Kneus: A Terraneu Novel (Book Four) (3 page)

Sometimes Kneus wished he were an only child. The
problem with having brothers (and friends on the council) for thousands of
years is that you don’t have any secrets! If you try to keep a secret they know
all your “tells” and could figure out when you are lying.

 
His brothers
and Thian had tried to get him to talk about his dreams or nightmares on the
walk to the swimming pond. He had managed to dodge their not so subtle attempts
at conversation, until with a sigh of relief they had made it to the children’s
swimming section. The others were distracted by the females, which gave him a
temporary reprieve from their questioning. When Amber relayed that Tabec and
Cebat were missing, he was about to volunteer to go looking for them but Kniam
beat him to it, and had left to go check their living dome for the sacath. With
his older brother gone, and the females taking the toddlers into the water he
knew it was open season on him again. It hadn’t taken long before he was once
again on the hot seat.

“Are you going to tell us the truth?” Knollig raised
the subject again.

“I would tell you if I was having any significant
nightmares.” Kneus insisted. If he could explain why he was having them, or if
they gave any clarification to his and Gwen’s search for answers, he added
silently to himself. “I think the dream I had awhile ago is just my
subconscious trying to instill a sense of urgency in my research.” Kneus tried
to put some confidence into his voice.

Knollig raised his eyebrow, “Then I think it would
be a wise decision for you to get more time outside, and tone down the pressure
you are putting yourself under.”
 

“I agree.” Knaleg frowned, “You are pushing yourself
too hard. I have been working on improving our existing weapons system. If we
don’t get any information from the archives, we can work with what we have.”

“We don’t have to crack the mystery of the blackouts
at the expense of your health.” Thian interjected.

Kneus didn’t agree but he knew they were trying to
make him feel better about his lack of success in gaining access to the early
archives. It was nice that they were trying, but he still felt an urgency he
couldn’t explain.

“I need Amber to come to our domicile.”
Kniam
broke into their conversation with mind speak.
“I want you to prepare her if
you can. Tabec has had her litter in our courtyard. You can see for yourselves
when you get here. Tell her everything is fine. I was able to get Iesti and he
says all is well.”
There was laughter in his voice so Kneus knew there was
more to the story.

“Okay who wants to tell Amber?” Kneus looked around
at the group.

“Not me.” Knaleg hurried to get out before he could
be volunteered.

“Or me.” Knollig just beat out Thian.

“No way am I doing it!” Thian scowled at Knollig.
“Where is Mairi’s grandfather when we need him?”

“He is spending a lot of time at the fabricators. I
have seen some of his creations, and they are really well made.” Knollig
answered about the location of his grandfather in-law. “I think his current
project has him making something for the twins.”

“That is a good hobby for him.” Knaleg smiled
happily for Callum, and then frowned when he remembered their current situation,
“But we need someone here that can tell Amber her precious ‘baby’ has had
babies of her own.”

“If she wasn’t so attached to that sacath it
wouldn’t be so bad.” Thian grimaced, “If anything happens to that
‘saber-toothed cat-dog’ now or its litter...” he shuddered dramatically and the
others shuddered with him. They knew what would happen if something bad
happened to Tabec. Now they had to worry about her litter as well?

“We will not even think about anything happening to
those sacath!” Knollig swore heatedly. “Mairi has talked Amber into letting her
have one of this litter, so it would be Amber and Mairi we would have to deal
with.”

Knaleg groaned, “Cat as well. If there is more than
one offspring Cat has second choice! So make that three females we would have
to deal with.”

Kneus had to disagree, “It would be all of the
females, not just those that have or want the sacath.” He argued, “They are all
exceptionally attached to Cebat and Tabec for some reason and it’s not as if
there are no other sacath in Terraneu.”

“It must be an Earth thing.” Thian muttered.

“
Have you told Amber? Is she on the way?”
Kniams
voice again cut into their conversation.

 
They all
just looked around at each other, and then hurriedly spoke in mind.
“Not
just yet.”
And “
We are telling her right now.”
And “
She will be
right there.”

Before Kniam could get impatient Kneus blurted out,
“I will do it! What a strong and fearless bunch we all are.” He turned and
hurried toward where the females and toddlers were playing in the water. The other
males were right on his heels, probably to see how fast he got shot down in
flames!

“Amber...” he began as he reached the women. “I
don’t want you to panic—”

“What? What happened? It’s Tabec isn’t it?” Amber
had turned her blue-green-purple eyes on him. He realized with discomfort that
every female was watching him. Even Knadyn, Knacayn and Brennae stilled in
their floaties to look up at him.

He swallowed hard, “it’s okay. Everything is fine—”

Again he was interrupted, “When someone says
something is ‘fine’ it usually means the opposite.” She started working on
disconnecting the floaties, the other females helping her.

“No really, there isn’t an emergency.” Kneus hurried
to explain. “Tabec has—”

“Started labor?” Amber was moving fast gathering
supplies, with the help of he other females she was almost ready to leave and
he hadn’t even gotten his message out.

“No she isn’t in labor.” Kneus insisted, “She is in
your courtyard.”

Amber stilled in packing everything up, “If she
isn’t in labor and was found, what don’t you want me to panic about?” Amber
laughed with relief, “Honestly Kneus never tell someone not to worry. It’s like
that time I told you not to move Mairi...remember that huge spider?” Both
females started laughing at the memory.

Kneus knew he had lost control of the conversation
and wasn’t sure how to get back on track. Leave it to Thian, ever blunt to
solve the problem.

“Tabec has delivered her litter in your courtyard.”
Without even pausing to take a breath he hurriedly finished, “Kniam said Iesti
is with him at your dome and has requested you.”

All four males held their breath, taking a weary
step backward waiting for Amber’s reaction.

She took in a deep breath her eyes flashing for a
second, then letting out the air in an audible rush out her nose she said, her
eyes on Kneus, “Well really why didn’t you just say so?”

Gwen smiled at the look of relief on the faces of
the men. She knew that Amber was very protective of the sacath, and judging by
Kneus’ botched attempt, it hadn’t been easy for them to tell her about the new
litter. The way Kneus had tried to break the news to Amber made him even more
endearing to her.

She hurried to interject before everyone went
charging into Amber’s living dome, “I’m not an expert on animal deliveries, but
we should probably give Tabec some space before rushing to look at the new
arrivals.” Gwen advised, “Since Iesti says everything went smoothly, I will be
around tomorrow to check out the new babies. If everything seems calm I can
sneak a peek at them. If you think it isn’t a good idea to have visitors just
have one of the males let me know.”

Jen and Mairi both nodded in agreement and assured
Amber they would follow that plan as well.

“No you won’t Mairi. You will be going directly to
the medical dome.” Gwen argued, “Don’t think I haven’t seen you grabbing your
back and the grimace on your face every few minutes now.”

“What? Did you overexert yourself in the water?”
Knollig rushed to his mate’s side.

Gwen just laughed at his lack of understanding. “She
didn’t overexert herself in the water Knollig. It’s time.” She hinted.

“The time is just at noon.” Knollig looked at the
position of the suns. “We haven’t been here very long.”

Amber let out a bark of laughter, “No, she didn’t
ask what time it is.” Amber emphasized the next words. “It...Is...time.”
 
She looked pointedly at Mairi’s stomach.

Everyone waited to see when it would dawn on him
what it meant that Mairi was having pains, and Gwen and Amber had said that it
was “time”.

“The babies?! It is that time?!” Gwen watched in
astonishment as he rushed for the entrance of the children’s swimming pond,
disappeared around the corner of the next swimming hole, and then came hurrying
back.

“I forgot you.” He stopped by Mairi and tried to
help her gather her things. He found her cover-up on the ground and attempted
to put it over her head. He was shaking so badly that all he ended up doing was
making a tangled mess of the dress and Mairi’s hair.

“Ow, Knollig. Stop.” Mairi gasped out and reached
for her head.

“Was that another pain?” Knollig panicked, “Are the
babies coming now!?”

“No, it’s not the babies, it’s my hair.” She gently
pushed his hands away and untangled the dress from her hair. Suddenly Mairi
groaned then bent at the waist. Pulling in air through her nose and then out
through her mouth. She had grabbed Knollig’s arm and was squeezing against the
pain.

“I didn’t pull your hair that hard.” Knollig
mumbled.

“You...idiot...” Mairi panted, “This
one...is...a...contraction.”

Knollig paled, which for a Terraneu male meant
something since they were so tanned and reached to pick up his mate.

“No. Don’t carry her.” Gwen interrupted. “Mairi
wants to try a natural delivery and the walk to the dome will be good for her.”

“Natural delivery?” Thian asked, “What do you mean
by ‘natural’?”

“It just means she wants minimal medical
intervention.” Jen told her mate.

“Minimal medical intervention? What about
technological intervention? Surely that doesn’t apply.” Thian seemed shocked.

“Yes. Minimal intervention of any kind.” Gwen
confirmed, “Originally we had planned to use the medical units since they are
now able to deliver a baby. However, upon reflection Mairi decided she would
like to try to deliver naturally.”

With the contraction over Mairi was able to add, “I
think the fact that the medical unit is so advanced and can help if I have any
complications has given me added confidence to try to deliver naturally.” She
smiled apologetically at Knollig when she saw the mark of her hand imprinted on
his arm.

“Is that such a good idea? What about the disaster
that Amber almost had.” Thian argued.

“My pregnancy was different from the beginning.”
Amber assured him, “Something about my body chemistry made it dangerous for me.
Some pregnancies on Earth are like that too. Gwen explained it to me. I had a
Terraneu version of eclampsia. She has been monitoring Mairi and her pregnancy
the whole time, and she is completely healthy.”

Gwen agreed saying, “Each pregnancy here on Terraneu
is going to be unique. Amber would probably have the same issues if she were to
get pregnant again. Mairi is having no complications, and if she wants to then
she should try a natural delivery.” Gwen took the time to remind Mairi, “That
isn’t to say if you change your mind we can’t use the technology available to
us.”

“I know Gwen thank you for the support.” Mairi
hurried to gather her things and get dressed before Knollig could try to ‘help’
her again.

Gwen, Mairi, Knollig and Kneus were going to make
their way to the medical done now. Amber was going to her dome to get a peek at
the new litter of sacath and check on Tabec. Then she would make her way to the
medical dome with Kniam. Thian and Jen were going to take care of the triplets
so that Amber could be there for Mairi if she was needed for moral support. Knaleg
and Cat were going to find Callum McPherson and let him know that Mairi was in
labor. Callum had let everyone know ahead of time that he was of the generation
that didn’t need too, or want to be in the delivery room. He just wanted to
know when he was a great-grandfather. With everyone on a mission they made
their way out of the swimming pond.

Gwen kept her eye on Mairi as they made their way to
the medical dome. She only had to stop a few times for contractions, so Gwen
figured they were about five minutes apart. Once they got settled in the
medical dome she would be able to examine Mairi to see how things were
progressing. Gwen hated to admit it, but even she was glad for the advanced
technology and someone like Kneus to assist if something went wrong. If it
weren’t for the help of Mairi and Catherine then Amber and/or the babies would
have died from complications all those months ago.

They finally arrived at the medical dome and Gwen
hurried to make the area private. They had curtains installed around the
medical bed, the same kind of thing you would find in any Emergency Room. She
didn’t want to limit the people who came into the dome, but she was not about
to let her patient have a complete lack of privacy. Mairi would be deciding
whom she wanted in the medical dome, and for how long. If it became too much
having a group of people around her, even if they were family and friends, then
they would have to leave.

Gwen helped Mairi change into the medical gown,
allowing her to wear two so that she felt adequately covered. When she was
settled on the bed, Gwen examined her and found to her surprise that Mairi was
almost completely dilated.

“How long have you been having contractions?” Gwen
asked as she moved to open the curtained area. Kneus was tinkering with the
equipment they would be using after the babies were delivered.

“They started late last night. I thought it was just
a false alarm at first since they were so sporadic. Instead of stopping they
just kept getting stronger, and closer together all morning.” Mairi hurried to
finish her sentence as another pain hit her.

“You have been having pain since
last night
?”
Knollig bit out. “Are you sure you don’t want the medical unit to help?” Gwen
wondered if she might not need both medical beds when she saw that he was pale,
and a little on the green side of the color scale.

“I am okay Knollig. I want to try without the
machines.” Mairi had been holding his hand in a tight grip.

“I just didn’t realize it would be so long with you
in pain.” Knollig was struggling to hide his grimace. When Mairi released his
hand he nonchalantly shook out his fingers.

“She could deliver the twins by later tonight, early
tomorrow maybe. Sometimes first pregnancies can take days before delivery.”
Gwen assured him.

Far from being comforted Knollig gasped out,
“Another six to twelve hours to days?” His eyes swung from Gwen to Mairi on the
bed and landed on Kneus. Gwen saw his brother shrug as if to say, crazy Earth
women, what can we do?

She wanted to talk with Kneus before the delivery so
turning to her friend she assured her, “Mairi I will be right over here for
just a minute.” Gwen then made her way to the equipment Kneus was working on.
When he looked at her questioningly she tried to think of where to begin.

“First let me say thank you again for all the work
you have done on the medical units for women.” She had thanked Kneus before,
but with Mairi in labor, he was going to see first hand the difference his work
was making. She wanted him to know that he was appreciated. Before he could
brush off her thanks she hurried to add, “You didn’t see how bad it got with
Amber and I’m glad that you won’t ever have to see it.”

“I felt the aftermath in a nightmare Kniam locked us
brothers into.” Kneus whispered distractedly, still pushing away on console
buttons, “It was in the nightmare that they were able to reach me while I was
in the coma.” Gwen had been studying his face avidly so when he glanced her way
their eyes locked, “If the pain the others felt was how bad it got, then I am glad
to make sure that it never happens again.” Gwen couldn’t look away from Kneus’
flashing purple eyes. She saw the determination in his face, the iron will that
he would use all the knowledge he possessed to make life safer, better for the
females if he could. “Please don’t say anything about the nightmare. Kniam
wasn’t in control of himself that night or he would never have locked us into
that experience with him.”

Gwen couldn’t help herself she reached over and
lightly placed her hand over Kneus’ “You don’t have to do everything alone you
know.” When he didn’t move his hand away she gently squeezed until her fingers
were clasped with his. “I am here to help you in any way I can if you need it.”

“Thank you Gwen. You have already helped more than
you know.” He smiled and her heart jumped madly in her chest. “You are a true
friend.”

Gwen’s smile froze on her face. Friend? She was in
the friend zone? Her previously jumping heart rate stalled, then jumped again
when Mairi let out a groan behind her. Swinging back around Gwen rushed over to
Mairi admonishing herself for getting distracted. She was determined to help
her friend and wouldn’t let Kneus’ words affect her. If he considered her a
friend that was a start at least, she would take baby steps if she had to.
Eventually he might come to feel more than ‘friendly’ towards her. With that
thought firmly planted in her head, she moved around the room planning for the
delivery ahead. Her expertise hadn’t been obstetrics but if this went like
first deliveries were prone to go, it was going to be a long night.