CHAPTER FOUR
Zade
Zade did not stay to admire his work. The female’s leg reconstruction was a thing of perfection.
Even his two assistants, who had seen a few of these, were in awe of the final result.
The only obvious evidence that she had a rebuilt leg was a thin line running the circumference of her leg a bit below the knee.
The texture and tone of her skin differed slightly from the Baylan skin grown in a laboratory, but the rest of the details were there.
The left leg was a replica of the right, down to the toenails.
He swung from the room sweaty and shaking and desperate for space between him and the female patient who affected him like no other.
His body shook at the misery of the pekki shower, and deep inside he knew that punishing himself this way would not fix what had happened to him.
His diagnostic mind came back to one logical explanation.
With a grimace, he looked to his chest. He let out a breath of initial relief.
All the normal soul markings were there.
His entire chest was covered in the indigo blue runes.
One by one, the marks had appeared, denoting new positions, deeper degrees of expertise.
Like that of all Baylans, the markings were a map of his life.
More appeared over the cycles, multiplying to the point that there was no room for anything else.
When the last of his chest had been overtaken by soul markings, Zade had released the hope he had carried that one day he would find a mate.
His marks had indicated to him that his “mate” was his work.
None of his markings had moved, or disappeared, or been replaced by marks of a mate. It was only when he lifted his arms that he saw the new addition to his collection of soul marks.
There it was, in the ancient language of the Baylan rune system: Zade Baru-Nok, high physician of the Raplan-B base ship and a host of other honors, had found his mate. All he could do was stare.
There was no doubt who it was. She was lying on a table in the adjoining room, unconscious, oblivious.
This female—he would need to look up her name—had been attacked by an unknown creature, lost a leg, had a new one put on by an (to her) alien, on an alien ship, and on top of all that, she was now the biological mate to him.
He scraped back his light blond hair and stared at the steel gray wash chamber wall.
For the first time in recent memory, Zade’s mind was blank.
He had not been prepared for this. He finished his shower with a moisturizing mist and pulled on one of his loose, one-piece suits reserved for downtime and training.
To be sure the markings were what he thought they were, he climbed into his reju-table and set it for a full-body scan.
Yes, the new soul markings were the marks of a mate, although the readings did alert him to the obvious fact that they were not in the customary location, below the collarbone.
It didn’t matter. Arten Dal-Allean, the Saar-king’s brother, hadn’t known he had a mate for weeks because they had appeared on his back. And yet, Arten and his lovely human mate, Chloe, had a strong bonding after a rocky start.
Zade deleted the reju-table’s findings. His staff came in here often.
A glance at the screen or a search for records could show the results of his scan.
He was not ready for them to know of his mating.
Panic strung through Zade like electrical wires.
He looked around his space—his life—and sweat cooled his palms. First and foremost, how could he treat the female while in a hypersexual state with her?
It couldn’t be done. He couldn’t even enter that adjoining room without thoughts of fornicating with her overwhelming his mind.
He was horrified to realize that he did not trust himself.
This was unsustainable for another minute.
With that thought in mind, Zade sat at his workstation—a chair in front of a great, messy collection of mounted screens, cluttered with files and images and lists—and arranged for his shuttle to be readied for immediate transfer to the research vessel Poli-4.
His parents resided there, although his father was the only one currently present.
His mother was leading a scientific mission on a distant planet and would be away for a number of cycles.
He cleared his schedule and left detailed instructions for the care of patient 33-H to Yoli and Pruk.
She was to be monitored closely. Yoli was to dress her in something comfortable that didn’t interfere with the tubes and monitors attached to her.
Only these two assistants were to care for her.
He could trust them for a short time—sweet stars, his protective instincts were showing themselves.
Hopefully he would have a better grasp on the situation when he returned.
As he was about to get up, he paused and opened the female’s file.
Ashley. That was her name. He rolled it around in his mind.
It was pretty. A little bit sad sounding, or maybe that was something he had sensed from her.
Her file said that she and the other women were attending a therapeutic healing retreat in the mountains.
Healing from what? Her body showed no sign of illness or injury.
He rose from his console and gathered up the few items he would be bringing. He left by the rear corridor, avoiding glancing through the glass wall at the female. Stars, he could not even look at her in this state. It felt like his balls were being squeezed.
Zade’s shuttle was one of the fastest made.
It had to be for him to respond to emergencies.
Each base ship had its own high physician and huge medical staffs, but there were times when help was needed on other ships.
Zade’s primary patient was the Saar-king and his family, who often traveled.
He did not go with them, but he was always ready to assist. Now, he rocketed to the vessel occupied by the former high physician of the Raplan-B for a different type of emergency.
“You have not slept.” Ger Baru-Nok looked barely older than Zade himself.
Despite being retired for some time from the high-pressure position Zade now held, Baylans aged slowly and with minimal decline until shortly before their passing.
Both males looked similar, both with light hair and bright blue eyes.
Ger was also tall, with a sprinkle of white at his temples and a generous laugh.
The older male was not laughing now, however, as he met his son at the shuttle hangar.
“Come.” He ran a hand down the front of his loose, white jumpsuit and turned to the central corridor.
“You look like you are about to fall over.”
Zade felt about to fall over. He walked beside his father as the corridor opened to a massive atrium, all glass and lights in hundreds of different spectrums. One could be forgiven for forgetting that this was a ship and not the surface of a planet.
Plants grew in forests, and fields, and along streams. Insects and creatures vital to the survival of certain species buzzed, and flew, and stalked among the plants in different habitats.
A lake housed an enormous underwater laboratory.
Everything in this place was documented and analyzed.
And this was just one section of the ship.
It went on and on like this, into laboratories that developed cures and treatments and vaccines.
The Baylans encountered many, many worlds with their own potentials for pathogens and illness.
Usually, Zade loved walking through the Poli-4. The sights were a marvel to the senses, but today, he kept his gaze on the path before him and stuck to his father’s side in silence.
They arrived at the Baru-Nok residences.
Ger ordered them food through the interface and within moments, meals slid up through an opening in the table and onto the white surface before them.
The sunken, cushioned seating area, designed by Zade’s mother, was a riot of bright colors that did not match Zade’s mood. He took a few bites, but couldn’t eat.
“You are here for a reason,” said Ger. “Speak.”
Zade sighed. “What I tell you is between you and me. No one else.”
“Very well,” Ger replied, brows raised.
Instead of getting the words out, Zade leaned forward. He braced his head in his hands, elbows on knees and shook his head. “It appears I have a mate.”
He did not need to see his father to know his reaction.
The elder Baylan clapped his hands together with a bark of joy.
“This is most welcome news. Your mother will be overjoyed to hear she will be gaining a daughter. Who is the female? One of your colleagues?” Ger asked, then dropped his brow into a frown.
“Are you not pleased about this development? I recall you saying that you desired a mate, a family. Yet, you do not appear happy.”
“I do not know what I am,” muttered Zade. “The female is a human who was sent to me for specialized treatment. You may have heard of the incident? Earth has an unidentified creature at large.”
“I did hear of this.” Ger stroked his chin. “It attacked a group of females.”
“33-H—I mean, Ashley—required a leg reconstruction. I was chosen because I have experience with human patients and we have the technology to heal her. But when I touched her…” He pulled open his suit to reveal the markings on his ribcage. “These appeared.”
His father smiled broadly. “The circumstances that brought you and your mate together are irrelevant. Your bonding is destined, and a cause for celebration.”
Zade took a deep breath and questioned his wisdom in coming here. Ger was thinking as a father, rather than an advisor, and Zade needed the latter.
“The female is an unconscious human,” he said slowly.
“And I…” he paused, unsure how to word the next part.
His pride was rearing up at this inopportune time.
“I am unsure how to address the demands of the bonding on the body. I cannot mate with her, and the urge to do so is overwhelming when I am in her presence.”
“It is not so bad,” his father began. “It is simply—”
“I have been consumed by my work,” Zade cut in. He closed his eyes, uncomfortable about the next part, which was the cause of his acute problem with Ashley. “I have not seen to the base needs of my body in quite some time.”
“Ah.” Ger sat back and rubbed his chin. “I feared your ambition and rise to the head of all these research teams would come at a cost. You have not visited a Stritta, then?”
“No. Not in…” Zade shrugged, unable to recall the last time he visited a Stritta, those honored, pampered Baylans who enjoy the pleasures of the flesh with many partners and have no desire for a mate.
“I do not remember. I work. I train with the Saar-king. I take induced restorative sleep when time permits. I eat while I am answering correspondences or doing research. There is nothing else.” Saying it aloud sounded terrible.
When had that happened? Bit by bit, he had cut out everything from his life that was not related to his profession.
It had happened gradually, with each new soul marking and advancement.
“You will need to make changes,” said his father, gently. “I see your problem.”
Zade could not keep the desperate edge from his voice. “Do you see a solution?”
“There are several. First, you could send the female to a different physician, possibly on another ship, where she can be treated until she is healthy enough to be returned to you.”
Everything in Zade revolted at the suggestion. “No,” he said without hesitation. The thought of his mate on a colleague’s reju-table, being tended by a staff he did not know, did not trust, was simply unthinkable. “Just being away from her now is uncomfortable.”
Ger nodded. “The other solution is more uncomfortable.”
“What is it?”
His father eyed Zade with a mixture of sympathy and calculation.
“If you cannot be sure of your impulses around her, you can wear an eniband and set it to dispense a hormone suppressant. You would have to experiment with the dosage, but I expect a healthy Baylan in the throes of the bonding would need quite a high dose.” Ger frowned.
“It goes against the body’s natural process, but if you have not been seeing to your needs, you would need to take precautions, for her safety. ”
Zade made a sound of disgust and abruptly rose. “I am sworn to help my patients, not terrorize them.”
“You can send your female here,” Ger suggested. “Your mother would abort her mission and return for something as important as this. We can look after her.”
“No, she is mine.” Zade shook his head. “I mean, she is my responsibility.”
Ger smiled knowingly. “You will get through this. It is something all bonding partners experience. She will feel it too, once she is well. Being human, she may not understand what is happening to her.”
“I will explain everything to her after she is awake and healthy.” Zade could not fathom that conversation. The v-link communicator in his ear chirped at him. He recognized the pattern as Yoli’s and opened the link.
“Zade,” his assistant said. “Patient 33-H is conscious.”
His heart thumped hard in his abdomen. “She is?”
Yoli paused. “You asked us to inform you of any status changes regarding the human. If we misunderstood…”
“No,” he cut her off. “I am returning now.”
“Uh, okay.” Yoli sounded utterly confused by him.
He tapped his earpiece, ending the conversation before he felt compelled to offer an explanation he was not ready to give.
“When are you going to tell your staff?” asked Ger.
Zade moved to the exit. “When I have to.”
“They will not think less of you.” The older male stood up and crossed his arms. “You should not think less of you. This is a gift, not a burden.”
He said nothing for a moment, allowing Ger’s words to sink in.
His father had hit on something there. It was supposed to be a gift, yes, but it felt like a burden.
It was something he was not an expert on, and for someone who was an expert in many things, this was unsettling. “Please give my best to Mother.”
Ger nodded. “So what are you going to do?”
Zade approached the door and it slid open. “I will not be feared by one of my patients or my mate,” he replied roughly. “I will wear the eniband.”