Gateway to HeVan (3 page)

She motioned for Recca and Rufan to help her out of the chair.
  They each took an elbow and lifted, then placed her on the floor.  She strode forward, hands on her hips, and then shook her finger at him.

“We absolutely plan on staying here until we talk
to King Ben KowLer.  I have a strong desire to give him a piece of my mind.  If you call one single warship to come near my granddaughters, you will finally succeed in making me angry.  I have hundreds of pregnant women on this ship, including the heir to the HeVanian throne.  So I highly suggest you shape up and act with civility.  I have nothing more to say to you until you can speak in a pleasant tone and with good manners.”

After her statement, she turned and strode from the room.  Her three
Ankida
―Rale, Recca and Rufan, followed behind her in a show of support. 

Arjun moved around and sat in the Command chair.  He smiled at
CaliBan, whom he could see was annoyed, flabbergasted, angry, and slightly in awe.  Arjun appreciated his reaction.  As he and his brothers had courted and finally won Addie, he’d dealt with Glynnis’s methods directed at him as well.

“
Ral―let me give you a little history.  Our High Queen’s daughter, the heiress to the throne, was lost in space, along with her mates.  While she was gone, her mother, the High Queen, was poisoned.  As the only remaining direct descendants of the High Queen, I and my brothers, after receiving a sign and a weak transmission, went in search of the daughter, now High Queen of HeVan.”

He was pleased to see he had captured
Ral’s attention and interest. 

“After nearly two hundred years, when we found the queen, we discovered proof her ship had also been sabotaged.  Her
Ankida
died saving the lives of the crew.  This also brought on premature labor and the birth of Tamiel’s three sons.  She had to be put in stasis due to her serious injuries and leave her sons to be raised by others.  The nearest planet within range, which was habitable, was in an era of pre-history without any technology.  The crew sacrificed everything to keep Tamiel alive.  Those men, who weren’t
joined
, mated with the indigenous peoples.  Tamiel’s sons grew up, thrived as best they could and also mated with women from this primitive planet.”

At this point in the story, Arjun paused; there were certain aspects
which could not be shared with outsiders.  He quickly edited parts of the history which highlighted the treachery of Durga of the House of Purgat.

“When we arrived, Tamiel had just been awakened from her stasis by her own
descendant.  Tamiel revealed that her mother had foreseen her own death and passed her power to her daughter.  Tamiel, in turn, passed the power of the High Queen to her descendant just before leaving this plane to
join
her
Ankida
and her sons.  The new High Queen’s powers quickly manifested.  She drew other descendants to her and many of them agreed to emigrate to HeVan.  All but four of the women are
joined
to members of my original crew.  As a result of being in the vicinity of our High Queen, they have all become pregnant.  The High Queen herself is
joined
and carries six babies.  She is on bed rest and must not be stressed.”

Arjun stopped speaking for a moment to allow his words to sink in.

“Every warrior on this vessel and on the Venger would give his life for any one of the women and, most especially, our queen.  Please pass this message and all we’ve related to your ruler.  We have no quarrel with the KowLer as a people, and would prefer to remain on good terms with you.  Make no mistake; we will defend our queen to our last breath.”

Arjun and Kylan as well as every crew
member on the Bridge stood to show their solidarity.

CaliBan
was moved by the story.  The HeVanians had made no outward shows of aggression, only those of defense.  He would relate their story to his ruler and leave it to Ben KowLer to make the decision whether or not to enforce the new treaty terms.

Hakor Rodan was never so glad in his life that his long-lost kin had decided, at the last minute, to come to HeVan to find her true match.  He had to tell his mate, Maggie, that his brother, Makor, her other mate, was being rushed to the medical bay with serious injuries.  Maggie would want other women around her and he knew Natalie, the only female on the ship of his lineage, would be glad to help.

He passed his hand over the door sensor.  The door was locked but it would sound a chime within Natalie’s quarters.  A few moments later, Natalie opened the door, her roommate and best friend, Jennifer, standing a few feet behind her.

“Hakor, what’s up?  It’s the sleep cycle, isn’t it?  We didn’t get confused again?” asked Natalie.

“Natalie
—no, you are not confused.  Makor’s fighter was badly damaged coming through the Gate.  He’s being rushed to medical.  Would you and Jennifer dress and meet me there?  I know Maggie would appreciate having others around her,” he said in a rush.

Both women immediately gave him hugs and promised to dress quickly and be there for Maggie.  As Hakor left and went running down the hallway, Natalie closed the door and turned to Jennifer.

“Have you noticed Maggie hanging out with any of the other women?  Do you know if she’s made any close friends?” she asked.

“Actually,
Maggie was a nurse back on Earth.  Hasn’t she been working with Catherine, helping with all the prenatal exams?” asked Jennifer, as she pulled on a t-shirt.

“That’s right
.  Let me give her a call,” Natalie said, as she walked over to the communications panel.  A few minutes later, they left their quarters and were hurrying to the medical bay.  They got there at the same time as Hakor with Maggie and right behind Catherine―Catherine’s quarters being across the hall from the medical bay.

Maggie had tears in her eyes
and as soon as she saw Catherine, they spilled over.

“Is he...is he alright?” she stuttered out.

“He’s in surgery. I’ll go and check on him in just a moment,” Catherine said, as she gently steered Maggie to a chair.  “But first, I want to make sure you’re okay.”

“I’m not the one who was in an explosion in outer space, Cat!” said Maggie heatedly.

“You
are
the one carrying twins.  Makor has a full team on him.  I’m the doctor who takes care of
you
, remember?  I understand how upset you are, but you need to keep calm.  Take some deep breaths.  There’s no reason to panic until we know what’s happening, okay?” she said as she rubbed Maggie’s back.

Natalie came over and said, “Here’s some soothing tea for you, Maggie.  Why don’t Jennifer and I sit with you and Hakor so Catherine can go and see what’s up with your other mate, huh?”

Taking a deep breath and wiping the tears from her face with her hands, she took the mug of tea.  Luckily, Natalie had only filled it half-way because her hands were shaking so much.  Hakor put his arms around her and helped her hold the mug so she could drink a little.

Natalie sat on the coffee table in front of Maggie, “Did you know your mates are distant cousins of mine?” she asked.

Maggie hadn’t been expecting that.  She looked up at Natalie with a questioning look on her face. “What do you mean?”

“
All of the Nephilim women on Earth are descended from those survivors from the Queen’s shuttle, right?” asked Natalie, waiting for Maggie to give her a nod of understanding.

“Well, if you look at your own medical file, it will tell you which member of the crew you’re descended from and which
House on HeVan your ancestor belonged to.  When we all arrive on HeVan, you choose to go with your mates to their House or bring your mates to yours.  Jennifer and I figure we’ll check out the weather and industries for both and then decide.  I’d like to live someplace similar to what I was used to in Chicago.  You know, you probably have cousins on the Venger.  I was told representatives from every House are there,” finished Natalie.

“She is correct, my Maggie.  The custom on HeVan is for the male to leave his
House and follow his female.  Your ancestor must have held a high office to have been on Tamiel’s ship.  There may be an estate waiting for you,” he said.

“You and Mak have told me lots of stories about growing up in Empyrea and I assumed we would be going there.  Why didn’t you mention this before?” she asked him.

“We didn’t make the connection between Natalie and Jennifer knowing about their Houses and you not.  We were both so humbled and overjoyed to have met you, nothing else mattered but you,” he said, leaning over to give her a kiss.

The doors to the hallway opened.  Glynnis and her three
Ankida
came into the waiting room.

“Hello
, dears, is there any news?” she asked, walking over to give Maggie a hug.

Hakor stood but before he could bow, Glynnis waved him back.  “
I will have none of that pomp and circumstance now, young man.  You just hold on to your mate.” 

Glynnis turned to Maggie and asked, “What’s your name, dear?  I don’t think we’ve met before.”

“I’m Margaret Kern.  My friends call me Maggie.  I was with the women who met their mates during the Sci-Fi convention.  Catherine went in to see how Mak’s doing, but she hasn’t come back yet,” she said, tears starting to shimmer in her eyes.

Natalie, wanting to distract Maggie’s mind with other things, brought up what they had been discussing earlier.  “Regent Glynnis, do you have the ability to look up Maggie’s medical file?” Natalie asked the older woman.  “We want to see which
House she’s descended from.”

“That won’t be necessary
.  Just look at the necklace she got for Christmas.  The emblem of her House should be on there.  I’m surprised you didn’t remember that, Natalie, you helped make the Christmas presents.  And call me Granny. I like to think of all you girls as my granddaughters,” said Glynnis.

“I was so busy doing the armbands, I didn’t realize. 
Since Jennifer and I are not mated, there wasn’t anyone to explain it to us.  That’s great, though.” 

Natalie
turned to Hakor, “Why didn’t you tell Maggie what the necklace meant?”

Hakor’s face flushed a bright red.  “Generally, my eyes veer toward Maggie’s beautiful eyes.  Or somewhat
farther south,” he confessed, causing Maggie to let out a gurgling laugh.

Glynnis asked Maggie to describe her necklace and Rale was able to identify the
House.

“That is the House of Azure.  It is in the mountains north of HeVanth.  You are a blessing.  The House of Azure is nearly extinct.  They have less than ten thousand inhabitants now, nearly all males.  They are well known for their fighting skills and also for their weaving.  They make the best carpets and cloth.  They are a wealthy province because of the many valuable ores and rare earths found there,” he explained.  “We have emissaries from the House of Azure on the Venger; they will be very happy to learn of your existence.”

Before Maggie could answer him or ask any more questions, Catherine came back in the room and everyone turned to her.

“Okay, he’s
got a chance; let me just tell you that first.  He’s going to need extensive treatment and will be in medical for the remainder of the voyage.  Then he’ll have to be transferred to another medical facility, planet-side.  There was a fire within the cockpit of his fighter and he’s badly burned.  He hit his head during the explosion and fractured his skull.  The surgery is to relieve pressure on the brain.  He’s currently in a drug-induced coma because the pain would be too severe to withstand while conscious.  Healing the burns will take the longest time, as there was deep tissue damage, but he
will
heal completely in time,” she said.

“How long will it take?” asked Maggie, as she brushed at the tears on her face.

“Six months, minimum.  More likely, it’ll be closer to nine months.  Be very glad he’s here, Maggie.  As a nurse, I know you’ll want to take care of him yourself.  For now, he’s going into a float tank with only his eyes, nose and mouth above the fluid.  The fluids in the tank assist in tissue regeneration and will help his body re-grow skin.  He’ll be in the tank for the first three to four months of his recovery.  Do you have any questions?” Catherine asked.

Hakor and Maggie both had a lot of questions so Natalie gave up her seat on the table in front of them.  While Catherine spoke quietly with them, Rale went over to the communications panel and made a call to the
Bridge.  He informed Arjun of Makor’s status and requested the Azure Consuls be allowed to come over from the Venger.

Arjun hailed the Venger on an open frequency and made arrangements for Lords Peet and Reeko Enlil to transfer to the Explorer as quickly as possible.  Ral
CaliBan interrupted the transmission to argue against their movements and Arjun quickly explained he had no control over them.  He also reminded him that if they attempted to override the lock on the Gate station’s weapon systems, they would trigger the self-destruct mechanism.  Ral wasn’t pleased with the reminder.

Two hours later, the two Azure Lords came on board the Explorer and were shown to new quarters.

“We’re putting you on deck six with the other bachelor males.  Decks four and five are for those who have been
joined
,” explained the crewman, as he showed them the way.

“What of the Azurian female, where is she?” asked Lord Peet.

“One of her
Ankida
was in the fighter that suffered coming through the Gate.  She is in the main medical bay on deck eight along with her other
Ankida
, the Regent and her
Ankida
and others.”

Peet and Reeko stopped and immediately put down the large cases each carried.  “Please see that our things are taken to our quarters.  We wish to be taken directly to the medical bay,” said Peet.

The crewman gave them a sharp nod and stepped over to a communications panel to relay the request to another crewman. 

“You honor your kinswoman.  I will take you directly to the medical bay,” he said with a short bow.

Maggie, Hakor, Natalie, and Jennifer were still in the waiting room.  Glynnis’s
Ankida
had urged her to leave when she started falling asleep in her chair.  Catherine had gone back in to check on Makor; she was worried about allowing Maggie in to see him.  She was trying to come up with a way to hide his injuries from Maggie’s sight so Catherine was consulting with her own
Ankida
.

Finally, they came up with two things.  First, they put a solid polymer coating on the outside of the float tank which could be easily removed when necessary.  Second, they put an inert dye in the tank fluid so it was opaque.  Makor’s head had not been burned so seeing his face shouldn’t upset Maggie too much.  Catherine didn’t want Maggie seeing his wounds.  As a nurse, she would have a very good idea of the damage and level of pain he would be feeling.  The less she saw, the better she’d be able to cope and the less chance of her going into premature labor.  With so many pregnant women on the ship to care for, it was imperative they all maintain their calm.  All of the women were between five and seven months pregnant.  Addie was the longest pregnancy
at nearly eight months, and likely the first to give birth.

Natalie was getting another mug of tea for Maggie when Peet and Reeko were shown into the medical bay.  They went directly to Hakor.

“I apologize if we are disturbing you.  I am Peet Enlil and this is my brother, Reeko.  We understand your mate is also of the House of Azure.”

“Yes,
we just found out today.  I didn’t realize the necklace was a link to my heritage,” said Maggie in a soft voice, directing their attention to her.

“You’ll find it’s a rich heritage.  We’re quite happy to have you
joining
the House of Empyrea,” said Peet.

“As to that, all of the women who agreed to emigrate decided we would choose which House we would belong to―ours or the House of our
Ankida
.  Hakor says when he left HeVan you had almost no women in your House.  We’ll consult with Makor―when he’s feeling better, of course, but we may decide to
join
the House of Azure.  I hope you can tell us more about my lineage and House.  The culture I come from is a democracy, not a matriarchy like HeVan. After we discuss it together, we’ll decide,” said Maggie.

“Thank you for your honesty. 
There are currently no women within our House.  The last died some fifty years ago.  I hope you and your
Ankida
, once Makor has recovered, visit and decide to stay,” said Reeko with a smile and a bow.

At that point, Natalie returned with Maggie’s tea.  At the same time, Catherine and Rapha entered through the other door
to take Maggie and Hakor back to see Makor for a few minutes.  Natalie held back, staring at the two new men, as Maggie and Hakor followed Catherine out of the room.  She walked over and sat down next to Jennifer.

“Peet, Reeko, I’d like to introduce you to Natalie.  She’s kin to Hakor and Makor. 
Natalie belongs to the Empyrean House and I belong to the House Nirvana. We’ve grown close to Hakor and Makor.  So whatever they decide, we’ll go along with that. At least until we meet our
joins
.  We may decide to go with them.  Natalie and I have been best friends since we were small children.  Moving to a new world, leaving everything behind that we knew―well, we didn’t want to be separated.  Hakor and Makor are very protective of us; it made sense to stick with them,” said Jennifer.