Epilogue - Dom
A tiny glowing dot quickly gets larger as we approach. The autopilot begins braking, firing thrusters at the bow to slow our forward momentum. Greens and blues begin to shine through, the planet itself as contented as us.
Inside my mind, the connection with Law-rah thrums. Law-rah's mental energies are taking on more of my hues, like my scales soak up her coloring as the mating bond embeds.
Our energy remains in Law-rah's mental office, entwined in the heart of our work ethic. But how will it change when I re-synch with Nevare and Arik?
Law-rah takes my hand, her energy a bright blue-lilac. “However it changes, we'll work with it. Together,” she reminds me.
With a deep breath, I reach out. Law-rah helps me stretch, but we can't go far.
Fortunately, we don't need to. Nevare's consciousness is scanning the depths of space.
‘DOM!’ he yells, as if he's a new Apex unable to modulate his inner voice. His attention swings to me and he hones in, as fast as a blaster shot.
And just as deadly if he doesn't rein it back.
‘I can't control him!’ Arik's faint voice rings out.
‘I can,’ I say, setting my stance and pulling Law-rah into our shared mental space behind me.
But she resists, standing next to me. ‘No. We can.’
There's no time to say anything more. Nevare slams into our home, and my knees buckle.
But we don't break.
‘Dom, Dom! I'm so glad you're back!’ Flashes of excitement and swoops of joy fling Law-rah and me up and down. Her fingers curl around mine, faint nausea tracking up her throat, but she doesn't panic, doesn't pull away.
‘Hi, Nevare. Can you tone it down a bit?’ she asks.
‘Law-rah! I… oh, yes, of course.’ Mercifully he eases off, enough for us to catch a breath.
Sweat pours down my scales. I glance at Law-rah. Red faced and panting, she closes one eye and pushes a sweaty strand of hair behind her ear.
‘Dom, you've changed! You've got stronger.’
‘Have I? Truly, it's Law-rah who has improved the most.’
‘Yes, but… I mean here.’ Nevare pokes something deep in my chest. ‘It’s whole again. It was fraying before, unraveling. Whenever you tried to balance, it was like… pain only patched the cracks. Now you're built strong from the ground up, like the barn we made.’
I exchange a glance with Law-rah, who smiles at me, squeezing my hand. ‘Power of love, I guess.’
‘Indeed.’ Someone who understands me for me. Who accepts me as I am, and values me for it.
‘I've got so much to tell you!’ Nevare says, before immediately dumping memories from the last few earth weeks on me. The completed barn, yes, and improvements to the Roadhouse, water from the lake, the warming atmosphere as the seasons shifted. It's a lot, and hard to parse.
I put a mental hand over Law-rah's head to shield her, but then the deluge slows to a trickle. I glance up. There's a psychic umbrella over my head, a shield to help protect me from Nevare's enthusiasm.
And Law-rah is holding it up for me.
As we get closer to Earth, her pocket rumbles. “Oh. Guess we got within signal range…” She pulls her contact device from her pocket. “Huh. John the barrister’s calling me. Weird.” She answers it, facing me and keeping herself open.
“Thank goodness!” I can hear the deep voice from here. “No one could reach you. Are you alright?”
“Yeah. Just… took a trip. To reset my head.”
“Where to?”
Her eyes flick to her planet. “Uh… Bali.”
“Cool, cool. Been there a few times. So, the inquiry restarts tomorrow, when can you get here?”
“Restarts?”
“Yes. I successfully got the judge to postpone until we could get you back.”
My beautiful mate swallows hard. “I… I was taken off the case, John. Morgan was doing something shady with Accu-care. I hit him, and that’s not acceptable, regardless of the circumstance. I expect I’ve been fired by now. How… how’s the inquiry?”
Her sadness tinges the mind-sync blue, but there are no spikes this time at least. I guard against them, wrapping my mental and physical arms around her.
I’m closer to hear clearly: “When Morgan put his allegations against you, he made it public in the firm. He wanted to humiliate you, probably.”
“Sounds like him.” Law-rah’s voice tightens. I kiss her neck to distract her, to center her during this time of distress.
“But it backfired big time. Loads of other women in the company came forward. Some said they wished they'd punched him in the face, too. Morgan's under investigation by HR now. Adding what you have on him and Accu-care would put a few nails in his coffin.”
Law-rah glances at me, and I nod. ‘As soon as we get back, I will instruct Nevare to comb his mind.’
She grins at me.
“But enough about him,” her wave brother says. “I’m not calling to get you back into their firm. I’m talking about you.”
A glimmer of gold sparks in her mind. “What do you mean?”
“Start your own firm. I’m an independent contractor as a barrister. You can be, too.”
At first, her mind fills with a mist, dismissing the foggy idea.
I tap her arm and she glances at me. I send her the image of herself, tall, strong, beautiful in the golden light, defending me with every parry of her words.
The shift in her mindscape is swift and thrilling, like stormclouds breaking open to let the sun through. Images of the older man, smiling. The faces of people she fights for. Her ambition stirs, radiant. Her spine straightens.
“Law-rah?” I murmur.
She looks at me, and something about the way her mouth curls sends heat through my chest. “I’d need a business name, and a decent espresso machine,” she says into the comm, eyes still locked on mine. “But I have the best place ever for an office.”
One week later
“And that’s how we changed a whole planet’s legal system,” Law-rah finishes for her friends. “Oh, and got married and started a legal firm.”
They’re open mouthed, their dough disks untouched on the plates in front of them. My shipmates stand behind the females, equally slack jawed.
Law-rah threads her fingers through mine. Underneath, she trembles, but I shore her up, whispering reassurances across our bond.
El-len recovers first. “And, uh, the mind-sync?”
“Fixed,” my mate says happily, giving me a wink. “Turns out I needed more… practice.”
Indeed. I wink back. Practice where I promise pleasure or withhold it until she accomplishes the exercise. She seems to like it either way, and despite sometimes ‘failing’ on purpose, her control is fine-tuned now.
“We have our own mating games now?” Ilia asks with a rumble.
“Indeed, but I doubt the exiles are welcome back on Oloria,” I caution him. Besides, Ilia and Gara are more than content with their mates; I can feel the soft glow emanating from their auras, one blue, one green.
I wonder if I have the same.
‘Sure do,’ Arik says, mentally rolling his eyes. ‘A love-sick lilac.’
I gently shove his shoulder. Law-rah’s skills help protect our privacy while our sessions help me maintain my mental balance to assist us all, but Arik and Nevare can still hear us when we’re being especially loud together.
So far, balancing Nevare with my love for Law-rah hasn’t posed any challenges. In fact, it’s done the opposite, because my happiness provides a sturdy foundation to support Nevare and Arik. ‘Keeping your cup full,’ as Law-rah says.
“So, that’s it?” Arra-bellah asks, her fingers picking at her pizza crust, her plate and then gliding over Gara’s scales. “The clones will have better lives now?”
“We can hope,” Law-rah says, but she's as unsure as I am.
Ilia beckons me to one side of El-len's tent. She's set it up for movie night again, golden lights twinkling along the metal struts holding it up and rows of straw bales serving as seats. The females cluster together, their excited chatter filling the space with warmth.
Gara, Arture, and Arik group around me. Nevare’s content to sit to one side of the tent, his gaze focused on Shade, who flutters their leaves excitedly up and down his arm.
“Well?” Ilia asks. “What do you think? Are clone lives changed forever on Oloria?”
“It's hard to tell. Either way, we won't hear anything, and it doesn't affect us now. We're far away and free from the planet of our birth,” I remind them.
Who would have thought exile would afford us this much joy on top of freedom?
I glance at Arture. We still can't read the Pranastock’s mind, but surely he can see the pattern developing. Arik and Nevare aren't interested in any relations, so that leaves him to be paired.
And there's one more female.
Evidently the humans’ talk also turns in that direction, as Arra-bellah, El-len and Law-rah gently tease their friend. Nic-coal’s face goes red, but her brown eyes flick up to glance Arture's way.
Gara’s eyebrows pinch together. “What exactly did the Prif say?”
“She said the clones would be subject to a new improved justice system, and they would get their own mating games.”
“Anything else?” Gara presses. “The exact wording could be important.”
I frown. “She did say one thing. Something I don't understand, but it was a repeat of something a Parthiastock told me.” That whole episode of a single Parthiastock coming to see me and questioning me still leaves my stomach queasy.
As if there’s a meteor headed toward our cozy little planet, and we have no idea.
I shrug. “She said, Surgere ac excitare."
Ilia frowns. “What does it mean?”
“No clue,” Gara mutters.
No recognition pings down the connection between myself and Arik either.
But Arture, the quiet Pranastock pilot who’s barely spoken a word this evening, doubles over with a guttural groan that echoes across the tent. He clutches his stomach, his entire body spasming as if an internal force tears him apart from the inside.
“Arture, what's wrong?” Gara barks, immediately at his side. “Where does it hurt?"