The Forgotten Eight

Copertina del libro

Series: The Forgotten Series [8]

Tags: Futuristic

When Captain Danielle Dubois crash lands on the world terra-formed by the Danu she isn’t the only one shocked. The cyborgs that people the world of Danu have never seen a female … but they definitely like what they see! <br/><br/> Long forgotten by the Danu who sent them out to terra-form for colonization, the cyborgs created by Manuta are well aware of the great chasm of emptiness in their lives but have no idea how to fill it until the human woman, Captain Danielle Dubois, crashes in their midst. The moment they set eyes on her, though, their biological instincts for procreation kick in and they know exactly what’s missing—a mate. The problem is, they have no idea how to get from point A to Z. <br/><br/> Danielle’s pretty sure she couldn’t have landed in a worse situation if she’d crashed in the middle of the enemy camp—the Nubiens. Finding herself in the midst of several hundred romance-minded cyborgs, all male, seems like a recipe for disaster. How is she going to convince them to help her get home when all they have in mind is … well, romance?

Episode Eight

The Forgotten:

Discovery

By

Kaitlyn O'Connor

© copyright by Kaitlyn O'Connor, February 2010

Cover Art by Alex DeShanks, February 2010

ISBN 1-978-60394-396-3

New Concepts Publishing

Lake Park, GA 31636

www.newconceptspublishing.com

This is a work of fiction. All characters, events, and places are of the author's imagination and not to be confused with fact. Any resemblance to living persons or events is merely coincidence.

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Chapter Fifteen

"Did you run the scan?" Kiel asked as soon as he was certain that Jalen and Baen were occupied in the hold and Danielle was in her cabin.

"Affirmative," Gertrude responded.

Kiel waited impatiently for the computer to give him the report. When it did not, he narrowed his eyes at the optical sensor. "Report?" he finally prompted.

"Captain Dubois' birth control device has been neutralized and she is ovulating."

Surprise flickered through Kiel, triumph, and a vague sense of disappointment. "What is a birth control device?" he asked sharply.

"A device designed to prevent pregnancy in women and to prevent male sperm from achieving fertilization in men. It is standard practice to implant the devices in all males and females of reproductive age within the human community."

Kiel searched his mind, but he could not recall that Danielle had mentioned such a thing. It angered him that she had not. He felt betrayed that she had not told any of them that she had such a thing when she knew that all of them were hoping, expecting, to impregnate her. "But this device has been neutralized?"

"Affirmative. Reason unknown."

He frowned. "Speculate."

"I'm not programmed to speculate."

"Given the data you collected when you scanned her during her sleeping period, what is the probable cause?"

Gertrude was silent for several moments. "The nanos. My data indicates that the nanos may also be responsible for the irregularities in her cycle. Minor fluctuations are possible due to stress or hormonal imbalance due to illness or injury. However, my records indicate that Captain's Dubois' cycle has been interrupted and reset and her fertility boosted well beyond the norm."

He was about to ask for specifics as to what was 'norm' for Danielle when he heard sounds indicating that Jalen and Baen were returning. Shrugging it off with the reflection that he had gotten the information he had wanted, he pulled up the star chart once more to study it.

"Any data from the probes yet?" Baen asked as soon as he noticed that Kiel was studying their course.

"The second has also malfunctioned," Kiel said tightly. "I could understand one. I do not understand that two would malfunction."

"Do we have another probe?"

"Negative."

"Then we will know nothing until we arrive," Jalen put in disgustedly. "I would have felt more easy in my mind if we could establish communications before we arrived. They are liable to see us as a threat and try to shoot us from the sky."

"The ship has very good shields and excellent responses. There is little danger that they could succeed even if they try," Kiel muttered, although he was dissatisfied, as well. The probes should have at least given them some data so that they knew what to expect. He did not care to go into this blind anymore than the others did.

"We are not much more than a week out," Baen added. "When we are closer, we can attempt to communicate without the assistance of probes."

"We could slow the ship more," Jalen suggested tentatively. "Danielle does not know the full speed capabilities."

"She will begin to be suspicious that we are deliberately delaying," Kiel growled.

"You do not think she suspects now?" Baen asked drily.

Kiel shrugged. "Mayhap, but we have kept her occupied enough to keep her from dwelling on it, I believe."

Jalen snorted. "Not as I would like to occupy her time," he muttered. "What I would like to know is when we will get to the fucking!"

Kiel was wondering the same thing. He was uneasy enough about what had transpired between them the first time to want to be more cautious the second, but he was rapidly running out of patience and it did not help to know that she was 'ready' whether she admitted it or not! "She is explaining social skills," he responded neutrally.

"Still," Baen growled. "After two days! I believe I have grasped it, gods damn it!"

"Well, that is more than I can say!" Jalen complained. "It seems to me that everything she says contradicts what she said the time before! We are to convince her that we are stronger and more capable of protecting her and our off-spring than anyone else, and yet we are not to fight? Or to simply claim that since it would be considered bragging and that is unappealing? We must always be on guard to put forth the best impression and yet we must 'be ourselves' and not deceive? Women require absolute honesty, and yet we should take care not to allow the human females to know that we are able to change form? Or that we have nanos, when it is important that we convince them that we are healthy?

"I am not at all sure that I want to spend a great deal of time in the company of females when there is so broad a margin for error, gods damn it! It seems to me from what she has said that a male cannot move or breathe heavy without giving the 'wrong' impression! It is not even acceptable to say nothing at all, because then they will believe you have no social skills, or you lack intelligence, or that you are angry, even when you are not, or that you do not truly like them!"

"You cannot have a mate if you are not willing to spend time in their company!" Baen snapped irritably. "That is very important to them-companionship!"

"I do not see why not!" Jalen returned hotly. "Why can they not be happy doing whatever it is that females do while we are doing what we do? Is it not being deceptive to do things we do not want to do and pretend we do only to make them happy? I will be honest, I believe that I am better suited for the seeding alone."

Kiel and Baen exchanged a look.

Kiel studied his nails, considering what Jalen had said. He was inclined, he discovered, to encourage that train of thought, and yet, try though he might, he could not think of another that he would find nearly as acceptable as a quad-mate. He had seized the moment to count coupe and establish himself as prime-first-mate. There was no doubt in his mind that Baen was determined upon being second if he could not assert dominance and become first. If Jalen bowed out and Danielle took it into her head to choose another as third, they might well spend more time battling for dominance than mating, and although, ordinarily, he would not have minded that, he was ready to settle and enjoy the benefits of belonging to a quad. Some fighting was to be expected until they had firmly established their places, but they were already well on their way to doing that. He did not especially like the idea of starting over when he was beginning to get comfortable with the situation he had.

There would be enough tension between him and Baen, for they were fairly evenly matched. He did not see that it would be in his best interest to discourage Jalen and perhaps end up with a third that was not at all content to remain third.

"You expressed a determination, before, to have Danielle. You have decided that she does not suit you as bond-mate?"

Jalen stared at him blankly a moment and expelled an explosive breath. He seemed to wrestle with himself for several moments. "I do not think she has any interest in accepting me," he growled finally. "She does not look at me the way she does either of you."

Kiel and Baen exchanged another look, but this time it was filled with both speculation and territorialism.

Kiel struggled with the urge to instantly challenge Baen, but he knew if he did so he would in effect be admitting his lack of certainty that he was first. He could see the same thought running through Baen's mind and also when Baen decided to ignore the challenge based on his mistaken certainty that he was first!

It thoroughly pissed him off, but he very deliberately ignored the challenge and turned his attention to Jalen again. "Then you acknowledge that you are third?"

Jalen looked for several moments as if he would take exception to that but finally subsided. "I am not ready to concede that … yet," he muttered.

Except he had and they all knew it. That didn't mean he was ready to completely concede the point. Clearly he meant to try for a better position until he was forced to admit defeat, but Kiel did not see that as a problem. Eventually he would. Jalen knew as well as he did that he was and always had been his superior. He had not simply been named captain, after all. He had won the position above the others-just as Baen had established himself as leader of his own platoon of men.

He was leader of first platoon, however, and whether Baen was ready to admit that that also made him his superior or not, they all knew it did. In effect, he was the overall leader of the combined forces of Marchet since he was captain of first platoon of Manu, the first colony city.

He supposed that he should have demanded acknowledgement of that fact, but he had not been particularly interested in doing so when Danielle was the issue and the others had conceded his right to her without argument. It was an unofficial acknowledgement that he had expressed his intention of leading the first mission and the others had conceded his right to do so.

Mating, as Danielle had pointed out, was complicated, however … because Danielle was complicated. The men might accept him as leader, but unless she accepted him as her first, he would still not be first in the quad and that was far more important to him than being colony leader.

Truthfully, he found Danielle's instructions as contradictory and confusing as Jalen did, but he was not about to admit that he did or to admit defeat as Jalen had. He felt certain, in fact, that he was moving closer to understanding both her and the mating process her people practiced and that everything would fall into place once he was sure he had claimed first seed.

It made him uneasy that Gertrude had suggested that her cycle was not normal for her, or perhaps even for her species. It did not seem right, somehow, even though he was relieved that Manuta had been correct in assuming that the nanos would make her compatible to them.

He dismissed it after a few moments. In her own time, Danielle would get around to explaining, he was sure. In the meanwhile, he had the insurance that she was prepared to breed and that the nanos he had given her were performing as they should.

All he had to do now was watch her closely for an opportunity, try to avoid breeching any of the established mating protocols of her species, and hope that his seed would breech her damned birth control, he thought irritably.

He would have been more easy in his mind on the last if he understood how it was that their devices prevented conception and if it was permanently disabled or only temporary, and if temporary, how long he might expect it to remain so.

He also had misgivings about her fertility and his window of opportunity in that respect.

* * * *

Danielle's nerves were taut as she settled in the pilot's seat and opened the communications channel. It hadn't taken her long to arrive at the conclusion that she needed to make initial contact and prepare the way for negotiations if there was any hope of achieving an alliance. The problem was, she had to think long and hard over just how much to tell them and find a way to get around Kiel, Baen, and Jalen-no easy task! No matter when she decided to take her duty periods, it seemed one or more were also awake and watching her every move! She'd finally decided there would be no time when they were all asleep. They didn't appear to need much sleep.

Currently, the three of them were in the hold sparring, or exercising-the latter, she thought, from the noise. She didn't understand why they thought it necessary to work out so much-two or three times a day seemed excessive!-but she was glad for it at the moment since they were occupied elsewhere.

"Gertrude, see if you can establish a communications link with High Command."

"Attempting," Gertrude responded.

Danielle waited, impatiently drumming her fingers on the arm of her chair and listening to the noise from the hold.

"I have been unable to establish a link with High Command," Gertrude responded after an unnervingly long interval.

"Try again. This time, if you can't reach High Command, try all channels. Maybe we could reach somebody that could relay a message."

"Attempting."

The delay was longer that time. "No response to my hails."

Danielle muttered a string of curses under her breath. She supposed it was no great surprise that Gertrude hadn't been able to link up, but it was damned inconvenient! "OK, change of plan. I want you to record a message and transmit it. Hopefully someone will pick it up and relay it to High Command."

"It could be intercepted by the enemy," Gertrude said pointedly.

"Good point. We won't give out any coordinates. I just want to establish a starting point for negotiating an alliance so they won't shoot us down before we can open them." She paused, composing her thoughts. "This is Captain Danielle Dubois, serial number 245812, Firebird 013, attempting contact with High Command. I have encountered friendlies. I crashed on their world and have been extended every courtesy. They are open to discussing an alliance with the Federation to aid us in the conflict." She paused again, considering what she'd said and finally decided that that was about all she could safely transmit without giving away anything that might be dangerous.

"I should point out that a continuous transmission would allow any enemies within hearing range to triangulate our position. We are on a direct course with the planet Chab."

Irritation flickered through Danielle. "I know it's a risk. Just send it-just the once. I might need to change the message anyway after we've met with the Danu on Chab."

"What message?" Kiel growled.

Danielle nearly jumped out of her skin. She could still hear thumping from below and it hadn't occurred to her that all three of the men might not be involved. Whirling, she stared at him in stunned dismay, trying to bring order to her thoughts. The color had rushed from her face. She could feel it flowing back into her cheeks with a vengeance. "I was just trying to establish communications with High Command," she said defensively.

His eyes narrowed. "If it was only that, why wait until you were alone on the bridge?"

Her lips tightened. "Because I figured you'd be nasty about it, since you have a nasty, suspicious mind! Play it back for him, Gertrude!"

Gertrude complied but she could see he was still deeply suspicious. "If that was all you meant to convey, you had no reason to believe I would prevent it. You need only have asked."

"If we actually were allies, I wouldn't have had to ask your damned permission at all! This is my ship, you know!" Danielle snapped angrily. Getting abruptly to her feet, she stalked past him and headed to her quarters.

Her first inkling that he was following her came when she heard his heavy tread behind her. Trying to convince herself that he was simply heading to his own cabin, she gritted her teeth and maintained the speed of her retreat. The skin on her back prickled, however, and it took sheer determination to keep from running when she knew he'd passed the door to his cabin.

Passing through the door of her own cabin, she turned to look at him at last as she closed the door … virtually in his face. The door opened again before she could breathe a breath of relief and Kiel looked a lot more pissed off when it opened to reveal him filling her doorway. He stepped inside. "We are not allies," he said tightly. "We are mates."

It was the last thing she'd expected to hear and she felt her jaw go slack with surprise. She was too shocked to move or think as he advanced on her. All she could do was tip her head back and stare at him and that was all instinct, not conscious thought.

It flickered through her mind that she hadn't told him she had no intentions in that direction. She'd known she needed to talk to him after they'd had sex and explain … what?

That she'd responded without any thought on the matter at all? That she had been guided purely by instinct and need? That she'd not only completely forgotten that she needed to establish boundaries but she'd also completely forgotten that she'd only considered it at all as a bargaining chip.

She licked her dry lips. "We need to talk about that," she said faintly.

He captured the base of her skull in the palm of his hand, dragging her up to meet his descent. "I believe we have discussed it enough."

Prickling waves of warmth went through her even before he settled his mouth on hers and she felt herself tense all over with expectation. The thrill that went through her when she felt the warmth and pressure of his mouth against her lips totally annihilated all thoughts of any sort of negotiation or discussion. Heat cascaded through her in a tidal wave of sensation. She clutched at him as he deepened the kiss, gliding his tongue across her lips and thrusting it past the weak barrier. A dizzying, completely disorienting darkness cloaked her mind as his taste and scent filled her mouth with the first brush of his tongue along hers and then her lungs and then seemed to send fiery tendrils curling along her nerve endings.

She heard the tearing sound of the closures of her suit as he tugged them apart, felt brushes of cool air and then warm skin against her own with his movements as he worked to rid her of the impediment. A shiver of anticipation washed through her, no thought of protesting, but her coordination had fled with her equilibrium. It was all she could manage to pull in counter to his tugging at her suit.

It worked, regardless. He stripped the suit from her shoulders and pushed it from her hips. It was still tangled around her ankles when he began waltzing her backwards, but he caught her even as she lost her balance.

Lifting his lips from hers, Kiel picked her up, carrying her to the bed. He followed even as he settled her there, allowing little more than a breath of cool air to caress her skin before she felt the brush of his. His weight felt good. Impatience fluttered through her but so, too, did the sudden, burning desire to explore him, to draw out the pleasure.

The exploration with her hands made her more conscious of his size than ever before and in an entirely different way than before. Even when she'd first encountered him and realized how unnervingly big he was, she hadn't been aware of him as she was now; when she had to spread her arms wide to cup the rounded ball of his shoulders with her hands, when she had splay her fingers fully even to feel the size and curvature of the muscles of his upper arms. They felt like steel wrapped in silk.

It made her want to feel more of him, to feel the flesh of his chest directly against her breasts. She broke from his lips to explore his throat and neck, released her grip on his upper arms and pushed her hands between them. He lifted away slightly, allowing her the room she needed to pull her undershirt up. Delightful tingles went through her breasts as her distended nipples brushed his male breasts. She undulated beneath him, enjoying the light brushing of skin to heated skin.

The desire to feel his mouth on her breasts filled her. She struggled for a few moments with the urge to demand it and the reluctance to vocalize her needs when it might break the spell.

Deciding finally that she didn't actually need the stimulation, even though she wanted it, she opted to simply explore him with her lips and see if he would return the favor.

Discovering fairly quickly that he was reluctant to move off of her even when she pushed at him, she decided on a new tact and slipped her hands along his sides and then wedged them between the two of them to massage his cock. Disappointed when she discovered his torso was too long for her to reach him like she wanted to, she contented herself for a few moments with rubbing the head.

A shudder went through him. He lifted away slightly and shifted upward to allow her better access. Smiling inwardly, she pushed one hand beneath his loincloth and gripped his cock more firmly, stroking up and down along his length.

Dragging in a sharp breath after only a moment, he rolled away long enough to tear the loincloth off and flung it toward the wall. She used the distance between them to lift up to kiss his chest, but she didn't have more than a moment. As soon as he'd discarded his loincloth, he grasped her panties and yanked them down. They joined her flight suit around her ankles. She was still trying to dislodge the binding when he grasped the lower edge of her undershirt and yanked it over her head.

Despite the roughness, maybe even because of the impatience in conveyed, she felt her own anticipation leap upward several notches. Discarding the notion of exploring more, she grasped his arms the moment he'd freed hers and tried to pull him back. It was like trying to move a wall. Instead of yielding to her silent demand, he rolled over her and pressed his face between her breasts, nuzzling them. It drove her up the wall. She twisted, trying to present him with a breast to suckle. At first it seemed he was completely oblivious. Just as disappointment began to flood her, though, he found the nugget and latched on to it with so much enthusiasm that it knocked the breath from her lungs.

She was still trying to decide whether it felt excruciatingly wonderful or if she was more inclined to try to detach him when he ceased to tease the first nipple and caught the second in his mouth. She thought she would blackout for several moments. She'd barely managed to catch her breath when he sought her lips again.

She'd had enough foreplay, however. She was climbing so fast toward climax the anxiety began to take hold that he wouldn't be inside her when she came. Thankfully, she'd managed to free one leg from the tangle of her clothing. Wiggling it free of his weight, she curled it around him, bumping her pubic bone against his belly in silent demand.

He got that signal quickly. Breaking the kiss, he sucked in a harsh breath, shoved her legs wide and plowed his cock along her cleft in a blind search for the sweet spot. They connected briefly, just long enough to get her hopes up, and then he slipped away. Gritting her teeth, she wedged her hand between them, grasped his cock, shoved it back down her cleft until she felt the head of his cock against her opening, and pulled, trying to wiggle down over it at the same time.

She'd forgotten the trials of plugging his member into her channel. As wet she was, as desperate as she was to achieve full penetration, they were both slick with sweat and panting for breath with the shoving match that ensued before they managed to overcome resistance. A moan of both relief and pleasure escaped her when she finally felt him sliding home, plunging deeply. Her channel convulsed with pleasure as he filled her.

Kiel uttered a choked sound when her muscles tightened around him, paused as if trying to gather himself, and then began to move rhythmically. It felt divine! For a few moments the determination to simply enjoy the feel of his flesh gliding in and out of her gripped her. Deliberately focusing her mind away from the ripples of pleasure that cascaded along her channel with each caress of his flesh, she expanded her senses to encompass all of him.

His sheer massiveness should have worried her, or made her too uncomfortable to enjoy the feeling of being beneath him. Instead, the sense of being surrounded by him added to her pleasurable excitement. The fine tremors she could feel running through him, either from his own excitement or the effort of supporting most of his weight off of her, or maybe both, thrilled her. The sound of his labored breaths made her heart surge.

Abruptly, her focus leapt of its own accord to their deep connection, closed off everything else, and she felt herself soar off the top into sheer rapture. Her entire body tensed with the convulsion. She groaned, gripped him more tightly, and rode the waves of bliss that began at her core and flowed through her entire body.

He shuddered when her muscles began to milk his cock, sucked in a choked breath and began to pump harder and faster as his seed erupted. She felt the heat of it as it bathed her channel and womb and a profound sense of rightness swept through her, a pleasure entirely different than her climax but perhaps even more intense.

He shifted to curl tightly around her as his own body ceased to convulse with pleasure. A smile seemed to fill her, utter contentment. She shivered as the air cooled the dampness on her skin, snuggling closer, satisfied to allow her mind to wander aimlessly … until it settled on the argument.

Well, it hadn't been an argument! He'd informed her that she was his mate and then proceeded to prove it to her while she turned into putty and encouraged him!

Honestly, she thought in disgust!

He nuzzled his face against her hair and she felt warmth, an almost instant mellowing of her resolve. "You are mine," he murmured in a husky whisper. "Whether you have accepted in your mind or not, your body responds as it would not if there was a question."

The instant mellowing vanished as quickly as it had stolen over her. Men! They were such egotistical assholes! So she'd enjoyed it, thoroughly! It wasn't as if they couldn't thoroughly enjoy themselves and feel no commitment whatsoever!

On the other hand, she felt too good at the moment to feel up to fighting with him about it. "We'll talk about it later."

"We will not," he said, his voice abruptly as steely as the arms around her. "You welcomed me. I planted my seed. That cannot be undone."

Danielle's heart skipped several beats. He sounded so sure of himself that it aroused a flicker of doubt in her mind, but she was on birth control! Nanny, nanny, boo, boo! "You might have tried to plant your seed, but I've got news for you! I'm on birth control!"

The 'discussion' might have escalated to a real argument at that point if Baen hadn't made his presence known. "Then you are done and it is my turn!" he growled.

Danielle struggled to sit up and discovered Kiel wasn't merely 'cuddling'. He had her firmly pinned both to him and the bed. She turned her head to glare at him. He narrowed his eyes back at her and she discovered he was a lot more intimidating when he did that than she was, obviously.

"Not until I am certain that mine has claimed its mark," he said grimly.

Danielle gaped at him. "Now, wait just a damned …!" She stopped abruptly, feeling the beginnings of relief filter through her anger as it occurred to her that he hadn't even argued with Baen wanting to screw her. Some damned mating! It was just as she'd thought all along, and wasn't that a hell of a relief?

Marginally. She actually didn't feel a great deal of relief after she considered it. She was more pissed off.

This is good, she told herself grimly. So they weren't on the same page and she'd gotten the idea that he really meant it? She was relieved that it wasn't going to be a problem, right?

"Who the fuck said that you were next, gods damn it?" Jalen demanded, making it clear that they'd had the entire available audience … quite possibly an audience back on Marchet if they managed to get a vid feed.

They would, she realized, once they could get a feed even if they hadn't already.

She discovered she couldn't really focus on how she felt about that at the moment, however. She had enough to deal with. Despite the fact that she was 'done' as far as she was concerned and didn't feel any particular interest at the moment in 'playing' with the others, she didn't want to get caught up in a dangerous, possibly physical, dispute over who was 'next'! "If you start fighting about it, I'm not going to 'do' either one of you," she threatened, not with a lot of hope that it would hold much weight, then added a little hopefully, "We can do a threesome."

Not that she was especially keen on the idea, but she also wasn't thrilled with the idea of them having a brawl on the damned ship! Especially when she was way too close to the action and couldn't really escape it. The ship was larger than it had been before they'd redesigned it, but it wasn't that damned much bigger!

"What is a threesome?" all three men asked in chorus.

"Exactly what it sounds like," she retorted tartly before it occurred to her that she might ought to put some effort into at least pretending she was interested. She added brightly, "The three of us have sex together, at the same time, and everybody's happy."

Kiel released her and rolled off the bunk. The three of them, she discovered, were looking her over skeptically.

"Look, three holes," she said, pointing them out. "Your cock won't know the difference … believe me."

"You cannot swallow the seed and become pregnant," Kiel said firmly, but with just enough doubt threading his voice that she realized they really weren't certain about any of it.

"Ok, so two," she said with determination, more because she didn't want Jalen and Baen to settle who went next than because she really wanted to make like a sandwich-particularly considering the poles they were carrying.

"It will work with either of those?" Jalen asked, beginning to look glassy eyed.

Danielle considered all of two seconds. "One will work as well as the other," she lied without guilt, particularly since it was true in this case. She didn't think it was a good idea to bring up the fact, at the moment, that it was true because neither would work. They could cross that bridge later.

Baen still didn't look completely happy with the suggestion but the moment Jalen discarded his loincloth and dove for the bed, he ripped his own off and followed.

"No warm up?" Danielle complained unwisely as the two of them began wrestling to get into position, or more accurately, her into a position that would work for them.

Both men paused in their battle over which direction she should be facing, staring at her in confusion.

"Never mind. I'm sure I'm already well lubricated."

?

Chapter Sixteen

"It arouses her to passion to be kissed and touched," Kiel said. "She particularly likes to have her breasts suckled."

At the sound of his voice, Danielle discovered that Kiel had positioned himself to observe with the air of a spectator invited to watch a scientific experiment. Discomfort wafted through her, but she wasn't sure if it was because Kiel was sharing intimate details about her, because he seemed damned detached about the entire thing, or merely because he'd apparently decided to stay to direct. It was disconcerting to say the very least, disturbing on too many levels to count. She was tempted to inform him that she was going to have a hard time focusing if he intended to stay to watch. Even as she opened her mouth to protest, though, Baen swooped in to capture her mouth beneath his. For a few moments she wavered between enjoying the kiss and her awareness of Kiel. As Baen's essence invaded her, though, he stirred up the embers from her spent passion, and she felt herself sinking into a heated morass of sensation, enhanced exponentially by the glide of two large, rough hands over her.

Right up until the moment that the hand on her right applied enough pressure to encourage her to roll onto her back, she'd thought both hands belonged to Baen. Confusion flickered through her, adding to the dizziness already making her mind reel. She flinched in surprise as she felt the heated moistness of a mouth closing on her nipple, but the nipple reacted instantaneously to the stimulus. Blood surged into it to make it stand erect even as he sucked on it lightly. Jalen?

Her belly clenched. For several moments, she struggled to assimilate two points of extreme stimulation at once and then she simply abandoned herself to the sensations pelting her from every direction. The rise from warm interest to desperation was a swift one. She'd begun to feel like she was covered in stinging ants before Baen decided he'd explored her mouth long enough and dove for her other breast. It knocked the breath from her as his mouth closed over the pulsing bud. For several moments, Jalen and Baen both teased her breasts, pouring liquid lava through her and then Jalen abandoned her breast for her lips and she was torn between the desire to simply luxuriate in the feel of their hands and mouths forever and an equal need to feel them penetrating her.

She hadn't actually considered the logistics of it when she'd suggested a three way. She was well aware that it was practiced. She'd had both male and female friends eager to share their experiences. She'd never tried dual penetration herself before, though and she'd had a dim idea that she would allow one to penetrate her and give the other her mouth. Yet the moment she considered which she most wanted inside of her, she discovered she was eager to have both.

Could she handle it, though, when both were well above the 'average' she was accustomed to?

She discovered that she was not only not currently in any condition to figure it out, she was in a condition to want ignore potential problems and try it.

The moment Jalen broke the kiss, she twisted her hips to give him access and reached to grasp his cock to guide him. He shifted eagerly to accommodate her. He felt bigger than she'd expected and yet she was so eager there was little discomfort when he penetrated her rectum and drove deep. She gasped as she felt him fill her, felt a heated, dizzying wave of pleasure. For a few moments, she allowed her body to adjust while he pumped in and out of her and then she reached blindly for Baen and guided his cock to the mouth of her sex.

They shifted into an awkward tangle of bodies, struggled briefly to find a position that allowed them to fit together as a threesome and then Baen and Jalen began to drive into her with the same desperation she was feeling. She came within moments, a brief convulsing that almost disappointed her until she felt the rise to a higher level, realized her body was gathering itself to explode again.

The second climax wasn't as unexpected save for the fact that it was harder than the first. She'd hardly touched down when she felt her body tensing again, climbing toward a third. Both anticipation and a touch of uneasiness filled her then. Just as she felt herself quivering on the brink of the third climax, she felt Jalen stiffen suddenly. Almost at the same moment, Baen's cock jerked inside of her.

She teetered, hovering on the edge and then, as both of them began to thrust more vigorously to pump their seed into her, she hit her peak. It was like the grandfather of earthquakes, tearing through her in such hard convulsions it snatched her breath away. She caught it in sharp, keening cries as her mind and body exploded with such force that she descended when it finally stopped rocking her into a state near comatose.

She was barely aware of the moment when they withdrew, only vaguely conscious of the sense that they were watching her.

"Danielle?"

Baen's voice, she realized, hoarse, sounding strained. "Mmm?"

"Are you alright?"

The question confused her. Why the hell wouldn't she be? Actually, she was much, much better than alright. She struggled to tell him as much and finally settled for , "Mmmhmm."

"Get up."

That was Kiel, she thought dimly, wondering if he was talking to her. Well, if he was, he could go fuck himself! She wasn't able to move at the moment. To her consternation, however, she felt both Jalen and Baen move away. She struggled to lift her hands to grab them and make them stay and keep her warm, but discovered she didn't have the strength. A shiver traveled through her, though, when they'd left and the cool air washed over her. The bed dipped again and somebody pried one of her eyelids up. She struggled to focus and Kiel's face swam into view. His expression was hard. "What?" she demanded irritably.

"Danielle?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you alright?"

She managed a drunken smile. "Go 'way. I'm s'eepy." She snickered at the way that came out. She was squishy. "Bathe later." She frowned. "Cold."

She'd been demanding covers, but when he merely pulled her against his chest and wrapped his arms around her, she discovered that was even better.

God, she felt great! A year-two?-of famine and then, just about the time she'd decided they were too damned dense to figure out she was waiting for them to make the first move-supernova!

* * * *

It was hard to ignore the fact that the guys had been looking at her strangely since their orgy. Lord knew, Danielle had tried. She'd felt like she'd died and gone to heaven at first-the died part right away and the heaven when she came out of her coma enough to actually enjoy the bliss-but she'd caught them too many times to completely dismiss it.

Truthfully, it wasn't until it dawned on her that they didn't seem all that anxious to repeat the experience that she really noticed. Before that, she'd just thought they were as blissful as she was and still 'glowing'. When it did finally penetrate that they seemed almost more tense than they had before, it brought her crashing back to reality and the furtive glances she kept catching began to seem a lot more like uneasiness than shyness.

Once that had been brought her attention, her immediate reaction was uneasiness. Had something gone wrong that she hadn't noticed?

Thinking back, though, she distinctly remembered that she'd noticed they'd all come. Even if she hadn't been nigh dead with bliss, she couldn't have missed the mess they left!

So if they weren't dissatisfied, what was the problem?

She finally remembered she'd been pissed off at Kiel when she'd discovered that not only had Baen and Jalen come to watch, but he'd invited them to partake, which had made it abundantly clear what mating meant to him-to them-screwing.

She wasn't especially happy when she remembered that, but reality had fully sunk in and she knew it was for the best. Soon, she hoped, they would complete the first part of their mission and then take her home, at which time she would have to be debriefed about her accident and then would be reassigned. There was no telling, really, what sort of negotiations would ensue before things were fully settled, but it didn't take a lot of imagination to figure out that she would be going her way and they would going theirs.

It was amazing how depressing that was when she'd not only always known it would be that way, but that it had to be that way.

There was no dismissing the fact that she'd grown a lot more fond of them than she should have allowed-especially Kiel and Baen, although she thought Jalen was sweet, too-but in the scheme of things, she'd faced a lot worse with people she was more than a little fond of. At least she had the consolation of knowing they were alright-and would be even if they joined the fight.

They would probably be alright. They weren't indestructible. The battle with Manuta had deprived her of that illusion, but they were tough and smart and exceedingly well trained as soldiers. Their chances of coming through the conflict intact were a lot better than hers. She'd already exceeded the life expectancy of pilots by six months. She was expecting to get blown away any time now. The next engagement or the one after that and-oblivion, lights out, the end.

It took a full day after she'd finally noticed that nobody seemed nearly as damned cheerful about their romp as they ought to be to decide how to handle it. When she'd turned it over and over in her mind and realized she couldn't come up with a satisfactory answer on her own, though, she decided to simply face it head on and ask them straight out.
"Is there a problem I should know about?" she asked tentatively when they all settled around the table in the galley to eat.

All three men paused in their eating. Baen and Jalen looked at Kiel. Kiel frowned, looking more irritated than thoughtful. "We do not have a problem," he said finally.

That was a satisfactory answer! Irritation flickered through Danielle. "Ok-nobody has a problem we should talk about?"

Both Jalen and Baen looked as if they wanted to say something but apparently they decided against it. They returned their attention to their food.

Maybe she'd gotten her signals crossed and it didn't have anything to do with her at all? "When do you think we'll get to … uh … Chab?"

The men all looked at each other again. This was getting to be so annoying!

"We are nearing the edge of the solar system now," Kiel responded finally. "We have not been able to communicate, however."

"Is that what's bugging you guys?" Danielle asked, relieved. "Gertrude checked everything?"

"Yes."

Danielle frowned, thinking it over. "Well, they either aren't receiving or they aren't responding because they're suspicious. Maybe they're at war with somebody and think it's a trick? I mean, they haven't heard from you guys since they sent Manuta out. It's bound to be a surprise to them."

Kiel nodded. "Yes. We will be on high alert until we reach the planet."

As relieved as she was to discover the reason for their tension, she realized she was still a little outdone about it. It made sense that they'd be worried when they couldn't communicate and didn't know what they were going in to, but she was still a little ticked off that the circumstances had prevented any glorying in their intimacy. Unreasonable or not, it had been fabulous and she felt like she should've gotten some kudos or, at the very least, smoldering looks as they recalled it. As it was, she was the only damned person on board that had been floating around as if something wonderful had happened! It took a lot of the thrill away that they didn't seem to feel the same way about it.

She tried to take it philosophically. Such was life, and all that! It was life on the edge, anyway. Nobody really had a lot of time to devote to enjoying life or fond recollections when they had to worry about getting their ass shot off.

She didn't see any sense in wasting what little time they had to enjoy it, though, damn it!

Dismissing her pique with an effort, she followed them back to the bridge when they'd finished eating and studied the solar system Baen had pulled up on his display. "Which one is Chab?"

"It is fourth-here," he said, pointing.

"I guess we're still too far out to get an actual look at it?"

"We cannot detect much from here beyond the chemical readings," Kiel answered before Baen could.

"Well … we should see it soon. I guess you guys are excited?"

They turned to stare at her blankly.

"Ok, well maybe not."

"I am more uneasy than anything else," Jalen said after a moment.

Danielle sent him a commiserating look. "I guess that's understandable-especially …." She broke off and shrugged. There were a number of possibilities to explain why they hadn't been able to communicate with Chab-none of them good. She should've just kept her mouth shut, she reflected.

She was uneasy herself, she realized as she settled in the jump seat to watch the view from the viewing ports. Not that that was an excuse for being insensitive to their feelings! They probably felt the same way she had when she'd first gone to Meredie after she'd been gone a while-worried that it might not even be there anymore.

Of course Chab had to be. They had the chart of the system from Manuta. If there'd been any radical changes-like a missing planet-Gertrude would already have detected it.

It was still dismaying that they hadn't responded to any hails. Ghost town, popped into her mind, she supposed because she'd seen quite a few of them since the conflict had begun. Once a colony world came under attack by the Nubiens, the people who could fled to the nearest military fortifications for protection-if they got the chance.

Maybe that was it? Something had happened and they'd had to seek shelter and whatever it was had disrupted communications? That certainly wasn't good, but it was a scenario that wasn't all bad either if it meant there were survivors.

"If there's one thing we've learned from our own troubles, there are always survivors," she offered.

She felt the looks they all cast her way, but Kiel caught her gaze and held it. "You know something we do not?"

Danielle blinked. "No! I'm just saying even if the reason they aren't communicating is because something bad happened, there are always survivors. God knows the Nubiens do everything they can-short of destroying the planet itself-and we've always found survivors."

She was making things worse. She could see that. Clamping her lips together, she broke eye contact with him and stared and the viewing screen. In the distance, she could see their home star, a red, an older star. Closer, she spotted a gas giant-fortunately not too close-and flicked a glance at the map of the solar system. It displayed only one gas giant, which was the fifth of the six planets this particular solar system boasted.

Kiel had said that Chab was the fourth and she focused on the forward display once more. It would still be small with distance from here, she knew. Too close to the gas giant and the chances were it would've gotten too much radiation for life to develop on their home world. Wondering idly if there had once been a planet between the gas giant and Chab, she didn't at first realize she'd caught sight of Chab. Even when she finally realized she was staring at a planetary body, she thought it must be a rogue asteroid, or perhaps a moon that had escaped the pull of the gas giant.

As they drew closer, however, she spotted two more specks that were smaller still and clearly orbiting the white ball she'd first noticed. Her belly clenched. Try as she might, though, she discovered she couldn't dismiss the fact that they were drawing closer and closer to a barren rock of ice.

Swallowing a little convulsively, she glanced at the others for confirmation and had it in their grim expressions. It didn't seem to her from looking at them that it was anything they'd expected. Of course, all they had was the information from Manuta and who knew how much that was?

She struggled for a moment with the desire to say something uplifting, debated whether she should even try or not, and finally decided to take the plunge. "I expect they were aware Chab was entering an ice age and that's why they decided to colonize other worlds."

Baen flicked a glance at her, but some of the hardness left his expression. "That seems a logical conclusion."

She was pleased to see that Kiel and Jalen looked a little less grim, as well. "Well, they were obviously very advanced to build something like Manuta. They would've known Chab was undergoing a climate change."

"Unless it was caused by something unexpected," Kiel pointed out grimly.

"Well, I suppose that's possible," Danielle agreed. "But they still sent out colony ships. And if they were prepared, then they would've made provisions for those who chose to stay, don't you think?"

"We will see," Kiel said grimly.

"Mayhap there is something there to tell us where the other colonies were located?" Jalen suggested.

Danielle felt pity swell inside her at the hopeful note in his voice. It must feel just awful to finally make it back to the home world and discover everyone was gone! "It stands to reason they would, right?" she agreed. "I mean, they'd want to try to keep in touch."

"Except Manuta was not given any such information."

Mr. Doom and Gloom! "Yes, Kiel, but you said yourself that it was the furthest and the least desirable-at least somebody told me that. They probably figured it would take too long to bring it to readiness and just used the ones that were easiest. Even if they didn't leave any directions, you could figure it out. All we'd have to do is use Chab as the starting point, figure out when they sent out the robots to terra-form, and use that as your starting date to determine which of the closest planets would have seemed desirable to them at that time."

"We?"

Danielle blinked at him, dismayed at the sense of hurt that flickered through her at being excluded from the 'we, wondering at the same time when she'd begun to relate to them in such a way that 'we' had come automatically to mind. "Right. I mean you, but it isn't an impossible task. It might take a little longer than you expected, but it could be done. Anyway, we won't know until we land if you'd even need to that, will we? The entire planet might not all be iced over. We can only see the side facing us."

She was relieved to discover that observation wasn't pure optimism. Once they'd drawn near enough to get a better view of the surface, they could see that the area near the equator wasn't one continuous ice sheet. It was bitter cold. According to Gertrude's sensors, the temperature was well below zero on the daylight side-midday. Once they'd circled the globe, they found that that temperature dipped to -180 degrees at night.

"Well, that isn't good, but its survivable if they had time to prepare. What about the site Manuta was launched from?"

"It is under thirty feet of ice," Kiel responded.

Danielle cringed inwardly. "Well, they would've moved, of course. Even if they had facilities underground, they'd want the best climate. I guess we'll try the closest point to Manuta's launch?"

Kiel glanced at Baen. Baen shrugged. "We have come. We cannot leave without checking to be certain that Chab is abandoned."

"It is on the dark side. We will wait until the temperature has risen before we land."

"How long before sunrise?" Danielle asked.

"If Chab's rotation has not changed, one hour."

"I think we might as well drop through the atmosphere and take a closer look," Danielle suggested.

None of them seemed particularly enthusiastic, but Kiel dropped below their orbital path and punctured the atmosphere. Almost as soon as they did, they began to encounter turbulence and Danielle was sorry she'd suggested it when Gertrude announced that the winds were gusting at nearly 100 mph near the surface.

"Storm?" Danielle asked shakily.

"Unable to determine without more data. Possibly, but there is very little to slow the winds," Gertrude responded. "It is also possible that this is mild conditions, comparatively speaking."

To Danielle's relief, Kiel took the ship beyond the atmosphere once more where they waited in orbit for the site they'd chosen to warm up. The surface temperature was still below zero as they descended, but the wind had dropped off to a more comfortable 57 mph. It still buffeted the hell out of the ship and Danielle didn't think she was alone in being tremendously relieved when they finally landed and Gertrude announced that it had detected structures approximately a hundred yards from their landing site. The computer didn't detect any life forms, but was unable to penetrate the material the structures were composed of and could not verify whether any were present or not.

"Ok, we have a problem," Danielle said as everyone took off their harnesses and stood. "You guys can't go out like that. You'd freeze to death inside of ten minutes!"

Kiel, Baen, and Jalen all looked down at themselves.

"We have manufactured suits much like yours," Kiel said finally.

It was news to Danielle! It occurred to her, though, that she'd told them they needed to try to fit in and not to announce the fact that they were shifters. She supposed they'd thought that would be the best way to do it. "Well, even if it's just like my suit, we'll need head gear and gloves."

"We have those, as well. We reproduced everything that was on the original ship since there seemed a purpose for it."

Danielle was still uneasy. They came from Marchet! The temperatures there were mild enough for them to be comfortable running around mostly naked. "Boots?"

"Yes," Kiel threw over his shoulder as he followed Baen and Jalen from the bridge.

Still unconvinced, Danielle followed them-or more specifically Kiel. She discovered when she'd followed him into his cabin that it was barely big enough for the tiny bunk-and him. After debating whether to leave again to get out of his way or stay and try to talk to him, she finally plopped down on his bunk to give him room to dress.

He opened a locker and removed an entire flight suit-exactly like hers except for the fact that it was a different color.

"My suits are made out of a very special material," she said. "It protects from this sort of temperatures."

"We deduced that. That is why we reproduced the same material."

She was still doubtful, but somewhat relieved. "We still won't be able to stay out long without freezing. We'll have to make short searches," she cautioned.

Kiel flicked a glance at her. "You will remain here."

Danielle gaped at him. "You aren't serious?"

"I am very serious. We do not know what to expect. It will be better if you remain in the ship."

Anger surged through her. "You aren't afraid I'll take off and abandon you here?" she asked tightly.

"Would you?" he asked almost absently.

"Of course I wouldn't!" Danielle snapped. "But you don't know that and you don't believe that."

"No. This is why Gertrude has been ordered to remain on the surface unless there is a threat to you and the ship."

Danielle gaped at him in furious disbelief. "You … you reprogrammed my damned computer?" she demanded indignantly.

"It seemed … wise," he said dryly.

Danielle abruptly felt more like crying than screaming curses at him. "Bastard!" she ground out, jolting to her feet and stalking to the door.

He caught her before she reached it and she whirled to face him. His gaze flickered over her face. "Why is water in your eyes?"

Danielle felt her chin wobble. She sniffed. "Because I'm pissed off!" It hadn't been an intentional lie. She was furious. She was angry because she was hurt, though, not because she felt insulted-although she was certainly insulted!

A reluctant smile trembled at the corners of his hard mouth. "You want to spar with me about it?"

"I'd like to punch you in the nose!" Danielle growled. "But I'm not stupid! You're twice my size-at least!"

Something flickered in his eyes. "I would never touch you in anger."

Danielle felt her throat close. "Why are you leaving me here?"

He frowned. "Because it is my honor and my duty as your mate to protect you."

Danielle thought for several moments that she would burst into noisy sobs. "What if you don't come back?" It came out as a childish whine rather than the demand she'd intended.

"Then you will go back to your people."

Danielle did burst into tears then. She couldn't help it. As far as she knew, there was no real threat to them. It didn't seem to her that there could be a living thing still on the planet, but that was beside the point. She hated the thought of being left alone and she hated it worse that he'd suggested that it wouldn't matter to her if he didn't come back.

Impulsively, she launched herself against his chest and threw her arms tightly around his waist. He felt so reassuringly massive, strong, solid! It was ridiculous to think anything could happen to him, right?

He looped his arms around her as she had him after a moment-except he wasn't holding her as if he was afraid she would vanish.

She hated being alone! Hated it, she thought angrily. She hadn't realized it because she'd refused to acknowledge it before, right after she'd lost everyone knew. She hadn't even acknowledged, before, how much she'd come to depend on having Kiel and Baen and Jalen around, how hungry she'd been just to be around another living soul. It wasn't something she'd wanted to think about when there was no way to change it.

But it had changed! She'd crashed on Marchet and she hadn't been able to close herself off from them to keep from growing accustomed.

She struggled to regain her composure as it occurred to her that crying like a baby wasn't likely to convince him that she would be an asset to their exploration party. She sniffed. "I'd be a lot safer if I was with you guys … and I won't get in the way! I swear!"

Kiel seemed to wrestle with something. "Jalen will stay with you. Baen and I will scout. If I see nothing to give me cause for concern we will return and the four of us will see what we can discover."

Danielle relaxed her tight hold on him and looked up at his face, more surprised that he'd yielded than anything else. "Really?"

"Yes. If there is trouble, none of us will linger."

She frowned, thinking that over. "I don't need for Jalen to stay. I'll be safe here and you'll be safer with three than two-the more the better."

He looked puzzled and mildly irritated. Shaking his head, he disentangled himself from her and grabbed his suit, skimming into it and smoothing the closure together. Mopping her damp face, Danielle debated whether to leave as she'd intended or stay to watch. It was a short debate. She discovered she was too intrigued by the transformation to leave, fascinated in a way that made her belly shimmy with interest. "You look so handsome in that," she gasped a little breathlessly when he'd pulled the matching boots on and straightened, surprised, pleased, and uneasy at the same time for some unaccountable reason.

He flushed, flicking a puzzled look at her as he picked up the gauntlets, studied them for a moment, and then pulled them on. He looked down at himself when he'd finished and then glanced at her again, his expression quizzical. "I look better covered up?"

Danielle bit her lip, trying to keep from smiling. "You look gorgeous in nothing but your skin," she said a little shyly, feeling her own cheeks heat. "I'm just saying you make that flight suit look yummy."

A frown of puzzlement appeared between his dark brows. "Yummy? I do not know this word."

Danielle chuckled. "Good enough to nibble all over."

His face darkened, but he grinned at her a little uncomfortably. The smile made her belly shimmy again and this time she had no trouble figuring out exactly what the effect on her was-desire and possessiveness. It disconcerted her, troubled her deeply.

Unnerved, she turned and beat a retreat. She met up with Baen and Jalen in the corridor and halted to study them with a similar mixture of pleasure and jealousy. It would never have occurred to her that they could be so transformed by anything as simple and utilitarian as a flight suit into such stunningly appealing males. It wasn't that she hadn't thought so before, but the loincloths they usually wore gave them an entirely different appeal-an earthy, savage look that had been more unnerving than anything else when she'd first encountered them.

The familiar suits made them seem far less alien to her, but there would've been no danger of overlooking any of the three as simply another three pilots of the Federation even if not for their long, dark hair. They looked unaccountably taller and more massive and at the same time more approachable.

The women of the Federation were going to go catatonic with admiration when they got a look at them, she thought with a mixture of amusement and dismay. "I don't think you guys will have any problems finding mates among the Federation women looking like that," she muttered with a mixture of appreciation and irritation. "You might have to fight them off."

Baen and Jalen both looked surprised, undecided of whether to be pleased or not, and confused. They both looked at Kiel questioningly.

Kiel, Danielle discovered, didn't look particularly pleased by the compliment. "Jalen, you will stay here to guard Danielle while Baen and I do a preliminary survey for any signs of threat."

Jalen looked a little startled, but he merely stiffened and nodded. Danielle wasn't certain if it was their rendition of a military salute or not, but Kiel nodded at him in the same manner and he and Baen moved past them toward the airlock. Pausing to take weapons from a rack beside it, they stepped inside the small airlock and the door closed behind them.

Danielle felt her nerves tauten as she heard the gangplank being lowered. She glanced at Jalen and found him studying her. "You aren't pissed off that they left you to babysit?" she asked dryly.

Confusion flickered in his eyes. "Babysit?"

Danielle uttered a snort that lacked amusement. "Baby-infant-small off-spring?"

He looked more confused instead of less. "You are not a child," he said slowly as if he was in some doubt.

"No, I'm not," Danielle said forthrightly. "I'm not only a grown woman, I'm a trained soldier, and it's insulting to be left under guard as if I can't take care of myself!"

Pushing past him, she stalked to the bridge and opened the viewers all the way around. It was even more enjoying that Jalen was virtually on her heels.

"I am honored to be designated to guard you," he said tentatively. "It is a sign of Kiel's confidence in my abilities."

"And lack thereof in mine!" Danielle said, sniffing.

"It is not a lack of confidence," Jalen disagreed. "It is a measure of your value to us."

Danielle frowned, turning that over and trying to decide whether she found that as insulting as the vote of 'no confidence' in her ability to defend herself. She supposed, after a moment's thought, that he was right. She certainly wouldn't be of any use to them dead. In any case, it didn't seem right to take it out on Jalen when it had been Kiel who'd ordered him to stay with her.

She shook her head. "Don't mind me. I'm just feeling crabby about being left out. I'm used to being considered an equal and fighting beside the men-not cowering behind them."

"You are not as valuable to them?"

Danielle gaped at him in outrage. "I most certainly am! I wouldn't be a pilot if they didn't think I could do the job as well as anybody else!"

He looked taken aback. "But … you are a tiny creature."

Danielle glared at him. "Size has nothing to do with it! Actually, my reflexes are faster than a lot of the 'big men' and its reaction time that counts in the war we're fighting! There are plenty of women out fighting. It's our fight, too, our homes that are at stake!"

He studied her uneasily. "I meant no insult. This is not your war, however, not your battle. This is our home world and your enemy is not here." He shrugged. "It does not appear that even our people are here any longer. You are vastly appealing to me even if you are so tiny that I also find it … unnerving at times and amazing that you are as strong as you are and willing to fight against a much greater force. That is admirable even while it is also foolhardy."

As appeasing as part of the speech was, the last comment set her back up all over again. Alright, so she supposed he had a point! They knew they were way the hell stronger than she was and there would be no real contest between them. It wasn't as if she was too stupid to know that! Women just weren't as physically strong as men, but they had other strengths, damn it! And, when it came right down to it, strength didn't always win! When it came down to a battle of wits, women were every bit the equal of any man and often superior since they'd been forced by their physical limitations to rely upon their wits from the dawn of man!

Well! There was no sense in pointing that out! If fact, it was usually better to save the 'big' guns for when they were needed!

"It isn't stupid to fight when you feel threatened," she said mildly, "even if you're facing an enemy of superior force. It's instinct. Anyway, it beats the hell out of simply giving up."

Jalen nodded. "You are a very brave woman. This is another thing that I admire."

Danielle blushed, but amusement surfaced, as well. "You aren't trying to butter me up?"

He looked confused.

Their English was so good she kept forgetting they had severe limitations in their vocabulary. "Complimenting me to … uh … flirt? Saying nice things to make points?"

He frowned, clearly turning it over in his mind.

"Trying to please me so that I'll please you?"

He blinked at her. "This works?" he asked a little doubtfully. "Females like this?"

Danielle couldn't help but chuckle. "Everybody likes compliments. It makes them feel good and if you make them feel good when you're around them, they like to be around you. Just don't get too carried away. It has to be believable. It's better if it's true and they can tell it's true."

He looked unconvinced. She realized he thought she was teasing him. "Does it make you feel good if I say that I think you're handsome?"

He reddened. "Do you think so?"

"I'm not blind," she said wryly. "You are handsome. Can't you tell I think so when I look at you?"

He looked torn between wanting to believe her and doubt. "I have not seen you look at me. I have seen you look at Kiel as if you admire him and also Baen."

Danielle's amusement vanished. On impulse, she moved closer to him, sliding her arms around his waist and looking up at him. "I think you're handsome, too," she said gently. "You just didn't notice."

She heard him swallow, but he looked almost more alarmed at her proximity than pleased about it. She'd just decided it had been a mistake to approach him when he settled his hands on her upper arms. She waited a little breathlessly, wondering if he would set her away from him or pull her closer. She didn't get the chance to find out. Even as his hands tightened almost convulsively on her arms, the sound of feet pounding up the gangplank reached them. Alarm instantly went through Danielle and she whipped her head in that direction, pulling away from Jalen in the same moment.

?

Chapter Seventeen

"We will need tools to get inside," Kiel announced the moment the airlock opened, clearly preoccupied as he strode past Jalen and Danielle, who'd rushed to meet them.

Danielle was a little disconcerted, but relieved, as well, to discover it wasn't anything threatening that had brought them back so soon. Guilt also flickered through her that after being so upset and worried about them going out she'd allowed herself to be so distracted first by her argument with Jalen and then a flirtation that she hadn't been 'watching over them' as she'd intended when she'd gone to the bridge.

"What did you find?" Danielle asked anxiously as she followed him.

He flicked a glance at her. Baen answered. "This is an ancient place. It appears to have been abandoned long ago."

"It looks to be stable enough, however," Kiel added. "You may come with us to explore it, but you must stay close to Jalen."

Danielle's irritation of before instantly resurrected itself. He was damned bossy! If he'd been her commanding officer, she wouldn't have had a problem with taking orders from him, but he wasn't!

She decided to argue her point later, though. She could see he had every intention of grabbing tools and leaving again and there was no doubt in her mind that he'd leave her if she wasn't ready to go. Whirling on her heel, she rushed back to her own cabin to collect her gauntlets and her helm. Baen and Kiel had already stepped into the airlock when she returned. Jalen, she saw, was waiting for her.

She hurried to join him and saw that Baen and Kiel had already reached the bottom of the gangplank. They paused there, turning to watch as she and Jalen exited through the airlock. Appeased that they hadn't simply set off without them, Danielle damned near skidded down the gangplank on her ass in her rush to join them. The first she realized that it had iced over was when her feet shot out from under her. Jalen caught her, skidded and wobbled jerkily but managed to maintain his footing, carrying her the remainder of the way before he set her down.

Embarrassed at her near mishap, Danielle studiously ignored the looks Baen and Kiel bent on her, peering through the wind driven snow toward the tall structure in the distance. Shaking his head, Kiel turned away. "Watch your footing," he advised.

Danielle's lips tightened with annoyance. "I'm used to walking in snow and ice," she muttered. "I just hadn't expected the gangplank to ice over so quickly."

His response was a non-committal grunt through her earphones, but he didn't make any other comment.

She quickly discovered that the wind was hard enough to blow her down. Even sandwiched between the men, who cut off a lot of the wind, she had to concentrate to keep from falling. It seemed to take hours to reach the structure they were approaching when she knew it couldn't have taken more than a few minutes. She was winded with the effort by the time they arrived and could feel the cold penetrating her suit and turning her fingers and toes to ice.

Baen and Kiel set to work immediately, thawing the ice that encrusted what appeared to be a giant set of double doors made of rock. There were symbols of some sort carved into the doors and Danielle studied them curiously. They looked strangely familiar, though she couldn't figure out why. She finally decided that it was just the fact that they looked similar to symbols she'd seen on Marchet. She wasn't completely satisfied with that explanation, however. She didn't know why, but something niggled at the back of her mind just beyond her grasp that almost seemed to contradict that simple explanation.

After a few moments, she widened her visual examination to the uprights on either side of the door and finally moved back a short distance to tilt her head up and study the structure. The architectural design, she saw at once, was nothing at all like the structures the Danu had built on Marchet even if the symbols did look vaguely familiar. This structure was roughly triangular in shape, whereas those on Marchet were flowing in design, very similar to the habitats on her own home world, and probably for the same reason. They'd not only been designed to blend with the natural setting for the sake of aesthetics and protection from detection, but also as protection from the elements.

She was still trying to figure out what it was about the place that had set off a sense of familiarity when she knew damned well she'd never seen anything like it when she saw a flash of light above the ice encrusted peak of the structure.

"Kiel?" she said uneasily, trying to decide whether it was a meteor or something else entirely. Even as she voiced the tentative warning, though, she saw several other bright lights blink into view.

Caught by the note of uncertainty in her voice, Kiel stopped abruptly and moved back to look up.

"Ships! Get back to the ship!" he bellowed, grabbing Danielle around the waist and snatching her off her feet.

As close as they were to the ship, they hadn't covered much more than half the distance when Danielle heard the roar of engines that meant the crafts were landing. Struggling frantically in Kiel's hold to search for the source, Danielle felt her heart stop when she finally did spot the oncoming crafts. "Nubien!" she gasped in disbelief. "It's a squadron of Nubien ships!"

Kiel skidded to halt as a laser blast hit the ground in front of them followed in quick succession by a dozen more. Whirling abruptly, he raced back toward the door they'd been trying to pry open.

"We need to get to the ship!" Danielle screamed at him. "They'll blow us to bits!"

"They would blow up the ship before we could take off!" Kiel growled.

As if they'd be worse off if the damned ship was blown to bits stranding them on the ball of ice! Granted, the Nubiens seemed much more intent on shooting them than the ship at the moment but that sure as hell didn't mean they wouldn't blow it up!

Kiel dropped her to her feet unceremoniously as they reached the doors again. By the time Danielle had recovered her equilibrium, she discovered that all three men had thrown their shoulders against the huge doors. For a few moments, it seemed it would be a wasted effort. Danielle glanced frantically back to see where their attackers were and discovered the Nubien crafts were landing. Nubiens leapt out the moment the first settled, racing toward them and firing as they ran.

Someone grabbed her arm and snatched her forward so fast it almost gave her whiplash and then blackness descended over her. She thought for a split second that she'd lost consciousness. There was nothing dulled about her other senses, however. She felt the arm that clutched her around the waist tightly enough to cut off her air and the jarring as he took off with her at a run.

It dawned on her that they'd entered the structure, but she couldn't see a damned thing! She didn't know how they could possibly see well enough to walk, let alone run! She was near the point of passing out by the time they finally stopped running and she was set on her feet. Rubbing her ribs, struggling to catch her breath and find her equilibrium when she couldn't even tell which end was up, Danielle froze where she was planted on her feet.

"Stay put and don't move!" Kiel growled in a low voice.

Fear shot adrenaline through her with realization that he-they-meant to leave her. She tried frantically to grab hold of one of them. It sent her terror through the roof when she encountered nothing but empty space. Struggling with her fear, she tried to gather her wits and assess her situation.

She could still hear their breathing, she thought, trying to reassure herself. Almost the moment she realized that that only meant she could hear them through their speakers, not that they were still close by, the speakers in her helmet went dead. She clamped her lips tightly together, fighting the urge to call out to them for reassurance, struggling with the urge to give in to hysterics.

She was tensed all over with the desperate need to follow her instincts and run. It was only the realization that she didn't know where to run that kept her where she was. Finally, she sank slowly toward the floor, hardly conscious of the instinct to make herself as small a target as she could since she didn't dare run. She felt much better once she was crouched near the floor, though, a little more clear headed, at least able to assimilate the next most desirable tactic for survival-to hide if neither fight or flight was an option.

She wasn't hidden, though. As far as she could determine she was in the center of a huge room and right out in plain sight if anything could penetrate the darkness. The memory abruptly surfaced with that thought that she had lights on her helm but she realized immediately that she didn't dare use them. It might only make her a target rather than helping her find her way.

Truthfully, she was scared to move in any direction when she was completely blind. She had no idea what obstacles might be around her-deep, bottomless pits came to mind. Trying to move as quietly as possible, she began to crawl slowly away from the spot where Kiel, or whoever, had left her. It took her a few moments to decide which direction to go, but she finally decided opposite the way they'd come was the best idea-further away from the Nubiens chasing them definitely seemed better.

It occurred to her after a moment of crawling that the objective was probably to capture them if possible, rather than kill them. They could've simply blown them and their ship to bits with a photon cannon if eliminating them was their objective. Instead, they'd landed their crafts.

A shiver went through her. Dying seemed a lot better than becoming a captive if any of the things she'd heard about them was true.

She was so intent on her thoughts and carefully searching the floor in front of her for pits that she damned near slammed her head into the wall when she reached it. As it was, the light tap of her helmet encountering solid rock seemed to echo through the chamber. She froze, holding her breath, listening. Hearing a faint sound behind her, she whipped her head around in search of the source and saw two glowing red eyes in the darkness.

She nearly passed out before it dawned on her that it must be one of the men. When she scanned the darkness, she found two more pairs and relaxed fractionally.

A blue glow appeared between the three sets of eyes before relief could ease much of her tension. She swallowed convulsively, realizing even before she heard the faint accompanying scrape of boots on stone what it was.

They were trapped, she thought in dismay! And she was in a direct line of sight with the corridor she realized the Nubiens were following! Struggling to keep from whimpering in pure terror, she placed her shoulder against the wall she'd found and began to crawl a little frantically in search of a place to hide or another opening that would give her a chance to run.

She didn't even have a weapon! She couldn't remember whether Jalen had armed himself or not, but even if he had there was only three against god only knew how many!

In a handful of seconds the bluish lights filled the chamber. Danielle had a split second to realize the chamber was every bit as vast as she'd thought and then the cavernous room erupted in deafening gunfire as the Nubiens in the lead fell into the trap Kiel and the others had set.

Whirling to look, Danielle discovered the men had stripped their suits off and transformed themselves into beasts. That took the Nubiens by surprise far more than anything else they might have thought of. The first four that entered the chamber actually screamed in terror before they died. Horror washed over Danielle when she saw the beast-men literally rip them to pieces, flinging body parts in every direction as they waded into the Nubiens behind them. She couldn't look away or close her eyes. Frozen, she watched as they waded through the Nubiens and turned them into bloody mush.

She wasn't sure how long she remained frozen in place, unable to move or think, but her brain began to function slowly once more when she realized the battle had moved well away from her. It flickered through her mind that Kiel had ordered her to stay where she was, but the moment thaw set in so, too, did the urge to run.

A wave of nausea swept over her when she'd looked around and discovered there was no exit except the corridor they'd followed into the chamber-none that she could see. In any case, all she could think about was getting out. It took an effort to get to her feet and she was so weak and shaky when she had she wasn't sure she could walk. Stiffly, feeling revulsion clawing at her throat, she approached the bloody mess at the mouth of the corridor and stepped over the first body pieces. She skidded on the blood pooling on the floor and almost threw up.

Dragging in a deep breath, she held it until the wave of nausea passed and picked her way slowly and carefully over the bodies. The bluish glow of the lights on their helms lit her way, allowed her to see far more than she wanted to. After glancing at a few that seemed relatively intact, she decided she didn't need to check to make sure they were dead and began to move a little faster. She wanted to run full out, but she didn't dare. Every incautious step she took was nearly her undoing when the floor beneath her feet was liberally coated with blood.

She almost smacked into one of the beast-men coming back. He caught her to steady her, leaving bloody marks on the sleeves of her suit that made her stomach heave. "Stay here," he growled.

Danielle nodded a little jerkily, but he released her and brushed past her and she wasn't even sure he'd noticed her automatic response. She frowned when he vanished down the corridor, wondering what he was going back for.

It occurred to her that he might be checking to make certain they were dead, but she didn't see a lot of point in that exercise when they had to know that they'd made mince-meat out of them. He returned a few moments later, no longer beast, but as Jalen, their discarded suits bundled under one arm.

"They are taking care of the rest," he said when he reached her. "Kiel will give us the signal when it is safe to leave."

Danielle gaped at him, nodding a little jerkily, but it didn't occur to her to suggest that he might be overconfident about Kiel and Baen taking care the other Nubiens. She didn't hear any 'signal' either, but after a few minutes, Jalen grasped her arm and began leading her along the corridor. She heard the sound of sporadic gunfire as they neared the entrance and then silence.

"I will carry you," Jalen announced, grabbing her around the waist as he said it and jogging out of the door before she could protest.

She wasn't sure she would've protested. Once outside, she saw the aftermath of the slaughter-she didn't think it could actually be classified as a battle-in the full light of day and passed out. The next awareness she had was of jolting up the gangplank and into the airlock.

She stirred, trying to suck in a decent breath past the grip Jalen had on her and began to struggle to free herself from him. He set her on her feet, but he didn't release her. Instead, he dropped the bundle he was carrying under his other arm as soon as they stepped through the airlock into the interior of the ship and scooped her up, carrying her to her cabin.

"You are injured?" he demanded, his voice harsh.

"No," Danielle protested faintly, feeling the beginnings of embarrassment. "I'm alright. I don't need to lie down! We need to get out of here before more come!"

"There is a harness here. You can lie down and still be secure for takeoff," he said tightly, clearly trying to reason with her.

"Well I don't need to lie down!" she snapped.

"What is this?" Baen demanded from the door of her cabin.

"She was unconscious!" Jalen responded. "She may be injured."

Baen frowned at her. "You must lie down then and allow Gertrude to scan you for injury."

Danielle ground her teeth in frustration but she realized that arguing with them was not only pointless, it was delaying takeoff and they couldn't afford to do that. "Fine!" she snarled at him. "Let's just go, damn it!"

They looked reluctant to leave her but once Jalen had helped her into the emergency harness both men turned and left. Danielle closed her eyes as she heard the engines roaring to life, trying to banish the images that kept playing through her mind. It would've been easier, she thought, if it hadn't reminded her so strongly of what her village had looked like after the Nubiens had bombarded it-except then it had been the broken bodies of her sister and parents … of everyone she'd grown up with.

She was still struggling with the urge to vomit when she felt a prick in her thigh. She had just enough time to realize Gertrude had decided to sedate her before nothingness claimed her. She woke sometime later feeling as if she'd been run over. Her ribs, she discovered the moment she tried to sit up, were bruised and when she did manage to unfasten her harness and sit up her head swam and throbbed painfully. She debated whether to lie down again but the sound of voices clenched the matter.

Struggling to her feet, she left the cabin. The voices were immediately distinguishable as Kiel, Baen, Jalen, and Gertrude's-speaking in Danu. Irritation flickered through her, but relief, too. They must be alright, she decided, if they were all sitting in the galley talking.

They still bore the marks of battle, she discovered. Thankfully, they'd bathed the gore off, but she could see angry red marks all over them and knew it was fresh wounds when their skin had been flawless before the battle. Her throat closed as it sank in that they hadn't come through the fight unscathed as she'd believed. It wasn't even reasonable that she'd thought they had, that all of the blood she'd seen belonged to the Nubiens, not when they'd been fighting for their lives.

It was almost as inconceivable that they'd taken on what must have been at least a full company of Nubiens and triumphed with no more evidence of the battle than the angry red marks on them.

Because they had nanos and the nanos had closed the wounds, she realized abruptly, thankful for it and at the same time distressed to see just how many wounds they had.

"You are alright?" Kiel asked abruptly when he saw her hovering in the door of the galley.

Danielle swallowed a little convulsively. "I think I should be asking you that. I didn't actually take part in the battle, you know."

"Gertrude found several cracked ribs in the scan," Baen said neutrally.

Danielle flicked a glance at Jalen before she could prevent it. "Oh, well, the heat of battle. They feel alright."

Surprise flickered through her. Her ribs really did feel alright and that was weird if it was true that she'd cracked several.

Jalen flushed, but it occurred to Danielle that it was just as possible Kiel had cracked her ribs as it was that Jalen had. They'd both been too intent on getting her to safety to consider her ribs might not be up to the pressure. "Gertrude has determined that the babies are fine," he said a little stiffly.

Danielle blinked at him as if he'd suddenly begun speaking Danu. "What?"

"Our off-spring," Baen clarified, glaring at Jalen. "That is a relief, but I do not like that they were endangered at all."

Danielle threw up her hands. "Wait! Whoa there! You mean to say you think …?"

"Know," Kiel said grimly. "We are mated."

"We fucked!" Danielle snapped. "There's mating and then there's fucking, damn it!"

"And we mated," Kiel retorted.
Danielle narrowed her eyes at him. "Gertrude! Tell them what the scan detected!"

"Three healthy embryos," Gertrude responded promptly.

Danielle felt like she'd taken a blow to the head-completely disoriented. "Embry …," she gasped faintly. She recovered quickly. "I have birth control, damn it!"

"Had," Gertrude corrected. "The nanos appear to have disabled it … possibly they ingested it, using it to create more or have introduced it into the embryos to make them more like their fathers. It is too early to determine."

Danielle's knees seemed to lose starch and turn to water. She wobbled to a seat and flopped down on it. "Their fathers?" she asked faintly.

"Affirmative. They carry the DNA of each."

Danielle shook her head, trying to make sense of what Gertrude was saying. "You're saying each of them carry the DNA of all? How is that even possible?"

"Each carries the DNA of one," Gertrude clarified. "Each member of your quad has reproduced, as is apparently typical of their reproduction process. It is certainly not typical of humans, as you well know. Possible, but astronomically unlikely."

"I think I need to lie down," Danielle mumbled, struggling to get up again.

"The fainting is very likely a side-effect of the pregnancy," Gertrude offered. "Your system is still adjusting."

"Shut up!" Danielle gasped faintly, feeling herself descending into oblivion in spite of all she could do to try to fight it off.

When she regained consciousness, she found herself lying on her bunk and staring up at three grim faced … tryants! "You bastards!" she snarled accusingly. "You knew you were going to get me pregnant!"

Baen and Jalen glanced uneasily at Kiel.

"Yes," Kiel responded. "That was the objective in mating."

If she'd had something to throw at him, she would've clobbered him!

Apparently they decided retreat was the better part of valor. Kiel turned on his heel as soon as he'd announced that stupid piece of reasoning and left, and Baen and Jalen tried to beat him to the door.

"Assholes!" she bellowed after them, but she discovered calling them names didn't make her feel any better. Subsiding, she stared at the ceiling, trying to come to grips with what Gertrude-the fucking bitch!-had told her. Not only had the damned computer not warned her that her damned birth control device had been disabled-gone missing!-it had sounded downright cheerful about announcing her predicament!

The anger didn't last. She supposed it had been more of a gut reaction to the shocking announcement than anything else, but she began to feel curiously detached, more numb than anything she could actually define. Her mind couldn't seem to assimilate it. Although it scrambled madly to sort everything for a while, she kept returning to a sense of disbelief.

When it finally occurred to her that she'd been broadsided by the information and hadn't learned what their situation was as far as the Nubiens, she got up. The men had returned to the bridge. She debated, feeling discomfort waft through her, but she needed to know if there was a threat.

Kiel turned and caught her gaze as she entered but she couldn't tell what might be running through his mind from his expression. Dragging her gaze from his after a moment, she glanced at Baen and Jalen. Jalen was focused on his console, but she had the sense that he was tensed as if expecting an attack. Baen looked angry.

Ignoring them, she moved to the jump seat and, since she could see they were wearing their harnesses, pulled her own on and fastened it. "What's our status?"

"We are being pursued by the Nubiens," Gertrude responded. "There are thirty two ships."

A fresh shock went through her. She'd known there was a chance there were others around when they were attacked, but she also knew that none of the ships that had landed on Chab had taken off again. That meant there'd been a fleet of three dozen ships in their vicinity? Here? Even in her current state of shock, that seemed excessive for a scouting mission from what she knew about the Nubiens.

A cold wave washed over her as it suddenly occurred to her that it might have been her transmission that had put them all in jeopardy. "They found us because of the transmission I sent to High Command?"

"Negative. These ships launched from the third planet in this system."

"You're certain?"

"Affirmative."

Danielle glanced at Kiel wide-eyed, trying to assimilate what that might mean. His expression hardened.

"It seems logical to assume that we have found the home world of the Nubiens."

"But that's … just … crazy! I don't understand. We were sure they were from our own galaxy. Nobody could figure out why we hadn't managed to find their home base, but they're claiming first rights of our galaxy!"

"As they claimed ours before," Baen retorted angrily. "That is why we did not find our people!"

Danielle glanced at him, instantly aroused to empathy for their distress. "You don't know that! You people began colonization years ago. For all you know they all abandoned the home world because of the climate change long before the Nubiens arrived!"

"And for all we know they were still here when the Nubiens came, weakened in numbers and from battling the climate change!" Jalen said tightly.

It seemed pointless to argue. They had more immediate problems, in any case. "What are we going to do? Try to outrun them? Can we? I mean, I know you modified the ship, but we don't have the firepower to take on that many battle ships!"

"Not alone," Kiel agreed. "I have summoned the ships of our fleet that have been completed. They will meet us."

It wasn't very comforting. They were still going to be outnumbered as far as she could see, pretty badly. Even as quickly as they worked, she couldn't believe they'd managed to complete more than the two she'd seen in progress when they'd left Marchet. They'd proven to her that the Nubiens didn't stand a chance if it came to hand-to-hand combat, but the Nubiens were conquerors bent on proving their claims of all they surveyed and then some. Clearly, they'd had a lot of experience in conquest. The Danu of Marchet hadn't even experienced space travel before, let alone learned how to fight space battles!

And it was debatable whether they'd even gotten the call for help! She hadn't been able to hail High Command from this side of the wormhole, after all!

"I should try to contact High Command again!"

To her relief, Kiel studied her for a long moment and finally nodded. Jalen removed his harness and changed places with her at the communications console. She glanced at Kiel again for guidance once she'd settled. "Where should I ask them to meet us? I'll need coordinates."

"Zeta, zeta quadrant, vector east 169 west 5541."

Danielle nodded and repeated it. Even as she mentally composed her message, however, it hit her that the coordinates he'd given her were the same, or at least roughly the same, as those she'd followed to the wormhole that had taken her to their galaxy. She glanced at him sharply. "But … it took us nearly two weeks to get to Chab from the second black hole we went through. We'll never be able to maintain our lead that long!"

"We will rendezvous with them at that point at 24:00 EST."

Danielle blinked at him, glanced at the Earth Standard Time clock, and then looked at him again. "You're saying …." Anger flickered to life. She knew she'd been unconscious when they'd taken off, but she also knew she couldn't possibly have been unconscious more than a day at the very most! She sure as hell hadn't been out for a week! "Are you telling me that we took nearly two damned weeks to get there when this damned ship is fully capable of making it in two days? Never mind!"

She presented him with her back, fuming for several moments before it occurred to her that she should just count her blessings that the ship had the capability! Otherwise, they would've been toast long before help could arrive. If they lived through this, though, she was going to give him a piece of her mind! She was going to let him know what she thought about the three of them … high-jacking her ovaries while she was at it!

"Mayday! Mayday! This is Captain Danielle Dubois, serial number 245812, aboard the modified Federation fighter Firebird 013 with Captains Kiel, Baen, and Jalen of the Danu! We believe we have located the Nubien home world. Currently, we are being pursued by a fleet of thirty two Nubien warships. We need back up! Rendezvous quadrant zeta, zeta, vector east 169 degrees west 5541 degrees. Mayday! Mayday!"

She waited, hoping for a response. When thirty minutes passed without one, she repeated the message, instructed Gertrude to replay it hourly and left the bridge to pace in the small gathering area near the center of the ship and try to think.

She did think. She thought until her head hurt-about everything. She couldn't seem to bring any order to her thought processes, though, arrive at any conclusions that gave her any peace. She couldn't formulate a plan that would magically save them if help didn't come. She couldn't make herself accept that there was any possibility that she was pregnant at all let alone the circumstances. She couldn't think what she should do if it transpired that it wasn't some elaborate hoax her defective computer, Gertrude, had come up with-maybe to confuse the enemy?

She couldn't think of Kiel, Baen, or Jalen as enemies, though-any of the Danu. She couldn't believe that Gertrude had assessed them as a threat and decided to plant dis-information! It occurred to her that the computer might have, but in order for her to be capable of lying it would have to see them as a threat and that lying was necessary.

She didn't know what to think of the fact that they'd deceived her in their trip to Chab, deliberately set the ship to a slow cruise when it was capable of going five times that fast!

She realized after a moment that she did know what she thought of it, she wasn't certain if she should trust it or if it was a good thing or a bad thing for that matter. It had certainly given them time to impregnate her! Was that the only goal? To mate? Or did it mean something to them beyond sowing their seed in fertile ground?

She didn't know how long Kiel had been watching her, but it sent a jolt through her when she turned in her pacing and discovered that he'd followed her. She met his gaze and the moment she did she realized that the heart of her distress was the fear that it was over-her life, the babies she might have conceived-everything.

She didn't want to fight with them! Not now, anyway! Maybe if they made it, she'd still feel the need to vent over the things they'd done, but not now.

She didn't want to waste the little time they might have left fighting when she could be finding heaven in his arms. Her throat closed at the thought. She didn't want to die! She didn't want Kiel, or Baen, or Jalen to die! And she didn't want her babies to die!

Uncertain of whether he would welcome such a distraction given the situation, she approached him slowly, stopping when she was less than an arm's length away, waiting, hoping he would understand what she needed and offer it.

He lifted his hands after a long moment and settled them on either side of her head, smoothing her hair lightly, and then coasting his hands over her shoulders and down her upper arms. Her throat closed with want when she felt his hands curl around her arms. She surged toward him, curling her arms around his neck and pulling herself to him. "Make love to me, Kiel," she whispered. "Make me feel loved, like I matter to you."

"You cannot believe you do not," he said, his voice rough.

She swallowed with an effort. "I need you to show me."

He tensed, but after a moment, he pulled away and leaned down to scoop her up and lift her against his chest. Relieved that he'd understood, she nuzzled her face against his neck.