Laura Jo Phillips (16 page)

Summer opened her mouth to argue further, but Doc held up a hand.  “I also think it would be best to observe Miss Rebecca for awhile, make sure that whatever you and Saige did doesn’t have a bad effect on her.”

Summer couldn’t argue with that and from the smug expression on Doc’s face, he knew it.  “Fine, I know I’m being manipulated, but honestly I am too tired to argue further.”

 “Saige, would you mind if I used a different guest room so that Summer can sleep without me waking her when I go in?” Darleen asked.  “I want to stay and help Doc with this patient.”

“Of course not,” Saige replied.  “I will ask Lessie to prepare the room next to Summer’s.  Would that work?”

“That would be wonderful, thank you,” Darleen replied.  She turned to Summer.  “Do you want me to walk back to the room with you?”

“No, I’ll be fine,” Summer replied.

“We will accompany her,” Maxim announced, much to Summer’s surprise.

“Okay,” she agreed reluctantly, not wanting to start an argument when he seemed to be feeling nice toward her for a change, though she was irritated by his imperious tone.  “But first I need to find Lio.”

“Why?” Maxim asked.

Maxim’s demanding tone caused Summer’s defenses to flutter, but she was just too worn out to argue with the man.  “Because if I don’t tell him to lay down and go to sleep, he will stand in that corner all night long,” she explained as patiently as she could.

“I don’t see the problem with that,” Maxim replied testily.

Summer frowned.  “Look, I know the man is horrible, and that what he did to Darleen was evil, and that he deserves to pay for that.  But
I
am not evil, nor is it up to me to determine what his punishment should be for his crimes.  I admit that injecting him with a Controller was wrong, and if necessary I will pay the price for that.  But I did it because we need him, or rather, we need the knowledge inside his head.  We all do.  I did not do it so that I could torture him.”

Something about the set of Maxim’s features softened just a little bit.  “Nor would I ask you to torture him,” he said.  “I apologize for my rudeness.  We will escort you to him so that you can do what you must.  Then we will see you to your room.”

Summer didn’t think she needed three big men to escort her around the house, but she had no wish to break this small peace between herself and Maxim so she just nodded.  “Okay, thank you,” she said.

She spent another few moments saying goodnight to Darleen, setting up a time to meet with Saige to heal the other two women, and agreeing to attend Faron’s interrogation of Lio the next day before finally leaving the med-lab with the Katres.  It wasn’t until much later, after she was snuggled up warm and cozy in bed, almost asleep, that she realized nobody had ever gotten around to telling her what an Arima was.

Chapter
20

Maxim stood staring at the door for a long time after Summer went inside and closed it, deep in thought.  Loni and Ran waited patiently, deep in their own thoughts as well.  Finally he turned, looked at his brothers and sighed. 

“Let’s talk,” he said.  He turned and led the way back up the hallway and out of the Lobos’ home, then down the gravel path toward the air field.  It had been a very long and eventful day, but the sun had set hours before and it was drawing to a close.  The air was clear and cold, though it didn’t bother the Katres.  They enjoyed the cold. 

When Maxim was certain that they were alone, and that there was nobody close enough to eavesdrop on them, he stopped and turned to face his brothers.  “I am confused about Summer,” he admitted.  “I cannot make up my mind about her.”

“I do not understand the problem,” Ran said, relieved to have this chance to discuss the matter.  “She is beautiful, intelligent, and honorable.  Why is it you don’t like her?”

Maxim clenched his jaw tightly as though fighting to hold back words.  “I just want to be certain about her,” he said finally.  “She said a few things earlier that bothered me.  Though I understand her reasons now, I am not yet convinced of her character.  I do not want us to jump into something that we will be stuck with for the rest of our lives.”

“She is our Arima,” Ran said.  “We are
supposed
to be with her for the rest of our lives.  I also think she is the reason we have been so unsettled this past year.”

Maxim’s jaw clenched tighter, but he nodded in agreement.  He had realized that as well.

“Maxim is worried that she will be like Mara,” Loni said.  Ran turned to his middle brother in surprise. 

“But she is nothing at all like Mara,” Ran argued.  “Why would such an idea even occur to you?”

“You weren’t there this morning,” Maxim said.  “You didn’t hear her.”

“Loni?” Ran asked. 

“I did not get the same impression as Maxim,” Loni admitted.  “However, I do not disagree with his decision to take care in this.  We have seen the result of a bad choice.”

Ran shook his head.  “That’s true, though I don’t like admitting it,” he said.  “But this is different.  Summer is different.  She is our Arima.  Made for us as we are made for her.”

“Made for us, but raised on Earth,” Maxim argued.  “No, Ran,” he said when his youngest brother started to argue further.  “I know how you feel, and I understand it.  But there are things that you do not know.  Things that neither of you know.  For now, we will go slowly in this matter.”

“What things do we not know?” Loni asked. 

“Things of which I cannot speak until I know more,” Maxim said. 

“If these things concer Summer, we should be made aware of them,” Loni said calmly, though something in his tone warned Maxim that he was very serious.

“No, I know nothing more of her than either of you.  And that is the point.  I wish us to know her better, to make a careful decision and not be led by either fate or our hormones.”

“Then you speak of our parents,” Loni said.

“No,” Maxim said.  “I speak of Mara.”

It was Ran’s turn to clench his jaw.  “You’ve had a thorn in your paw about something with her ever since the accident, Maxim,” he said.  “When are you going to tell us what’s going on?”

“When I have something to tell,” Maxim replied shortly.  He turned and paced away from his brothers, then turned back.  “I’m sorry,” he said.  “I cannot say more until I am sure.”

Chapter
21

Summer slept late the next morning and, when she awoke, she was disoriented for a few moments.  It was her first morning awaking in a real bed, with a mattress and blankets, warm and comfortable, in such a long time that she had nearly forgotten what it felt like.  When Lessie brought her a tray loaded with hot food and a carafe of coffee she thought she’d died and gone to heaven.  She actually had to pinch herself to prove she wasn’t dreaming. 

The only problem was that, almost from the moment she opened her eyes, she sensed the Katres.  They were not close by, but they weren’t too far away either.  She did not sense any specific emotions from them, but she had the feeling that they were busy with something serious, though she had no idea what. 

Nor did she care, she told herself firmly as she reached for the coffee carafe.  She had just had her first sip of coffee when there was a knock at her door.

“Come on in,” she called after checking to make sure she was decently covered.  She was wearing an oversized t-shirt and a pair of shorts, presumably belonging to Saige.

The door opened and Darleen poked her head in before opening the door all the way and stepping inside.  “I’ve got a surprise for you,” she said. 

“A surprise?” Summer asked, just as a young man followed Darleen into the room lugging several suitcases.  Very familiar suitcases. 

“
Gardez donc!”
Summer exclaimed.  “My luggage!  That’s my luggage!  How?”

“Apparently the Katres contacted the security chief over at the spaceport and told them to send your luggage, and mine too,” Darleen replied.  “It just arrived a little while ago.”

“That was thoughtful of them,” Summer said, mildly surprised by the gesture.  “They had your luggage too?”

“I was heading off-planet after what I did to Saige and Lariah, so I’d sent my luggage to the spaceport early that morning.  Then Lio got me with the Controller.  They impounded my luggage, waiting for me to come looking for it, and it was still there.  Yours was with the luggage of the other missing women.  Saige said that as soon as we know the names of the other two women, she’ll contact the spaceport for their things as well.”

“I never thought I’d see any of my belongings again,” Summer said.  “Come and have some coffee with me.”

“No thanks, I’ve had enough coffee this morning,” Darleen replied. 

“Come sit then,” Summer urged, “I want to talk to you.”

Darleen hesitated, but after a moment she crossed the room to the chair beside the bed and sat down.

“Before you ask, I want to tell you that last night Faron and Saige asked me not to discuss Arimas or anything else of that nature with you.  They said it’s a private matter, and should be discussed between you and the Katres.  I told them that I understood that, and that because I owe them, I would try to do as they asked.  But I also told them that right now, my first loyalty is to you.  You freed me.  And we have a deal.  So, if you want me to tell you, I will, but I think that if Faron and Saige wanted it to be kept between you and the Katres, then they probably have a good reason for that.”

“That isn’t what I was going to ask you first, but I admit that I was going to ask you that eventually.  But now I won’t, so don’t worry about it.”

“What were you going to ask me then?” Darleen asked curiously.

“Yesterday Saige told me that if we find out where more women are, that they would help us with getting to them, and freeing them.”

“Well, that’s good.  It could be a problem for us, especially if they are on another planet,” Darleen pointed out.

“That’s true,” Summer agreed.  “Also, Faron is setting up a meeting today to interrogate Lio.  What I wanted to discuss with you is, what if they decide to leave us behind and go free the women on their own?  There’s a lot to be said for that.  We aren’t warriors, and it could be dangerous.  I doubt that anyone will think twice about it if we stayed here and let them handle it.”

“No,” Darleen said at once.  “I have to be involved Summer.  I just have to be.  There is something inside of me that needs this.”  Darleen looked down for a moment, then raised her eyes to Summer’s again.  “I would understand if you would prefer not to go.”

Summer shook her head.  “No, I have to do this too.  I just wanted to be sure you felt the same way.”

“Great,” Darleen said with obvious relief.  She reached out and snagged a piece of toast off of Summer’s tray and started nibbling on it, her face turning thoughtful.  “You know Summer, I lived here on Jasan for about a year before Lio got me.  I learned quite a bit about Clan Jasani in that time and they are very alpha men.  If they can find a way to keep us here on the sidelines while they rush off to save the day, they will.”

“Yes, that’s just what I was thinking too,” Summer said.  “But we have access to information that they don’t.”

“As soon as you let Lio answer all of their questions, they will have the information they need,” Darleen pointed out.

“Yes, well, we will just have to see about that,” Summer said.  “You and I paid a very large price for that information, and I don’t see any reason for us to give it away for free.”

“You’re gonna bargain, aren’t you?” Darleen asked.

“Well, it’s either that or lie, and I don’t lie too well.”  Summer said.

“Is it true that they can’t ask Lio questions themselves?” Darleen asked.

Summer grimaced.  “Yes, I’m afraid it is.  I didn’t mean to make that happen, but I was in a hurry when I did it, and I fixed it too good.  Unless I can figure out how to reverse what I did, he answers only to my mental commands.”

Darleen shrugged.  “It doesn’t matter.  In fact, its better this way.  If I could, I would order him to do a lot of really horrible things to himself.”

“I don’t think anyone would blame you for that Darleen,” Summer said.  “But I think it would be a bad thing for you.  He’s caused you enough damage.”  Summer smiled as she took in the short growth of blond hair on Darleen’s head, her pale, but normal complexion, and her clear eyes.  “It appears as though Doc has done a good job reversing some of it though.”

“Yes, he certainly has,” Darleen agreed, her eyes lighting up a little at the mention of Doc.  “He’s started me on a series of injections for the malnutrition, and I feel better already.  He said that when I get a little stronger, he’ll be able to fix my hip.  He’s already done so much more than I’d even hoped for, and he says there is a lot more he can do about...well, other things.”

“I’m very happy for you, Darleen,” Summer said, making a mental note to thank Doc herself.  She finished her coffee and hopped out of bed.  “Okay, there is one thing I have to make sure is still here,” she said as she reached for the largest suitcase.  “If it is, and it’s still in one piece, then nothing else really matters.”