Beloved Stranger: Gaian Series, Book 5 (13 page)

Sonja stared at him, her expression stunned. “She’s a mother? Already?”

Roan reached for her hand. “You should have known that would be a possibility.”

She shook her head. “No. I imagined that they would have used birth control. Why would anyone decide to have a child in a prison?”

“Sometimes babies happen without planning.”

“I know that. But still.” She looked upset, and Roan thought he knew why. If her sister had a baby, there was a strong possibility she wouldn’t want to leave her husband. Roan was certain Sulla wouldn’t want to leave anyway. He didn’t believe a Gaian wife would leave her husband under any circumstances, even if she hadn’t been eager to go to the marriage meet. Once married, Gaian couples formed a strong bond.

Sonja simply didn’t understand how strong that bond could be. At least not yet. He hoped he’d be able to convince her in the next two days.

For him the child was good news. This sister at least was unlikely to abandon the father of her baby. Maybe if neither of her sisters wanted to leave, Sonja would want to stay here to be near them.

“What about Suna? Didn’t you find her?”

Allan hesitated. “I found her in the files, but her address was marked as invalid. She was married too, to a man named Miles Gordon.”

“Miles Gordon?” Roan frowned. “That name’s familiar.”

“I know. It rang a bell for me as well, but I couldn’t think of where I heard it. I was going to search more, but someone came by and tried the door to the office. I’d locked it, but I decided it would be better to leave as quickly as possible, so I copied the rest of the files without reading them. I’ll look through them later on. In the meantime, perhaps your other sister knows more.”

“Well then, we’ll have to go talk to her and find out,” Roan said. “But not now.” He waved one of the waitresses over to take their order. “Let’s each lunch first.”

Stuffed from lunch, Sonja leaned back against the seat of yet another capsule on the long shuttle ride to Delta Residence, where her sister lived. She and Roan were traveling alone, Allan heading back to Beta Residence to study the files he’d copied and find a clue as to Suna’s mysterious whereabouts.

Roan sat next to her but still seemed to hover protectively even when no one seemed to be paying any attention to them. On the earlier shuttle she’d noticed more than a few of the men looking at her and Roan with looks of envy, but she didn’t think that justified his proprietary air.

His attitude was getting old. She didn’t belong to him, and she didn’t need protection. She’d been doing a pretty good job of taking care of herself for years now. If Roan wanted to be her husband, he’d have to get used to that. She really ought to tell him that…

Sonja caught herself. What was she thinking? Roan wasn’t really her husband, at least not in her mind, and she wasn’t going to be around him long enough for him to get used to anything about her.

When they arrived at the shuttle station, she immediately noticed that the differences between the bubbles weren’t limited to the way the occupants dressed. The bubble called Delta Residence differed from Beta Residence in that the buildings were larger and closer together with less space devoted to open landscaping.

In between the buildings were many pockets of playground equipment, which she now realized Beta Residence had lacked. This was where couples with children lived. Young women carrying babies and men holding small children by the hand occupied many of the small parks.

The idea that anyone would deliberately have a child while confined to a prison had surprised Sonja, but the evidence was everywhere. Obviously Gaians didn’t consider it a bad thing to raise a child here.

Roan seemed to be reading her thoughts. “The men here have waited years to have a family, so it isn’t too surprising that after they get a wife they’d want children as well.”

“I can see that,” Sonja said. “It isn’t that this place is unpleasant. It isn’t. But a mining colony is dangerous. And what happens when the children get older and need to go to school?”

“By then the families will be back on Gaia. Most prisoners are only here for five- to ten-year terms.”

Sonja absorbed that idea. “I hadn’t thought of that.”

“There are some schools, mostly here in Delta Residence.” He looked over at a man throwing a ball to an older boy who looked to be about six years old, and Sonja saw his expression change and soften. Obviously Roan wanted a family.

Too bad he picked the wrong woman to marry. She couldn’t see herself having kids, at least not for a long time. Not that she would be here that long…

Roan turned to her, interrupting her thoughts. “As for the colony being dangerous, we actually have far less crime here than you’d expect. And no one hurts our wives and children. That wouldn’t be tolerated.”

“What about mining accidents?”

“Those happen,” he admitted. “And more often than anyone likes. But it is the men who are at risk. The protections on the bubbles keep anything that happens down in the mines from endangering the people up here. It is at least as safe to be in a bubble as it would be to live in a space station.”

Sonja looked at the neatly dressed men and women playing with their offspring and couldn’t think of an argument to counter Roan’s. After all, children had been born and raised in space stations for well over a hundred years now. The deceptively fragile-looking dome over her head might not seem protection enough against the risk to a child’s life, but it was no worse than the metal and plastisteel boxes that made up most of the ships and stations that dotted the galaxy.

Here there was adequate water, light, and while the exterior of the planet was inhospitable, it boasted a near-perfect gravity field. Kids born here had at least as many advantages as those born on a space station.

Roan consulted the numbers on a set of nearby buildings and compared them to the one Allan had given him for Sulla’s apartment. “I think it’s this way,” he said.

She followed him down a side path away from the main path through the bubble. Their route was surrounded with plantings, tall trees and short bushes, and in between those the ground was covered in grass.

Here, for the first time since arriving at Ares Five, Sonja saw signs of disrepair. Bare patches marred the smoothness of the lawn, there were few flowers and the bushes crowded together, overgrown and misshapen with broken branches. At times it was even difficult to see beyond the curve in the path.

Sonja wondered at the neglect. “Why isn’t this place as well cared for as Beta Residence?”

“It costs less to live here so there are probably fewer funds spent on maintenance. Plus there are a lot more children here so there would be more wear and tear. However—” He pointed to the playground equipment next to the building. Three of the five swings were broken, the seats either missing or in one case dangling from one chain.

“—that should have been fixed, for certain. We didn’t see that in the other parts of the residence, so they must only fix what is easily seen.”

He looked about, as if uneasy. “Let’s find your sister’s apartment quickly.”

“I thought you said there wasn’t any crime in the bubbles.”

“I said there was less than you might expect.” He continued to eye the dense bushes at the side of the path as if he’d seen something hidden there. “But that doesn’t mean there isn’t any at all. I don’t like how overgrown this place is.”

They picked up the pace and quickly found the building they were looking for, hurried into the building and took the lift to Sulla’s floor. Again Sonja noticed the shabbiness of her surroundings, worn floors and walls that could have stood a fresh coating of sealant. Even the lift seemed slow and shook when they reached the right floor. Sonja also noticed that it hadn’t been necessary to use any kind of identification to get inside.

Between the state of the building, lack of security and Roan’s uneasiness, Sonja knew she had to get her sister out of here. She couldn’t leave Sulla in a place like this.

They found the apartment number matching Sulla’s and knocked on the door. After a few long moments, the door opened, revealing a woman with a far-too-slender figure, blonde hair and a familiar face. Blue eyes widened as she silently took in who was on her doorstep.

“Sonja? Is it really you?” her sister said.

Sonja threw her arms around Sulla and hugged her like she would never let her go. “Yes, sis. It really is me.”

Chapter Eleven

Sonja held her three-year-old niece and no longer wondered if it was possible to fall in love at first sight. The instant she laid eyes on Alice, Sulla’s daughter, she’d gone head over heels. Perhaps this business of her sister having a child wasn’t so bad after all. It certainly gave her someone new to love.

She, Roan and Alice sat on the living-room couch as Sulla bustled around the place, ignoring their refusal for refreshments by bringing out water, javi and an assortment of snacks. Some things never changed, Sonja reflected. Her sister always loved to party and eat given any excuse.

Not that it showed on her now. If anything, Sulla was too thin.

The interior of Sulla’s apartment was comfortable, and unlike the grounds around it, tidy and well tended. Clearly her sister spent a lot of time caring for her child and her home.

And probably her husband if the way she catered to Roan was any indication. Sulla seemed anxious to make the man feel at home, even serving him his cup of javi first. It was odd to see her fiercely independent sister behaving that way. Perhaps marriage changed a woman. If so, that was one change Sonja had no intention of mimicking.

Not that she was going to stay with Roan, so there was no reason for her to worry about changing. She was temporarily married,
temporary
being the operative word.

Finally satisfied her guests had been given more than they’d asked for, Sulla turned her attention to Sonja. “When did you get here? Where are you staying?”

“I got here yesterday and am staying with Roan over in Beta Residence.” Sonja pointed to the man next to her. “He agreed to help me find you and Suna.”

“Beta Residence?” Sulla’s eyes opened wide. “That’s really nice. How lucky for you.” She turned to Roan. “You must be Sonja’s husband?”

“Yes,” he answered before Sonja could. “I’m Roan Duman.”

“For the next two days,” she added.

Sulla looked confused. “What do you mean by that?”

“I have three days before our marriage is legal, so Roan asked me to stay with him the entire time.”

Sulla still looked confused. “I don’t understand. Why wouldn’t you stay married? What else are you going to do here?”

“I’m not going to stay, Sulla. I’m here to rescue you and Suna.”

“Rescue me?” Sulla started. “But I’m married…I have a child,” she said hesitantly. Then her voice grew firm. “I can’t leave.”

“Of course you can. The marriage wasn’t your idea. You didn’t agree to it.”

Sulla shook her head. “I wasn’t willing to go to the meet, but I did find Tron there. I had time to make up my mind before the marriage was legal, and I stayed with Tron.” She pointed to the little girl now napping in Sonja’s lap. “Obviously it has been far longer than three days since I was married. Besides,” she said, a soft smile forming on her face, “I’ve fallen in love with him. I know Tron would do anything for me or our child. He loves us so much.”

A hard knot formed in Sonja’s stomach as she realized that Roan had been right. She’d come all this way to rescue her sisters and they didn’t want rescuing. She couldn’t help letting her disappointment show. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t able to get to you sooner.”

Sulla took her hands and smiled sadly. “Don’t tell me that all this time you have felt guilty about Suna and me. It wasn’t your fault, Sonja. There was nothing you could have done to help us.”

“How else could I feel? I promised I’d keep you safe and then I didn’t. You were gone before I could work out a way to escape.”

“You got away from the slavers?” Delightedly, Sulla clapped her hands. “Tell me all the details.”

Sonja told her about learning how to unlock her door and then stowing away on the slaver ship’s life pod. Her sister exclaimed in horror at how easily Sonja could have died without being found.

Roan watched and said nothing, his face showing none of his thoughts. Sonja wondered why he didn’t look happier that he’d been proven right. And he had been right. Sulla obviously cared deeply for her husband and didn’t want to leave him. Sonja looked at Roan and wondered what it would take for her to feel the same way about a man.

She sighed. “I suppose Suna feels the same as you do. At least I can see her before I leave.”

Sulla’s face grew troubled. “Actually, seeing Suna is a problem.”

“I can’t see her? Why not?”

“Because I don’t know where she is. I haven’t seen her in months. Besides that, Suna might be eager to leave.”

Looking startled, Roan leaned closer. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that since her husband Miles died, she doesn’t have any reason to stay here.”

“Her husband is dead?”

“Some kind of mining accident five months ago. There were few details the company was willing to tell us other than the body count.”