her trembling against him.

Perhaps he was overestimating how nervous she was. It could simply be passion. If she accepted him as her husband, then he could take it as a sign of her willingness to make love to him.

Garran tapped the stork band on Sarah’s wrist. Pitching his voice as seductively as he could, he whispered into her ear. "Will you give this to me now, before we go in?"

"Can’t I wait? I mean.…"

He swallowed his disappointment. Maybe it would be better to wait and not make love to her at all today. His body rebelled at that idea, but he couldn’t take her if she didn’t accept him whole-heartily.

There was another aspect to it as well. Suppose they made love and later, when she knew who he was, she regretted it. Garran remembered how angry Sarah had been when she’d struck him, the name she’d called him.

He wasn’t sure why she’d been so upset. How had she known his name, much less be able to recognize him? And she hadn’t been alone in that, that other woman had known who he was as well. He’d been ignoring that for as long as he could, but it was clear that Sarah was going to have a reaction to finding out that her husband wasn’t quite the stranger she thought he was.

He hadn’t answered her yet. Giving her a reassuring hug, he tried to calm her fears. "I want that band more than I can tell you, but not until you are ready to give it to me. When you feel comfortable enough to offer it, I’ll be happy to accept it. Also, nothing will happen between us unless we both want it. Will that do, Earth woman?"

His answer seemed to please her and some of the tension eased from her shoulders. "That will do nicely, Gaian man. She stepped away, toward the curtained doorway, then offered her hand to him.

"Shall we go in, Gaian man?"

Chapter Ten

They weren’t kidding, Sarah thought, when they said it was a dark room. Once the curtain behind them closed, she couldn’t have seen her hand in front of her face--or her suitor’s face in front of her hand. The Gaians were serious about making sure that she couldn’t identify him by sight.

But scent, touch, and taste--those would be possible. Now that she had his promise not to take advantage of her, Sarah looked forward to discovering his. She already knew the timbre of his voice, which rippled along her senses every time she heard it. Recently her dream lover’s voice had taken on that same, heavy resonance.

In the blackness of the room, she was glad that Bethan had showed them what a dark room was like with the lights turned on, the better to allay their fears of the unknown. She knew that the bulky softness in front of her was a raised padded platform that nearly filled the room. Not quite a bed, it was designed to be a comfortable place for the couple to sit--or lie down together.

To her left was a hook, placed on the wall at just the height of her head, designed to hold her hooded robe. The opposite wall held a similar hook for the man to use. The room was warm and dampness trickled down between her shoulders. She could pretend it was because of the warm room and the robe, and not her awareness of the man behind her.

There was the sound of rustling cloth and Sarah realized that he’d taken off the hooded robe, using the hook. Then warm hands stroked her upper arms, setting up trailing ripples of sensation that kept synchronous time.

He tugged on her robe and his deep voice came over her shoulder. "Do you need help with this?"

"No...." Speech trailing off, she pulled on her robe, lifting the concealing veil and hood and dragging the rest off her shoulders. With shaking hands she lifted it to the hook.

She felt his hand slide up her arm, bare in her sleeveless gown, and across her shoulder to find the long braid of her hair. Tentative fingers stroked the strands.

"So soft." He lifted the length off her neck and she felt it slip through his fingers. "And long. I’ve never felt hair this long before."

"Gaian women don’t have long hair?"

"Some do, but no one I’ve known." Heated fingers lingered on the back of her neck, teasing the skin and she found herself leaning back into them. No man had ever touched her so intimately--no man had ever made her enjoy his touch before.

Unnerved, she moved away from him and his seductive fingers and climbed onto the platform, kicking off her shoes to land on the floor. Scooting back to give him room, she folded her legs beneath her. As she’d been told to do, Sarah flattened her hands on the cushioned surface before her so he could find them in the dark, and waited for him to join her.

The platform shifted as his weight was added to hers and it was a reminder of just how big he was. Her head a mix of emotions, she waited for him to take her hands.

Sarah could feel his presence as he moved closer, his bulk taking the space in front of her. His palms covered the back of her hands and rested there, and the gentle weight soothed her.

Yes, he was big. But he was gentle as well. Every move he made was careful, the way he spoke to her relieved her fears. He seemed to understand her misgivings and wouldn’t force her into more than she was ready for.

A thrill of excitement drove away most of her lingering anxiety and left her hungry for more of this man’s gentle touch. In spite of her nervousness she was beginning to think she was ready for anything.

He lifted her hands and turned them over, planting a kiss into the palm of each. For the first time she felt his lips directly on her skin--the result electrified her senseless. She barely registered when he placed her fingers on his face and guided them to his forehead.

With trembling fingers she traced the lines of his face, felt the smooth skin and straight bulk of his nose, the flat planes of his cheeks. Behind his ears she found a lock of long hair as silky as sateen, a rare and costly fabric. She played with a few strands and wondered what color they were. Dark, dark brown, like that of her dream lover?

He had a firm jaw and the softest lips. His tongue flickered out and dampened her fingers as they passed, and she felt his breathing pick up.

Outwardly he seemed so calm, she could almost believe she was having no effect on him at all. She ran her fingers along his jaw, and felt the muscle clinch. A sigh escaped his lips.

Sarah realized something. This man was controlling himself. She’d known he wasn’t young. His speech showed maturity and there was a sense of strength that came from mastering adversity. But to control his desire to this extent.... It showed more than a strong will.

It showed experience. She rested her hands on his shoulders. "You’ve done this before. Been attached, I mean."

The broad muscles stiffened under her fingers and she heard him catch his breath. He let it out in a long exhale that sounded like resignation. "We aren’t supposed to speak of it."

"It won’t tell me who you are. I don’t know that many Gaians."

"No, but.…" He sighed. "You’re right, you should know."

He pulled one of her hands to his lips, kissed it. "I was married before. She died...during the war."

He had lost someone he cared about like she had, her friend, Karen. But more than a friend, she could hear the pain in his voice. "You loved her."

"We always love our spouses. Yes. I loved her." First anger at her comment, then regret. So much pain in this man. No wonder he was so controlled.

Another thing. If his wife died during the war and Earth was responsible.…

"Are you sure?" she asked. "Are you sure about wanting an Earth wife?"

"Are you asking if I can care for you, knowing your origin? I’ve asked that question myself. If the answer hadn’t been yes, I wouldn’t be here. I’ll be a good husband to you, I promise that."

"And Gaian’s keep their promises, don’t they?"

"They do if they can possibly do so. This one I’ll have no trouble with."

Somehow he’d found her hands and relocated them to his shoulders. "I do want you. Touch me, learn who I am."

Even with the thin fabric of his shirt, she could feel the warmth. She wanted more, though. Sarah tugged on the top of his shirt. "I wonder--could you take this.…"

She didn’t have to finish the sentence. The sound of fabric being pulled over smooth skin was immediate, and then her hands were once again on his shoulders, now bare. "Anything my lady wants," was his breathless, humor-laced response.

She caught her breath at how glorious that bare skin felt. In reverent silence, her hands traced the broad expanse beneath them, traveling slowly to his chest and sought the lightly haired skin that covered his heart.

His heartbeat was steady and strong, and much faster than she’d expected. He sounded calm, this Gaian lover of hers, but he wasn’t. Under her fingers the rapid tattoo of his heart picked up speed and as her hand found a flat nipple and stroked it, his breathing became ragged.

A shaky laugh escaped his lips. "You do affect me, woman. Make no mistake about that."

It was heady, this sense of power. As his caress had made her senses sing, now she could do the same. She explored him, the broad muscles of his back and sides, the rippled flesh over his abdomen. Strong arm muscles bulged under her fingers and she wondered at that. Here was a man who clearly exercised in a world where a push of a button moved the heaviest object.

"Do you like what you feel?"

"I do." Leaning forward she caught the richness of his scent, intensely masculine. It was mixed with some musky fragrance that complimented his natural odor. "I like what I smell, too."

"I did make a point of bathing."

"Good, but I liked your smell before, too."

She hesitated at the top of his pants, wondering at the flesh they hid. Did she dare explore that private part of him?

As she debated the issue, his hand closed around hers. "If you want to wait, that’s fine. I understand."

Relief vied with disappointment as he lifted her hand away. She’d just been working up the nerve when he’d interfered, but she said nothing as his hands followed her arms to her shoulders and upwards to explore her face.

Instead she reveled in how his fingers felt caressing her face, lingering on her nose and mouth, stroking her cheeks, and tracing her jaw.

He caressed her cheek with the back of one hand, a gesture she’d seen other Gaian couples make. Abruptly it made sense.

"It’s so you don’t poke anyone in the eye. That’s why you use the back of the hand."

Delighted laughter answered her. "You are clever, aren’t you!"

He’d finished with her face and placed large warm hands on her shoulders, stroking the fabric of her gown. A finger ran down the scooped neckline to where a press-tight fastener kept the front closed. He played with the skin just above the opening. "Do you believe in fair play, Earth woman?"

Well, she’d got to touch his bare skin. Sarah licked her lips nervously and her fingers trembled as she reached for the closure and pulled the edges apart, allowing the top of the gown to gape open to her waist.

With her implicit permission, he pushed back the fabric at her shoulders and the top of the gown fell down her arms, leaving her bare from the waist up. Even as warm as the room was, goose bumps dotted her skin.

As she had, he started at the shoulders and worked his way down, his fingers stroking her arms and back, exploring the thin bones of her shoulders. She’d thought her dream lover had been thorough, but this man’s large hands covered every inch of her. Her skin tingled under his gentle caress.

He reached her breasts and encompassed them, lifting them as if weighing their mass. "So very soft." His voice was a whisper, as if he didn’t realize he’d spoken aloud. Perhaps he didn’t. She could barely hear his breathing, so quiet it was.

Rogue fingers discovered the pebbled hardness of her nipples and the sensation nearly lifted her to her feet. She covered his hands with hers, amazed at what so little a touch could do.

"Did I hurt you?" Concern spiked his voice and made it hard.

"No, I just didn’t expect it to feel that way. I mean, well, they don’t feel like that when I touch them."

He laughed. "Don’t they?" Under her hands, his fingers stroked gently and the sensation returned, rippling deep within her. Without the surprise, she found his touch stimulatingly pleasant and her hands fell away to give him complete access.

"You weren’t doing it right, then."

She was glad for the darkness and how he couldn’t see her blush. Of all things, she’d picked the one Gaian male with more experience than she had. But if experience meant his touch was this sweet...how wonderful to be with a man who knew what he was doing.

Would he be disappointed when she told him how little time she’d spent learning physical pleasure, or would it make any difference at all?

His hands fell to grasp her waist, and he pulled her closer. She put her arms around his neck as his face came closer. She could feel the heat of his breath on her cheek.

His voice hoarse he whispered into her ear. "I could play like this all day, but we don’t have that much time. I’ve promised to be your husband, Earth woman. Will you accept me?"

She leaned into him, felt the press of chest on her breasts, her nipples flaming from his caresses, her body more aware than at anytime in the past. This man was the lover she’d sought all her life, the one she’d dreamed of.

The time had passed for careful planning and organized thinking. It was time for a leap of faith.

"I accept, Gaian man." She was glad her voice was steadier than her heartbeat.

For a moment she wondered if he’d heard her, then he turned his head and his mouth sought hers. She eagerly met his lips and in the instant was transported to a world of the senses unknown before.

Sarah’s fear of the future, embarrassment over her inexperience, everything disappeared in the face of his kiss. She moaned and he took advantage, plunging his tongue into her mouth. His taste surprised her, warm and musky, similar to his scent. Her tongue joined with his, intent on exploring his taste. She wasn’t sure she’d ever get enough of it.

Finally he pulled back, buried his head in her shoulder. "I wasn’t sure you’d agree, but I’m very glad you have. Thank you."

Sarah pulled the larger band off her arm and placed it into his hand. For a moment she thought he would put it on his arm, but she heard him slip it into his pocket.

"It will be easier to fasten when I can see."

That surprised her. She’d had no trouble fastening hers without looking, but maybe he was being careful. She forgot everything else as he pulled her back into his arms for another round of kissing, leaning her back until they were both prone on the platform. For an instant he was above her, hips pressed into hers. As if of their own volition, her knees fell apart, and she opened to him, legs wide.

This was it. Sarah caught her breath and waited for him to move between her legs, fear warring with anticipation.

To her surprise, he pulled to the side and settled onto the platform next to her, lying on his back. He reached an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into his side. "We have a little while left together. We can talk if you like." He sounded like he was stifling a yawn.

Confused, Sarah toyed with the hair on his chest. This was not how she’d expected him to behave once she agreed to be his wife. "Don’t you want to...." She let her voice trail off, more uncertain now than she had been.

He kissed her forehead. "Don’t I want to make love? You’re my wife and yes I want to make love to you. But there aren’t many minutes left and I’d rather not hurry our first time together."

A cry came from the hallway, barely muffled by the heavy curtains. She felt as much as heard his chuckle. "I’m also not fond of performing for an audience. We’ll have more privacy tomorrow in our quarters." He tickled her cheek with his breath. "In our bed, with the lights on so I can see you respond to me."

She tried to subdue the thrill his suggestion gave her. "I’ll be moving in with you?"

"After the claiming ceremony. Just pack your things tonight and they’ll be moved to my place."

"You have room for me?"

He chuckled. "Fishing for information? Very well. Yes, I have room. I’ve got a handy, little closet you will fit into very nicely," he teased. "I’ve always kept my wife in a closet, it keeps her close at hand and out of the way."

He was impossible. "I would think you’d rather keep your wife in a bed."

"Hmm, a bed." He sounded like he was considering it. "Perhaps you’re right. A bed would be best for at least the first couple of days."

Over their heads a soft chime sounded and Sarah’s new husband stilled. "That’s the warning. We only have a few minutes more."

Rising onto one elbow, he leaned over her and traced her face with his hand. "My wife." All humor had fled his voice and he sounded wistful. "Tomorrow we’ll claim each other, unmasking, and you’ll know my name and face."

"And you’ll know mine. They explained how it happens."

"Good." He took a deep breath. "I want you to know that I am very pleased to have you as my wife. I want you very much and I’ll be the best husband you could ever have."

That sounded like there was a big "but" attached to it. "Is something wrong?"

"There is nothing I can tell you now. But know that I do care for you." He kissed her again and her mind stopped trying to understand him. So long as he kissed her, she’d believe anything he had to say.

"One more thing," he said when she’d managed to regain her senses. "I want a promise from you. When we meet tomorrow, I want you to listen carefully to me and follow my instructions. Things may be a bit confusing at first. Will you promise me that?"

"If you kiss me again, I’ll promise you anything."

Appalled, Sarah realized she’d spoken aloud, but her husband chuckled. "Very well, a kiss for a promise. Do you promise to follow my instructions?"

"I promise," she said dutifully. "Where’s my kiss?"

"Right here." He gathered her to him and took her lips willing prisoners and they were still happy captives when the final chime sounded. Reluctantly she let him set them free.

He pulled away from her and searched for his shirt, finding it, then his shoes and the hooded robe. Sarah did the same, redressing in her gown and robe, making sure the mask was in place.

After hearing his voice in her ears, it sounded muffled when he finally turned to her and took her into his arms. "One more kiss, wife, before they drag us out of here." She felt him pull up her mask and leaned forward to meet his lips once more.

A muffled grunt sounded outside the curtained doorway, and he pulled away, letting the mask drop. "I wish it could be like this forever."

"In the dark? I thought you wanted to see me respond to you."

"I do." He gave her a chaste kiss on the top of her head with his mask in place. She thought there was pain in his voice. "I want that more than you will ever know, Earth woman."

One last chaste kiss and then he released her. "Tomorrow, my wife. And remember your promise."

He slipped through the curtain before she could say anything more.

Chapter Eleven

Garran hovered in the hallway outside the unmarried men’s dining hall, listening to the hubbub within. There was quite a celebration going on, the sounds of music and happy, slightly slurred voices coming through the open doorway. He grinned. Sounded like Symon had authorized wine to be served with dinner tonight.

That was a good idea, provided the men used discretion and didn’t imbibe too much. Tomorrow they’d claim their ladies, and it wouldn’t be smart to do so with a hangover.

It would be a good thing for him to join them, Garran decided. That way he’d be able to help keep things under control. Also, he admitted to himself, that way he wouldn’t have to be alone with his thoughts about Sarah’s soft skin and enticing smell. His hand clenched at the memory of the texture of her skin, so smooth. What he wouldn’t give to be with her now instead of his ever-faithful shadow.

Garran stole a backward glance at Sammul, loitering at his heels and sighed. He really would have to do something to get rid of the man when the time came to claim Sarah and get her alone. Two was company--two plus a bodyguard was clearly a crowd.

He tilted his head at the man-mountain behind him. "Shall we join them?"

Sammul’s lips twitched in amusement. "You probably should be in there with them. It’s a party for the attached men after all."

His eyes dancing in amusement, Garran put two fingers against his mouth, signaling the need for silence. "We won’t mention that though, will we? Let’s just keep them company."

Inside, the men were gathered in groups and at tables, drinking and laughing, their happy, excited faces everywhere, holding up their wrists to show off their bands. Garran fingered Sarah’s band, still in his pocket. He wouldn’t put it on until later, in private.

The banded men were married, part of a couple, the fundamental unit of Gaian society. This would be their last night in the bachelor quarters--tomorrow night they’d share a private room with their lady. Most of them looked like they couldn’t wait to share a marriage bed.

Of course some of the men looked like they’d already found a welcome in their wives arms. Their bright and knowing smiles showed proof of that. It wasn’t at all unusual for a new couple to make love after exchanging bands, and many had no doubt already discovered how wonderful that part of a marriage could be.

Garran’s body tightened in memory at the feel of Sarah in his arms, and once again he wished he’d made love to her. She’d even seemed disappointed in his decision to wait. But it was for the best. If she became as angry as he expected her to be when she learned his identity, their having shared intimate pleasures would just make her more upset.

A few unbanded men kept their buddies company, their smiles sometimes forced, but wanting to be part of the celebration. Garran understood how they felt. Four fruitless marriage meets had given him special insight into how hard it could be to see others attach and claim a wife.

A couple of men near the door turned in his direction and they leapt to attention. They nudged the men next to them, and a flurry of movement and whispers moved through the room. One by one, table by table, the men stood, the conversation ceasing as they became aware of his presence.

Garran felt the weight of their stares, nearly two hundred and fifty pairs of eyes gazing at him. "I didn’t mean to interrupt.…" Garran began.

"Not a problem, General. We’re happy to see you here." A man nearest the door spoke. Garran recognized him, one of the engineering staff, named Tarran. Bethan and Symon had mentioned him as a man who’d also managed to attach prior to the meet, through an accidental meeting with some of the younger women in the hanger bay.

Tarran held his wrist up, displaying the band around it. "We know it was partially your plan that won these ladies for us. The party wouldn’t be complete without you."

Quiet murmurs of agreement swept the room, and Garran felt a surge of pride. Symon and Bethan had been right. These men now had wives and the rest would find theirs as well. He’d heard of another transport of NLC brides heading their way within two weeks. He smiled. Their plan was working beautifully!

Tarran poured a glass of cold white wine and brought it over to him, but when Garran reached for it, withheld it from him. Instead his eyes twinkled and mouth turned upwards into a grin.

"General, there’s only one thing wrong, here." He leaned over and stared meaningfully at Garran’s arm. "I have it on pretty good authority that you received a band today and yet I don’t see you wearing it."

Astonished, Garran gaped at the younger man. "How did you know?"

Several men near them grinned sheepishly. One spoke, a tall, skinny youngster who looked barely old enough to be here. He was pale, with light brown freckles, and Garran recognized him as a member of the women’s surveillance team. "Well, when you back up the recording we took when the women first came on board to where that red-headed leader of theirs slugged you.…" He grinned.

Tarran nodded. "Then when you consider that since the women came you’ve been spending all your time in your quarters."

A third man spoke up. "And then you add in the fact that either Sammul or Maxxa has been hanging around during and after the meets." This man was nearly as big as one of Garran’s bodyguards. He wore a security patch and Garran realized probably worked closely with the two men and knew they’d been assigned to protect him.

"Well sir, it was pretty obvious what was going on." Tarran concluded. "Do you have some reason to hide it from us?"

Did he have a reason? He’d not wanted it known he’d attached to an Earther, but clearly that wasn’t a secret anymore. Garran pulled Sarah’s band from his pocket and fastened it around his wrist. He showed it to them and heard the murmured approval.

Tarran thrust the glass of wine into his hands then grabbed one of his own. "We’ve toasted the ladies of Earth who are now our wives, and those who’ve brought them to us. I have another toast now."

He held his glass high. "To the General’s lady!"

The phrase rang throughout the room, repeated by everyone including Sammul behind him, who’d acquired a glass of his own. Garran raised his own glass and drank deeply of the chilled beverage.

He nodded his appreciation, both for the drink and the toast. A very good wine, sweet as his lady and as cold as she was not. A very appropriate choice.

As was Sarah for him an appropriate choice he realized. His red-haired Earther bride, sweet and accepting in his arms today. Tomorrow morning he would claim her.…

But would she accept his claim? Bethan had warned him that the Earth women had some misgivings about him and that Sarah shared those. She might not want him once she knew who he was.

Misgivings of his own arose, but he couldn’t focus on those now. Somehow he’d win her trust. Half the battle was won in that she’d accepted marriage. She just didn’t know it was him. Once she knew, he’d just have to convince her he really was the man wanted.

Enough concerns for the night. Most of these men wouldn’t have the same problems he did. Their ladies would hold no preconceived ideas about them.

It was time to celebrate, not worry. Garran raised his glass. "To all of our ladies, gentlemen!"

* * * *

"What do you mean, what am I going to wear?" Sarah leaned back in her chair in the dining hall and shot a glance at Laura who seemed as taken aback as she was. Beside them Lindsey even lost some of her overwhelming good-humor, which Sarah assumed Terran had full responsibility for.

Her husband might have been reluctant to make love, but it seemed very few other men had been. Several women had gotten into a good-natured argument over which of their men had performed the best.

Andiea, the Gaian woman addressing them, folded her arms and returned their stares meaningfully. "I mean, aren’t you going to dress up for the claiming? It’s customary--after all, this is the first time your husband will see you. You want to look nice."

Several other women gathered around, eyes widening as Andiea’s meaning became clear.

"We’re going to need fancy clothes for tomorrow?" Lindsey’s face turned thoughtful. "I have a dress...I wore it for the last-day party at school." She suddenly smiled. "I bet my husband would love it...the bottom is very short.

"I have a nice black skirt and purple sateen blouse," Sarah heard another woman exclaim.

"I don’t suppose we could use the white gowns," someone else said.

"Too shapeless. You want something that shows your figure." Andiea’s face showed sympathy as she headed for the door. "Let me talk to Bethan. I’m sure she’ll have a solution."

"We have the Gaian blouses and skirts we were given. Maybe we can just dress those up somehow." Even as she said it Laura didn’t sound too hopeful.

Still, Sarah thought, it wasn’t a bad idea. The Gaian women wore simple clothes with decorations of ribbon, lace, and fancy stitching. Maybe there was something she could do with what she had. Ambition firing, Sarah rose and headed for her room.

Two hours later, Bethan arrived to find Sarah hunched over her Gaian blouse, an emerald-colored ribbon in one hand and a surgical-needle and thread from her medical kit in the other. Irregular loops of ribbons were gathered along the top of the blouse, held in place by large and in Sarah’s eyes, poorly done stitches.

Sarah threw aside the results of her handiwork with a grunt of disgust. "I learned to do stitches using needle and thread when I took emergency medicine years ago. Never had cause to use it...we always use wound-sealers in our work. It’s a good thing I guess." She eyed her modified blouse with dismay. "If I had to work on a person they’d come out looking like Frankenstein."

Bethan looked confused. "Frankenstein?"

"A man stitched together from the parts of other men. I saw an old flat-screen horror movie about him once. He had seams running up the sides of his face." She glared at the blouse and it’s richly hued but disastrously uneven trim. "On second thought, that would be an improvement over this."

Bethan laughed and pointed to the line of delicately made flowers that decorated the neckline of her own garment. "This kind of work takes years to learn to do, Sarah. Don’t feel bad that you aren’t an expert." Bethan collected the blouse. "This isn’t so bad...at least it’s colorful." She picked at one of the ribbons. "Where did you get these?"

"Hair ribbons. I wasn’t sure how available they would be where I was going and I tend to need a lot them." Sarah lifted her braid to lie over her shoulder, showing the red ribbon tie running through it. She stroked the braid. "At least he seemed to like how long my hair was."

"He? Oh, you mean your husband." Bethan reached for Sarah’s arm and smiled at the marriage band. "I’m glad you care about what he likes."

"I’d better--he’s my husband now." Mournfully she stared at the adulterated top in Bethan’s hands. "I just hope he won’t be too disappointed in me."

"What, because you can’t sew? I doubt he’ll notice. Believe me, I’ve seen worse." Bethan eyed her handiwork with the air of an expert. "Using the ribbon was clever. It just needs a couple extra stitches to even things out."

Sarah’s hopes rose. "Could you fix it? I don’t have time to learn how to do it right."

With a grin Bethan picked up the needle and applied it with considerable skill, neatly tucking the extra ribbon into place, catching the looser loops as she went. Sarah stared in wonder as the effect she’d been trying for showed up along the neckline, loops of red, blue, green, and yellow ribbon in colorful display against the pale green fabric. "That’s what I wanted."

"See, you were on the right track. Why the sudden interest in domestic arts, anyway?"

"I wanted it for tomorrow, for the claiming. I don’t have anything really nice to wear."

Bethan finished the last knot and snipped the loose threads. She held it up for Sarah’s inspection. "Well, it’s nice, and I’m sure your husband would be pleased that you went to this much trouble. But if you’d like something a little more appropriate.…"

Sarah’s attention was caught. "You mean fancier? What do you have in mind?"

"Andiea mentioned not all of you had proper claiming garments, so the rest of us got busy and put some outfits together." She rose to her feet. "Why don’t you come with me and see what we found."

Eagerly Sarah followed her to dining hall, which seemed to have been turned into a clothing bank in her absence. Piled on the tables were gowns, skirts, and blouses in rich colors and fabrics, much nicer than the usual Gaian garb.

At their entrance, Bethan nodded to one of the women helping the delighted brides selecting claiming attire. The woman smiled and disappeared for a moment, reappearing with yet another outfit. Bethan took from her the heavy brocaded skirt, dark green in color, and white blouse, richly decorated in embroidery in various shades of green, gold, and red. Flowers and leaves ran along the scooped neck and down the top of the long sleeves, ending in colored bands at the wrists.

Sarah gaped at the beautiful outfit, tentatively fingering the delicately depicted flowers. Some blooms were a red-gold color not unlike the color of her hair. "I’ve never seen anything like this."

"That’s one of the Earth flowers that grows well on Gaia. It’s called a rose and comes in many colors, including that one. Roses are much loved by our people and some varieties even have names. That one’s called Earthen Flame."

Sarah laughed. "How very appropriate--it’s very like the color of my hair." Bethan handed the blouse to her and she gathered the silken folds over her arm. It felt like heaven to the touch and she couldn’t wait to see her husband’s expression when he saw it.

Of course, she couldn’t wait to see her husband.

It seemed to good to be true. "Are you sure I can have this to wear, Bethan?"

Bethan pressed the skirt on her and Sarah reached to take hold of the heavy material. "It’s yours to keep, Sarah. Consider it a wedding gift."

* * * *

Symon found Garran tearing through his clothes-store, throwing the contents over the new doublewide bed that took up the middle of his bedroom.

He picked up one of the several black shirts piled on the bed. "It isn’t spring-cleaning is it, Garran? Oh, wait, I know. You’re making room for your wife’s clothes." He eyed the bed with a smile. "I see you’ve already taken care of where she’ll sleep."

Garran shoved a wayward lock of dark hair out of his eyes, his expression screaming his annoyance. "If you must know, I’m looking for something to wear tomorrow. Something appropriate for the claiming."

He picked up a pair of ebony colored pants and tossed them aside. "Something that isn’t black."

"Something that isn’t black!" Symon couldn’t resist teasing his friend. "But Garran, black is your favorite color. I’m not sure I’d recognize you if you were wearing anything else."

"That’s the point. I don’t want anyone to recognize me, least of all her. At least, I don’t want her to see me as me.…" He blew out a deep frustrated breath. "You know what I mean."

"You mean you want something to wear that won’t immediately remind your wife that she’s married to General Garran Doranth." Symon sorted through the shirts, each as dark as the others. "I understand, Garran. Really I do."

Pulling the last of his wardrobe, Garran tossed it on the pile on the bed. Every shirt, jacket, jumpsuit, and pair of pants was as dark as the next. The pile looked like a black hole, absorbing all light within the room.

Symon stared at it. "Impressive, Garran. I’m surprised. I didn’t realize black came in so many shades."

Garran groaned and sat on the edge of the pile, burying his head in his hands. "What am I going to do? If I show up wearing this stuff tomorrow, she’ll hit me and run away before I can get a word in edgewise. I’ve got to throw her off-guard, for at least as long as it takes to get her alone. Imagine her screaming about me being the Gaian beast in front of the others?"

Even Symon shuddered. That was a problem. If Sarah panicked the other women might do the same. "Well, it’s a good thing Bethan anticipated this."

Garran’s head came up, obviously sensing an impending solution. "What did Bethan anticipate?"

"That you might need a new wardrobe. If you’ll come with me to the sitting room…."

His voice trailed off and he had to move quickly to get through the door before Garran. The big man moved much faster than Symon had anticipated, a feral gleam in his eyes. The gleam turned to appreciative satisfaction when it landed on the pile of clothing Symon had left in Maxxa’s care. Four pairs of pants in brown and dark blue, three tops in lighter blues and green, plus one in a nice tan color rested on one of the long divans.

In a separate pile was another outfit, brocade pants in a dark green and a white silken top heavy with embroidery. Garran lifted the shirt reverently. "Claiming garments, for tomorrow." He ran one hand along the embroidery at the neckline. "Bethan’s handiwork I see. Beautiful. Please, give her my thanks."

Symon clapped his friend on the shoulder. "I will." He turned to leave. "Don’t stay up all night worrying about tomorrow. She’s a good woman and you’re a good man. It will work out for both of you."

Garran collected the clothes in his arms to take them back into his bedroom and the bed he’d sleep in for the first time, and hopefully the only time alone. "I hope you’re right, my friend."

Chapter Twelve

Claiming day. At the signaling chimes from the comm-unit Sarah arose from her sleepless bed, the covers tossed here and there, the pillow mashed into the corner.

For once no dreams featuring a broad-shouldered dark-haired lover had disturbed her sleep. Instead she’d tossed and turned, imagining her husband’s hands on her breasts, his lips on her lips. She even imagined his body between her legs, and that image had driven her to the sanitary in the middle of the night for a warm, relaxing bath.

It would have been even more relaxing if she’d been able to get his last words and her solicited promise out of her mind. What was it that her husband had been so concerned about? She’d promised to obey his instructions. What would those be?

She knew what was supposed to happen today. At the first bell the women were to show up in the assembly hall wearing their claiming garments and armbands, the hooded robes covering the whole. They’d be organized in the same groups as the second meeting. Their husbands would be brought in, still wearing the brown hooded robes, and would find their wives, using the bands as verification.

Once a couple met, they’d exchanged names and then pull the robes off, uncovering their faces, and then the pair would move off to the banquet hall for serious feasting.

After barely touching her dinner last night Sarah looked forward to that part of the ceremony. While breakfast had been delivered to her cabin, Sarah wasn’t able to do more than sip a cup of the flavorful javi, ignoring the sweetened fruit-roll on her plate. Her stomach seemed turned into knots. Maybe once she was with her husband it would settle down and let her eat. After missing two meals, she expected to be starving by late afternoon.

The chronometer showed very little time left, so Sarah concentrated on packing the last of her things into the trunk. This afternoon it would be moved to her husband’s quarters--wherever they were. She brushed her hair and plaited the sides with green ribbons, pulling the braids up on her head like a coronet. The result was more elegant than her usual braid, but still kept her thick hair out of her face.

Finally she donned the skirt and blouse Bethan had found for her last night and when she examined herself in the mirror she couldn’t help smiling. She looked like the images the Gaians had shown her of their brides.

Surely he’d be pleased, this husband of hers who always called her "Earth woman". Sarah admired her reflection, tilting her head in satisfaction. She could be as Gaian as anyone.

Slipping the hooded robe around her, Sarah left her cabin for the last time and joined the other women assembled in the corridor.

* * * *

Garran pulled the brown robe around him, and Maxxa in tow, headed for the assembly room. After a sleepless night he’d put away half a pot of javi, plus two of his favorite geappletarts, but still felt hungry.

The new claiming garments fit him perfectly, even given the weight he’d lost in the past few days. He’d taken far more care than usual with his appearance, brushing his hair, cleaning his teeth. He’d spent a lot of time in his bedroom, clearing out cabinets for Sarah’s belongings, making room for her clothes next to his.

He’d even made the bed, a useless gesture since he knew a small army of cleaners would descend on his quarters the instant he left it to make certain everything would be ready for his new wife.

His new wife. Garran played with the band and once more wondered why she’d picked a long-legged bird for a symbol. It must be an old Earth thing. Maybe he’d get her to tell him later.

Assuming she was speaking to him later. He couldn’t keep imagining the worst. Somehow it was going to work out. It had to.

Maxxa’s hand descended on his shoulder as they arrived at the hallway leading to the assembly hall, just before he entered the door. Under orders from Bethan to let the bulk of the newlyweds pair off and leave first, Garran followed his bodyguard’s direction and waited to enter.

* * * *

Sarah took her place with the others, her white hooded gown covering her head to toe. Part of group one, she was herded into the corner of the room nearest the main door, groups two to four taking the other corners, group five placed in the center. The noise level in the room rose as the women took their spots, quieting only when the main doors opened and the men came in.

One tall, thin man rushed into the room and headed for their group, almost stumbling on his robe in his rush. Sarah watched as he cast about wildly then jerked forward to stand in front of the white figure she knew was Laura.

He held up his band and showed her the symbol. "My name is Parras Olmas."

"I’m Laura...Laura Thomas," Sarah heard her friend’s soft voice answer.

He reached over and pulled up her mask, then allowed her to do the same to him. Sarah watched as the pair gazed into each other’s face, the look of wonder and joy that followed. Parras reached one hand forward and gently stroked Laura’s cheek.

"My wife," he whispered.

Her gaze fixed to him, Laura allowed herself to be lead away without single backward glance.

In the meantime the rest of the men had entered and searched the hooded women for their wife. Using their innate attachment sense, they seemed able to identify their ladies with surprising speed, narrowing in on that one special woman in spite of the concealing hoods.

Sarah watched for her husband, assuming he shouldn’t be too hard to spot, his bigger build making him easy to identify amongst the others. In spite of that she didn’t see him, and soon, well over half the couples were gone from the room heading for the banquet hall. A thread of worry attacked Sarah, wondering what could be wrong, why he wouldn’t be there.

He’d been late for their second meeting, too. Perhaps she didn’t mean that much to him. Perhaps their marriage was a sham. Perhaps, perhaps…. Nervousness made her imagine the worse.

Her fears fled when a familiar figure dressed in the characteristic brown robe strode toward her, his speed and accuracy a relief until she realized that she was the only woman left in her group.

She stared as he stopped before her. "You’re late...again."

He seemed taken aback. "I didn’t realize you were keeping count. I’m sorry, it isn’t because I don’t want to be here." He reached for her hand with the band, pulled it up to examine the symbol, his hand stroking hers gently. "I’m glad to see you, wife."

His contrite tone made her laugh. "I’m glad to see you as well, husband."

"You remember your promise. To do as I ask?"

Curiosity assailing her, Sarah spoke. "I remember."

"Very well then. I want you to tell me your name and I’ll unveil you, then you unveil me and I’ll tell you my name. Then we’ll leave, but I don’t want you to say anything until we’re alone."

That wasn’t how the others had done it and Sarah couldn’t understand why he wanted to change what seemed to be a common ritual. But she’d made a promise. Sarah nodded. "I agree."

That meant she went first. He waited while she collected herself. "My name is Sarah Johnson."

She waited while his hands found the bottom of her veil and lifted it, pulling the hood back as well. His appreciative gasp warmed her to the core.

"You are...most beautiful, my wife. Sarah, I mean." He touched her hair and stroked her cheek with the back of his hand. Sarah found herself leaning into his hand.

Now it was his turn. "You want me to pull off your hood and then you’ll say your name?"

He stiffened and gave a brief nod. Smiling in anticipation, Sarah reached for the bottom edge of the mask and pulled it up, then over his head, taking the hood with it. It fell back, revealing his face, hair slightly disheveled and his cheeks flushed.

Sarah stared. He was handsome, this husband of hers, very handsome. The long silky hair she’d felt was as she’d hoped dark brown, and his skin pale as if it had rarely seen the sun. Deep blue eyes with an anxious look gazed longingly at her over the long patrician nose and firm jaw her fingers had touched.

She smiled at him and some of the anxiousness left his face. He opened his mouth then closed it, and Sarah realized he’d yet to say his name.

"So what do I call you, husband?" she said to encourage him.

The anxiousness returned, followed by resignation. He took a deep breath. "My name is Garran. Garran Doranth."

It took a moment for her to recognize the name. She’d so often heard him referred to as just the General or by his nickname, the Gaian Beast.

Her first reaction was shock, then loss. Where was the man whose touch she’d learned to appreciate, whose voice had thrilled her to the core? Instead he was her worse nightmare, her enemy. Anger warred with tears as she gazed at him.

He seemed to know when she made the connection. His mouth grew thin and his jaw set, but worst of all was his eyes. When he knew she’d recognized him, the hope in them died.

Sarah might have felt sorry for him if she hadn’t been so angry. As it was, it was all she could do to fulfill her promise, holding her tongue as he led her through a side door the other couples hadn’t taken, the bodyguard she’d noticed during their last meeting falling into place behind them.

* * * *

Other eyes watched them leave the room.

GONE AGAIN! Second time loss of opportunity to search, attack, destroy lost,…. second time! The creature seethed with frustration. Shouldn’t take more than once, should search, attack, destroy on sight, but now seen twice and missed twice, could have finished already…. but failed!

Furious, IT watched its target leave with the woman, a bigger man in tow. Probably meant to be protection...protection from me. Evil laughter greeted that thought. As if one man, even one as large as that one would be protection enough from IT!

It was the female’s fault. Stupid female, stupid to choose that man, choose IT’s target. She’d interfered the first time, struck him, drove the target from the room before IT could act, before IT could search, attack, destroy. And now she’d done it again, gotten in the way, caused IT’s target to leave. And he’d taken her with him. She would likely interfere again.

The doors closed solidly behind the three. IT couldn’t follow, not now.

Must maintain cover. Must. Regret at that, didn’t want to go back under. It was good to be out. But there was no choice. Another opportunity must be found, another time to find the target, to search, to attack, to destroy. Must retreat, let host take over.

"Mary...are you all right?"

Concerned man standing next to IT. Concerned voice in ear, concerned hands on shoulders. Evil glee. Could rip concerned heart out.

Unwelcome dismay from host. Confusion in IT--host stronger than was. How possible? Host weak, host was always weak, no will, that’s why host. But now... host care for concerned man, didn’t want hurt--didn’t want IT to hurt man.

The creature mulled that over.

Better to retreat. Find target and search, attack, destroy later. Let host care for concerned man, for now.

Mary blinked and smiled into her new husband’s face. "Oh, Karra, I’m fine." She gave a shaky laugh. "I guess I just need something to eat."

With a besotted smile Karra took his wife’s arm and led her to the banquet hall.

Chapter Thirteen

They moved down the unfamiliar corridor at high speed, the General’s arm around her like a vise, directing Sarah around corners and through connecting passages. Hot on their heels was the big man she’d noticed before, now obviously a bodyguard. When Sarah looked back at him, she could see him watching the way in front of them for signs of danger, his gaze scanning every doorway and side passage.

She also noticed that his gaze landed on her more than once with that same searching stare. Apparently she too was considered a threat.

They arrived at a doorway, somewhat wider than the others but otherwise not distinguishable from the other doors. The bodyguard tapped in a code on the adjacent keypad, and the door slid open.

In the instant they were inside, the door closed behind them and at last Garran released her and Sarah stepped away. Folding her arms, she watched as the bodyguard made a swift search of the rooms then reported back. "All clear, Garran."

"Thanks, Maxxa." He shot a tentative glance at Sarah and she responded by tightening her mouth and narrowing her eyes. He took a deep breath. "Maybe you better give us some time. Alone."

The bulky man looked uncertain, eyeing Sarah with apprehension. "I’m not supposed to.…"

Sarah’s temper fired. Promise of silence be damned, she wasn’t going to let pass the bodyguard’s suggestion that she was a threat. "It’s all right," she said dryly. "I promise I won’t lay a hand on him."

Garran’s lips tightened while Maxxa seemed to suppress a smile. "Just go.… I want to be alone with my wife."

They stood in silence once the big man left the room. The General undid his robe and hung it on a hook near the door then reached to take Sarah’s from her. She slipped away before he could touch her but undid the robe and handed it to him.

A flash of pain crossed his face. "I’m not going to hurt you, Sarah," he said as he hung it up.

Too late, Sarah thought. She was hurt. She’d given her heart to him...only to find he wasn’t who she’d thought he was. She’d thought that she’d finally found someone to build a life with, a man to love her, a man to have children with. She’d thought him someone she could love.

Instead he was the one Gaian she’d sworn to hate.

And he knew that, too. From their first meeting when she’d lost her temper and struck him.…

Another thought ripped through and filled her with dread. "General, is this some sort of revenge?"

He honestly looked puzzled. "Revenge? For what?"

"For that slap I gave you. Is this how you intend to repay me, instead of having me arrested?"

The dark shaggy eyebrows she’d felt yesterday with her fingers lowered into a glower. "I never really thought of marriage to me as being a kind of punishment," he growled. "That’s pretty insulting, don’t you think?"

"Maybe...but what else can I think? You knew when we met that I disliked you. Why go through this charade? Why ask me to be your wife?"

"I attached to you Sarah, that’s why I asked you to be my wife."

Another thought, even worse occurred to her. Suppose that too was a sham. He hadn’t held her close enough to tell...when they’d been alone he’d avoided making love--maybe he couldn’t. "Did you, really?"

Again he looked puzzled. "Did I what?"

"Attach to me. I’ve seen no evidence of it, I didn’t hear you do it and we didn’t make love. Maybe you’re faking it."

He blinked once, twice, then a hard frown covered his mouth. He crossed the distance between them, and pulled her into his arms, tight. Fear leapt through her as he grabbed her buttocks and forced their bodies together. "What do you think, Sarah?"

Too startled to struggle, Sarah allowed him to hold her, then realized what was pressed tight against her.

Well so much for not having hard evidence, she thought sardonically. He was hard, all right. Even with her inexperience Sarah could recognize an arousal when she felt it and this one was impressive. The thought of that rigid length probing her depths caused her momentarily to lose focus and she had to force herself not to rub against the intriguing lump of male flesh throbbing against her belly.

His harsh voice brought her to her senses. "I hate to spoil your misconceptions about me, but I’m not this good an actor." She looked up to see the intense look in his eyes. Intensely angry? Or just--intense?

She pulled away and he allowed it, dropping his arms. "I probably shouldn’t have done that, but I couldn’t let you think I didn’t want you."

"So I was wrong. But I didn’t hear it in the hallway."

"No, because I was already attached. From the first time I saw you, in the assembly hall."

Sarah stared at him. "When I slapped you?"

"I doubt that had anything to do with it...I hope, anyway." He rubbed his cheek, a rueful grin on his face. "I’d hate to think that would become a trend. But I’m sure I got a good whiff of you at the time and that was enough. You’re a match for me. Even if I hadn’t been attached already, it would have happened in the hallway. If I’d been there."

Sarah caught the last remark and frowned. "Why wouldn’t you have been there?"

Hands on hips, he gave an awkward laugh. "Because I didn’t want a Earther wife, that’s why." His stare returned to her and ran up and down, taking in her claiming garment and the crown of braided hair on her head, shaking his head in admiration.

"Of course, that’s before I met you. Now I can’t imagine anything I’d rather have." His gaze was frankly reverent. "You look wonderful, Sarah."

The complement and the warm look in his eyes made her flush. For a moment she considered his appearance. Like her he wore a white top heavy with fancy stitching and dark green pants of brocade similar to her skirt.

She looked more carefully. No, not similar...identical! With an open-mouth she stared at the embroidery on his shirt, the red-gold roses parading down his sleeves.

"Your clothes. We’re dressed alike."

He looked more carefully at her garments, and his mouth twitched in amusement. "So we are. I suppose you got those from Bethan."

Sarah’s jaw dropped. "She did both of these, didn’t she? That means she must have known.…"

Garran laughed. "Knew I was attached to you? Of course, she and Symon both knew...they encouraged me."

"And me. We’ve both been coerced into this." Fury over the pair’s betrayal filled her. How dare Symon and Bethan encourage her to look for a husband when they knew she’d end up with General Doranth!

"It didn’t take much coercion for me."

Unable to cope with the mixed feelings running through her, Sarah turned to gaze at the room around her, taking it in for the first time.

Garran watched her look around. "These are my quarters--our quarters now. This is the lounge," he told her.

It was impressive, a large room shaped something like a half-circle with couches, chairs, and small tables scattered along the outer walls. The room was configured to accommodate several small groups of people, or a large group facing the media center that covered the inner wall. It would have been ideal for presentations, discussions, as well as parties of up to thirty or so people.

On the left side of the room, was an eating counter with some tall stools. Behind the counter appeared to be a small kitchen area, with cabinets and counters.

The color scheme was all dark browns and tans, with bright splashes of red, green, and blue to brighten the room.

It was easily the loveliest room she had seen to date on The Promise--a ship that seemed filled with lovely rooms. "It is very nice."

He seemed pleased at her praise. Smiling he looked around and when he looked back he had a pleased look on his face. "I’m glad you like it."

Heading for the area behind the counter, Garran gestured to her. "Come and sit down. I didn’t eat much this morning, and I suspect you might be hungry as well." He bent down to look in a cooling cabinet. "Let us just see what the keepers might have left."

Curious, Sarah did as he asked, taking a seat on one of the stools.

He rummaged around in the cabinet and then peeked up at her, his face wearing a delighted grin.

"We have at least one thing in common. You must like pranas as much as I do!" He pulled a large platter arrayed with bright pink shellfish from the cabinet.

Pranas, she remembered, were a dish that had been served earlier in the week. They were prepared in the shell, served cold, and tasted something like the synthetic lobster and crab she’d eaten on rare occasions on Earth...only a hundred times better! She had eaten all of hers, plus a number of others when it turned out some of her tablemates hadn’t cared for them.

Sarah grimaced. It was interesting that someone had been noting her tastes in food and she bet she knew who’d been keeping such good tabs on her. Bethan again.

He put the platter on the counter, then retrieved plates and eating utensils from other parts of the kitchen, creating two place settings for them. He also found a bowl of greens with a light dressing, a loaf of fresh bread, and got a butter-like spread out.

Then he looked again into the cooler saying, "There should be something else.…

"Oh, yes!" Garran glanced up at her, positively beaming. "This should prove truly helpful." He pulled out a cold bottle of white wine.

"A very good vintage," he told her looking at the label. "And if memory serves, an excellent year. Someone likes us a lot." He pulled the cork, and poured two glasses, looking jubilant over his find.

Apprehensive, Sarah looked at her glass, then at him. She drank wine with meals, but didn’t feel like she should now, too anxious to be even remotely tipsy while alone with him.

"So how is this going to be helpful? You want to get me drunk?"

Again his face turned downcast. "No, not at all. But we need to talk, and a glass or two of this," he said raising his glass, "can be very helpful. Sarah, you are completely safe with me. I would never do anything that you didn’t approve of, and would never take advantage of you. Actually, no true Gaian man would."

He sipped and smiled appreciatively. "Ah, it’s as good as I remember."

Sarah tried her own wine and was delighted with the cool tartness that spread across her tongue and the sweet aftertaste. It was as he said, excellent. As a gentle relaxation filled her, she reluctantly decided that the wine might have been a good idea after all.

Hungry, they dove into their lunch, going through the pile of pranas, salad, and bread quickly. It was some time before either of them felt the need to speak again.

Finally, Sarah broke the silence. "Well, one thing for sure, you certainly live well." She another sip of wine and checked the pile of shells in front of her for missed pieces of the succulent meat.

Garran looked thoughtful for a second. "It’s been some time since I’ve enjoyed a meal like this. I’ve eaten good food, and drunk wine this fine, but didn’t enjoy it nearly as much. Having you here makes all the difference." He brightened. "Still, the keepers have truly outdone themselves this time."

"That’s the second time you’ve mentioned having ‘keepers’. What do you mean?"

He glanced over and smiled sheepishly. "For some time now, I haven’t been very good about eating regular meals, sleeping regular hours, or anything else. I just didn’t care anymore. After a while, I noticed that especially tempting food would be left for me to snack on in-between meals. It turned out that some of the members of my general staff had begun looking out for me. I started calling them keepers when they went so far as to tell me when to go to bed and change my clothes."

He grimaced. "Of course, it was a bit embarrassing when they started leaving notes about taking a bath."

Sarah had to suppress her laughter. This was not at all what she had expected. The meal had been splendid, the wine excellent, and the General was being very charming. She could be in serious danger here.

"General Doranth.…" she began.

Rising, he took the emptied plates and piled them into the small cleanser under the counter. "I wish you wouldn’t call me that," he grumbled.

"Why not? It’s who you are."

"It’s who I was, Sarah, not who I am now. Sure, during the war, I led my people. I led them pretty well, too. But before that I was an engineer, a builder. And more.…" His voice failed, trailed off, and Sarah saw an old sadness in his eyes. He seemed to peruse her face and the sadness fled, and a determined glint took over. "The war is over and I want to go back to who I was. I want a family.… I want you."

He grabbed her hand with the band, and rubbed his finger over the symbol. "I chose this because my home is on Crescent Lake and I want to live there again. You would like it, I think."

Uncertainty seized her. In his claiming shirt, with his dark hair tousled about his shoulders, Garran didn’t look to be the military scourge, the cold-hearted murderer she’d named him more than once. The clasp of his hand was warm, sensual, reminding her of other times he’d touched her...how wonderful his touch could be. Reluctantly she pulled away from him.

"I was told I could change my mind."

"You could. You could even do it today," he admitted. "But how would you know you’ve made the right decision? You have three standard days to refuse to be my wife." He leaned on the counter and stroked the back of her hand. Sarah had to fight the thrill his touch gave her...as it was she caught her breath.

"Sarah, I think we’re a match for each other. You came all the way from Earth to find a man. You didn’t have to choose me as your husband, but you did. If I wasn’t someone you thought you knew, I doubt we’d be having this discussion. In fact, I suspect we’d already be in there."

He tossed his glance at the closed door that Sarah suspected led to the bedroom, and she felt her cheeks burn. Given her unaccustomed desire, she didn’t doubt that that he was right.

"Why not give us a chance? Stay with me for the next three days and if you want to leave after that, I’ll accept it. Just take off the band."

Stay with him for three days? The way she kept reacting to him, it wasn’t completely out of the question that she’d succumb to his charm. She twirled the remaining wine in her glass. "I don’t know.…"

His deep-blue eyes held a challenge for her--Resist me if you can. But if she couldn’t, what did that mean? That he was right, that he was the one man she could feel attracted to, whose touch left her sick with want rather than simply sick.

For too long she’d watched her friends and their relationships, and while she’d congratulated herself on avoiding the heartache that always followed their inevitable breakups, there had always been a wince of envy as well. Just once she’d wanted to experience physical love, and seeking it had even gone out with a few men…only to feel ill whenever she’d let one of them get close to touch her.

She glanced over at the general’s big hands as he refilled their glasses, first his then hers. When he’d touched her all she’d felt was hot desire.

What did she have to lose? "If I agreed to give it a try, stay with you, what would you expect?"

His grin told her he thought he was winning. "You’d stay here, with me. We’d do things together. For example, I could take you on a tour of the ship."

She hadn’t seen much of it, but that was intriguing. "I’d like that. What else?"

"We’d talk, learn about each other. Eat together, share meals. Share a bed."

"Share a bed?"

Her outrage seemed to take him by surprise. "Of course, sleep together. Weren’t you lonely last night, alone? I haven’t even slept with you once and I was lonely without you."

He caught her face and ran a tender finger along her jaw. "I want your face to be the last one I see before retiring, the first I see when I wake."

"But.…"

Sarah pulled away from him and sudden understanding flooded his eyes, made his jaw granite. "You think I would take advantage of you? I’m Gaian, I couldn’t force myself on you if I wanted to. My people aren’t capable of rape."

He shook his head angrily. "I don’t know what happened to you to make you so afraid of men, but you must trust me, Sarah. I won’t do anything without your cooperation. If sex were all I was interested in, I could have done that yesterday."

Sarah knew he was right, she had been willing and yet it had been his idea to wait.

"That is one of the things I don’t understand. I would have accepted sex with you yesterday. You must have known that it would have been out of the question today, so why didn’t you take advantage of it? It might have been your only chance."

He didn’t answer for a moment. "I suppose if I’d been an Earther, you might have expected me to do just that. But I’m not an Earthman. I knew that if I did something like that, took advantage of you not knowing who I am, that you would hate me. It would have been a violation in your eyes, and that is something I could never do."

Garren raised his head to stare deep into her eyes. "I am Gaian, Sarah. We love and cherish the women who are our mates--we don’t hurt them, use them, or take advantage of them. Maybe I’ll lose you three days from now, but yesterday and today, and until you say otherwise, you’re my wife, and I intend to treat you that way."

He rose and hoisted his glass in the air. "What do you say, Sarah. Shall we drink to this? A three day period where we get to know who we really are?"

He’d been angry at her question, as to why he’d not taken her when he’d had the chance. She’d heard it in his voice, but he’d controlled it. There was far more to General Garran Doranth than she’d expected and Sarah was suddenly intrigued and wanted to know more.

She touched the edge of her glass to his. "All right, I’ll give you three days. I don’t expect that you will change my mind."

He grinned at her. "Sarah, I almost think I’d be disappointed if you said differently. At least now I know you’re being honest. And I’m an optimist."

"An optimist?"

"Someone who always expects the best to happen. I lost that for a while, but all Gaians are born optimists. We were told we were optimistic fools to break off from Earth, that we’d never win a war against them. But we won. And now I suggest we do something else. Do you know any games?"

Games? What was he talking about, Sarah wondered. "What kind of games. Like card games?"

Garran grinned. "Certainly, a card game would be splendid. I haven’t played a game with someone as beautiful as you for a long time."

A wicked idea came to mind. "Well," she said slowly, "at the hospital, we used to play a game called five-hand using a standard card deck. It’s a little tricky, though," she added dubiously as if it might be too much for the General to handle.

Sarah had won the all-hospital five-hand tournament five years running. She tried to smother a grin of her own. It could be fun to take this arrogant man down a little.

He didn’t seem daunted at all. "Oh that’s fine, just explain the rules to me and I’ll learn as I play. When I make a mistake, point it out to me so I’ll know not to do it again." He grinned at her. "It will be fun to learn something new."

They moved to the sitting area, taking the bottle of wine and their glasses. Garran found a deck of cards. "Will this do?"

She counted them and checked the suits and numbers, and after making the adjustments to the deck needed for the game, told him it was fine.

Five-hand was complex with several levels of strategies, and Sarah doubted he would be able to keep up, but she did as he asked and explained the rules and some of the basic card plays.

The game began and sure enough the General lost the first several hands, but he took his losses with a grace that surprised Sarah. She explained each time how she had won the hand, and he listened carefully. Even after he had lost for the sixth time, he kept his humor. Losing didn’t seem to bother him.

Finally he won his first hand, using a standard play strategy. After acknowledging his first win, Sarah decided that she could use some of the more advanced strategies she knew.

She promptly won the next two hands, but then lost the third. Then the fourth. She won fifth, but he took the sixth, seventh, and eighth.

On his tenth win she glared at him. "I thought you told me you’d never seen this game before!"

Amused innocence was in his face. "Sarah, believe me, I’m learning the game from you."

"Then how did you know that last play? It is an advanced strategy that I just learned a few months ago."

"Perhaps, but you also did it three hands ago."

Shocked, Sarah stared at him. He was right, she had just made that identical play, the last time she’d won. In fact, every winning strategy he’d used had been one she’d played before him. Garran was simply learning the game from her and with every hand he’d learned something from her, either by watching her or asking questions.

Five-hand was the most complex card game she knew. As far as she knew, it was the most difficult game ever created. Most people spent years learning the simplest strategies for winning. He was learning the most complex card game she had ever seen just by playing it with her.

General Garran Doranth, leader of the Gaian military forces, had learned to best her in the course of a couple hours. She’d not really considered how intelligent the Gaians must have been to win the war, but clearly they were. And he was presumably their best and brightest.

She watched as he gathered the cards. "General, just how smart are you?"

The General seemed startled by her question. Stacking the cards, he collected his glass and took a deep sip. They’d pretty much emptied the bottle between the two of them, and while Sarah didn’t think they were tipsy, she didn’t think they were particularly sober either.

He smiled winningly at her. "Intelligence is relative. I guess I’m smarter than a few people you’ve known perhaps not as smart as others. I do like to learn new games though.

That put a new light on their relationship. "Is that what this is to you, this ‘marriage’ of ours. A game to be won?"

He grinned at her instead of getting angry. "No Sarah, not a game. A challenge perhaps, and what I want to win is your heart."

He put his glass down, and moved closer to her. Before she could move away from him, he reached his hand out and stroked her cheek, the gesture she’d seen the Gaians use. At his touch her heart raced.

"You really think that you are going to do this. You think I can be won." To her ears her voice sounded blurred from the wine, but her mind still felt sharp.

His voice was blurred as well. "Ah but you don’t understand. I have a secret weapon."

"You do?" If there was a secret that he could use against her, then Sarah wanted to know about it. "And just what is this ‘secret weapon’?"

"Oh, but if I told you, then it wouldn’t be a secret anymore," he protested. He grinned at her. "All right, I’ll tell you my secret, but you have to promise me something in exchange."

Resignation filled her. The Gaians and their promises. "What it is you want me to promise."

"Promise me, that for the rest of our time together, you will only call me by my name, instead of calling me ‘General’. If you do that, then I’ll tell you the secret."

"You want me to call you Garran?" It seemed a harmless enough thing to agree to. "Very well, I will."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

She waited until she realized he was waiting for her. She would have to ask him for the secret.

"General…I mean Garran, what do you mean that you have a secret weapon?"

He finished off his wine, then looked at her, his expression serious. "I know something that you do not know."

"And what is that?

"Yesterday, you cared enough about me to agree to be my wife, even without knowing who I might be. You, yourself said that you would have been willing to be my lover."

Sarah’s cheeks burned, although she could scarcely deny what she’d said. "Yes, and today I know who you are, and will no longer be your wife. Or anything else." she returned.

"But the point is that you did care about me and I haven’t changed. I’m still me, the man you cared about. What has changed is how you see me."

"So?" Sarah pressed

"So", he returned, "all I have to do is make you see that I’m still the man that you met inside that room. I should be able to do that, because I’m still that man."

He stroked her cheek again and staggered to his feet. "It won’t be easy, but I have a chance." He moved off to the room she’d determined was the bedroom.

Sarah called after him, "You don’t have a chance, Garran." He turned and smiled and she realized it was because she’d used his name.

"They told us the same thing when we went up against Earth, that we didn’t have a chance." He looked serious for a moment. "But we won anyway. As I said, Gaians are born optimists. No one ever won a fight by giving up."

"Where are you going?"

"The sanitary, my dear Sarah." And he disappeared into the door of the bedroom.

Chapter Fourteen

She was in very big trouble, Sarah thought. Garran was big, strong, handsome, and he’d been nothing but charming since her arrival in his rooms. Resisting all that wasn’t going to be difficult...it was going to be impossible. Sarah glanced at the table and the cards, the last round of five-hand that they’d played. He’d won using an advance strategy it had taken her weeks to learn.

He’d learned it in twenty minutes.

So, in addition to being everything physically she could want, he was brilliant, probably smarter than she was. Certainly smarter than any man she’d met before.

Add that his touch sent shivers along her skin and made her think of long kisses and hot embraces...she was in way over her head. And she’d just agreed to spend three days and nights with him, eating with him, playing with him, sleeping with him.

Sleeping in the same bed.

Big trouble, indeed. Sarah shook her head and staggered to her feet, feeling the wine more now that she was upright. She also needed to find the sanitary, which was apparently through the door he’d left open.

Heartbeat picking up, Sarah followed his path to the door, pausing before entering the adjacent room. As she’d expected it was a bedroom with a sitting area, not unlike the quarters she’d had before. But if that had been nice, this was opulent, the fabrics rich in color, mostly blues and greens. The bedcovering looked particularly soft, and Sarah ran a quick hand over it to feel the velvety texture.

Along one wall were built-in cabinets meant for clothing storage, the finish in a wood-grain texture. Sarah examined them closely and was amazed to realize they really were constructed of wood. She’d never seen such luxury before. In the sitting area was a state of the art media center, smaller than the one in the lounge, designed for use either from the comfortable-looking armchairs, the adjacent couch, or the bed.

With the color scheme and the furnishings, it was easily the most inviting room Sarah had ever been in. She wandered about, imagining long evenings sitting in one of the armchairs watching holo-vid productions, or listening to music.

Or, even better, watching from the couch or bed, in the arms of a man. The image of cuddling next to Garran and watching a holo-vid show came, and Sarah drove it away. She was not going to get attached to this man...even if he was attached to her. She shook her head, trying to free herself of the image, sitting in the General’s arms, his head buried in her neck, his hand playing with her hair. In her mind one of his hands dipped lower, reaching for her breast.…

"Were you looking for me?" Startled Sarah turned to the open door of the adjacent sanitary and to the tall dark-haired man standing in the doorway. Garran’s voice was dark and husky, and Sarah’s face flooded with heat at what she’d been thinking.

"Uh, no. I was looking for the sanitary."

He indicated the room behind him and stepped out of the way. "This way, my wife."

She tried to brush pass him, but he caught her arm on the way. He peered at her face, eyes concerned. "Are you feeling all right? You look flushed."

The warmth in her face turned to a burn. "I’m fine. Really."

Something about his amused smile told her he didn’t believe her, but he let her go. Sarah continued on and shut the door behind her.

Oh, my, goodness. If she’d thought the sanitary in her old quarters was gorgeous, this place was fit for a queen. Solid stone surfaces abounded, including the counter with inset sinks and shiny metal fixtures. In addition to a sonic shower with optional water jets, there was a sunken tub easily able to fit two people filling one corner, surrounded by living broad-leafed green plants. Thick towels in green and blue were piled on a heated grate near the shower and tub.

A small alcove hid the necessary from obvious view--Garran’s sanitary was obviously designed to service two people at once. Sarah gaped at the decorous seat in the alcove. It almost looked too pretty to use.

Memory surfaced of what he’d told her before, about needing to be reminded to shower. If he’d needed reminding with a room this beautiful at his disposal, something must have been very wrong.

She eyed the large tub and wondered just how far Garran wanted to take this temporary marriage of theirs. It was one thing to sleep together, but bathing with a partner had an appeal as well.

Probably for the duration she’d better stick to the single person shower.

* * * *

So far--so well played. Garran watched the door his little wife had disappeared through with a distinct measure of satisfaction. Against all odds, he’d managed to obtain her promise to stay with him for the next three days. Stay in his rooms, and sleep in his bed.

A triumphant grin took over his face. Sleep in his bed. It had been years since he’d had that pleasure, the feel of a woman in the bed next to him, her warm softness a finger’s breath away.

The next few days were going to be wonderful.

Not that there hadn’t been a dark moment. When she’d seen his face and heard his name, he could have sworn she would have broken her promise and screamed at him. But then, she’d closed that lovely mouth of hers and let those beautiful eyes do the talking.

If looks could kill, he’d be dead already, murdered by the furious darts of her eyes.

She’d kept her promise, though, and that encouraged him more than he could say. If she could keep that promise, then she’d keep this one. If she kept this one, he had a chance to win her heart. A chance to keep her by his side, keep her through love and not merely the fulfillment of a promise.

For a moment Garran remembered the smile she’d held in the moment before she’d realized who he was. She’d been happy at his appearance and there had been delight in that smile.

Delight and something else. She’d almost looked like she loved him, and that fleeting moment and the joy it had brought him was almost enough to make him forget the pain he’d felt when her smile had fled.

If only he could bring it back, make her smile like that again.

He was still thunderstruck at how beautiful she’d looked. Even knowing how his attachment would color the way he saw her, she had to have been the most beautiful woman in the room. Her Gaian garb had been the perfect dress for her and with her hair crowning her head, she’d given the appearance of a queen.

His queen. Gaia didn’t have a monarchy--an elective council of twenty men and women provided the government needed for the colony. Still, Garran had often been called upon to act as a figurehead for that council and before he’d taken the role of general he’d sometimes been labeled Gaia’s king by the angry Earth government representatives he’d had to deal with.

He glanced at the small holopic of his wife and child mounted on the wall, sudden anger and loss filling him. That misconception had cost him dearly.

And it was still costing him. Sarah knew him because he’d taken the role of a leader to deal with the pain of losing his family. But now his work during the war could cost him his new wife if he wasn’t careful. His hand clenched the back of an armchair, fingers digging into the softness, not unlike the softness of Sarah’s breasts. Would she ever let him touch her again?

As fast as it had come, his fury fled, leaving him drained and exhausted. The wine he’d drunk caught up with him, and he fought the urge to lie down. A yawn caught him and he found himself eyeing the velvety surface of the bed.

The blue-green coverlet was new, to go with the larger bed. It was wide and plump and looked as soft as a cloud.

It looked as soft as Sarah’s breast.

He’d slept poorly last night and hardly at all the nights previous. Without warning Garran found himself stifling another yawn. Maybe a nap wouldn’t be such a bad idea. He could lie down for a few moments and rest a little. Sarah would understand.

He removed his shoes and stretched out. Sweet Gaia, the bed did feel like a cloud, a cloud on the way to heaven. A heartfelt groan escaped him.

Sarah emerged from the sanitary and took in his supine form, alarm in her face. Garran couldn’t repress his grin. The bed felt like heaven, and here was his angel, just in time to make it complete.

Consternation filled his angel’s eyes. "What are you doing?"

"I’m tired, Sarah mine. Dreams of you have kept me up too many nights and I need a nap."

"A nap?" Confusion and concern radiated from her.

"A nap," he told her decisively. He patted the space next to him. "You look like you could use one too. There’s plenty of room, why not join me?"

"But.…" Her voice trailed off as the look of confusion grew.

Garran leaned up on one elbow. "I promise, my wife, you’re completely safe with me. I only want to sleep." He yawned again, and as he finished caught sight of her hand over her mouth, obviously hiding one of her own.

"I think you, too, have had trouble sleeping. Come here and rest. It’s been a long morning."

She moved slowly toward the bed, her movements tentative. When she reached the edge, her hand stroked the velvety surface and a soft moan slid from her lips. In trepidation she eyed the space next to him.

Garran smiled and reached out his arm to her. "You don’t need to fear me, Sarah. I only wish to hold you. Come, take your rest."

After knocking off her shoes, she slipped onto the bed. When she was within his reach Garran slid an arm around her and drew her closer until they were nestled together, front to back, his arm loose around her waist, tight enough to hold, but not to keep.

Under his cheek her braided hair felt like ropes of silk. Her heavy breasts rested just above his arm. He thought of raising his arm, running his hands across those firm sweet globes and his sex awakened, hard and ready. Immediately he resisted the urge to fondle her softness and he forced his body to relax. That was not the way to love his lady at the moment. She needed rest as much as he did.

He pulled her tighter and whispered in her ear. "Sleep now, my angel. I’ll keep you warm and safe."

Sarah grew quiet and relaxed into his chest and arms, her breathing quieting. Even before he could tell that she was asleep, Garran’s eyes closed and he drifted off.

* * * *

Warm strong arms around her, holding her close, soft breathing in her ear. Sarah woke but kept her eyes shut, not wanting to break the dream she was having. Under her cheek was velvety softness, behind her was a hard body that rumbled in reassuring solidity.

Sarah had never felt so warm, so safe or comfortable before. In all of her dreams of a lover, she’d never imagined what it was to simply be held while she slept, how wonderful that could be.

She wriggled with happiness and the hard arms around her flexed, tightening and the rumble behind her halted. The heavy breathing in her ear ceased and she heard a man’s sleepy whisper instead. "Does my angel wake?"

She fought her dreamy appreciation of his embrace. "I’m not your angel, Garran."

He nuzzled her and hot breath warmed the back of her neck. "My angel, my wife, my Sarah, Sarah mine. I can think of a hundred names for you, but none are sweeter than your own." His hand stroked her stomach, then reached up to fondle the bottom of her breast.

Her languor disappeared immediately and she caught his hand. "Garran, stop that."

The breath from his heartfelt sigh slid along her neck and his hands pulled away. "As you wish, my Sarah."

Sarah scrambled to the edge of the bed and turned to see amusement in his face. He held up his hands as if to blame them. "I’m sorry, they get carried away at times."

A warm flush covered her cheeks. "You should keep better track of them, then, particularly if you want to keep your promise to me."

"Indeed, I should." He sat up and stretched, and Sarah had to resist a groan at the sight of his loose shirt stretching tight across his chest, revealing the well-defined muscles underneath. He really was a magnificent specimen of a man, even for a Gaian.

He ran his hands through his hair, disheveled from their nap and glanced over at the chrono. "We slept long enough I think, a little more than an hour. We should be fine for tonight."

"What happens tonight?" Bethan and the other Gaian women had been sketchy as to the details of the three-day post-claiming period, other than to say that couples were encouraged to spend as much time as possible together.

A grin broke out on Garran’s face. "Tonight’s our claiming party, Sarah. Didn’t Bethan tell you?"

Her mouth dropped open. A party? With people? Nervously Sarah licked her lips. "No, she didn’t. I assumed we’d be alone."

Delight flashed in his eyes. "Why Sarah, you sound disappointed that we won’t be. But no, Bethan and Symon made the arrangements. I expect there will be at least twenty or more people here." He glanced over at the chrono again. "In about two hours."

There was a buzzing from the main room and Garran swung out of bed to answer it. Sarah was repairing the damage their nap had done to her braids when two huge men hauled her trunk into the bedroom. One was Maxxa, Garran’s bodyguard from before.

Garran pointed to the other man, a brown-haired giant without a wristband. "This is Sammul. He and Maxxa have been making sure I don’t have a lot of time alone."

The big man shook his head. "You were happy to have company when you couldn’t sleep after the first marriage meet." He grinned at Sarah. "He kept me up all night playing cards...and winning to boot."

Sarah smiled wryly. "Somehow his winning doesn’t surprise me."

Garran laughed. "And I was happy to have you around. But I’ve all the company I need now, so be off!" he roared.

Sarah watched as the pair cast covert glances at Garran and herself and then the rumpled covers of the bed. Maxxa nudged Sammul in the ribs. "I think I noticed some cards out in the lounge. We can stand guard out there." Eyebrows arching and grinning at each other, they left the room, closing the door after them.

In the wake of their departure, Sarah busied herself in opening the trunk under Garran’s watchful eye. "Did that bother you so much, that they thought we’d made love?"

She hesitated on the last lock. Unable to meet his gaze, she attempted a nonchalant shrug. "I suppose I should get used to it. If I’m going to be here for three days, everyone will assume if we’re sharing a bed, we’re sharing more."

"You’re my wife." His voice was a soft caress in her ears. Without his touching her she felt the same tingle down her arms, the same warmth in her stomach. He could move her with just the sound of his voice.

A shudder not born of cold or fear slipped through her. She was in VERY big trouble.

She jerked open the last lock and slid open the trunk. On the top was her filestore.

In a flash Garran was by her side, staring at the sleek black box, envy in his eyes. "Wow! Is that the new IBQHP twenty-nine thousand? I didn’t think they were out yet!"

Garran’s sudden enthusiasm caught her off-guard and surprised a laugh out of her. Men--give them love, they’re happy, but give them new technology.…

She pulled the filestore out. "I had some credits to spend so I invested in the latest model available. It’s got eighty jigabits of storage."

He ran his hand over the smooth case. "Good thinking, particularly when heading for places where you’re lucky to get five-year old equipment. Is it as fast as they say it is?"

She handed it to him. "Go plug it in and see for yourself."

Flashing a happy grin, Garran headed for the media station and the universal input slot. The filestore slid into place and in moments he had the search and locate screen visible on the media screen. His eyes narrowed in appreciation. "It’s even faster than I expected. The interface is so smooth."

He grabbed a pointer and scrolled through the labeled files. "You’re really organized, aren’t you? I bet you can find anything on this system in minutes.…"

His voice trailed off and his smile disappeared. Sarah went to the screen to see what he was so intently staring at, and her heart sank.

The pointer was pinned on a vid-clip file labeled "Gaian Beast".

"I assume that’s a reference to me?" His voice was deadly quiet.

Sarah found her voice. "It’s a copy of one of your broadcasts. The first one."

Puzzlement was in his eyes. "Broadcast? I don’t understand." He shook his head. "What broadcast?"

"The broadcast about the destruction of the first fleet."

His eyes looked wide with disbelief. "You have a copy of that?" With an abrupt wave he pointed to it. "Play it for me," he demanded.

She had no desire to open old wounds, but Garran seemed adamant. Reluctantly Sarah triggered the file.

The large screen on the wall cleared and filled with the triple ringed logo the Gaians had used during the war. The screen then filled with the image of Garran, seated at a table, with a small screen in front of him, probably holding the notes for his speech. His hair was shorter than it was now, and in the black shirt, he looked older and tougher.

He looked at the imager and smiled, but there was no humor in that upward curve of his mouth and it didn’t reach his eyes, the dark-blue of which seemed black with malice.

Sarah had heard his speech so many times before that she could have recited it with him. Instead of watching the screen, she watched Garran instead. He viewed the clip quietly, his face pale, only his clenched jaw and whitened knuckles showing emotion as the speech began.

"Ladies and Gentlemen. It is my pleasure to speak to you tonight on something of significance to both our peoples.

"You have sent warships at us and have been successful in hurting us in the past. You have damaged our planet, our cities, and killed our people, and assumed that we could do nothing to stop you.

"The rules of the game have now changed.

"You recently sent a fleet of ships to attack us. It is my duty to report to you that these ships have been unsuccessful in doing so. In fact, they no longer exist as a threat to us or to anyone else. They have been removed from action."

The recorded Garran grinned evilly. "Their removal is permanent.

"These ships include, the Valiant, Exeter, Doublestar, NorthernVale, Saradon, Mousabel, and the Hope."

Garran’s image on the screen looked up, his eyebrows high with mock surprise. "I see that the Hope was a hospital ship. That must hurt," he said in a mocking tone.

Even now, after so many viewings, Sarah’s hands clinched when she heard that. Garran himself winced and he glanced over at Sarah. She looked back at him and met his eyes, hers as angry as his had been. His face troubled, he returned his attention to the clip.

"My purpose here is to tell you that you will no longer be able to hurt us. Every ship you send to meet us will wind up with the same fate at these ships--the ships and their crews will not return to you. If you want to preserve your fleet, don’t come near us. Give us our freedom or we promise you will regret it."

The broadcast ended with his face, a sneering smile in place, and Sarah couldn’t resist the shudder that fled down her spine. This was the image that was burned into the minds of every Earth person, the picture of the Gaian beast.

For a moment Garran was quiet. "Where did you get this?" he asked finally.

"It was a public broadcast...there were recordings of it everywhere."

"Public?" Garran turned to her, eyes wide in astonishment. "You mean everyone on Earth saw it, not just Earthforce or the government?"

At Sarah’s nod, he thumbed off the screen and sat heavily in one of the cushioned chairs, hands steepled under his chin. A mix of emotions crossed his face, anguish and anger. Sarah watched in amazement. Surely he’d known.

He jerked his head up as if a thought just occurred to him. "You didn’t have any family in Earthforce."

He stated it as a fact and she was reminded of the NLC rule about not having Earthforce relatives, but how would the Gaians know about that? "No, no relatives."

Relief crossed his face.

"My best friend, though, from medical school. She was a doctor on the Hope." The relief in his face disappeared.

"I hadn’t thought of that...that someone other than a relative could be involved. Of course, you cared for your friend."

"She was like a sister to me." It had been too long since she’d talked about it, and the broadcast had opened again how much Karen’s death had hurt. Garran should know how reprehensible his broadcast had been to those who’d lost loved ones.

"Karen and I, we talked about going into practice together. She wanted to specialize in hormone abnormalities. But when we got out of school, she was called up. The military had paid her way through school so she couldn’t refuse. She was on her first mission with them."

Shoulders slumped, Garran listened as she spoke. He straightened and cocked his head. "What did you say her name was?"

"Karen. Karen Masters." Sudden hope filled her. "Do you know of her? Were there survivors?"

A muscle jumped in his jaw and her hope died as he shook his head. "I wish I could tell you there were, Sarah."

He stood and with restless energy paced the room. "First of all, no one like you was ever intended to see that broadcast. We created it for Earthforce and the government, who knew what was happening, not an unsuspecting Earth. I’d never have said...well, what I said to the relatives of those who were lost."

He shot her a dark look. "Do you believe me on that?"

She nodded. Garran was too disturbed by her having the clip for it not to have been a surprise. At her acknowledgement, he calmed some and ceased his relentless pacing. He paused in front of a small holograph on the wall and stared at it. When he didn’t move, Sarah went to join him.

The holo held the image of a young woman, lovely, with short dark hair, her arms holding tight to a squirming two-year-old girl. The woman’s face seemed hauntingly familiar. It was a short recording, the woman laughing and whispering to the child who blew a kiss.

Garran’s face was dark with sorrow. "There are always losses in war."

"Who are they?" she whispered.

"My wife, Metta, and our daughter, Sallia." His voice was as dark as his face. "She was a teacher. They were at Carras."

She couldn’t bear the pain in his voice. Sudden sympathy made her put her hand on his shoulder. "I’m sorry, Garran. I didn’t know."

"Few outside Gaia do." He grabbed her hand and closed his eyes as he pulled it to his mouth. The touch of his lips against her palm incited that familiar warmth.

His deep voice was rich with meaning. "Earth’s government cost me my family, Sarah, and now I find that they deliberately released a vidclip guaranteed to make me look a monster. I’m not a monster, Sarah, I’m not a beast of any sort. If it takes all three days, if it takes a lifetime, I’ll prove that to you. I won’t let them ruin this between us. I won’t let them cost me you.

Determination in his face, he released her and gestured to the trunk. "Why don’t you unpack? I left room for you in the right side cabinets. I have something to attend to." He left for the lounge without another word.

Chapter Fifteen

By the time Sarah had found a place for all of her belongings, a steady murmur was coming from the lounge next door. After closing the trunk and shoving it into the corner, she went to investigate.

At least fifteen people were in the room, mostly The Promise domestic staff, working to set up tables and chairs, or creating a buffet along the countertop in the small kitchen facility. The busy workers acknowledged her arrival with the same nods and knowing smiles that the bodyguards had given her.

Well, at least no one resented her marriage to Garran. If anything everyone couldn’t have looked more pleased.

Even Bethan had a happy smile as she greeted Sarah from across the room where she stood in conversation with Garran. He smiled as well, apparently over the mood he’d held in the bedroom. Now he gestured to her with another glass of wine.

Bethan threw her arms around Sarah as soon as she was within reach. "Oh I’m so glad things are going so well!"

"Are they?" Bemused Sarah directed her attention to Garran who studied the bottom of his glass with intensity. "What did you tell her, Garran?"

"Only that you’ve agreed to stay with me for the three days, my wife. Isn’t that enough?" A look of almost comical innocence was in his eyes when he raised them to meet hers.

Sarah returned her attention to Bethan. "Bethan I can’t promise to stay Garran’s wife. You know what I told you before. I’ve spent the last five years hating him!"

"So he said." Bethan’s frown was fierce. "But you weren’t told the truth, Sarah. There are things you should know...."

"Sarah knows enough," Garran interrupted, his smile disappearing. "She knows what her government is capable of and what we aren’t." The hand on his wineglass tightened to the point Sarah thought he might crack the stem. "She needs to see me as the man I am instead of ‘the Beast’ and if she can’t then we should go our separate ways."

Bethan’s mouth dropped open. "But you’re matched, Garran."

"That’s not enough this time, Bethan. We both need more." His face turned grim. "She needs to see me as I am, not what they painted me to be."

He turned to Sarah. "Could you do that, knowing only what you know now? See me a man you keep as your husband?"

Sarah stared at him. So, there was a truth, something that would change her mind about Garran if she knew it. But he didn’t want Bethan to say what that truth was.

"I already said I would try, Garran. I can’t promise more."

His smile returned. "Then that’s enough."

One of the workers called to Bethan who watched them with a troubled face. She nodded at him. "I better get back to organizing this party."

"Could I help?" Sarah offered.

Garran grabbed her waist and swung her towards the door to the bedroom. "I think it better if we get out of everyone’s way." Balancing his glass, he grabbed another, plus an open full bottle from the beverage table.

Mischief was in his eyes as he pulled her through the door. "Let’s hide out until the coast is clear."

* * * *

Sarah sipped her wine cautiously, making certain she wasn’t drinking more than her normal capacity. Garran had taken care of most of the bottle they’d drunk with lunch, and again he kept his glass full. Fortunately he seemed better able to handle it than she knew she’d be.

Garran searched the ship entertainment files and found a comic holo-vid that she hadn’t seen, apparently produced on Gaia. It was about two families that had never gotten along, but when their children matched they were thrown together for a claiming dinner, not unlike the one being prepared in the outer room. Each family had brought special dishes for the meal, and took turns insulting each other and competing for their offspring’s favor. The resulting mayhem had Sarah in stitches and even Garran left his bad mood behind to laugh at the antics.

The actor playing the father of the bride seemed familiar but Sarah couldn’t remember where she might have seen him before. She was pretty sure he’d never been in any holo-vid she’d seen on Earth.

The story finished with the offspring threatening to move to the Outer Colonies if their parents didn’t stop their shenanigans, forcing the couples to make friends. In a moment of conciliation, the mother of the bride even asked the father of the groom for his pranas recipe and they all gathered round the table for a final toast to the bride and groom.

As it ended, Garran leaned over to fill Sarah’s glass and she quickly put her hand over the top. "I want to keep a clear head for the party."

Ruefully he nodded and put the bottle down. "Wise of you, my Sarah. I’m glad you enjoyed the story."

"It was very funny. You don’t have any screwball parents do you? Sisters or brothers?"

"Not by blood. My parents died sometime ago and I was an only child." He played with glass. "There’s Metta’s sister and her husband. They’re about as much family as I have. Except for you."

She ignored the look he was giving her. They’d used the armchairs to watch the holo-vid, not the couch where they could have sat together. His open warmth almost made her wish they’d used the couch instead.

"Did you remain close to them after your wife’s death?"

"It’s more like they stayed close to me. I owe them a lot, Sarah. They’ve always treated me like a brother."

He did have someone who cared for him. She was glad of that...at least her departure wouldn’t leave him totally alone. "I suppose they’re on Gaia. I’m sorry I won’t get a chance to meet them."

Garran actually chuckled. "Actually, no. They are much closer than you think."

A knock at the door drew their attention. Garran rose to answer it. Bethan stuck her dark curly head in. "You’ve got about ten minutes." Her gaze fell on the partially empty wine bottle, she strode in and reclaimed it.

She shook it under Garran’s nose and glared at him. "Don’t you dare get drunk tonight, Garran."

"Now why would I do something like that, Bethan? I know what my limits are."

"And I know that sometimes you like to go beyond them. Your wife deserves better than a intoxicated husband in bed tonight."

"Incapacitating myself is the last thing on my mind."

As the pair exchanged glares, Sarah realized why Bethan had reminded her of someone. Garran’s cryptic remark about his wife’s family staying close to him also came to mind. She glanced over at the holopic on the wall behind her, of the woman with dark curly hair. "You’re Metta’s sister!"

Bethan’s mouth dropped open. "You told her?" she asked Garran accusingly.

He shrugged. "I told her I had a wife and that she had a sister. You do look like her," he added helpfully.

"Well, it does explain why you’ve always been so nice to me."

Bethan folded her arms and glared fiercely at them both. "That is precisely why I didn’t want you to know, Sarah. I knew Garran had attached to you before I met you, but I liked you from the first. I think of him as a brother, so of course I’m glad he found someone, but I’m even more glad that it’s you."

Sarah glanced down at the beautiful blouse Bethan had given her, and considered the work that had gone into it. "You made this for me. And the one for Garran."

The dark-haired second-in-command of The Promise looked embarrassed. "I finished them after Garran attached, but they were started long ago in the hopes that they’d be needed." Her warm, hopeful glance took in both of them, and Sarah felt the love Bethan bore for Garran and herself, the love of a sister and friend.

"I didn’t know if Garran would find someone but I had hope when he agreed to our using women from Earth. I used the roses because they represented your planet."

A low amused chuckle emerged from Garran. "I wondered at that. Sarah’s hair...it’s the exact color. I’ve been looking for a match for it and it was the roses."

Bethan blushed, her cheeks taking the color of her embroidered flowers. "Earth-flame roses are the most popular variety. I didn’t realize you’d find a woman with red hair. I’m not prescient."

Garran smiled. "Perhaps not, but it is singularly appropriate."

Sarah fingered the delicately depicted blooms. It must have taken hours to do just one row, done with love for a man and a wife Bethan hadn’t even met. Love for a man that she’d named in her thoughts a monster over the deaths of the Earthforce fleet. He’d said she was wrong and that governments lied. Bethan had stated that there was more to the story, but Garran had forbidden that story be told. He wanted her to discover the truth herself.

"They were a beautiful gift, Bethan, and we do appreciate them, just as we will appreciate the dinner."

Bethan’s smile was Sarah’s reward. She opened her mouth to say something but a knock on the door from one of the catering staff interrupted her. Instead she reminded them that dinner was now in five minutes and left.

Sarah headed for the mirror and her hairbrush. "I should fix myself up."

Garran took hold of her shoulders and she could feel the warmth of his breath against her neck. In the mirror she could see his face behind her, his expression alive with hope and desire. "You already look beautiful, Sarah. Nothing you can do will change that."

"I’m not a beautiful woman, Garran. I’ve known that for a long time."

Denial was in his half-smile. "You don’t know how I see you, Sarah. To a Gaian man, his match is perfect...otherwise he wouldn’t attach to her. To me you will always be beautiful."

Tentative fingers stroked her neck and unconsciously she leaned back into his arms, his cheek against her face. Tilting her head his lips reached for hers. As they met, she turned, and their kiss became a prolonged thing, something outside the uncertainties of how she felt for him.

It was their first kiss since the day before, the first time since she knew his name. He tasted of wine, and sweet need, and underneath the taste of the man she’d exchanged bands with in the darkness.

He was the first man she’d ever kissed with passion, but she knew him. Any lingering doubts that the man who’d held her and promised everlasting love, was also General Garran Doranth, fled.

When their mouths parted he gazed at her for some time, his face expressionless. Sarah wondered what he was thinking of, this over-bright, passionate man who claimed he wasn’t the beast she’d labeled him.

He hadn’t taken advantage of her brief surrender to touch her more intimately. All he’d done was claim her lips, his hands still on her shoulders, no wandering to feel her breasts. Her nipples ached, the memory of how he had held them rising. Other parts of her woke to his presence and the promise of intimate caresses and she felt as if she’d fallen into a waking version of one of her many erotic dreams.

And all he’d done was kiss her and hold her shoulders. Resisting this man for three days wasn’t going to be difficult, it was going to be impossible.

She was in very big trouble

.

* * * *

"Welcome to The Promise!" The tall, thin, pale-haired man Garran had just introduced as the head medical officer thrust a glass into her hand. "I’m prescribing this, for medicinal purposes. You’ll need it to endure this crowd."

When Garran and Sarah had entered the lounge the party had been in full swing, at least twenty present, nibbling on the platters of mini-bits as Sarah was informed the appetizers were called, and drinking wine, fruit drinks, or javi.

Bethan had done a marvelous job of setting up the claiming party.

Sarah accepted his offering with a smile. "Thank you, Dr. Jeffrey, but I’d almost prefer some javi at the moment."

Garran took her glass and handed her a fresh mug of the fragrant brew in exchange. "I agree completely. I want you awake this evening." Sarah frowned at his mock-leer and he winked at her. He lifted the glass, taking a sip from it in the process. "No sense letting it go to waste."

Symon came by, newly arrived. "Jeffrey, where’s your better part? I’d have thought your wife would be here."

The doctor darted an anxious look at Garran. "Unfortunately, she had to stay behind."

"Not something with the baby, I hope."

"No, not at all.…"

Garran caught her arm and swung her away from the two men. "Sarah, why don’t we move to the appetizer table? I believe there are some cinibuns that go wonderfully with javi." Looking behind her she noticed the Symon and Jeffrey in intense conversation, their voices low, and she wondered what could possibly be the issue with the Doctor Jeffrey’s wife.

Maybe the woman had strong feelings about Earth people and Garran hadn’t wanted to expose her to them. That would make sense. Everyone else at the party was delighted to meet Garran’s Earther wife.

Helia, The Promise bio-systems expert, kept Sarah enthralled with her descriptions of the shipboard gardens that provided most of the fresh vegetables on the menu and the water systems where fresh fish were grown and harvested.

Even the pranas she and Garran had eaten for lunch turned out to be a significant part of the water purifiers. That information gave Sarah a moment of concern until she was reassured that the shellfish’s meat retained no form of the toxins they removed from the water.

As the evening wore on, and the bottles of wine emptied, those present began to make toasts, many toasts to her health, Garran’s health, the health of their potential children, the health of their grandchildren, and so on.

The toasts unsettled Sarah, but she said nothing. If she and Garran weren’t to remain together long enough to have children, this was not something she wanted to be discussing with these people. She liked them, even if she didn’t really know them, and didn’t want to bring up unpleasantness tonight.

Finally Bethan stood. "I would like to propose one more toast, a wish, one we can all appreciate. I propose a toast to the future, a future of peace, of love, of laughter, and of the mixing of peoples. May we all learn to love our differences as much as we love our similarities."

All at the table drank to this, including Sarah, who smiled at her friend and Garran’s sister-in-law with delight. Bethan had managed to find common ground for them all.

Chapter Sixteen

After dinner the party broke up. Singularly, or in pairs, the guests came to Garran and Sarah, offered their congratulations and said good night. By the time the last guest departed and there was no one left but Symon and Bethan, Sarah was leaning against Garran and trying to suppress her yawns.

Bethan nodded at them. "You and Sarah go on to bed. Symon and I will make sure everything is done here." She activated the lounge com-link and spoke briefly into it and the answering voice said they would be there directly.

Garran took Sarah by the hand and pulled her toward the bedroom. "There are going to be a lot of people here soon, and we don’t want to be in the way," he told her.

At the doorway Sarah looked back at Bethan and Symon standing with their arms around each other, his face nuzzling her neck. For a moment she envied their closeness, recognizing how much she wanted something like it. When she looked up at Garran she noticed the same look of wanting in his face.

He coveted it too, someone to be close to, a partner, a mate... and he thought she was the one to fill that role. Sarah sighed. Why did it have to be this way? Why couldn’t he have been someone else, any other man? Why couldn’t she have been a woman who wouldn’t care about his past?

Why couldn’t they be together as Bethan and Symon were?

Without answers, she allowed Garran to lead her to the bedroom, just as the door chime from the corridor sounded.

* * * *

Garran let Sarah go and watched as she looked at the bed, the floor, the chrono on the wall.… Her busy eyes took in everything in the room but him.

Obviously she was having second thoughts about sharing his bed, in spite of their nap earlier today. Maybe his wandering hands when they’d woken hadn’t been such a smart move. Not that he could have resisted the urge to touch her, so sweet had been the feel of her in his arms. Even now his hands itched to caress her warm flesh.

All evening Sarah had seemed comfortable with his arm around her waist or shoulders, or his hand holding hers, but that was when they were standing or sitting, and other people had been around.

Now she was clearly skittish about being alone and horizontal with him.

From one of the cabinets Sarah pulled a heavy looking garment that he recognized as the gown she was wearing under her robe the night she’d arrived on The Promise. Her attitude screamed uncertainty as she clutched it to her chest and abruptly he realized she needed privacy.

"I’ll get my things and change in the sanitary," he told her, hoping that would help relieve some of her discomfort. It did. Sarah’s grateful smile gave him a warm glow as he grabbed some drawstring pants and a sleepshirt.

It took barely any time to get out of his claiming outfit and clean up for bed. Garran knew he was rushing, wanting to return to her, some part of him concerned that she might not be there. But no she wouldn’t do that, he had her promise to stay with him. He forced himself to slow down and when he was done, redressed, washed, and ready, he checked the small wall chrono, only to discover that barely five minutes had passed. She was a woman, with more clothes to take off, mysterious rituals to perform...surely she wouldn’t be ready yet for his return. The last thing he needed was to burst in on her when she was only partially dressed.

The image of Sarah, her hair unbound, bare to her waist came to him and his body tightened in anticipation. He took a deep breath and examined his reflection, noted how his pants bulged in front, and willed his body to relax. This was going to be hard enough without giving his bed-shy bride reason to believe all he wanted was to fall upon her and make passionate love to her.

Even if that was all he wanted to do.

Of course, his well-intentioned concealment of his desire had already led to one misunderstanding when she’d accused him of not really being attached to her. He still couldn’t believe she’d thought him capable of faking lust to lure her into a false marriage.

In the mirror he watched his jaw clench and eyes darken with anger. What kind of a man did she think him to be?

She thought him a beast...because that’s what she’d been told he was. As fast as his anger came it fled, gone under the weight of how serious the problem was before him. It had been years since he’d seen that vid-clip and, taken out of context, the words he’d spoken damned him as the most callous of enemies. Anyone who’d seen it would have found him someone to hate.

Sarah had seen it and lost someone she cared about. Little wonder that she’d started out their relationship by slugging him. He stared at his reflection in the mirror. It was the same face he’d seen every day in the past five years, the hair only somewhat longer, the eyes the same dark-blue. Only his expression had changed. Sarah’s presence in his life had forced a change to his face, a lightening of his normal moods. He’d smiled more, actually laughed occasionally. He’d stopped scowling, felt happiness in the fact that once again he wasn’t completely alone in the universe. Now he had Sarah, assuming he could keep her.

If she left him he’d be devastated.

He ran a hand though his hair. Maybe if he changed the color, made it shorter--would that change his appearance? Change it enough so that when Sarah looked at him she didn’t see the sneering face of the man who’d callously informed her that her friend was gone.

Suppose he told her the truth? If she knew, would that make a difference? His reflected eyes lit with the hope that threaded through him. Yes, it probably would and then he’d be certain to keep her.

He’d told Bethan that it was better that Sarah follow her heart and love him in spite of her misconceptions, that their marriage would be stronger for it. Now he wasn’t so certain.

A knock came from the door behind him. Answering he found Sarah, dressed in the same outfit she’d worn when he’d first seen her in the assembly hall, right down to her fuzzy slippers.

He couldn’t hide his smile, nor stop his hand from cupping her cheek. "It seems to me I’ve seen you like this before."

She blushed, her face nearly the pink of her footwear. "I didn’t think to bring anything else to wear at night."

He laughed. "Sarah, I can’t imagine you in any other sleepwear...except for maybe nothing at all."

The pink in her cheeks brightened and her breathing grew faster. It was all he could do to release her face and not lean in for the kiss he wanted to give her. Even if she would accept it, it would be better not to.

No more kisses for now, not if he was to continue his role as chaste bed-companion this night. He might have a strong will, but kissing her would blow all his good intentions into the depths of space.

Instead he stepped aside and left the sanitary to Sarah’s use, taking his clothes with him to put away.

* * * *

She was in VERY, VERY big trouble. She’d thought Garran in his claiming clothes had looked good but nothing had prepared her for his sexy smile and the top of his chest peeking above the deep V-neck of his sleepshirt. The coarse curly hair seemed to invite her fingers to explore them and the feel of his palm on her face had left her confused with wanting.

That she’d seen a similar want reflected in his eyes hadn’t helped at all.

Quickly she used the sanitary and cleaned her face before returning to the bedroom. All that was left was to unbraid her hair and brush it out before retiring. Untying the end, she ran her fingers through the braid, freeing the bright red strands to fall about her shoulders. It was down to her waist in length, and needed this daily brushing to keep it from tangling.

As she worked, Garran sat next to her on the bed. "Please, I’d like to do this," he said, taking the hairbrush from her hand.

"Brush my hair?"

"Yes. It looks so alive, I’d like to touch it."

It was too harmless a request to refuse. She let him finish untangling the long strands with his fingers then apply the brush. He did it right, started at the bottom of the hair, and worked his way up to her scalp, brushing long and carefully, not snagging at all.

She watched his face in the mirror on the wall as he lifted the long strands, letting them fall over his fingers. Quiet wonder was in his expression. "I’ve never seen anything to match this beauty. The color is amazing. Bethan had it right, it is the color of Earth flame roses."

Her breath caught in her throat and she could say nothing. She sat quiet, letting his attentions wash over her, make her feel cared for. Not since her mother had died had anyone brushed her hair--not that this was anything like that had been. In Garran’s hands the brush seemed to make love to her as it stroked her, and she’d never experienced anything as sensual

When he was done, she took the brush from him and held it close to her, her emotions unsure. "Thank you, that was...very nice."

There was something in the smile Garran gave her that she felt right down to her tingling toes. If he’d been anyone but who he was, she’d have leaned over to kiss him. As it was--Sarah re-braided her hair and put away the brush.

When she turned to him, he was sitting on the left side of the bed, leaving her with the right. She looked at him. "I don’t want to have any misunderstanding here. All we share is the bed, right?"

Garran patted other side of the bed. "Sarah, you can trust me."

Pulling the covers back Sarah shrugged off her robe and slippers and slid into the bed next to him. He turned off the lights and lay down.

The sounds from the next room had ended sometime ago, the cleanup from the party over and the people gone.

She and Garran were alone for the night.

He rolled toward her and caressed her shoulder. It was a light touch, not seeming to ask for more than just contact. She turned to search his face. What she found was concern and care, desire but not lust.

"It’s all right, Sarah. I only want to hold you, I ask nothing more. Is there a problem with sharing my bed?"

Was there a problem? Only the one of him being a handsome man with a touch that could almost make her forget her antipathy for him.

Almost. But he wasn’t asking for more than she’d given before, to hold her as they slept. She nodded her acceptance and let him draw her closer, turn her so her back nestled into his chest, their legs entangling under the covers.

She felt his body quiet, and he began to breathe deeper. The soft brush of his exhalations warmed the back of her neck, relaxing her. Strong arms cuddled her close and she gave into the feeling of safety they offered. She closed her eyes and slipped off to sleep.

* * * *

Warmth behind her, the solid feel of someone with her, her mystery lover holding her close. Purring, Sarah leaned back into that warmth. There was a difference--she could smell him now. The musky scent of a man filled her senses, clean and enticing. She sought that smell, turning in his arms to bury her nose in the solid mass of his chest, the coarse hair tickling her mouth and cheeks as she nuzzled him. He felt so real!

As if having a mind of its own, her tongue wiggled out to taste him. He had a special flavor, salt with a hint of bitterness. Why would her dream man be bitter, she wondered? Perhaps she could sweeten him up. She licked him again and he gave a low growl that rumbled under her lips. Shifting his weight he ran large hands along her back, sending tingles along her spine, tingles that screamed "MORE!".

She gasped at the sensation and seized his shoulders, pulling herself up to nibble his neck, catching even more of his sweet smell and bitter flavor. She reveled in how, for once, her dream lover wasn’t the one in control and the sense of power was intoxicating. He moaned under her assault of lips and teeth, his hands clutching at her bottom, rubbing their centers together.

His arousal felt full and hard against her belly.

Her mouth rounded his chin and found his lips, full, soft, and waiting for her. Kissing him became a game for two, lips melding and tongues battling for possession. Ecstatic, Sarah delved deeply into his mouth. Finally she’d found the sweetness she’d craved.

They were still kissing but he was over her now, hands no longer on her back but running up and down her front, molding themselves to her breasts, full and aching under her gown. His thumbs found the sensitive tips and stroked them through the fabric, and she squealed into his mouth.

One hand moved lower, found the bottom edge of her gown, slipped beneath it, pulling it up. His palm slid along the inside of her thighs, stroking, urging them apart and then she felt his fingers gently glide along her nether lips, seeking passage through the folds to her core.

At the first stroke her body leaped then Sarah gasped and broke away from the kiss, the sensation more than she’d ever dreamed of before. She opened her eyes in the darkness of the room and saw the dim, indistinct face of the man above her, his midnight-blue eyes staring down at her, filled with joy. He smiled and whispered, "Sarah mine."

It wasn’t a dream--this wasn’t her mysterious and unknown lover. General Garran was making love to her, his hand even now taking possession of her most private places.

"NO!" She screamed the word, putting her hands on his chest and pushing with all her strength. "No, no, no.…"

He pulled his hands from her, allowed himself be pushed away, let her slid out from under him to the edge of the bed. Overwrought, body screaming to continue what they’d begun, Sarah curled up with her back to him and gave in to a flood of tears.

Helpless Garran watched, his own body in a riot over their aborted lovemaking. What had happened? He’d woken to her sensual assault on him, her licking his chest like an alderdeer at a saltrock. Any idea of not responding fled when she’d nipped his neck. The woman had been making love to him, yet now she was sobbing like a child.

Sweet Gaia, what was going on?

He’d never done well with crying women. Trying to calm his own body’s dismay, he took several deep breaths before reaching over to stroke Sarah’s back. She stiffened at his touch and he pulled away.

"I’m sorry, Sarah." His helpless feeling grew. "I wouldn’t have...I mean...." He scrubbed the back of his neck.

Her sobbing died away, leaving her breathing ragged, as torn as his emotions. "It wasn’t...you...I was dreaming.…"

"Dreaming? About what, who?"

She managed to stifle a sob or two. "I have dreams about...being with someone. A man."

"A lover?"

She nodded, her face still turned from him. "Yes."

Fury arose, that someone else had held her and left her dreaming of him. Some man had possessed Sarah before...he’d known it all along, but hated to have it confirmed this way. "Someone you knew on Earth? Why didn’t you stay with him?"

She straightened out and sat up. Smoothing the gown over her knees she seemed to collect herself as well. When her gaze met his it was cool. "He doesn’t exist, that’s why."

Now he was confused. "You were with a lover that doesn’t exist?"

"I’ve not been with a lover at all. I’m still...well. I’ve never found anyone I could stand long enough to go to bed with them."

This was not possible. "You’re from Earth. You can’t tell me that you haven’t.…"

"I can and I do. If you want proof look at the medical tests they ran when we came on board. There is a way to tell, you know," she said wryly.

Of course he knew, but he couldn’t believe that this beautiful woman was still a virgin.

She must have read his disbelief. "I guess it does sound strange." Sarah drew her knees up under her gown, rested her chin on their top. She looked as alone and lost as a little girl and he ached to put his arm around her shoulders and comfort her.

"I’ve never been comfortable with strangers touching me, men in particular. It’s odd too, because when the dreams started the man was a stranger. He resembled no one I knew."

"These are ..." he fumbled for the word. "Erotic dreams?"

Her face softened, became wistful. "Yes, erotic. He’d touch me, hold me and I’d like it. Sometimes he’d put his hands.…’ She blushed. "Where you had yours."

"You’d dream about this? What did he look like?"

She had a dreamy smile and Garran would have given anything to be the reason for that smile. "He’s large. Much bigger than I am, bigger than most Earthmen. Muscular, strong. His hands seem huge to me, but he’s very gentle. I love his touch. I feel his lips, his breath. I was dreaming of him tonight but I could smell him, taste him." She stopped, flustered.

"It wasn’t him tonight, but me." Garran fought the jealousy that raged through him. Her kisses had been for someone else, a phantom. "What else do you know about him?"

"Dark hair. It’s like yours but shorter."

"His eyes, nose? Tell me about his face, Sarah."

She flushed again. "I’ve never seen his face. I mostly remember his hands."

"What?"

"He’s behind me, or I’ve got my eyes closed. I’ve never dreamed of his face."

Garran shook his head. "It sounds like an attachment dream. Sometimes our young women can have them, when they’ve seen someone that appeals to them. Often the man who attaches to them resembles the dream. But they usually focus on the face, not the hands." He combed his hands through his hair, trying to straighten it out. "I have the right color hair, and the hands."

"It couldn’t have been you."

Sarah’s adamancy infuriated him. It wasn’t bad enough that she’d undone his best intentions. He’d been totally under control until she’d kissed him. Now he could barely keep his hands off of her.

"I didn’t say it was me. You aren’t a Gaian woman so there’s no reason for you to be having attachment dreams. You’re probably just dreaming about some holo-vid star and blocked out his face."

Anger stiffened her spine and her eyes flashed at him. "I was NOT dreaming of a holo-vid star. I’m not a teenager with a crush."

"No, just a frustrated virgin who dreams about a man she can’t have. Why not pick someone you could?"

"Like you?"

"Like anyone. Tonight couldn’t have been the first time a guy ever touched you."

"I said it was and I don’t lie, General."

"Garran--you promised you’d use my name."

"You promised you’d keep your hands to yourself."

"That was before you started squirming around like a quezzle in heat!"

He heard her outraged gasp before her pillow hit him full in the face. For a moment he grasped it in his hand, fully intending to pummel her with it. Fortunately the com-link sounded and he dropped his weapon on the bed before going to answer it.

"WHAT IS IT?"

The resulting hesitation on the other end signaled that his fury had been noticed. "Garran, it’s Jeffrey. I really hate to disturb you and Doctor Sarah but something’s come up."

"Something that you need me for?" he growled.

"Un, well, no, not you. Doctor Sarah. Could I speak with her, please?" Jeffrey’s voice sounded urgent. It was the middle of the third shift, what kind of an emergency could Sarah be involved in?

She was already by his side, her anger gone. She was alert, a cool professional in her demeanor.

"What is it, Doctor?" Sarah asked.

The words tumbled through the link. "One of our Gaian ladies is in labor. She’s a little early but for the past five hours things have been progressing smoothly. Neither my wife or I are obstetricians but we can handle a routine birth. But now there’s a problem, the monitor’s showing some severe distress to the baby and her blood-pressure is through the roof."

Sarah spoke with quiet composure, asking questions. Garran didn’t recognize the names of the drugs she’d suggested or techniques they’d tried, but clearly Jeffrey did. The doctor was considerably calmer by the time she’d finished by telling him she’d be there in ten minutes.

"Oh, and Jeffrey...please have some javi when I get there."

The man actually laughed when he told her he would.

As soon as she closed the link she headed for her cabinet and pulled out a skirt and blouse. With her back to him, she tore off her nightgown and dressed without conscious thought of him. Shocked at her boldness, Garran got a quick glimpse of bare flesh before she fastened the closures of her garments.

Gone was the timid bride for whom he’d changed clothes in the sanitary to avoid embarrassment, and the blushing virgin he’d almost made love to. Her expression a mask of competency Sarah turned to face him and pointed to his sleepwear. "I’ll need a guide to the medical facility. Could you take me?"

Still wondering at the change in her, he grabbed clothes of his own, and changed while she used the sanitary.

Maybe he’d dreamed it that she’d lain in his arms and kissed him like she’d been alive with passion, if only for a few minutes. He lifted the fingers that had sought to pleasure her and smelled her musky sweetness on them. No, it hadn’t been a dream.

Chapter Seventeen

Jeffrey met them in the waiting area of the clinic and pulled Sarah to the side, shoving a full mug of javi in her hands. She sipped the hot fragrant brew while the doctor briefed her on their patient. He looked even more worried than he’d sounded on the com-link. "I’ll take you to the room."

"We’ll wait out here," Garran told her, Maxxa’s hulking presence behind him. They’d found the bodyguard in Garran’s lounge, napping on one of the couches, and ever vigilant he’d insisted on accompanying them to the medical center.

"You needn’t," Sarah said. "It could be several hours."

Garran shrugged. "I’ve nothing better to do."

Maxxa rubbed a hand over his face, probably trying to erase the exhaustion that showed. "Yeah, me neither."

Shaking her head, Sarah left them and followed the doctor into the clinic. As they passed inside, Sarah was struck by how attractive and modern the ship’s medical center was. Only in her last year of school had she seen anything to match it, when she’d been allowed a brief visit to a hospital for the upper crust of Earth’s government. At the top of her class, she’d toyed with taking the residency they’d offered until she’d discovered how rare she’d be called upon to act as an obstetrician. Not even the rich were having babies on Earth.

She’d taken her only other offer because at least at the city hospital she’d been able to ply her trade rather than discuss body-toning surgery for an indolent class of men and women.

Better a hospital with worn-out furnishings and archaic equipment than that.

Now she walked through rooms with top-of-the-line equipment to deliver the baby of a lowly comm-officer. In spite of the emergency, Sarah felt elated at the prospect.

Turning a corner, they arrived at the room being used as a birthing room.

First of all, there were too many people in the room, Sarah decided. In addition to Meridan, the young woman whose distended belly rippled under a contraction just as Sarah entered, there was a disheveled young man with panic in his eyes, three nurses, one for each of the young mother-to-be’s hands, the third gazing frantically at the sensor display, as if struggling to comprehend what they were telling her.

Sarah took one glance at the screens and understood their story at once, the tale filling her with dismay. If her guess was right, she’d have a tricky procedure to perform, difficult without the right equipment.

"I don’t suppose you have a portable holo-viewer," she asked Jeffrey.

To her amazement he nodded. "Of course." He gestured to one of the handholding nurses, and sent her scrambling for it.

Hope rising, Sarah took over the room. After one more fortifying gulp of her javi, she abandoned it to approach Meridan and take her hand. "I’m Doctor Johnson and I’m going to make sure you and your baby are going to be just fine. Let’s get the lights lowered, and flatten you out. You," she pointed to the man. "Are you her husband?"

"Yara...yes, I’m him." He swallowed nervously. "That is, yes, I’m Yara, Meridan’s husband."

"Wonderful." Sarah spoke soothingly. "I want you to sit with your wife. Next time she has a contraction, I want you to focus her breathing through it, like this." She demonstrated and Yara picked up on the joint breathing exercise in the moment.

By now the lighting had been dimmed, and additional pillows added to the narrow bed to cushion the laboring mother. Looking far more relaxed, Meridan managed a smile as her husband kissed her hand.

The holo-viewer arrived and Sarah positioned the half-cylindrical reader over Meridan and flipped it on. Pleased, she noted how fast it fired up, and watched the crisp blue-green images form in the space above. The internal structure of the mother’s womb and position of the baby were crystal clear.

This wasn’t just as good as anything she’d dealt with on Earth. It was a far improvement.

Another contraction began and she watched the images displayed above the viewer as the muscular wall of the womb rippled. At Meridan’s head, her husband began breathing with her, slow and even, encouraging her to match him. On the display above them the sensors spiked, then lowered as Meridan relaxed into the slow breathing pattern.

Jeffrey and the nurses stared. "Just the breathing does that?"

Sarah spared him a glance. She spoke quietly as to not disturb the young couple. "It’s an ancient technique. I read about it in some very old twentieth-century journals on natural childbirth. Focusing on breathing relaxes the mind, removes the anxiety and the body relaxes as well. Better than drugs, better than neural blockers which can interfere with the child’s health."

In the holographic image above viewer the baby moved and the umbilical cord twisted. "Here," She pointed, "That’s the problem. The cord is in the wrong place and becomes compressed with each contraction."

"What do we do?" Jeffrey asked.

"Back in the old days, they’d cut the mother open and remove the child that way." Sarah shuddered at that primitive technique. "What we can do now is move the cord out of the way, using a small tractor-probe."

"You’ve done that before?"

"Many times...but this will make it so much easier." Sarah pointed in gratitude at the holo-viewer. "With this I can see what I’m doing rather than make guesses."

One of the nurses provided a tractor-probe, a miniature version of the tractor-beam generator used to bring The Dove’s escape pods onto The Promise. Like the viewer, the probe was beautifully designed, better than anything she’d used before.

With surgical precision Sarah used the narrow beam to shift the cord from the bottom edge of the womb, and with the next contraction the sensors measuring the baby’s stress level spiked only a normal amount.

She and Jeffrey exchanged smiles and after the next several contractions showed the same result, she turned off the holo-viewer and moved it to the side to allow Medidan more freedom of movement. With the cord moved to safety, and the mother relaxed, the birth could proceed normally.

Jeffrey nodded at the viewer as she slid her hands appreciatively over the sleek casing. "I guess you’re used to working with equipment like that."

Sarah laughed bitterly. "Not in the least. Usually I’d have to move a patient to intensive care to get access to one. If I couldn’t do that I’d have to do that procedure blind, trusting the sensors on the child to tell me when it was out of the way...or I resorted to surgery to save a mother and child when there wasn’t time for anything else. I even lost a child once.…"

Her voice trailed off and tears filled her eyes at the memory of that one failure in her career, her helplessness holding the tiny blue-lipped baby who’d died before entering the world.

She gave the machine a pat. "I’d have given anything for one of these back on Earth. This is a beauty, as well. I’ve never seen one like it."

"You wouldn’t find many on Earth. It’s Gaian-made and we hold the patents. One of our best engineers came up with it and the design for the probe you used."

"Well, I’m very grateful to the inventor, whoever he is."

He tilted his head and amusement lit his warm brown eyes. "You could tell him when you leave. He’s out in the waiting room."

Sarah stared at him. "Garran? He built these?" She shook her head. "I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, he said he was an engineer."

"One of our best. Great with his hands. He’s a multitalented man as I’m sure you’re finding out."

Multitalented. She winced. Well he’d certainly known what to do with his hands this morning before she’d stopped him and they’d fallen into a fight.

She glanced over at the doctor. "Jeffrey, could you tell me what a ‘quezzle’ is?"

* * * *

Garran paced the small waiting area. Occasionally he’d sit and turn on the media screen, search for some kind of entertainment, something to engage his mind. When nothing did, he turned off the screen and went back to pacing.

Maxxa had taken over the couch nearest the medical center doorway, and from the soft snoring had resumed his nap.

Garran watched him enviously before deciding that the man had the right idea. Giving in to the hour and his lack of sleep, Garran stretched out on the couch.

That’s where Jeffrey found him two hours later. Groggy, Garran rubbed the sleep from his eyes and sat up, making room for the doctor on the couch. "How are things going?"

"Wonderful, thanks to your wife." Jeffrey smiled. "She knew exactly what the problem was and got it fixed."

"You’re done with her then?" Garran couldn’t keep the impatience out of his voice. He wanted to get back her back to his quarters.

"She doesn’t seem eager to leave. She told Meridan and Yara that she’d deliver their baby, and right now that’s what she’s doing." Jeffrey stared at his folded hands. "Doesn’t that seem odd to you, that a newly wedded wife would rather deliver a baby than be in bed with her husband?"

Garran growled. "She’s probably just being conscientious. She took over the delivery, so now she feels like she needs to finish it."

"Oh, I’m sure that was part of it. Still...I don’t think you were asleep when I called. I definitely got the feeling I was interrupting something and not something I’d hope would be happening on a wedding night."

Garran felt a heated flush take over his face. "Are you taking up marriage counseling, Doctor?"

"If needed. You might remember I have some experience with being wed to an Earth woman. What was going on?" he asked bluntly.

Garran frowned, but couldn’t argue the point. It might even be a good idea to get a fresh perspective. Bethan and Symon already loved his wife and would likely take her side. Maybe Jeffrey would be more objective.

"We were fighting when you called. I was just about to hit her..."

"Hit her!" Jeffrey broke in, scandalized.

"With a pillow!" Garran finished angrily. "Don’t interrupt. Besides she’d just thrown it at me!"

"Why would she do that? I know she’s feisty."

Garran sighed. Everyone knew about her slapping him on their first meeting. It was going to be recorded as the most significant slap in Gaian history if he and Sarah ever managed to make their marriage work. The slap heard round the universe.

"I called her something...not something I should have."

Jeffrey’s lips twitched. "Not a quezzle."

He groaned again. "I suppose she asked you what it was?"

"I just told her it was descended from the Earth cat. I didn’t tell her it mated for life like we do."

And like Sarah would, Garran realized. She was closer to being a Gaian woman than he’d realized. She was even still innocent in a way he’d never expected an Earth woman to be.

"I assume she mentioned she was still a virgin?"

Garran stared at Jeffrey, fury seizing him. "And you would know.…"

"Because I’m a doctor, Garran. I’ve seen her records just like I saw everyone else’s. It was rather unusual. Did she have an explanation?"

"One that made no sense. She doesn’t like being touched...but then she has dreams of a man making love to her."

Jeffries brow crinkled in concern. "Attachment dreams?"

"Like them. A dark haired man with big hands and no face."

"Hmm." Jeffrey’s gaze fell on Garran’s hands, sprawled across the top of his thighs. "Big hands.... Very interesting. I wish you’d let my wife in on this... She’d have some idea as to what it means."

Garran shook his head. "She can’t be brought in until I know Sarah will stay on Gaia. We can’t let the quezzle out of the bag yet."

"I suppose but I’m already in trouble with her over last night’s dinner. We can’t hide her forever."

"Just a couple of days. That’s all I need."

Jeffrey stood. "I better get back inside and see how things are going. The sooner that baby gets born, the sooner you can start courting again. And this time stick to courting, no name calling or pillow fights...unless it’s in fun!"

* * * *

Sarah lifted the squalling, squirming, red-faced bundle of fury and displayed it to its tired but ecstatic parents. "It’s a boy!" she caroled.

She laid the baby on his mother’s stomach and had the father snip the cord that had been so troublesome as the mother played with her son’s perfect tiny fingers.

Sarah watched the new family with a mixture of happiness and longing, her usual emotions on delivering a healthy child, something she’d hoped would have ended on coming into space with the NLC.

She’d even hoped that the next time she’d performed this role she might even be expecting a child of her own.

Instead she was still a virgin.

Sarah sighed and tried not to remember how close she’d come tonight at losing that undesirable status. If she hadn’t stopped him, Garran would’ve made love to her. She’d taken the precautionary contraceptive tablet before entering the marriage meet, so she wouldn’t have gotten pregnant, but at least she’d known what it was everyone else raved about.

It might have been worth it. Her body still tingled at the mere thought of Garran touching her. Not even her dream lover had been as good with his hands.

Of course, how could a dream be as good as the real thing?

Her job finished, Sarah took a last look around the medical bay, at the efficient and well-designed space, the gleaming equipment. She’d never operated in this quality of environment before, and she found she liked it.

It was wonderful to have monitors that worked consistently, probes you could rely on. And that holo-viewer!

A troubling thought threaded through her. This was Garran’s world, his medical bay, on his ship. If this was representative of what she’d find on Gaia, and she had no reason to believe it wasn’t, she’d never work in a substandard hospital again.

If she stayed with him, she could work like this at all times. She’d never lose a patient due to broken or absent equipment. She’d never hold another dead child she could’ve saved but for some government official’s credit-hoarding.

And it wasn’t just the work environment, there was more. Garran wanted her, wanted to give her children, and unlike any man she’d known before, his touch fed her desire instead of repressing it. She might never again meet a man whose touch she craved.

For a moment she envisioned herself in Meridan’s place, with Garran’s arm supporting her back as she stroked their firstborn’s face. It was appealing, that vision.

All she had to do was say yes. That was all. Tell Garran she’d stay his wife and she’d have it all.

She’d have a medical environment she could be proud of and practice quality medicine in.

She’d have Symon and Bethan as family. Good friends like Jeffrey and the others at the party last night. She’d eat well, drink well, live well, in comfort. Garran owned a home along Crescent Lake. She could live in beautiful surroundings all her life.

She would have children, beautiful children fathered by an attractive man of exceptional intelligence.

So very tempting. A man she desired, a man she could respect if only for his achievements. A family with him.

All that would be missing was love.

Her euphoria from the successful birth dissipating, Sarah rose to leave. Mouthing her congratulations to Meridan and Yara she left them in loving contemplation of their son’s perfect fingers and toes, Jeffrey and one of the nurses in attendance.

On her way through the still quiet medical center Sarah found a food service panel and ordered a fresh mug of javi. Sipping the rich brew, she sat on a convenient stool. She needed a few moments before finding her husband, time to consider the ramifications of what she was considering.

The benefits.

And the consequences.

She could have everything she ever wanted--more than everything. Her wildest dreams of the future had never been imaginative enough to anticipate what she’d found on The Promise.

If she stayed with Garran she’d lack for nothing--except love. Garran claimed to love her now, but she doubted it would last if she could never return his feelings. While she might desire him, respect him, and possibly even like him, deep in her heart she knew she could never love him.

How could she love a man when for five years she’d done nothing but hate him? If she didn’t love him wouldn’t his love fade away? If she couldn’t love him, could she live with him anyway? Maybe.

Would it be fair to either of them, a loveless marriage? Probably not.

But life was so seldom fair.

All he’d asked for was a chance to prove what a good life they could have and she’d already agreed to give him that chance. She could learn to tolerate him as a husband. The way her body tingled she could learn to enjoy sex with him. If it wasn’t love, it would still make a child.

Wouldn’t that be enough?

Uncertain of the answer, Sarah finished her cup and put it into the panel’s sanitizer.

It was time to find Garran. Sarah continued down the hall to where she’d entered the medical center, then stopped short and suppressed a laugh.

Well, that wasn’t hard. She found him asleep on the couch in the waiting area, his faithful bodyguard, Maxxa, snoring near the door.

She paused, considering him. He seemed younger, the stress gone from his face, dark hair covering his neck and cheek. She resisted the urge to push it back, knowing it would wake him, wanting a moment more to examine him.

He really was very handsome, her husband. Dressed in a loose fitting blue shirt and brown pants he could have been any Gaian, not the stern-faced General. When she’d first seen him on The Promise he’d worn black, but she hadn’t seen the color on him since.

Was he trying to change his image? Perhaps. The light blue complemented his hair and complexion, which she could see was far too pale. He’d probably spent a lot of time on his ship and little time in the sun.

Something else that would change. He wanted to return to his home on Gaia and he wanted her to come with him.

Would that be enough to remain his wife?

Troubled by questions she had no answers for, Sarah reached out to gently shake him awake. His eyes opened and gaze fell on her and a smile teased around his lips.

"Good morning, Sarah mine. What was it?"

What was.… "Oh, the baby! It was a boy."

"Congratulations. Jeffrey told me you did a wonderful job." He stretched and yawned, his shirt riding up to show the dark line of hair leading into his waistband. The sight caused a small thrill in Sarah’s core. When he stood and reached to stroke her cheek, his admiring smile warmed her clear through.

Maybe it would be enough.

A man and woman arrived, clothed in the outfits worn by the other medical people she’d seen. They seemed surprised to see Garran there, muttered respectful greetings to him, which he returned. Sarah glanced at the wall chrono and realized that it was near the hour of the start of first shift.

The night was over and it was a new day--a day to spend with her husband and see if she could find some answers to her troubled questions.

Garran took her hand. "Come with me to breakfast?"

At least that was a question she had an answer for.

"I’ll be happy to."

Chapter Eighteen

His Sarah was a neat eater. Garran watched as she carefully emptied her plate of baked cholumb, managing the task without losing a single morsel from her fork. The rich crumbly cake was more nutritious than it looked, or tasted, but it did tend to make a mess. His plate, for example, was covered in bits and pieces. But Sarah was more careful, making sure every bite made it into her mouth where she virtually purred over the taste.

Her undisguised enjoyment over such a small thing left him pleased and confused. Pleased because every time she found something about Gaian lifestyle that she liked, he figured it made it that much easier to convince her to stay. Confused because he couldn’t understand why such simple things would make her happy. She was trained physician and a good one. Surely her life had included access to good food and drink.

Take the way she drank javi. He’d have thought she’d had enough already, but she relished this mug as much as the one that had preceded it. The mug in front of her was on its second refill since they’d taken seats in the small mess hall he’d directed her to after leaving the medical center.

Maxxa hadn’t been happy at them going to a public place for breakfast, but had been moved at Sarah’s fervent request that they not return to Garran’s quarters just yet. Garran thought that maybe a neutral place would make it easier to talk to her and supported her request.

Reluctantly the bodyguard had acquiesced with the proviso that Sammul be added to the party. The hulking pair had installed themselves at a nearby table, leaving Garran and Sarah alone. The good news was that they spent so much time looking for possible enemies that Garran had all the privacy he wanted.

He examined the half-empty mug in front of her. Two mugs of javi and that wasn’t counting what she’d had at the center. Of course he didn’t blamed her. With her profession she’d probably drunk hundreds of cups of javi--that is coffee back on Earth, attempting to stay alert while delivering babies at all hours of the night.

He eyed the mug in front of him. If he was going to be married to an obstetrician he’d probably better get used to drinking more as well. Her hours would become his as well.

Not that he was complaining. Today’s early morning rousting had been a wake-up call in more ways than one. She was a doctor and according to Jeffrey, a damn good one.

Garran sighed at that. Yet another member of his staff eager to make certain that his marriage was successful...Jeffrey so he’d have access to a skilled physician.

If only his bride had as much interest in their relationship as everyone else did.

Although, something had changed. He’d noticed it when they’d left the medical center, how she’d allowed him to take her hand without comment. He couldn’t say that she’d welcomed his touch, but she hadn’t shied away either. It was almost like she was testing herself.

She was watching him, too, as if she was questioning something in her own mind. The look was too contemplative to be idle curiosity. Something was on her mind and it involved him. Probably involved both of them.

A happy thought occurred. Maybe she was coming over to his side? Garran mused over that, his attention on the dark wood of the table.

"This is delicious."

Her comment broke through his thoughts and Garran looked up to see her smiling at him, the expression so beautiful it caught the breath in his throat. Her smile was almost what he’d seen yesterday before she’d realized his identity. He’d though he’d never see it again.

Heart pounding he leaned over the table toward her. "It’s a favorite breakfast cake with Gaians. My wife used to make it every day...." His voice trailed off when he realized what he’d said. Horrified he watched her smile fade and the watchful look return.

She played with her fork, turning it over and over on her empty plate. "She cooked, your wife?"

"She was a very good cook," he admitted.

She raised her fork to her mouth, still not looking at him. Instead her gaze seemed fixed on his plate, between them on the table. "And I can’t cook at all."

What did that mean? "I didn’t marry you for your domestic skills. We can hire a cook, Sarah."

She laughed, a sad little laugh. "It’s not that. It just that I don’t think I’m much like your wife was."

"I’m not making comparisons. Sarah, does it bother you that I was married?"

She tapped her fork on his plate as if making a point. "Not the way you think. You loved her and she loved you...and you had a child...." Her voice trailed off.

"This is true. Do you worry that I could not love you or any children we could have? Trust me, Sarah that will not be an issue. You are exceedingly lovable--half the ship is enamored of you already," he said wryly.

She seemed to catch his attitude of chagrin and amusement glinted in her eyes. With her fork she gathered a few of the cholumb crumbs on his plate and lifted them into the air.

"I guess you’re now getting pressure from all sides on keeping me around." Sarah thrust the pile of pilfered crumbs in her mouth and Garran’s heart pounded with feral glee at the sigh of pleasure that erupted from her.

"None more than from myself. I want you, Sarah." That was one fact that was getting harder and harder to ignore.

"Because you attached to me?" Her fork snagged a few more of his leftover cholumb crumbs.

"Because I attached, yes. It’s the way of us. You represent a future for me, of companionship and family. I’d be a fool to give that up--and I’ve never been accused of being a fool."

"Companionship and family? What about love, Garran--Do you think you love me?"

Love? Love followed attachment...that’s what he’d been taught. It was the natural order of things. He knew Earth people put a great store on developing an emotional attachment to their spouses prior to marriage, but they didn’t have to contend with the overwhelming physical reactions Gaians did on first meeting. There wasn’t time for love to develop yet.

At this point it was hard for him not to just throw her over his shoulder and haul her off to bed. Maybe he didn’t love her now, but he would when everything settled down.

He waited too long to answer and she shook her head. "I didn’t think so. Just as well."

She might say it was "just as well" but he could tell it wasn’t. Her forced smile told him as loudly as words--Sarah needed someone to love her.

"Don’t give up on us loving each other yet, Sarah mine. Love is something that grows between people when they allow it. All Gaian couples I’ve ever known would tell you they were in love...even it if took a while to happen."

Amused Garran watched Sarah glean the last crumbs from his plate, an intimate act to be expected of a wife. He wondered if she knew what she was doing.

She swallowed the last mouthful. "So you think we will grow to love each other?"

"I believe so, yes. We will spend our lives together. Most Gaian couples live and work side-by-side. It’s the way of things."

A troubled look crossed her face. "Gaian couples always live together? But your wife was.…"

Chills ran down his spine and it was all he could do to not clench his fist. Why did she need to bring this up, now? "Yes. She wasn’t with me at the time of her death. I was working on this ship and she and Sallia were at the school.…"

Sarah held up one hand, dismay in her face. "I’m sorry, Garran. I didn’t mean to.…"

Her look of apology was all he needed. Immediately his anger cooled.

Garran grabbed and held her upraised hand. "I know. You didn’t mean bring up bad memories. It’s all right, Sarah." He pulled it to his lips and kissed her fingers. "You are my wife now."

She pulled her hand away, but there was a smile on her face. He gestured to their now empty plates. "If you’re done with breakfast, maybe I can give you a tour of the ship."

Sarah put her fork down and finished the last of her javi with a satisfied smile.
"I’m ready when you are."

* * * *

Garran took her first to his personal domain of the ship, the engineering laboratories. It took nearly an hour to walk through the large rooms, each filled with specialized equipment to develop new and improved versions of Gaian technology. Dressed in simple coveralls, the technicians and engineers worked at their stations, although Sarah could tell they were working shorthanded today, several of the work areas empty.

Many of the young men had found brides and were taking a few days off. Only a few unbanded men were there as well as the married Gaians, men and women wearing bands and working side-by-side.

When he’d moved into space, Garran hadn’t stopped directing his engineering staff. Instead he’d moved them all onto his battleship.

"Didn’t they worry about being destroyed during the war?" Sarah asked.

Garran simply smiled, a bit of the General evident in the sardonic upturn of his lips.

One of the other engineers gathered round them answered her. "This ship?" he laughed. "We’re safer here than on Gaia. There’s a story about how The Promise got its name. Since it was a converted passenger liner, an Earthforce Admiral asked how we could consider ourselves a threat to them." The young man nodded proudly to Garran. "The General here replied, ‘I don’t consider us a threat--instead we are a promise. If you come after us, we promise you will be sorry.’"

The man grinned at Garran. "And he was sorry, wasn’t he. His was one of the first ships we took.…"

"Enough talk of the war." Garran interrupted, leading Sarah away. "Over here is something I think you’ll really like."

She looked back to see a perplexed look on the man’s face. Surely he knew better than to brag about destroying ships in front of her.

Garran let her linger quite a while in the medical equipment lab, admiring their latest efforts. Once more she was tempted by the desire to be able to use such state of the art tools.

She glanced at Garran, his handsome visage firing her passions again, and felt the reaction in her face, cheeks burning. When she felt this way about him, why couldn’t she believe that love would follow?

At one point in their tour, several engineers engaged Garran in a technical problem of some sort. Sarah tried to follow the conversation but was lost in seconds.

Bemused she glanced about for other entertainment and another piece of equipment caught her eye, being assembled on a large workbench with a number of loose electronic parts piled up on it. Garran’s attention engaged for the moment, Sarah wandered over to get a better look.

There was a media-screen displaying a diagram and a young man intently matching equipment parts to the apparatus on the bench, apparently based on the display. Like many of the young men in the room, he did not have a marriage band and when Sarah asked about his project, his head nodding about like a child’s toy, his eyes wide with excitement over her notice.

Beaming at her, he indicated the apparatus on the bench. "I’m building a prototype of a new remote controlling system."

"A new remote controlling system?" Sarah puzzled over what this could be.

The young man’s Adam’s apple bobbled up and down like a child’s toy. "Oh, yes. An improved model. You see, the current system relies on known input systems and wavelengths, so we must be very careful to be within the correct distance to the target and can’t always rely on the system being within parameters. The new system will be much more flexible, and not subject to interference of some sorts from misalignments like infrastructure metals on hidden tangents and such…."

He spoke so fast that Sarah found it hard to follow his explanation, but after listening for a couple of minutes she thought she’d worked out the purpose of the device. "So you can use this to remotely control other computer systems? Like the systems on other ships?"

He clapped his hands in excitement. "Oh yes, that’s right! We can control other ships this way. Like the life-pods you came in on? I worked on the remote for that one. It was harder in some ways because a life-pod is so stupid, you can’t rely on its computer entirely, or you wind up shutting off the life-support and that would be bad, you know?"

"Yes that would be bad," Sarah agreed, thinking about her own experience. Last thing they’d have needed was absentee life-support. She had wondered at how they’d managed to seize the life-pods and control them. Tractor beams usually jerked more. Apparently this young man had been one of the reasons for the smoothness of their ride that morning.

"Varra, what are you telling Sarah?" Garran joined them, his voice intent.

"Oh sir, I was just telling her about the controller for the life-pods, and how it needs to be smarter than the pod is."

Sarah sensed Garran’s relief in the young man’s answer and wondered. Why would Garran be concerned that she learn about a remote ship-controlling system? They had one to control life-pods, an interesting use but what else might it be good for?

Hmm, Sarah thought. Controlling ships other than life-pods? Garran pulled her to another part of the lab before she could ask any more questions of Varra, and became intent on showing her a system for purifying air, making it even cleaner than the air of Gaia, an interesting device in itself.

But it was the remote ship controller that kept coming back to Sarah’s mind.

* * * *

Sarah leaned against Garran in the corridor and pulled her left foot out of her black slip-on shoes, rubbing her toes gingerly. Her feet actually hurt after their "brief" tour of the ship laboratories.

Garran slipped a supporting arm under hers. "And what shall I show you next? Would you like to see the gardens?" He ran a hand along her braid. "Maybe you’d like to see the roses. I think there are some of the Earth Flame variety."

Gardens? Sure, why not. Sarah nodded at him and he grinned as he guided her along the corridor, Sammul in close pursuit. Since leaving the labs, the bodyguard had been vigilant. When Sarah looked behind his beetling scowl took in everyone along the way.

At least he didn’t stare at her in the same way. She’d apparently moved off the big man’s enemies list.

The corridor grew wider as they moved into the more public part of the ship and the mid-day crowds picked up. Sarah saw faces she recognized amongst the women, walking with their new husbands. Sometimes one would take in Garran and stare with eyes wide, having recognized Earth’s nemesis as the man holding Sarah’s arm.

When that look of horror turned to pity as the Earth woman returned her attention to Sarah, she just shook her head and smiled her denial. Garran might not be a man she could love, but Sarah could no longer see him as the monster he’d been portended to be.

Finally they reached an open doorway over which was written "Gaia Remembered". Sarah looked into the room beyond and gasped in astonishment.

It didn’t look like a room at all. In fact it didn’t look like a part of a spaceship. As they passed inside, Sarah could have sworn they’d moved outdoors, onto the surface of a planet, with an aquamarine sky above and earth beneath her feet. They stood on a stone path, and everywhere she looked was green. Thin-bladed grass carpeted the ground in all directions, dotted here and there with benches surrounded by bushes bright with blooms or small beds of flowering plants. Many of the benches held couples too engrossed in each other to notice anyone else.

To Sarah’s Earth-born eyes, it looked like paradise, not a stretch of concrete as far as the eye could see. She took a deep breath and smelled the unfamiliar aroma of fresh vegetation and warm earth. The richness of the air made her dizzy and she clutched Garran’s arm for support. He helped her to a bench near the path, moving across the soft springy lawn to reach it. Sarah resisted the urge to reach down to the ground and pet the waving blades of grass beneath her feet.

Behind them Sammul padded, then took up a position to one side, watching the peaceful garden for signs of trouble.

Once seated, Sarah struggled to take shallower breaths and some of her dizziness faded. Too much oxygen, she told herself. The air in the room was rich with it, a byproduct of the plants. That’s all it was. She’d been in an oxygen-enriched environment before--this wasn’t that different.

But nothing compared to the rich bouquet of the thin breeze that flowed through the room, the fragrance from the nearby plants nearly as heady a side effect as oxygen.

Garran’s arm steadying her, Sarah raised her head for another look around. There didn’t seem to be an end to the space. Far off in the distance was a bordering line of tall trees, surrounding the garden. Looking back at the entrance she saw a stone border around the doorway, through which she could still see the ship’s corridor from which they’d entered. The sight of people passing outside gave her disoriented senses a measure of sanity. She’d not been transported planet side--they were still on the ship.

Above the doorway she could see that the wall was painted in pale, mottled aquamarine color and on either side trees and bushes were planted, the surface behind them dark green. The wall above curved up into the ceiling about three stories up, and Sarah could see the way the design tricked the eye. The room was a giant bowl, created to give the illusion of being outdoors.

When she looked at Garran, he was grinning at her, pleased with her reaction. "We spend so much time in space, it’s good to have something of our home world with us. Too much time spent in narrow corridors, or closed rooms, isn’t good for humans. We need to see the sky every once in a while...even if it isn’t a real sky.

"During the third shift we dim the lights and project on the ceiling simulated star fields and a pair of moons that keeps phase with the moons of Gaia."

Recovering, she shook her head in awe. "I never imagined a place like this."

Garran leaned back and stretched his long legs, resting his arms on the back of the bench. Sarah thought she’d never seen him so relaxed.

"Actually, it’s a duplicate of the park in our main city. We’ve made it smaller, of course, but did a pretty good job of getting the feel of the place."

Sarah slipped her shoes off and felt the grass between her toes, groaning aloud with pleasure. "It’s wonderful, Garran."

He grinned at her, and moved to touch her cheek, back of his hand stroking it gently. Under the sleeve of his shirt, his arm muscles rippled and Sarah resisted the urge to run her hand along them, feel their strength.

Sarah closed her eyes and let the sensuality of the moment run over her--the feel of grass between her toes, Garran’s hand stroking her face, the air heavy with the smell of flowers and growing things. Somewhere nearby was running water. She could hear the trickling sound over the soft murmurs of the other couples enjoying the beauty of the park.

She felt as if in a dream, but different from the many dreams about her lover. It wasn’t sex she sought but a feeling of home. This place felt like home, a home she’d never been to.

Another thing she could have if she stayed with Garran. Sarah imagined a mental form, listing pros and cons for remaining Garran’s wife. The pro column was getting pretty full.

The con column held two items. The first was the fact that it was unlikely she would ever love him. The second was a question. Could she live with a man she couldn’t love?

She still didn’t know.

"What are you thinking about, Sarah mine?" Garran’s voice was soft, but there was an odd darkness to it. She opened her eyes to see him frowning at her and for a moment she wondered how much he could tell from her face.

"I’m thinking about staying with you. As your wife."

He grew even more watchful. "Then why does your face fill with sadness?" His hand seized her chin, turning her face towards him. "What is it about staying with me that causes you such dismay?"

How could she tell him the truth? Her heart in her throat, she tried to explain. "Garran, I’m not that experienced when it comes to relationships between men and women. I’ve never been in love, and I don’t know what it feels like."

"Do you think you’re in love, now?"

Was she? "No, I’m sure I’m not." But then why did her skin welcome his touch. Could it really be just a physical reaction?

"I told you, love will follow."

He said the words, but for once Sarah didn’t hear confidence in his voice. "And if it doesn’t Garran, what then? Can we be man and wife and not be in love?"

He passed a thumb over her lips, and she shuddered. "Did you think you were in love with this dream man of yours?" he crooned. "How could you be when you react this way to me?"

She jerked away ignoring his pull on her senses. "A physical reaction is one thing, but I don’t think I could ever love you!"

An odd look passed over his face. Garran stood and reached for her, grabbing her elbow and dragging her off the bench. For instant he simply gazed into her eyes and the heat of his stare made her mouth go dry, and up and down her arm she felt a tingling from the grip of his hand. Dragging her by the arm, Garran strode toward the exit of the garden. Out of the corner of her eye, Sarah saw Sammul still watching the garden. He didn’t notice them leave.

Chapter Nineteen

A few turns later they were once again in a quiet and empty corridor. Sarah managed to find her voice. "Garran, where are you taking me?"

"Back to my quarters." His voice sounded strained.

"Why?" She tried to pull out of his grip. He merely increased the pressure on her arm and sped up. "Garran, you’re hurting me. Let me go."

When there was no response, she balled up one fist and swung at him and his response was to grab her hand. His eyes flashed and his lips narrowed. Garran was angrier than she’d ever seen him, and deep within her Sarah felt fear. He stopped, and captured both her hands in his steely grip, making her face him. Deliberately he held her arms to his side and forced her back flat against the wall, using his body to capture hers. His grip on her was so firm, she could barely move.

Inwardly she cursed the frightened shudder that went through her. "Garran, Why are we going back to your quarters?" Her voice was barely more than a whisper."

"To finish this." His voice was rough. "To do what I should have done two days ago, to complete what was begun this morning. You are my wife, Sarah mine. I need you, and you are going to fill that need, now." He pushed closer, pinning her to the wall. Evidence of what he called his ‘need’ was pressed against her belly and heady desire filled her making her feel faint again.

She struggled against it. No way was she going to swoon in his arms!

"What do you think this will prove, Garran? Do you think I’ll learn to love you if you take me this way?"

He smiled but the curve of his lips didn’t change the look in his eyes. "Maybe, maybe not. I’ll see to it you enjoy it--perhaps bedding with me will even convince you, one more argument in my favor. Or maybe it won’t be what you want. But it’s lain too long between us. Today you are mine, Sarah mine. Today, I’m going to bed you, with or without your explicit permission."

"’Explicit permission’? You have no permission to do this, Garran." She struggled against him, trying to break free, but he was much too strong for her. In fact her movement seemed to excite him more, his eyes glittered as she inadvertently rubbed against him. "Let go of me." Hot tears threatened to spill from her eyes as he kept her pinned.

His voice was softer. "You’re right, you have not given me permission, but I take it anyway. I need you, Sarah. The fact that you’ve turned me down should have stopped that, but it hasn’t. I’m still attached to you. And that means I must do this. You say you don’t want me, but you do, I can feel that want. You are reacting to me, whether you want to or not and that feeds the need in me. Sarah, we need each other."

He shook his head. "It is you that fires this feeling in me, Sarah mine, you and no other. You dream of a faceless man, and have saved your body for his touch. Perhaps in two days you’ll decide to go find him. I’ll set you free if you do. But now, you are mine, Sarah, and if you dream tonight, I assure you the man in your dream will not lack a face."

As if to emphasize this, he leaned in, his face coming closer to her, until it was all she could see. His lips pressed against hers, first almost gently, as if he wanted to remind her of his kiss from before.

But his pent-up passion didn’t allow so innocent a kiss to last, and he pressed harder, his mouth moving intently, forcing hers to open, his tongue plundering. There was nothing gentle about this, but in spite of that, Sarah realized her own body was meeting his, her mouth was party to this violation, her tongue happily engaging his as if of its own accord.

She reacted to him, exactly as he said she would, she felt the stirrings his touch had raised before, rise again, double, triple the intensity, until she could think or feel nothing else.

She couldn’t stop his passion, she craved it, and she met it with her own. All her inhibitions melted and she softened against his hardness, giving in the need to fit herself to him. As she surrendered to him, he reduced the pressure, eased off her until he could look into her eyes.

What he saw there must have pleased him. He exulted as he backed away, letting her slide away from the wall. Still gripping her arms, he pulled back into the corridor. "Now, Sarah, we’ll go."

Sarah looked over his shoulder and saw another young couple approaching. The man looked thrilled to see them, but the woman had a different expression. Sarah looked into her face and saw no fear, no anger, just a fixed determination.

As they approached, the other woman lunged ahead of her husband, knocking him to the side in her charge. Sarah screamed as the flash of a knife appeared in the other woman’s hand.

Garran was in mid-turn when she plunged the knife into his back. He twisted as she pulled it out, and Sarah could see it wasn’t really a knife but a short tube with a long needle-like blade, probably easily hidden, certainly long enough to piece the heart.

Fortunately Sarah’s warning scream had caused him to shift slightly and their attacker had missed the killing blow.

Sarah’s blood froze as she realized what the woman was. The demonic face, frozen in a mask of hate--she’d heard about this, even if she’d never seen one before. The woman was an Alkar assassin, infected with a parasite whose natural predatory nature could be programmed to kill a particular target. It was unstoppable short of killing it and it would kill anything in its way.

Anything, or anyone, including Sarah. It was the perfect assassin, undetectable if you didn’t know what to look for because usually the host didn’t even realize what it was...until it was too late.

Garran staggered and fell to his knees. Sarah had taken only a couple of self-defense classes but she knew how to do a wicked sidekick. Before their attacker could get in a second blow, Sarah’s foot caught her in the stomach, pushing the would-be assassin back into the arms of her husband.

He clutched her close. "Mary, no, what are you doing?" His broken voice betrayed his horror. Face frozen in fury, Mary turned in his arms and raised her weapon to strike him down.

And then--didn’t. Sarah watched in amazement as the mask of the assassin’s face slipped, cracked, her eyes widening in panic. "No...." she whispered, her voice anguished. She seemed to fight with herself for a second and then threw her husband to the side, the parasite giving her unnatural strength. He hit the wall hard and stunned, fell to the floor. When she turned back to Sarah her mask was firmly back in place.

She stepped forward, needle sharp weapon at the ready. Staring at Sarah she spoke. "Target found. Search, attack, destroy. Must destroy." Her voice was thin, reedy, and Sarah knew the parasite was in charge. But the woman’s movements were hesitant, clearly a battle of some sort going on inside her. She broke eye contact with Sarah, her gaze darting to the still figure of her husband on the floor and the mask cracked again, her mouth turning down in pain.

Thundering footsteps came down the hall and a bulky figure crashed into the woman, sending her to the floor. She lost control of the weapon and it fell from her hand, rolling on the floor, and Sarah kicked it further down the hall, well out of reach. The new arrival, Sammul, who’d run after them when he’d noticed his charges had slipped away from him, struggled to subdue the pathetically struggling figure. Her cries alternated between the high-pitched screeches of the parasite and the anguished crying of the host woman. Finally he pulled a small stunner from a hidden pocket and fired into her side. She collapsed beneath him.

Sarah dropped to her knees beside Garran, now flat on the floor, blood pouring from the wound on his back, bright red and pulsing. The assassin had missed the killing blow but managed to nick an artery anyway. He’d bleed out if she couldn’t stop the flow.

She pulled his shirt up, wadded it into a ball and pushed it down over the wound. "Sammul, I need a wound sealer, fast."

Barely conscious of the big man’s voice, shouting into his portable com-link, Sarah fought the wound on Garran’s back applying pressure to it to stop the bleeding. When his shirt bled through, she increased the pad with the edge of her skirt.

Sarah leaned over and whispered fiercely into his ear. "Don’t you dare die on me, Gaian man."

She was still pressing against his back and whispering to him when the medical team arrived, complete with the equipment to put a temporary stop to the bleeding. Reluctantly she left his side, letting the crash team do their work, content in watching his continued breathing...too labored for her liking...but continued.

She sat against the wall and watched their work, keeping tabs on their efficiency, keeping watch on her husband. When they hooked up a sensor array, she glanced at that, making sure that his heart still functioned normally, blood still pumping, his brain still working.

He seemed awfully still to her. Garran was never a still man, always pacing, moving, even in his sleep. Now he lay there quiet and she didn’t like it.

Outside her field of vision others arrived, from the security forces. Sammul dealt with them, turning over Mary O’Connell, the assassin to their custody. She heard Mary’s husband volunteer to go with them.

Sarah didn’t care, glad to leave all that to Sammul. She watched the gentle rise and fall of Garran’s chest. That’s what was important to her, not the assassin or her husband. Only Garran held meaning for her.

Her world had contracted to one thing. Was Garran going to live? Nothing else had significance.

Finally the crash team finished preparing Garran for transportation. Sammul came to Sarah and helped her to her feet. She felt his arm around her as they followed the hover-stretcher that carried Garran to the medical center.

* * * *

Sammul guided Sarah as they followed the stretcher, fiercely scanning the area for further danger. Additional security had been added to their little progression but he was taking no further chances.

The big man still couldn’t believe that the General and Sarah had managed to slip away from him. He cringed at what Symon and Maxxa were going to say to him...not that he didn’t deserve all of it. Praise Gaia he’d been able to get there in time to stop further bloodshed.

Still in his mind was the image of Sarah standing defiant over Garran’s body before the Earth assassin. What a magnificent woman!

She’d fought unarmed for Garran’s life, keeping the other woman at bay, preventing her from stabbing him again. Then later a different fight, using Garran’s shirt and her skirt to stop the bleeding, to save his life.

He’d watched her put her entire soul into it. He knew she was doctor but it had been more than a patient she’d fought for.

She’d fought for her man.

Sammul’s turn to enter a marriage meet hadn’t come up yet, and while he’d been a little disappointed at missing this last one, it hadn’t bothered him that much.

Sure, he was like any other man. He wanted a woman--someday. It’d be nice to have someone around, someone to spend time with. He’d heard wonderful things about sex and wanted to try it. But Sammul figured he could wait, it wasn’t that big a priority in his life.

Until he’d seen Sarah stand up to the woman who’d attacked the General.

They reached the clinic and the techs moved Garran into surgery. Sarah was directed to a private waiting area and Sammul stayed with her. He got a warmed blanket from a nurse and wrapped it around her, covering her bloodstained clothes. One of the nurses approached, wanting to be of help, but he told the woman firmly to leave them alone for a while.

Sarah needed time to rest. Until they knew what Garran’s fate was, she needed to be there and kept warm and safe and Sammul intended to see that happened.

He watched her, the shaken look on her face, the lingering shock from the attack, and he realized why a man needed a woman.

Sarah had fought for Garran to protect him. She could have died but either that hadn’t occurred to her or she’d not considered it important. No one cared for Sammul like that and no one would until he entered a marriage meet and found his match.

Then he’d have a wife, a woman who’d love him. In return he’d have someone to care about, to love--someone he’d give his life to protect.

Sammul hadn’t thought of that as important before.

He did now.

* * * *

Bethan found them in the waiting area, Sarah staring into space, looking worn and covered in blood, Sammul grimly guarding her, keeping all others away.

Grabbing a thermal flask of javi and three mugs, she entered the room and used a mug of the fragrant brew to catch Sarah’s attention. Her head rose from inside the blanket around her shoulders and she waved Bethan over, Sammul reluctantly stepping aside.

Sarah’s fixed stare melted and a hint of a smile even showed in her eyes as she lifted the mug to her lips. Her eyes closed as she sipped deeply the fortifying liquid. "Thanks, Bethan."

"Least I can do for the woman who saved Garran’s life."

Sarah shuddered. "I didn’t, not really. If Sammul hadn’t gotten there in time...or if she hadn’t fought the parasite."

"Parasite?" Bethan sat down. "What are you talking about."

"It’s a parasite. Earthforce found them on the planet Alkar about ten years back. I’ve never seen one before but I’ve heard of them."

She took another gulp of javi. "The parasite has a rudimentary intelligence and a fierce need to kill. When a human host is infected with one, it becomes a slave to the parasite. They then show images of the target and the creature becomes fixated on killing who ever it is."

Bethan scowled. "We gave her a through exam when she came on board. There was no sign of a parasite in Mary."

Sarah shook her head. "They aren’t detectable unless you know what to look for. Just a little blip in the stomach cavity, hooked into the spinal column. And most of the time all you see is the personality of the host. They are usually only subconsciously aware the parasite is in them. That’s what makes them such good assassins...they don’t even know what they are. The parasite takes over the mind when activated and pumps adrenalin into the bloodstream." She glanced at Sammul. "They can be almost impossible to stop."

It was Sammul’s turn to scowl. "She wasn’t that hard."

Sarah smiled grimly. "Mary fought the parasite." Shaking her head, she took another sip of javi. "I’ve never heard of that happening before, but the creature was going to force her to kill her husband and she stopped it, overcame its hold on her. Once that happened, you could over-power it. Otherwise it would have killed you, me, the husband, anyone who stood between it and Garran before it stopped."

Shaken and seeking fortification, Bethan poured her own javi. "I had no idea such things existed."

"They aren’t widely known."

Bethan studied Sarah. "You knew it would kill you if you stood in the way? You could’ve stepped back and let it kill him."

The cup in Sarah’s hand shook. "No, I couldn’t. I don’t know why but...." She lifted the cup to her mouth and drank.

Bethan patted her arm. "I think I know why, Sarah."

Jeffrey entered and Bethan and the others turned as one.

He had a cautious smile. "I think we caught all the damage in time. He’s under the healing accelerator now, will be for a few hours."

Sarah’s face lit up and Bethan gave a private sigh of relief. Yes, she knew why Sarah had faced almost certain death to save Garran’s life.

"He’ll be all right, then." Even more than her face showed, Sarah’s voice revealed. Sarah was in love with her husband, she just didn’t realize it yet.

Jeffrey nodded, his gaze warm on Sarah’s face. "He’ll be fine. In fact, I’ll probably release him tomorrow if he heals as fast as I expect him to." He shook his head and sighed melodramatically. "Garran can be a terrible patient. I wouldn’t want to keep him here a microsecond longer than necessary."

* * * *

Garran struggled to consciousness, a steady ping in his ear. The sound grated on his nerves, repeating over and over. Sweet Gaia, what was that infernal racket?

He opened his eyes to find the room dimly lit--not his room--and lying in a bed--not his bed--and alone, no sign of anyone about. Where was he?

Searching for the source of the annoying sound, he found a medical scanner hovering over his head, recording the status of his vital organs and displaying them to the room’s media wall, and, no doubt to the monitoring station down the hall. The time on the scanner said it was late second shift.

Garran groaned and leaned back against the thin pillow, pulling higher the flimsy sheet that he now realized constituted his only covering, his clothes having disappeared along with the last several hours.

Time to deal with the facts. He was in the medical center, that much was certain. Why was he here? He couldn’t remember, his memory was a blur.

Maybe if he reconstructed it. Garran lifted a pain-filled arm and rubbed his aching forehead. It hurt to think but he needed to try. What was the last thing he remembered?

An image of green swam into his mind, brightly lit as if by the sun and he remembered the time and place. It had been mid-second shift and they’d been in the garden. They? Yes, he’d been sitting with Sarah on a bench--he warmed at that, the glow of her face as she’d taken in the beauty around her. She’d loved it, and spoken about staying with him. He smiled, remembering the thrill her words had given him.

But then she’d gone on and talked about how she didn’t think she could love him. Even now a hot anger churned in his stomach at her certainty. How could she know something like that when he’d hardly had the chance to show how it would be with them, how his touch would bind her to him. She was an innocent to the passion of men and women and needed to be shown the truth. The time was past for uncertainty. He would make her his own. His Sarah. What she needed.…

Garran’s anger chilled. He knew what had happened next. He’d grabbed her to take her back to his room and on the way there.…

An image came, of Sarah against a wall, him pressing her against it. He’d kissed her, taken her mouth by force, and she’d bent to his will, her body telling him what her mind denied. She’d given in and he remembered that brief exultation.

But then she’d screamed, and a sharp pain had pierced his back, pain so intense his breath had caught and his heart stuttered in its beat. He remembered falling and looking back to see a demonized woman’s face with a weapon in hand, blood dripping from the tip.

His blood.

Sarah had stood before her and the woman had raised her blade again.…

"SARAH!" He cried her name aloud, unable to control the terror in his voice. He remembered it all now--they’d been attacked in the corridor by one of the Earth women, neither of his bodyguards around. He’d been hurt, badly. The sore arm and his head, the lingering pain in his back told him that story. The healing accelerator always gave him a headache and muscle pain.

The more pain, the longer the treatment. He must have been through surgery and under a HA for several hours.

But Sarah? Panic forced him to sit higher, ignoring the pain in his back. She’d faced that murderess alone, no weapon, and no one to help her. What had happened to her? He cast about, looking for some sign of her in the room, failing to see one. Surely if she’d been hurt, they’d have put her in the same room with him, that was always done with couples.…

Which could only mean.…

NO! No, no, no, she couldn’t be dead. That couldn’t be the case. Gaia wouldn’t be that cruel, to give him a new lover and snatch her away.

A nagging shame-filled thought entered from his soul. Why not, when you treated her more like an object than a woman? What he’d done in the corridor--her body he would tame, but would he court her heart? No. Would he allow the truth to be spoken, a truth that would influence her decision? No.

He’d have forced her to choose to be with him in spite of what she thought she knew, ignoring everyone who’d tried to tell him how foolish he was being.

He’d used his body and his mind to seduce her, not the truth.

He leaned back against the pillow, wallowing in his grief, old prayers not spoken in so long in his mind and on his lips. He would do better, given another chance. Sarah would be given a true choice...if she still lived.

"Garran? How are you feeling?" The doctor’s wife was at his shoulder, concern written on her face. He stared at her, remembering how alien he’d thought she’d looked when he’d met her and how foolish Jeffrey had been in allowing his misguided attachment bind him to a woman from Earth.

What a foolish man...to choose a wife who’d loved him faithfully for the past five years and who’d given him a child.

Garran knew who was really the fool.

"My wife. Is she all right?" His voice sounded weak and distant as from the bottom of a great well.

"Your wife?" Her face crinkled in concern. "No one told me she was here. Was she hurt, too?"

"I don’t know. She was with me when we were attacked."

Her eyes widened in concern, then her mouth set in sudden anger. "No one tells me anything anymore," she complained, her voice thoroughly exasperated. "I had to find out about you when I came on shift." She glanced at the monitors, nodding approvingly. "You’ll be fine, by the way."

As if that would make a difference if Sarah weren’t going to be there with him. He grabbed her hand. "Could you find out where she is?"

A smile lit her face. "Sounds like Jeffrey finally got his wish. You’ve got it bad, Garran." She patted his shoulder with a comforting hand. "I’ll go find out what’s going on."

After she’d left, Garran remembered why he’d asked that the doctor’s wife be excluded from his and Sarah’s claiming dinner but it was too late to stop her. If Sarah was alive, she’d probably want to kill him over all this.

If not, he didn’t want to live.

Resigned to his fate, he tried to relax.

Chapter Twenty

The sound of raised voices woke Sarah from her resting place on the couch of the small private waiting area that Sammul and Maxxa had insisted they use "for security’s sake." Neither of the big men were to be seen but she could hear one of them, Maxxa, she thought, outside the door arguing with someone over whether she was to be disturbed.

Sarah checked her wrist chrono and groaned. Only two hours had passed since she’d lain down after being assured that Garran was out of danger. She hadn’t wanted to leave the medical center on the chance that he’d wake, in spite of the bodyguards arguing that Garran’s suite was the safest place on the ship. Using the private waiting area of the medical center had been a compromise.

Sarah rubbed the sleep from her eyes. It seemed liked weeks since she’d been able to get more than a couple hours sleep in a night and tonight didn’t look to be any different. Giving in to the inevitable, Sarah got to her feet and headed for the door, just as she heard Garran’s name.

Maybe he’d woken up?

Sarah jerked the door open, then stood, stunned as she stared at the woman arguing with her bodyguard.

It couldn’t be. "Karen?"

The woman spun on her heels, her jaw dropping open. She blinked her eyes. "Sarah? Is that you?"

Sarah’s knees buckled and Maxxa moved quickly, grabbing Sarah’s arm as she collapsed against the doorway. Karen followed him into the room, turning on the lights as he half-carried Sarah to the couch. When he released Sarah, Karen took his place, sitting next to Sarah, arm around her shoulders.

"Sarah, good heavens, are you all right?"

Tears filled her eyes. "I thought you were dead.…"

Karen hugged her closer. "Dead? No way! Don’t you remember? You told me before I left with Earthforce that I didn’t have permission to die."

Wiping her cheeks, Sarah stared at her friend. Same sandy-blonde hair, longer than it had been when she’d been with Earthforce, same infectious grin. She not only didn’t look dead, she looked great.

She looked...happy!

"I don’t understand. You were on The Hope. In the First Fleet."

"I was indeed." Karen agreed, the hint of a smile in her eyes.

"They engaged the Gaians."

"We most certainly did." Karen’s eyes glittered in amusement.

"The fleet was destroyed, all hands lost."

Karen’s face broke out in a grin. "The fleet was defeated, all hands captured."

"Captured?" Bewilderment sped through Sarah. "Not destroyed?"

"Certainly not destroyed." Karen looked indignant. "Gaians don’t destroy if we can help it. Life is sacred to us."

Us? "Karen, what are you talking about? You aren’t a Gaian."

Karen folded her arms and glared. "I most certainly am. Goodness, Sarah, you sound just like the General!"

Mind in a whirl, Sarah lifted her hand. "Karen, I’m very confused."

Karen laughed and hugged her again. "All right, let me see if I can un-confuse you. I guess I should start with what really happened during the war. The first thing you should realize is that the Gaians don’t fight their battles the way Earthforce does. They don’t believe in killing, so they found a way to battle Earth without doing so. Instead of destroying ships in space, they captured them."

"Captured?"

Karen nodded. "The Gaians created a new technology that took over the controls of an enemy’s ship, everything from weapons, guidance, and propulsion, to life-support. Take the First Fleet. We flew at them, ready to do battle, and they pulled the plug on us. Nothing worked on the ships, the computers were completely under their control. They left us in darkness with only minor life-support for about an hour, then opened up a comm-link and told us what they were going to do with us."

Horrified, Sarah tried to imagine what that hour had been like, sitting on a dark and silent ship, knowing you were at the mercy of your enemies. "And what was it they did?"

Karen shook her head ruefully. "Better than what was deserved after Carras. The Gaians took the ships they captured and grounded them, a few at a time, on different planets. Most of the solar systems around here have been mapped by Gaian explorers, so they knew which planets would support life. They forced the ships to land, then sent special programs through the computers to render them useless for the foreseeable future. The ships were grounded...permanently."

Sarah remembered the young engineer and how proud he’d been of the remote ship controller he was working on. For five years they’d had similar technology...and they’d used it to fight the war.

If Earth had had that kind of a weapon, how would they have used it? To disable a ship and land it gently on a planet? Or, would they have used it to send that ship into the nearest sun. She knew Earthforce and didn’t like the answer to that question.

"So what happened to the first fleet?"

Karen shrugged. "I’m not privileged to know just where the ships were landed. It’s a security thing. Part of the peace treaty with Earth requires us to give them the location of their ships...a few at a time. It will be a while before Earth gets all its toys back," she said with a self-satisfied gloat.

Karen had never liked Earthforce. Circumstances had forced her into it, the funding for getting her medical training, but she’d stated from the beginning that she’d be in the military for as short a time as possible, to serve her two years then get out.

Looked like that time was even shorter than she could have expected.

"So how did you get off The Hope? And what are you doing on The Promise?"

"Me?" Karen grinned at her. "I’m second officer of this whole medical facility!"

"Second officer? After Jeffrey?"

"Yeah, it’s sort of a package deal. Gaian couples normally work together if at all possible, so.…"

Sarah finally saw the connection. "You’re Jeffrey’s wife."

"That I am," She said proudly and Karen’s sweet smile told Sarah that she was in love with her husband.

"How did you meet? The Gaians are so careful to keep unmarried men and women apart."

Karen shook her head. "They weren’t that careful in the beginning. It was rare that unmarried Gaian men ever went off planet so they didn’t realize they could attach to one of us. After they captured The Hope, they offered us additional medical supplies before we were ‘planted.’ I was medical supply officer so I was the one sent to The Promise."

She grinned. "The Gaians brought in our shuttle and Jeffrey was there to meet us. He was surprised they’d sent a woman, but even more surprised when he suddenly had trouble breathing."

Sarah laughed. "He attached just like that?"

"Just like that, but of course I didn’t know what was wrong. I thought he was having some sort of attack so I got him onto the floor and tried to help with some mouth-to-mouth. Next thing I know I’m on my back and there is a very aroused man kissing me!"

The situation sounded so comical, Sarah burst into laughter as well. They laughed with their arms around each other and even Maxxa looked amused.

Oh, it was good to be with Karen again. "So you abandoned Earthforce and married him?"

Karen’s shrug told Sarah that the decision hadn’t been that easy. "I didn’t want to leave my ship, but once Jeffrey and I were together I found I couldn’t leave him. I’d never been in love before, Sarah. I went back to The Hope only for a few hours and it was like torture to be away from him. It was as hard on him, too. We finally got permission to be together.

"Not that everyone was in favor of it, at least at first. The General had more than a little to say about it...."

A chill filled the pit of Sarah’s stomach.

"Garran knew...." her voice trailed off as she realized the enormity of the situation. Sarah had told him of her lost friend from The Hope and her name. He’d known Karen hadn’t died. He knew she was on The Promise. He’d known that the Earthforce ships hadn’t been destroyed or their crews killed.

The entire thing was a lie.

She rubbed her hands together, trying to dispel their sudden cold. "You’re married to Jeffrey. Why didn’t you come to dinner with him?"

"You mean Garran’s party?" Karen’s eyes narrowed in annoyance. "Jeffrey told me I couldn’t, that I was needed to stand second shift...at the last minute, too! I was looking forward to meeting Garran’s wife."

Her mouth turned up into a wicked grin. "It was so appropriate that he married an Earth woman after the hard time he’s given everyone else."

"Really?" Sarah’s voice sounded faint to her.

"Absolutely! Here he’d been saying for months how no Earth woman was good enough for a Gaian man, then he winds up attaching to one. Pretty good joke." She laughed.

"Yeah, terrific. If you aren’t the woman."

"Well, yeah...." Karen’s voice trailed off and she looked over at Maxxa glaring at her from the doorway.

Her jaw dropped open. "Oh, no. Not you, Sarah."

Sarah sighed. "Oh, yes, me. I’m Garran’s Earther wife." She leaned her head into her hands.

For a moment Karen sat quiet. Then she chuckled. "Well then, you’ve certainly got him tied up in knots. He’s going reasonably nuts in there, wondering if you are okay."

Sarah lifted her head. "He is?"

"He most certainly is. I’m not sure what happened but he’s worried that you were hurt too."

Sarah shot to her feet. "He’s awake? Can I see him?"

Karen lifted an eyebrow. "Maybe he isn’t the only one going reasonably nuts." At Sarah’s glare she got to her feet. "I suppose it would do Garran some good to see that you’re all right. Can’t have his blood pressure jumping up and down the way it is...it’s giving the suppressors a real workout keeping up."

Her emotions tumbling, Sarah followed Karen into the intensive care suite, Maxxa following. Garran’s eyes opened when they walked through the door, his gaze darting between them.

Sarah glanced up at the monitors, noted the readings. It was as Jeffrey had said. Garran was on his way to a complete recovery and could most likely be released tomorrow.

"You’re all right?" The gratitude in his warm voice caused a brief flutter of pleasure and Sarah smiled.

"I’m fine. She didn’t touch me." She explained about the assassin and how the woman’s love for her husband had caused her to fight the parasite.

The others listened in amazement. "I’ve never heard of anyone overcoming one of those things," Karen told Garran. "We’ll have to see if we can free her of it."

"If anyone can, I suspect it will be you. You’re one of the best doctors on this ship."

Karen grinned wryly. "Rare praise from you, but I’ll accept it."

"I’ve never complained about your work as a doctor."

"No, I guess not. Didn’t complain about my baby either." Karen gave Sarah a sidelong look. "I’ve got this great vid-clip of Garran holding my little girl, the two of them laughing. You’d never recognize the General in it."

Sarah stared open-mouthed at her friend. "You have a baby?"

"Yep, born six months ago.… I tell you, I could have used you that day." She gave Garran a speculative look. "Maybe if things work out you’ll be around for the next one?"

Sarah suppressed her sigh. Now her best friend wanted their marriage to succeed. Was she the only one able to take a neutral position?

She glanced at her handsome husband, prone on the bed and felt the urge to join him there. Even she couldn’t stay neutral around him.

Still, she had something to get out of her system. "Could I have a moment alone with him, please?"

Karen eyed the two of them and smiled approvingly. "Sure, we’ll be outside the door."

Maxxa accepted Garran’s approving nod, and followed her to the hallway.

Once the door was shut, Sarah stepped closer to the bed. "How are you feeling?" she asked solicitously.

"Better, wonderful now that you’re here." He smiled bravely at her, letting the sheet slip down his bare chest. Sarah felt her resolve slip with it and swallowed hard. She wanted to run her hand down on his smooth skin and play with the hard brown nipples and curly hair that decorated it.

Instead she folded her arms.

"You might have told me about Karen and what really happened to the Earthforce ships."

His jaw clenched. "I couldn’t until I knew you would stay. It’s a secret."

"A secret every Gaian knows."

"Well, yes," he admitted reluctantly.

"So, you didn’t trust me with it? You called me your wife, were all set to drag me off to bed this afternoon, but couldn’t tell me that my best friend was still alive?" Inexplicably tears formed in her eyes and impatiently she dashed them away.

His mouth turned into a thin line. "I thought it was the best thing to do."

"Best for who, Garran? I’m beginning to wonder if you want this marriage of ours any more than I do."

"Of course I want it. Sarah, you’re being over-dramatic." He waved an impatient hand.

"Are you so sure, Garran? It seems to me you’ve done everything you can to sabotage it. You’ve lied to me, tried to rape me.…"

His skin flushed deep red and the monitors above his head beeped frantically as the blood pressure suppressors sped into action. Sarah watched their actions with a compliancy that alarmed her. Never before had she jeopardized a patient’s health.

But he was so infuriating!

The flush in his face faded, the suppressors completing their job. "I was not going to rape you. Gaians aren’t capable of rape!"

"Could have fooled me. What would you call what happened?"

"You weren’t saying no, Sarah. You wanted me as much as I did you."

"Perhaps I did," she admitted. She had wanted him. Still wanted him, the truth be told. "But tell me, would you have treated a Gaian woman the same way?"

He didn’t like that question, he flushed and didn’t meet her eyes. "I wouldn’t have had to," he said finally.

"Because a Gaian woman would have fallen into your arms, right? And if she didn’t you’d have put up with it because it was her choice. But I don’t warrant the same treatment, right Garran?"

He returned her glare. "That’s right, Earth woman."

Sarah’s tightly controlled temper snapped again. SLAP! Once more Garran’s cheek was bright red and Sarah’s palm ached from the force of a blow. He stared at her in shock, then raised tentative fingers to touch his injured cheek.

Tears streaming down her face, Sarah cradled her hand. "That was for lying to me, Garran, and for not trusting me. Maybe I’m not what you want in a wife, but that doesn’t give you the right to treat me this way. If I wasn’t good enough to be your wife then you shouldn’t have married me in the first place."

She shook a furious finger at him. "The lying ends now, the insults as well. Let me go or treat me with respect, those are your choices. I won’t accept anything else from you."

She turned on her heels and was out of the room before he could get a word in.

* * * *

"You want to explain to me why it is that the most gentle woman I know keeps hitting you, Garran?"

Karen’s voice grated on Garran’s nerves, grinding them nearly as harshly as his own thoughts were doing. "I don’t know, Doctor. Maybe she’s not as gentle as you think. Maybe I bring out her true nature."

She paused in mid notation on her p-tab, lips quirking as if she’d heard a joke she didn’t dare laugh at. Amusement twinkled in her eyes. "You could have a point. For one thing Sarah did a pretty good job of defending you against the assassin in that corridor. If she hadn’t you’d have died."

Garran shut his eyes. That had been a revelation, all right. Karen had gotten the entire story from Maxxa, and had, of course, delighted in sharing it with him.

Not only had his wife not been injured during the battle, but she’d saved his life, risking her own in the process.

So, of course, the first thing he did on seeing her was insult her. He rubbed his sore cheek. Next time maybe she’d hit the other one. This one was taking too much abuse.

Karen wasn’t finished talking. "Another change is in how she’s reacted to you. The Sarah I knew wouldn’t have let a man get close enough to attach to her. She never had a sensual nature."

"I’m not responsible for that. She’s been dreaming of a lover for years, long before I came along."

"Really?" Karen looked honestly surprised. "She certainly didn’t when I knew her."

"Maybe you didn’t know her as well as you thought. Or maybe she met someone after you left."

"Possible...." She didn’t seem convinced. "Turn over, I need to check the wound."

Garran acquiesced, turning carefully. He hadn’t seen anything of Sarah since she’d stormed out of the room hours ago. "Where is she now?"

"Maxxa took her back to your quarters. She said something about being desperate for sleep."

Probably desperate to dream of her unknown lover. For a moment Garran wished the man really was flesh and blood so he could punch him out. How hopeless was that, to be jealous of someone who didn’t even exist?

He could feel Karen’s light impersonal touch on his back. Sarah’s felt so different, leaving trails of sensation that fired his body. Just thinking about her.… Sweet Gaia. Good thing he was on his stomach so Karen couldn’t see how he was reacting.

Ping, ping.… Garran groaned and buried his head deeper into the pillow. He’d forgotten about the tattletale monitors.

Karen’s soft laughter told him he’d been caught. "Seems to me Sarah isn’t the only one having sensual thoughts."

"Just tell me I can go back to my quarters, Doctor." He needed to get back to Sarah before she did something like pack and move out.

"Not quite yet. You came close to dying, Garran. I want Jeffrey to look at this before you go back to annoying your wife."

He closed his eyes. "I’m not trying to annoy her, Karen. I want her to love me. How do I that?"

"You could try being lovable."

Lifting his head, he favored her with his best glare. "How would you expect me to go about doing that?"

"Treat her like a lover. For one thing, how about NOT calling her ‘Earth woman’ like it was something you found under your boot?"

He nodded. He hadn’t meant it that way, it was more a way to tease her, but he could see how Sarah might not see it as an endearment.

"You could even get her a present."

A present? That sounded like a good idea. "What kind of present?"

Karen stood with her hands on her hips. "Goodness, Garran, haven’t you ever given a woman anything? Think of something she’d like, something that shows what you think of her. What would send her the right message?"

Something she would like. Something that reminded him of her. Grinning, he turned over and checked the time. It was just coming up on first shift. People would be awake. "Get me a comm-link, will you Doctor?"

* * * *

Sarah heard the distant sound of the door-chime and dragged herself out of bed. She checked the time. Well, at least it was a reasonable hour. It had been late when she’d climbed into the bed in Garran’s quarters, but she hadn’t been able to sleep.

Somehow the bed had seemed too empty without Garran’s presence, and for once she hadn’t even had her dreams to keep her company. Still exhausted, she struggled into her robe and slippers and opened the door to the lounge.

Sammul was on duty and had dealt with the outer door, collecting something from someone who saluted and left as soon as she appeared. As the big man turned, Sarah stared at what he had in his hands.

It was a plant, a big one in a pot. He put it down in the middle of the room and stood back as Sarah kneeled to examine it.

Glossy green leaves covered the branches, which, oddly enough, had thorns scattered along the woody stems. At the end of each branch was a flower, a living red-gold flower.

There was a note attached. "If I can’t take you to the roses, the roses will come to you. Thinking of you--your husband Garran."

Sarah fingered the petals of one of the roses, silky soft. The scent was amazing, heavy with a touch of sweetness, a hint of spice. "It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen."

"It’s an Earth Flame rose. They are pretty," Sammul told her.

This was the flower that Garran had said reminded him of her. The color was similar to her hair. But the rest of the plant?

She laughed. "Maybe he’s saying I’m prickly." She gingerly fingered one of the sharp thorns, pricking her finger. She sucked the blood from the pin-point wound. "I guess he has a point."

Sammul seemed to be watching her. "Doctor Sarah, are you going to stay with the General?"

Sarah sobered. "I don’t know Sammul. Why?"

"Well, it’s just that you’re so good for him. I don’t think anyone has seen him as happy as he’s been with you. Ever since his wife and little girl died he’s been like a man dead. I think he blames himself."

She stared at him in shock. "Why would he do that?"

Sammul hunkered down on the floor next to her. "Well, I heard that he was supposed to be there that night but stayed on the ship instead. There was talk that maybe the Earth ships were targeting him."

Sarah’s blood ran cold. "They’d destroy a whole school just to kill one man?"

"They knew how to punish us for wanting our freedom. Killing the girls hurt us badly. So many guys wouldn’t get a wife and we need to be married." Sammul smelled one of the flowers. "I’m glad that the General got you."

She caught the wistful look in his eye. "You want a wife, too, Sammul?"

He grinned at her. "Yeah, when the time is right. I just hope the time is soon. Speaking of time, I suspect that we’ll be able to bring the General back here this morning so maybe you should get dressed."

Sarah took a glance at the chronometer, nodded and rose to her feet. "I guess I should."

Chapter Twenty-one

Garran walked into his rooms on his own two feet--at his insistence, arriving with an entourage. Jeffrey and Karen accompanied him, holding their daughter Killy, plus Symon and Bethan, with Maxxa’s hulking presence for protection. Both bodyguards took up positions at the door, a firm reminder to all that no further lapses in security would be permitted.

Neither man had forgiven Garran for sneaking out of the garden with Sarah.

Smiling, Sarah greeted her friends and cooed over the darling baby. Killy, every bit the charmer, sat placidly in Sarah’s lap, making soft noises until one noise and the subsequent smell made it clear that even Gaian babies needed their diapers changed. Karen swooped in and hauled her offspring off to the small sanitary off the side of the lounge.

Garran took that opportunity to take Karen’s seat, next to Sarah on the couch. She’d tried to ignore his pull on her, how strongly she wanted to be close to him. Calling to mind his scornful words from earlier helped...seeing the contrite and uncertain expression on his face now didn’t.

He looked sorry and Sarah had to fight the urge to take hold of the large hand resting on his thigh.

His glance took in the rosebush in the corner of the room, its blooms perfuming the air. "Did you like it?" he asked.

She nodded. "It was a lovely gesture."

Garran leaned forward. "Not a gesture, Sarah. A symbol. I want to start over. You were right, I’ve been going about this all wrong."

"Wrong? How?"

"You said I hadn’t seen you as a person as much as a prize, and you were right. I want you to want to be with me."

"I haven’t helped much. I shouldn’t have hit you."

She thought she saw his lips twitch. "True. Perhaps we can make peace with each other." He ran the back of his hand along her cheek. "I’m willing if you are."

"Here we go, all fresh and clean." Karen plopped little Killy into Garran’s lap. The eight month old stared up into his face and laughed, the sound so familiar that it caught Sarah by surprise. Garran gazed into the tiny child’s face obviously enraptured.

He’d make such a good father. The thought was immediate and compelling and Sarah’s heart melted watching her husband play peek and boo with the child.

Karen tapped her on the shoulder. "Sarah, I was wondering. Garran mentioned how you had a filestore with the latest Earth news. Could I borrow it for a while?"

"Sure."

Leaving Killy to entertain Garran, Sarah led the way to the bedroom. As Garran had before, Karen was impressed with the machine. "Just make sure that you keep it away from Garran, or you’ll find it in a hundred pieces in no time. The good thing will be that an improved one will be in your hands days later."

"The bad thing will be that my information could disappear. Not that some of it probably shouldn’t be lost," Sarah told her friend. "That broadcast of Garran’s for example."

Karen shook her head grimly. "I still can’t believe that Earthforce put that out on the global bandways. Without knowing that we were simply capturing and hiding ships and their crews, it would have sounded evil."

"It did what it was supposed to do. Make everyone on Earth so angry that Earthforce had no trouble continuing the war long past the point it made any sense to do so."

Sarah had thought long and hard about why that message from the Gaians had been publicly released and this explanation made the most sense. Earthforce hated to lose a fight and Earth’s government had wanted to keep hold of the Gaian colony and it’s wealth of untouched resources.

Riches and power--that’s what the war had been about. Only the Gaian respect for life and technical ingenuity had kept millions from dying. As it was, the losses were still hardest on the Gaian side.

And on Garran. Sarah sighed as she watched Karen hoist the filestore by its handle and carry it to the lounge. She lingered behind to take a long look at the holo-image of Garran’s family.

He’d lost everyone he’d loved and it had been hard on him, turned him into a man that would wage war. But now he wanted to move on, to create a new family with her. Garran wanted to be an engineer again, to build instead of fight.

He wanted children. She could see it in the way he held Killy, the longing in his face.

There were still problems between them, but he wanted to start over with her.

Sarah eyed the bed that had seemed so empty last night. One time sleeping with a man and she could no longer find comfort in sleeping alone.

Garran wasn’t going to change her life. He already had.

From the lounge the sound of cheerful voices came. Too many voices...she and Garran needed some privacy.

It was time to begin again.

* * * *

For a moment Garran wondered what Sarah had said that caused everyone to leave. One minute he’d been sitting with Killy in full gurgle on his lap, the room crowded with his friends, and the next thing he knew Killy was snatched away and he was looking at everyone’s amused faces as they slipped through the door.

Even Sammul and Maxxa were going. He had to admit, he was impressed. Sarah clearly had methods of persuasion he’d yet to experience.

But he was beginning to look forward to them.

After showing the last of the visitors out, she turned to him and pointed to the bedroom. "In there, Garran."

Oho, it was like that, was it? He smiled but didn’t move. He wasn’t going to be that easy.

Sarah cocked one eyebrow and folded her arms. "I told everyone you needed some rest."

Leaning back, he stretched his legs out and linked his hands behind his head. "But I’m not tired."

Both of her eyebrows arched upward and she smiled. "Good."

Her one word answer had an immediate effect on him, his body tightening to the point of pain. It was all he could do to maintain his nonchalant posture. "Why don’t you come here, Sarah mine."

She did, moving slowly toward him from the door. Her hips twisted under the simple skirt and Garran found his eyes riveted to that seductive sway. His breathing quickened, keeping time with her metronome movement.

Heavenly Gaia, what a woman. Earth-born or not, it didn’t matter, not in the least. She was his woman and apparently intent on seducing him, not relying on him to make the first move. Not that he was objecting. The way she was moving right now, she could have first, last, and all moves in between.

It was all he could do to stay still and watch her approach without jumping off the couch and meeting her halfway.

She reached his legs and moved over them, slipping her knees up on the couch until she sat across his lap. The swells of her sweet breasts were within grasping distance, her face inches from his.

Garran gave up keeping his nonchalant appearance and focused on breathing instead. As she put weight in his lap, his pretense of disinterest couldn’t be maintained anyway. She shifted, moving across his arousal, and he groaned aloud.

With a glance at his crotch, Sarah smiled knowingly. "No, you don’t seem tired at all."

That was enough. Garran seized her upper arms and pulled her tight against him, feeling the hard pebbles of her nipples against his chest, the pillowing softness surrounding them. Her mouth was in kissing distance now and he wasted no time in taking full advantage, locking his lips onto hers.

Her response was everything he could have hoped for, warm, giving, her mouth opening to him, her tongue tasting him with sensual abandonment. Her flavor he’d enjoyed before, but this time she was sweetness itself, loving him with a skill born of desire if not experience.

And that was the difference with Sarah, the thing he’d sensed from the beginning. For her all this was new. Her lips, locked with his, sampled a man’s desire for the first time. Her hands that tenderly traced the muscles under his shirt had never touched a man that way.

When she leaned back and smiled, her eyes aglow with passion, there was wonder in them as well. Wonder at how joyous the feel of another’s body could be, at how incredible the joining of two people would be.

He’d come to make things right with Sarah. Now he ran his fingers down her face and knew what to do. Even if she left tomorrow he had this time to show her what love was.

It might even be enough to convince her to stay.

"Sarah, I want you." He whispered the words and watched her smile take over her eyes.

"I want you, too, Garran."

He pulled her hand to his lips. "Does this mean you intend to stay with me?"

She stilled and uncertainty took over her face. "I haven’t made up my mind about that, Garran. But I want to know what it is to be with you. To be with a man. Is that all right?"

It was what he’d expected but it disappointed him anyway. Still, he hid it. "Whatever you decide, Sarah. At least we’ll have today."

Sarah watched Garran’s smile as he slipped off the couch and pulled her to her feet. Something was in it, a hint of melancholy, but she tried not to let that worry her as she followed him to the bedroom.

He wouldn’t be melancholy for long. Not if she could help it.

Just before they passed through the door, Garran pulled her towards him and lifted her into his arms, then carried her across the threshold.

His soft voice resonated in her ear. "Your friend, Karen, told me about this. An old Earth custom."

Garran didn’t stop until he reached the bed, placing her carefully into the center of the mattress.

Leaning over her, he braced himself on his arms. "I’m going to make love to you, Sarah mine. I’ve thought of little else since I met you."

Sarah gazed up into his face, mischief in hers. "Since I slapped you."

He laughed ruefully. "The first time, yes. And I deserved it. I was cruel to that friend of yours, to call her names."

"You didn’t mean it. I know you, Garran. You wouldn’t hurt anyone deliberately."

His smile gentled, became warmer, warmth she felt to her tingling toes. "I’m glad you think so, Sarah mine. I’m afraid I’ve hurt enough people by accident to make up for it though."

She ran the back of her hand down his cheek, in Gaian style. "Garran, this is just between the two of us. No one else counts."

Lowering himself over her, he captured her lips again in a kiss that seemed endless. Moving, stroking, lips warm and moist. Their tongues met, hers shy, his bold and searching. They entangled and slid together, then apart.

When he broke away he was breathing heavily, his eyes glazed with passion. Carefully he slid onto the bed next to her.

Feeling impish, Sarah tugged on his shirt. "You’re wearing too many clothes."

"So are you." With one movement he pulled his shirt off over his head and flung it to the side. Sarah gasped at his male beauty, the smooth skin of his chest with its sprinkling of dark hair. Her fingers found the flat nipples that seemed to beckon for her touch and the gentling in his eyes as she stroked them told her he liked it.

He grinned as he gathered the bottom of her blouse in his hands. "Your turn."

Sarah’s modesty picked that moment to spark, and aroused as she was, her hands clung to his. She could see him rein his passion in, his hands now stroking hers soothingly. "It’s all right, Sarah mine. I only want to do to you what you do to me."

"Is that the way? I kiss, you kiss, I touch, and you touch?"

"It’s one way to play the game, Sarah. You know how much I love games."

Games.… That’s what his message to Earthforce had been about. Garran had played the war like a game, snatching Earth’s "pieces", its ships and their crews, and hiding them. She smiled at him.

"Sounds like a good game to play."

"So, we’re agreed. If you touch me, then I get to touch you the same way." He tugged on the bottom of her shirt. "And you’re still wearing too many clothes."

This time she allowed him to pull her blouse up and over her head. Watching his eyes, she saw the change, from amusement to delight, as her breasts were unveiled. Still, for all his passion, his smile was playful. "You touched mine so I touch yours, fair enough?"

She nodded and he did, warm large hands cupping her breasts, thumbs moving across the nipples with a caressing touch that sent arrows right into her core. For an instant she considered arguing that she hadn’t touched him quite that way, but decided instead to make up for it. Her hands mimicked his actions, giving to him what she was taking.

Garran was right. It was a very good game.

She remembered how intriguing his skin had tasted before, and leaned forward to lick his nipple. His flavor coated her tongue, tart and spicy. In her enthusiasm she forgot the game allowed him to take the same liberty with her.

Barely was his nipple in her mouth but she felt his warm lips close over hers. At his suckling, her back arched with pleasure, pushing her breasts up into his mouth. His hands fled to her back to support her and keep her aching mounds within his reach as he laved attention on first one, then the other.

A pleasure so intense as to almost be pain rocketed through her. "Garran," she cried.

He paused, and she gazed at him through passion-glazed eyes, seeing the triumph in his face. Arms like steel bands cradled her back, pressing her bare breasts into his chest, rubbing the inflamed nipples against the hard planes and curly hair.

His laugh shook. "Oh, Sarah mine, we’ve barely begun."

Through his pants Sarah could feel the hard rod of his arousal, and as the aftershocks of her pleasure died, her curiosity about it grew. Her hands wandered to his waist, and first glided over its firmness, then outlined it, fingers tracing its shape through the cloth. Finally she took hold of it, feeling the dampness spread from its tip through the fabric.

Garran’s eyes took on a look of astonishment before he closed them and rested his forehead on hers. "Oh yes, do that," he gasped breathlessly.

Her fingers found the fastening of his pants and slid his erection free to lie in her hands. She felt it and her determination shook at the width and breath of him.

This close and personal, his rod had an imposing size that seemed to grow even as she stroked it with trembling fingers. Her temerity must have been obvious. Acting as if he could read her mind, Garran covered her hands with his own.

"Don’t be afraid, Sarah. By the time I’m within you, you’ll be ready for me. No pain, I promise."

And Gaians always kept their promises. The unsaid refrain flowed through her mind as his hands now instructed her as to how he liked to be handled, guiding her hand along his length, closing in on the purpling tip from where dampness flowed. She gathered that viscous fluid and spread it across the tip, smoothing it over the surface.

His quiet groan told her she’d found another way to pleasure him.

Again Garran sought her lips and his passionate kiss distracted her as his hands sought the closure to her skirt which soon gaped as open as his pants. His fingers sought her intimate parts as her fingers played with his, and once again she felt that warm thrill as he stroked and petted her soft folds and small, but erect clit.

After that, nothing was enough. First she had too many clothes on, then when her skirt was removed, he still wore his pants and those were in the way. Once they were off, she wrapped her legs around his and nearly cried when he didn’t take her offer but pushed her away slowly, his hand seeking the opening now weeping for him instead.

One finger, two delved inside, and she could see in his face his wonder at finding the barrier she still possessed. "Sarah, mine," he whispered as they stretched and pulled, opening her gently, readying her body for him.

There was no pain. Some pressure, a tugging more intriguing than alarming as he worked one hand inside of her, his other hand playing a distracting game with her small sensitivity.

Finally he seemed satisfied and pulled away, once more laving her breasts with his lips, suckling her to the point of passionate release. But this time he held off, and she felt his hardness slip between her legs, prodding at her opening with gentle force. She raised her hips to meet him.

And he slipped inside.

No pain, some pressure as he filled her, the warmth of friction as his body and hers met for the first time.

Maybe their only time. Sarah shoved that thought to the side and concentrated instead on Garran’s eyes, nearly aglow. She thought she could see herself reflected in his widened and black pupils, her face strange, an expression of awe stamped upon it.

The moment of their joining, an amazing thing, an experience she’d wondered about for so long.

"I’d hoped to see that in your face, Sarah."

"See what?" her voice sounded breathless, a match for his.

"Desire, joy, wonder. It’s marvelous how we can make each other feel."

His weight sat on her lightly, the bulk of him supported by his elbows on the bed. Her lover, Garran, her husband for this time. The moment of their joining stretched out.

Then it wasn’t enough to simply be joined.

Garran moved and Sarah gasped at the sensation of him sliding within her. He moved again and she laughed, a short gasp of astonishment.

Then he picked a rhythm and both lost interest in anything but the slide of man into woman and woman receiving man. Nothing in Sarah’s dreams had prepared her for this reality. Overcome by him, her hands caressed his back in absent abandon. He picked up the pace as she tightened, signaling her start on that short journey to fulfillment.

A spiraling excitement whirled through her and she thought she heard Garran’s voice--or was it her dream-lover’s voice? In that moment they sounded alike as Garran cried her name into her ear. Then she had no presence of mind for comparisons. Her body bucked under his and without thinking her hands dug into his back, pulling him deeper within her as her mind walked off the edge and fell into a chasm of whirling sensation.

When she could think again, Garran was collapsed on her, heavy, but still supported by his arms, his chest heaving, gasping for breath. Her heart pounded in her chest and she too dragged air into her lungs at a furious pace.

Sweat glistened across Garran’s chest, and alarmed, Sarah caught his face with her hand. "You did get Jeffrey’s okay on this?"

He’d nearly died yesterday, had been in intensive care for hours. Had it been too soon for this kind of exertion?

He laughed, a deep chuckle that shook her as much as him. "Permission to make love to my wife? As if he could stop me."

"I could have stopped you. For your own good."

Garran nuzzled her neck, more distraction than she’d bargained for. She moaned under his teasing lips.

"Sarah, I’m fine. Better than fine. I needed you a lot more than I needed rest." Pulling back he caught her chin with his palm. "You needed me, too."

Settling to one side, he pulled her into the curve of his body, cradling her close. "This is what men and women do, Sarah. They need each other, give to each other, and take as well. Desire leads to passion, passion to completion, and completion to love."

Something inside her turned over at the word. "Love?"

"For me at least. I love you Sarah."

The words fell into her heart, words she’d never expected to hear, at least not from this tall, dark-haired man. But in spite of that they warmed her, thrilled her, right to the center of her being.

A man was in love with her.

A man she could never love.

Why not, she argued with herself. Why was this something she was so sure of? Garran was twice, no, make that ten times more man than anyone she’d ever known. He was charming when he wanted to be, pleasing to the eye, and heaven knows she’d related well enough to him in bed.

She’d have a good life with him. A great life. And now that she knew he wasn’t responsible for her best friend’s death there was nothing to stop her from staying with him. She’d been mislead for five years.

Garran wasn’t a monster. Not even close. He was a warm man who loved her and wanted her above all other women.

So why was there still something wrong? Why did she still feel the uncertainty that had plagued her from the beginning?

The answer hit her like a flaming comet. She’d set off from Earth to find her match, her dream lover--and Garran wasn’t him. She’d dreamed of her lover for years, while she’d only known Garran for a few days. He was close--dark hair, large hands. He even sounded like him.

But he wasn’t him.

Chapter Twenty-two

Something was wrong. Garran could feel it in his bones. Or, more precisely, he could feel it in Sarah’s bones, the way she drew away from him on the bed.

But what could be wrong? They’d made love, amazingly beautiful love, and she’d enjoyed it thoroughly. Her response to him had clinched it in his mind. She was his match, his wife. Sarah was his, now and forever. His lover, his wife. His love.

Then he’d told her how he felt, and her compliant and sated body had stiffened in reaction.

Didn’t she want his love? Or, didn’t she want to love him?

Perhaps that was it. She didn’t want to love him, in spite of her coming to him today. It wasn’t that unexpected...after all she’d stated from the beginning her misgivings of letting her heart follow her passion.

But what was unexpected was that it hurt.

He cuddled her close anyway, taking small comfort in her presence in the here and now. If she left him tomorrow.…

Garran simply couldn’t deal with that thought right now. He nuzzled her neck, her braid of glorious rose-colored hair smooth under his cheek. Later, he resolved, he would free her hair and the next time they made love, he’d see it flowing over their pillows. Or better still, falling about him in a living curtain.

He breathed deeply, filling his lungs with her unique scent, licking his lips to experience her taste.

Her taste, her smell. His woman, his Sarah, his wife. His for as long as they lived.

Or, until tomorrow.

In his arms she stirred. "Perhaps we should get up."

He responded with an ill-natured grumble. "We don’t have to, Sarah. We can stay here all afternoon if we want to. All night, too. And tomorrow, the next day." He trailed his hand across her flat belly, letting it linger just below her breast.

"I may never want to get out of bed again."

She laughed but there wasn’t much humor in it. "I want to get up Garran. I need a bath."

Concern flashed through him. He’d been careful, but she had been a virgin, and he wasn’t exactly small in those parts. He leaned up to stare into her face. "Are you sore?"

Her cheeks burned pink and she licked her lips nervously. Unwilling to let that provocation go, Garran swiftly captured her mouth again in a kiss that left both of them gasping for breath.

He thrilled at her unconscious response. What ever was wrong, Sarah still felt desire for him. She clung to him now and he wanted nothing more than to slip inside her and make love to her again and again, all night if necessary to bind her to him.

It was all Garran could do to not laugh at that bold thought. What a terrible fate, to make love to his wife all night long. But then again she was new to sex and it wouldn’t do to over-do things. If she weren’t tender now, what he had in mind would make certain she was.

Best to be cautious and take things slow. The sanitary in Garran’s suite boasted a full bath that would accommodate two bodies easily. To date it had never been used. The idea of slipping into a tub of warm water with Sarah had appeal, and it would probably help soothe her.

"Perhaps a bath isn’t a bad idea," he purred into her ear.

Sarah’s eyes grew bigger but she didn’t object as he slid off the bed and pulled her to stand next to him. She blanched when she looked back at the bed and when Garran followed her gaze he too saw the telltale smears of blood on the sheets. He’d been gentle, but there’d still been some tearing as he’d entered her. Immediately he hustled her to the sanitary.

That bath sounded better all the time.

* * * *

Warm jets of water caressed Sarah’s back and legs as she gingerly stepped into the water. Lowering herself, she let the warmth relax her body, even if her emotions were still in an uproar.

Garran climbed in after her, letting her settle just outside of his reach, allowing her a moment’s respite from his touch. Her sidelong glance told her that her reprieve would be temporary. Already his hand seemed outstretched to pull her back into his arms.

How could she not want to stay with him? Garran was almost exactly what she’d wanted when on Earth, a man who wanted her, cared for her, wanted to have children with her. More even. He had wealth--she’d live in comfort all of her life with him.

He was handsome, intelligent, and a fantastic lover--her body still tingled from their lovemaking. Her body was all set to say yes to him... how could she say no?

She could say no because she could never love him.

Sarah glanced over at him, felt the warmth of his dark-blue gaze, felt it deep inside her. Leaning back into the water she closed her eyes.

Something warm glided along her thigh and Sarah’s eyes popped open to see Garran’s uncertain face. He held a soft cloth that he slid between her legs, up to the juncture to wipe at her gently.

She stared at him. His blue eyes seemed darker, midnight in color, fathomless. They held hers as he carefully cleaned her private places, washing and soothing the still tender tissues.

Wordless, she watched, feeling the care in his actions. When he was done she took the cloth from him, and washed him as well, removing the signs of their earlier lovemaking. A smile crept across his mouth, and he pulled her into his arms, effortlessly lifting her to engage her lips with his.

Mouth on mouth, and once again Sarah felt the thrill of being with him. His freshly scrubbed penis pressed into her belly, and without thinking, Sarah grasped him and played with his hardening form. Garran groaned into her mouth, and clutched at her bottom, his fingers kneading the cheeks, lifting her higher. One hand slipped into her cleft, fingering her softness.

She barely heard him his voice was so low. "I don’t want to hurt you, Sarah. It’s too soon."

It didn’t feel too soon to her. All she could think of was getting him back inside her. She responded by wrapping her legs around his waist and with a groan Garran gave in and drove home within her.

This time she felt nothing like pain, only a satisfying fullness as he entered. Still kneeling in the bath, Garran clutched her closer, his head buried in her shoulder. "Sweet Gaia, you feel good."

He moved to the wide edge of the tub, but when he tried to put her down, she twisted, and then Garran was lying on his back, Sarah’s legs on either side, still intimately connected.

Experimentally, she lifted and sank further onto his shaft, and his eyes widened.

She grinned at his surprise. "Just because I didn’t have a practical knowledge of such things doesn’t mean I’m completely ignorant. I’ve always wanted to try this." She rose and fell again, smiling with delight. "This is fun."

Garran leaned his head back with a groan. He clasped her waist and helped her find her rhythm. "The night isn’t going to be long enough to satisfy your curiosity, Sarah."

He was clearly fishing to see if she intended to stay. "There is tomorrow morning as well."

Something almost like pain crossed his face, then he leaned back and just let her make love to him. She reached up and pulled down her hair, unpinning it from the top of her head and loosening the braid free. It slid across her back and shoulders, and down to pool onto his chest.

Garran watched it fall, delight in his expression. Reaching out, he gathered some of the red-gold tresses and drew them to his lips, closing his eyes as he passed the soft strands across. Reopening them he stared up at her. "I will always remember this, Sarah mine. How you look at this moment."

She realized she would always remember him, too. Strong and loving, his eyes and mouth worshiping her.

Then he lifted his hips and she moved with him and no further thought was possible other than more, and more, and it would never be enough.

Sarah’s back arched and she cried out as the deep shudders took her far away, Garran but a moment behind, clutching her waist at his release, his face amazed in its frenzy.

Sarah collapsed onto him and pillowed her head on his chest, his hands stroking her back in idle movement.

Lifting her head, Sarah checked Garran’s expression. Sated, that’s how he looked, same as how she felt. Sexually sated, warmed to the core.

Then something else showed in his expression, more of the melancholy he’d had before. He seemed watchful, on edge, and Sarah braced herself.

"Will you stay with me, Sarah?"

She answered, deliberately misunderstanding him. "Tonight, of course. I said I would."

"I mean tomorrow, the next day, the day after that." He held up a red-gold curl. "The rest of your life."

"I still don’t know, Garran."

His smile was sad, but he said nothing more. Stretching, he pushed her off him, slipping her back into the tub.

"I guess we need to clean up again."

* * * *

They dressed in silence, Garran watching the emotions playing across Sarah’s face. She looked more uncertain than he’d seen her before and he counted that as good for his side.

If she’d been certain, he knew she’d be leaving him.

He spent a little time on the comm-link with the ship’s kitchen and some minutes later dinner arrived. Pranas as an appetizer, a fowlter and vegetable pie in a pastry crust, a loaf of fresh bread, and sulia, a cold and sweet creamy dish filled with fruit for dessert.

He also ordered wine, two bottles of wine of the same vintage they’d shared before. One way or another he was going to get Sarah to confide in him.

She’d been very careful to not over drink before. Maybe with a little persuasion he could get her a little tipsy--not to take advantage of her, but to see if he could find out what was going on in her head.

He kept her glass full, and Sarah, for once, didn’t seem to notice how much she was drinking. By dessert she had a sloppy smile and Garran watched in satisfaction as she happily poured herself another glass of wine.

He raised his glass. "To the future, Sarah."

She nodded and drank, not meeting his eyes. Garran noticed and nodded to himself. The time had come to talk.

Reaching over, he clasped her hand. "Sarah." Reluctantly she raised her face to meet his gaze. There was something in her expression, regret and something else.…

Abruptly he knew what it was. "You care for me, don’t you?"

She looked startled, her eyes going wide. Sarah swallowed and pulled her hand away and he watched as she played with her wine glass.

She cared...but didn’t want to care. Why not?

"You care for me, I know it. We’re great together, we’ll have the best lives a couple can have. Sarah, we’re like two halves made whole, can’t you see that? I know you don’t love me now, but you will...." his voice trailed off as her head shook.

Sarah spoke, her silence shattered, her voice sounding as broken as her heart. "I don’t know if I can, Garran. You’re right I do care for you and it would be easier if I didn’t. You say you love me and I believe you. Yes, we’d have a great life together. We’re good...even in bed, and you know I didn’t expect that. I’ve even imagined our children.…" A sheen of tears filled her eyes.

His image of a daughter with bright red hair returned. "So have I. From the beginning."

A tear escaped and trickled down her cheek. "But how can I say I will love you, Garran, ever? And how would it be with us in the years ahead if I can’t…?"

Coldness settled in his stomach and he knew what she was thinking. "... because you love another. Someone you don’t know, but imagine is out there. That dream lover of yours would always be between us. No flesh and blood man could ever match him, could he, Sarah? Certainly not me."

Just like that, he knew he could never really win her. The game was over and he’d lost. "No matter what else happened, you’d always think that you settled for me when you could have had him, if only you’d kept looking for him."

Astonished, she gazed at him. "What are you saying?"

Disappointment and pain made his voice harsh. "I won’t settle for half a marriage with you, Sarah. If you don’t think you can give me your heart, I don’t want the rest."

"You want me to leave you?"

"I can’t have you stay as my wife. Not if you’re so certain you can’t love me."

Sarah pushed the rest of her glass away and struggled to her feet. Tears flowed freely down her cheeks as she moved gingerly to the bedroom. She really had drunk too much, he realized as he watched her stagger.

Using the edge of the doorway to support herself, Sarah turned to face him. Impatiently she dashed the tears away and a measure of pride returned to her face. "I’ll pack to go.…"

Garran got to his feet. "Not tonight."

Sarah’s jaw set. "Why not?"

Because he wasn’t quite ready to let her go. But he couldn’t say that. "The three days isn’t over yet, Sarah. You’ll stay tonight as we planned. I’ll have you moved to new rooms tomorrow."

Her gaze dropped and she merely leaned against the edge of the door, looking defeated. Then she nodded. "Very well, one more night of wedded bliss won’t kill either of us, I guess."

Something that could have been a smile but for the misery in her eyes, crossed her face. "I’m very tired, Garran. I’m going to bed."

"I’ll be in later."

After she’d gone, Garran drank his glass of wine. When it was finished, he drank hers and when that was gone, he refilled it from the bottle leftover from their dinner.

Both bottles of wine were empty and Garran was numb by the time he made it to bed. Sarah stirred and muttered when he slid in beside her, pulling her nightgown clad frame into his arms. Through the fabric he felt the tempting softness of her breasts, but resolved to ignore it. This wasn’t the time.

"Hush, Sarah. I just want to hold you." He whispered it into her ear, and she settled contentedly into the curve of his body, a little satisfied sigh escaping her lips.

Eyes still shut, her mouth curved up into a smile. "I was afraid you wouldn’t come." She planted a somewhat sloppy kiss into his jaw, and nuzzled deeper into his neck.

Garran ironically congratulated himself. He’d set out to get her drunk and managed to do it.

She stirred and murmured something he couldn’t make out.

"What was that?"

"Love you," she whispered. Her breathing evened out and Garran realized she’d drifted back into sleep.

Garran’s heart pounded furiously, his alcohol-induced numbness fleeing at her words. Sarah loved him? Was he mistaken and she really did love him?

A muffled snort into his neck reminded him of her condition. Too much wine and she’d been half-asleep when she’d spoken. Her dream lover. That’s who it had been that she’d thought she was talking to.

Disappointment filled him, erasing his temporary euphoria and leaving him exhausted. Lack of sleep and his many glasses of wine conspired to complete the job, and with Sarah snug in his arms, Garran drifted off.

Chapter Twenty-three

Sarah finished packing the last of her belongings into her trunk. All she was missing was her filestore, still in Karen’s possession. Her friend had promised to bring it by this morning but hadn’t shown up yet and it was nearly noon.

Sarah wondered if Karen might be delaying her arrival for as long as possible. When she’d called to say she was moving from Garran’s suite, she’d heard the soft gasp of dismay in her friend’s voice.

Sarah sighed. Why should Karen be different? Everyone else seemed to want her to stay with Garran. Only two people wanted this marriage to end.

Garran and herself.

He stepped in and leaned against the doorway, eyeing her trunk with a lost expression.

Sarah sighed again. Well, maybe just herself. But it had been his idea last night to end it since she couldn’t promise to love him. She might’ve had too much to drink, something her head was making her most aware of today, but she was certain of what he’d said. Garran had been the one to say it was over.

Still, he’d held her last night. She remembered waking, restless, and having his hands stroke her back, soothing her back to sleep. After the previous time they’d shared a bed, not to mention what had happened in the bath, she’d expected him to take advantage of her availability, but he hadn’t, last night or this morning. Just held and caressed her in a loving fashion.

She’d also expected to dream, but no dark-haired lover had disturbed her sleep, as if making love to Garran had finally banished his rival.

Her sleep might not have been disturbed but she was. When she’d awakened he’d been gone from the bed and his absence had bothered her far more than she was willing to admit.

Now his presence, weary and worn looking, equally disturbed her. Sarah sighed for a third time.

She indicated the trunk. "I’m almost ready."

"So I see. I talked to Bethan. She’s found another suite for you. It’s nice. You’ll like it." As he talked, his hands moved restlessly.

She couldn’t help acknowledge how she felt. "I’ll miss you."

He let the words hang in the air, only the tightening in his jaw showing he’d heard. Finally he nodded, not meeting her eyes.

The doorchime from the hallway interrupted anything he was going to say. Maxxa had shown up that morning for guard detail and now answered the door. From the lounge Sarah heard Karen and Bethan’s voices. Garran left the room and as they greeted him their voices sounded excited.

A fourth sigh. No doubt both women had come to talk Garran and her out of ending their marriage and would take some convincing that they were doing the right thing. Squaring her shoulders Sarah hurried to join them.

In the lounge Karen was hooking Sarah’s filestore into the media center. Apprehensive, Sarah stared at her friend. She’s seen that look on Karen’s face before, when they were playing cards and she had a good hand. It was the antipathy to a poker face.

Karen was up to something.

"Take a seat, Sarah. You, too, Garran," Bethan ordered in her second-in-command voice.

"I outrank you," Garran growled, clearly in no mood for his sister-in-law’s scheming.

Bethan’s lip’s twitched. "Very well, please take a seat. Sir."

Something was definitely up, Sarah decided, finding a position on the couch Bethan pointed to, Garran a safe distance away in one of the chairs. A fifth sigh escaped her. Not that she was keeping track.

Bethan addressed Garran. "When you called this morning, Karen and I were having breakfast and discussing something rather interesting that she’d found on Sarah’s filestore. Something I think you should both know before making any final decisions."

Garran studied his hands. "Sarah and I appreciate this but we aren’t going to change our minds."

Karen took over. "Hear me out. You don’t have anything to lose at this point."

Sarah met Garran’s gaze and nodded. She at least was interested in what Karen had to say. He waved permission to proceed.

Karen moved front and center, her hand on the remote controller for the media center. "As Bethan said, there were a couple of interesting things I found. First of all, Sarah, there’s that vid-clip of Garran, the one where he announces the first fleet’s capture."

Sarah flushed. "That’s not what he said."

"That’s not what you heard, but it is what he was talking about. I will tell you this--Earthforce edited it before distribution. Someday you’ll have to see the entire thing.

"But the contents aren’t what’s important. There’s a file-open counter attached to the clip that showed how many times it had been activated. Do you know how many times you viewed it?"

Sarah’s cheeks burned. Wasn’t it bad enough she’d had to show it to Garran? Was he now to find out just how obsessed she’d been with that clip?

She tried for a nonchalant shrug. "I couldn’t say. Over five years--probably a lot."

"Two thousand five hundred and sixty four times," Karen said flatly. "Even over five years, that’s a lot of viewings."

Garran’s jaw dropped and Sarah’s heart fell into her stomach. He turned to her. "I thought you hated that clip. Why would you watch it so many times?"

"I don’t know," she said defensively. "It made me feel better. Whenever I was upset over work, or my boss, or just lonely, I’d watch it. I’d see you and hate you and feel better afterwards."

"Hate?" A fleeting grin scooted across Karen’s mouth. "We’ll see about that. But that’s not the only file I found interesting. Sarah, what prompted you to come out here from Earth?"

"I was tired of being alone and the NLC offered to take me to where I could meet a man I could fall in love with."

"You saw one of their announcements and it persuaded you to come?"

Sarah gave a short laugh. "You would have come too. You should have seen their recruitment messages."

Again Karen almost smiled. "Oh, I did. There’s one on your filestore."

Belatedly Sarah remembered how she had copied the NLC vid-clip she’d found.

Karen put her hands on her hips and looked knowingly at Sarah. "Tell the truth, Sarah. Didn’t the man in the clip remind you of your dream lover?"

She stared at her friend. "I didn’t tell you about that."

Karen shook her head. "You didn’t have to, it wasn’t hard to guess. Garran told Jeffrey about the dreams. I bet they began, when? About five years ago?"

"About that," Sarah acknowledged. "After I’d heard you were dead. I thought it was because I felt so alone."

Karen turned her attention to Garran. "Have you seen any of the NLC broadcasts?"

At the negative shake of his head, she smiled. "I think you’ll find this interesting."

She activated the filestore and soon the clip Sarah’d seen in the restaurant on Earth was playing, with the cooing baby and its handsome father. Garran watched, his face growing more and more perplexed.

When it was over he pointed a finger at the screen. "Please, play it again." He stared as the clip repeated. "Who is the man holding Killy? I’ve never seen him before."

Killy? Sarah stared as the screen, now recognizing the adorable child as Karen’s offspring. But if the NLC was using Killy in their recruitments then.…

"The NLC is a Gaian front?" Sarah asked, outrage and amazement mixing in her. Garran, Bethan, and Karen exchanged guilty looks.

Bethan finally answered her. "Yes, Sarah. As part of the peace treaty, Earth’s government gave us permission to recruit women under the NLC banner for one year. It’s a secret clause in the treaty, at least for now. Eventually it will be made public, just like the fate of the Earthforce ships and their crews."

"Then the attack on The Dove, our being abducted...it was all a sham?" Sarah didn’t know whether to be angry--or applaud.

She thought about Mosan, the recruiter she’d seen at Exavier Hall, and then the holo-vid she’d viewed with Garran. The bride’s father in the vid, she knew he’d seemed familiar. Mosan was a Gaian actor!

"Sarah, we couldn’t recruit under our own name at this time," Bethan said. "It’s too soon after the war, particularly since Earth isn’t willing to admit we didn’t actually kill as many people as we’re accused of."

Stunned, Sarah tried to take it all in. "So the man holding Killy. He’s Gaian?"

Garran broke in, dark-blue eyes flashing. "Why do you want to know, Sarah? Do you think he’s the man you’ve been dreaming about?"

Surprised, Sarah took in Garran’s fury. Gaian’s didn’t suffer from jealousy, but Garran was not a typical Gaian.

Karen seemed unconcerned with Garran’s reaction. "Maybe he is. What about it, Sarah?"

She thought about it. "The face is wrong but the rest of him.…" her voice trailed off. The man in the message had reminded her of her dream lover.

"But you said that you never saw your dream lover’s face. I can tell you right now the face in that clip isn’t real. The NLC edited the clip to change the face and make it a composite of several men’s faces. They wanted someone who looked Gaian but wasn’t any one man. But suppose we do this." Karen started another clip that began as the first, with the cooing image of Killy, but when the man appeared, his face was edited, the features smeared to be unrecognizable. In addition, the shirt was different, higher necked and black, not blue in color.

Karen ran both clips side by side, and Sarah could see they were identical otherwise. Her heart pounded as she watched the adulterated version, reacting again to the man’s deep chuckle. It was her dream lover, she could tell.

Glancing at the strangely quiet Garran, she said nothing. How could she hurt him further by admitting her dream man actually existed? Karen had an image of him...she could tell her who he was.

Karen wasn’t going to let her stay silent. "Do you recognize him now, Sarah?" her voice coaxed.

Reluctantly Sarah nodded. She heard Garran’s quick intake of breath and felt his gaze as he turned to stare at her.

"Would you like to see his face this time, Sarah? I have a completely unedited version."

Again she nodded, trying to ignore the weight of Garran’s stare.

The clip replayed from the beginning, but when the face of the man came into focus, Sarah gasped. It was Garran smiling at the baby, his hair longer than it was now, his now familiar laugh thrilling her as he cooed at Karen’s child.

"I gave the vid-clip to the NLC for their advertising campaign," Karen said. "They were looking for a half-Gaian, half-Earth baby, and Killy came along at just the right time. This clip was my favorite, showing Garran as something other than his usual grim self. I didn’t realize they’d use him too, or at least his body."

The magnitude of it struck her. "That means it was Garran all along. All those nights, I’ve been dreaming of him?"

Bethan laughed. "Sarah, I’m not a psychologist but it seems to me that viewing a vid-clip of a man over two thousand times and then dreaming about someone like him must mean something. I think you fell in love with Garran a long time ago but couldn’t admit it to yourself."

Garran cleared his throat in a harsh sound. Bethan and Karen exchanged glances and headed for the door. Bethan beckoned to Maxxa, who after a brief hesitation, followed them into the hallway. The door closed.

The couch shifted as Garran slipped in next to her. His big hands rested on his knees...Sarah could see them from the corner of her eyes. The same big hands she’d dreamed of so many times, aching for the pleasure they’d give her.

Those same big hands had shown her what pleasure really was yesterday afternoon, and then had comforted her last night. Garran’s hands. Big, strong, and loving. Just like the rest of him.

She covered them with hers. Raising her head to meet his eyes, she tried to smile and failed, her emotions too intense. "Garran.…"

He lifted her hand to his mouth. "I wanted you from the moment I saw you, Sarah. Now it seems you wanted me as well, in spite of thinking I was a murderer."

She couldn’t help her smile. "I guess so. Apparently I’ve been making love to you for years. In my dreams."

"It’s much better in person."

His finger traced the crescent moon on the wristband she still wore. "Sarah, will you stay my wife?"

"Only if you’ll be my husband."

Gathered into Garran’s arms, Sarah kissed him passionately, barely registering when he headed for the bedroom.

"You have no idea how hard it was to leave you in bed this morning, woman," Garran growled in her ear as he hauled her back to bed. "I’m in serious need of making up for it."

Chapter Twenty-four

Three days later they arrived at Gaia. Sarah watched from The Promise’s bridge, Garran beside her as they approached and readied for landing.

Her new home. It looked something like Earth from space--blue oceans and green and brown land--but there were differences. The clouds were whiter, the water a deeper blue, particularly near the land. There was a lot more green, a reminder to Sarah that Gaia was still mostly virgin forest.

It was the most beautiful planet she’d ever seen, and she could see the smiles of pride on her husband and his friends’ faces as they completed a single orbit while waiting to land on the surface.

"Happy, Sarah?" Garran whispered in her ear.

"Very," she replied. She leaned against his strong arm. "I’m looking forward to seeing that house you keep promising me."

"We’ll need to hire some people to make it livable. I haven’t been there in years. Someone to clean the place, deal with the gardens."

"And a cook," Sarah reminded him.

Garran sighed dramatically. "I suppose so. Serves me right for attaching to a woman without domestic skills."

Behind them Sammul snickered then looked innocently out the window at Garran’s glare.

The ride to the surface was amazingly smooth and within an hour the ship landed in what seemed like an open field. Only the fact that the ground was clear of vegetation and incoming convoy of vehicles told Sarah that they’d really arrived at the spaceport.

Green plants were everywhere, and an aqua sky stood overhead, just the color of the garden’s sky on The Promise. Sarah took a deep breath of anticipation and stood with Garran as the room erupted into applause.

"Welcome home, General." Symon told him with a warm smile at both of them. "And I hope you and Sarah enjoy yourselves."

Behind them came another chuckle from Sammul but this time Garran ignored him. Sarah shook her head. Their unmarried bodyguard was getting far too much enjoyment out of Sarah and Garran’s relationship. Not more than they were, of course.

Garran held Sarah’s hand as they moved through the corridors. Sammul walked ahead, keeping an eye out for trouble, although no one expected anything now.

All the other Earth women had been screened during the last couple of days and only Mary had turned out to carry the homicidal parasite. To Sarah’s relief they’d even been able to free her of the creature, and its body now rested in the ship’s labs, waiting for Gaian ingenuity to find a way to detect it earlier and destroy it without harming the host.

They turned one final corner and down a narrow hall, taking them past a corridor that intersected with the shuttle bay.

"SARAH!!!" No sooner had Garran and Sarah passed the intersection, but a large woman appeared, apparently having broken free of the group of women and guards she’d been part of. With surprising speed she caught up with them and tried to throw her arms around Sarah.

Seeing what he saw as a threat, Sammul stepped between them and caught her, effortlessly restraining her. Unable to break free, the woman sagged in his embrace, crying hysterically.

Shocked, Sarah recognized the weeping woman. "Jenny? Are you all right? What is it?"

"They were going to take us away, Sarah. To the planet. And I’d never get to see you again or say good-bye."

One of the guards caught up with them, breathing heavily at the exertion of running after them. "Jenny, it was just for a little while. Until we could arrange another marriage meet."

Sarah watched Jenny sob in Sammul’s arms then realized that the guard wasn’t the only one breathing heavily. The bulky bodyguard also seemed to be having some trouble catching his breath. As she watched, his grasp on Jenny became gentler, the palm of his hand stroking her arm in a soothing fashion. He leaned over and sniffed her neck, his eyes unfocused.

The guard put a hand on Jenny’s arm. "Come on, now. We need to get back with the others. She shook her head.

"No!" Sammul knocked the guard’s hand off Jenny’s arm. His grip on her tightened and Jenny turned a startled gaze up into his face. For a moment the pair stared raptly at each other.

Jenny blinked. "Who are you?"

Sammul seemed inclined to answer, then his eyes widened. His face turned red and abruptly he released her. "I shouldn’t say."

Jenny lifted a hand to her face, rubbing the tears from her eyes. "Why not?"

He seemed at a loss for an answer. Sarah pulled Jenny to one side of the hall, while Garran took Sammul to the other. They talked but the big man kept sneaking peaks over Garran’s shoulder at Jenny.

Their bodyguard was well and truly attached, Sarah decided. Then she noticed that the suddenly dry-eyed Jenny also kept watch on what Sammul was up to and she grinned. The pair seemed to be matched!

Bethan arrived with Maxxa and his wife, a petite little woman named Assa. They all looked on with amusement as Bethan took charge of Jenny, enlisting the guard to lead Sammul away.

"It’s pointless to wait for a meet," Bethan told Sarah and Garran before she took the bewildered Jenny away. "Clearly Sammul has attached and she’s responded. But we’ll come up with something for them. Maxxa can take care of things until Sammul’s ready to return and then you can have both Sammul and Jenny working for you."

Garran stared after them. Sarah decided he couldn’t have looked more forlorn.

"So now I have both a bodyguard and his wife on my staff? What am I going to do with her?"

Chuckling, Sarah patted him on the arm. "Well, remember how I told you we needed a cook?"

Garran’s eyes lit up. "Can she?"

"Jenny was the head of the kitchen at my favorite restaurant on Earth. She loves to cook. She’s been sneaking into the kitchens on the ship, and I’d be surprised if she didn’t already know how to prepare cholumb and pranas."

A satisfied smile took over his face. "Well, that’s different. A house could always use a good cook."

"Garran, you promised to show me your planet."

She smiled as he took her hand--her dream lover for five lonely years--and now, her husband.

Garran kissed her hand. "Let’s go Sarah. I’ve a lot of promises to keep with you."

The End