Chapter Eight #2
“No. You keep telling me it will rot my brain.” He smirked.
Aubrey looked for the other ladies, and they had moved to a terminal where they were looking up names. “What are they doing?”
“I have several thousand of your people on this world. I keep their names in that tablet so that those who visit can look for those they know.”
Priya started to cry, and Elly looked excited. Candy hugged them both.
Alyssa was standing there, insecure. Candy spoke to her and hugged her. Alyssa typed in a few names, and she smiled slowly.
Aubrey walked over and said, “What is the result?”
Priya smiled. “My parents and sisters made it.”
Elly nodded. “My brother and his husband made it, with my niece.”
Alyssa smiled. “One of my co-workers is here.”
Aubrey looked at Ra and Harwin. “Is there any way to arrange a video call or a visit?”
Harwin smiled. “We have defenders who can help. We have a few cities open, so it will depend on where they are located. Let me just find out how long Vress is planning on staying, and we will get things organized. We will also have the defender stay with you until you are sure you are welcome. Some who start their lives over want to cut ties with the past.”
Aubrey patted their hands, and their futures were now clear. Candy was the only one who did not have a future on Aten, and it had to do with the defenders.
Aubrey walked to Ra and asked softly, “How many male defenders are looking for partners?”
Ra blinked. “Seven. Are you shopping?”
“Uh, no. But Priya, Elly, and possibly Candy. Her future keeps flickering.”
Ra frowned. “What causes that?”
“Indecision or an external factor, like her possible match finding a match on the way here.”
“Interesting. Is that a normal occurrence?”
“Only in an imbalanced population.” She shrugged.
Harwin walked to the tablet and looked at the searches. She found the family listed and nodded at the locations. She told Ra, and he made the arrangements.
Aubrey watched while Harwin and Ra made the arrangements, and she walked to Candy. “What is bothering you?”
“My fiancé is here. Well, he was my fiancé. He took off with a woman from work, and they are registered here as a married couple. I... don’t want to interrupt that.”
“Do you need closure?”
“Yes.”
“Then interrupt. My closest family left me tied to a car as the storms were coming in. I have my closure. You need yours; just be kind to yourself. This is not the time for rage.”
Candy sighed. “I have given up on rage. I just want to see for myself.”
“Good. When the defender comes for you, go.”
Candy nodded. “Okay.”
Aubrey squeezed her hand. “It will be fine. If you want to continue to Vress’s world, you can come be a receptionist at the temple.”
Candy grinned. “Sounds interesting.”
“You have a future out here. You just need to choose it.” Aubrey smiled.
“Did you choose yours?”
“No, but I scare people and don’t look like my sister anymore. Oh, and I get to wear a pretty dress.” Aubrey grinned. “The first thing I saw was Vress. I am happy he is my future and my present and sliding his hand down my back. Hey, Vress.”
Candy chuckled.
Aubrey smiled. “Harwin and Ra are making the arrangements. They know their people.”
“Is Whisper okay? I didn’t realize she was so thin until the captain’s dinner.”
“She is getting the help she needs. She will survive and thrive.”
“Have you seen it?”
“I have.” Aubrey smiled. “Hers is certain. Nerigot is assuring it.”
“So they are definitely a thing?”
“He’s already dressing her in his colours, and they have only held hands. What do you think?”
Candy smiled. “Good. She deserves a good future.”
Aubrey said, “So do you.”
Harwin came up and said, “Candy, I am taking you, Elly, and Priya for some testing. We just want to see if Aubrey can sniff out those with silent genes. The units here can detect things without pain. You can keep your clothing on.”
Candy smiled. “That would be a change. I used to be a stripper.”
“So your name isn’t Candy?”
“Martha.”
Aubrey blinked, and Harwin giggled. “Maybe you can split the difference with Carman?”
Harwin gathered the ladies and ushered them downstairs. Even Alyssa, just for fun.
Aubrey looked at Vress and said, “This is why we came here.”
“Is it?”
“Well, that and the honeyed locusts. They are particularly tasty.” She smiled brightly.
He laughed and lay on a couch near Ra, pulling her onto his lap.
Aubrey smiled and leaned against him.
Ra held his son and said, “Can you determine how many children Harwin and I will have?”
“I will have to touch you.”
“Acceptable. Be prepared that my son may grab you.”
“I understand the risk.” She reached out and touched Ra’s forehead. Images came fast and thick. She inhaled, exhaled, and then let go when the baby climbed into her arms.
“Is Harwin around?”
Ra looked and smiled. “No.”
“In the next one thousand years, you will have fifty children. They will each have a minimum of three children, and when they all fly, the skies will turn gold.”
Ra beamed. “That sounds wonderful. Why didn’t you want Harwin to hear?”
“Because your legacy does not stop at a thousand years.”
He paused and started laughing. “You are right. That is quite the legacy.”
She sighed and sat with Harran staring at her. His wings flapped gently and gave her a toothless grin.
Ra finished his giggle fit. “You can see?”
“Yes. The discolouration does not impair my vision.” She smiled at the baby trying to grab her hair and getting frustrated. “Ra, please take him. My hair is irritating him.”
Harran’s face was screwed up, and his father took him and tossed him in the air before he screamed.
Vress ran a hand through her hair. “Do you have an extruder? This hair is lovely but annoying.”
Ra chuckled. “We do. Do you wish to use it?”
“I do.”
“This way. All of my machines are on the lower levels.”
Ra got up with his child on his shoulders and walked toward a wide set of steps. Vress got up and carried Aubrey with him.
“Hey! I didn’t agree to this.”
“It is a necessary repair to your person. That is in the contract.” He chuckled.
She snorted and crossed her arms. Getting a forced makeover wasn’t the worst option. “Just not red. I am not sure I could live with it myself. If we have kids, I would like them to have a fifty-fifty chance of not being red.”
He grinned. “All of our children will look like me. That is the joy of breeding with a Hmrain.”
“That sounds less like joy and more like a haunting.”
He chuckled. “You will get used to it.”
She touched her own forehead and saw herself surrounded by silvery-skinned leprechauns. “Oh, that is so odd.”
“Reading your own future?”
“Sort of. You are going to need to figure out condoms or something. That is a lot of red.”
Vress chuckled.
Aubrey was settled in the hair extruder, and Vress held her hand. She glared at him and said, “You are just trying to make sure I don’t make a run for it.”
“With me for a week and you already understand me.” He kissed her softly while the machine whirred to life. “My people are designing so many headpieces for your new hair.”
She laughed and remained still while he held her hand.
* * * *
Whisper felt the unit around her still. The IV was removed from her arm, and the mark sealed. She felt different. More like she had before heading to the mountains.
She swallowed, and the unit opened slowly. Hands helped her ease to sitting, and she knew who it was by the stars under the skin. “Nerigot.”
“Yes. Good. You retained cognition.”
He helped her ease her legs out of the unit, and she got to her feet. His nipple was below her jaw, and that wasn’t right.
“Did the unit shrink you?”
He chuckled. “No. It has made your body capable of supporting your mind.”
She put her hands on either side of her head and exhaled. “It doesn’t feel huge.”
He chuckled. “It completed the pathways you had already developed in your brain and body.”
She looked around. “Is there something for me to wear around here?”
He sighed. “There is. You can wear me.”
He wrapped his wings around her, and she was suddenly in Hmrain-scented darkness. She smelled mint, another spice, and something that reminded her of the medical treatments on his ship.
“This is not going to be comfortable sitting in a shuttle.” She muttered it against him, wishing that she had light. Her fingertips began to glow.
She blinked, and he laughed. “I did not think it would start so soon.”
She looked up at him, and his beautiful features were eerie in the light of her hand. “What is going on?”
“You are tapping into the energy of your body. You have quite a bit of energy.”
“Still naked.”
He exhaled happily. “Yes, you are.”
She snorted. “Are there clothes?”
He sighed. “Yes. If I were one of my less amusing brothers, you would be up against a wall right now.”
“No, I would not be, not without a contract. We don’t have one. My contract is with Aubrey.”
He stiffened and nodded. “You are correct. I wish to remedy that. As you have the skills of an acolyte, you will be under bond to me as soon as we transfer duty.”
“In the meantime, who owes me a shirt?”
He sighed and opened his wings, letting in a chill. She shivered and looked down at herself. “What the hell? My pigment is missing.”
He smirked and went to gather some fabric from a nearby stool. He arranged the shirt. “Arms up.”
She lifted her arms, and the tunic slithered down her body to end at her ankles. He handed her trousers and said, “I will support you while you get dressed.”
She stepped into the trousers and pushed the tunic out of the way as she tied the drawstring. When that was done, she stepped into the shoes, and he said, “We will get you boots at the academy.”
He wrapped a thin tie around her waist. “When you go through entry trials, you will get a sash that matches your level, and it will change colour as you gain control.”
“So I can’t decline the position of acolyte?”
“No, you either go to the academy or are destroyed. Those are your only path.”
“Well, hell.”
He offered his hand, and she put her fingers on his. They walked, and she felt a little light-headed and grabbed at Nerigot. “Why am I hovering?”