The Sarran Senator (8 page)

“I had Dee Dee and in recent years, I ate
out. Can we afford a cook?”

“Definitely. We’ll talk to Bron next
rising.”

“Daddy, do you want your things transported
to Soarer’s Nest?”

Sam glanced over at Tarin.
::We could wait
until we refurbish the Duchy if it’s too much trouble.::

“We have plenty of room at Soarer’s Nest. I’d
like you to have the things you cherish around you, my fox.” Sara
raised an eyebrow at the endearment, looked at her Warriors, and
wisely said nothing.

“It would be nice to have my books and
papers. Now that I have the time, I’d like to write. I’m thinking
about putting together a few courses on Earthen history. Maybe the
council would allow it to be taught at the Academy,” Sam said as he
thought out loud.

“If you put them together, most likely the
council would make the courses mandatory. We want Earth to be our
ally. The more we know about what shaped the current political
situation, the better off we are. That is why we are in such a
hurry to see your people form a planetary government. The Zyptz are
quiet and we beat them back for now and they should remain quiet
for thirty years or so, outside of a few firefights like the one
onboard the Brightstar. However, they will return in force. Even if
we triple our birthrate, we won’t have the numbers to fight them.
We either need the Earthen or a horrible new weapon.”

“As Tigger showed us, the Earthen chemical
DDT does the job, but it poisons a planet permanently. However, I
would resort to it if the Earthen aren’t ready. We have to push
Morgan.” Juraens shook his head. “Why does it have to be that it is
that bastard who is the only one capable of uniting Earth.”

“Because Morgan has no moral compass and will
do whatever is necessary to get the job done and the galaxy doesn’t
have time for Earth to learn to play nice without being
strong-armed,” Mark said bitterly.

“Who is this Morgan?” Tarin asked upon seeing
the obvious distress of his new offspring.

“John Morgan is the Army General and later
covert operative that was assigned to monitor my Treasured when it
was found he had extraordinary psy talent. Mark didn’t have an
idyllic childhood. They used him like a lab rat.”

“Translate lab rat?” Tarin asked Sam.

“An animal used for testing.” Sam hung his
head. “It was a covert operation, even the President didn’t
know.”

Tarin’s face blanched. “They would do this to
an offspring?”

“Think on it, Tarin. What would the rest of
Sarran do to those with HiPsy before the Earthen fem came and the
ability suddenly came spontaneously to a large section of the
population?” Juraens ate the last of his roast. “Excellent meal,
PaPare.”

Tarin became thoughtful. “I would hope we
wouldn’t do that, but there are some who…” Tarin’s voice trailed
off.

“Exactly…” Juraens agreed.

“Let me serve coffee and dessert.” Sara rose
as if she were sensing it was time to change the subject.

::Your femspring is a true diplomat,”
Tarin sent to Sam.

::She entertained for me since she was
sixteen cycles.::

Mark stepped into the breach. “No, PaPare,
you cooked. Basel will serve and your Warriors will clear and
clean.” Mark got up.

“Is the coffee made?”

Sara’s eyes sparkled. “Yes, just turn on the
pot. I have to talk to Bron about designing a new coffee maker to
fit the Sarran electrical current and makes coffee preparation fool
proof, so my Warriors can make it when I’m out.”

“I’m an engineer, femspring. I made the baby
monitors. Perhaps I could help.”

Sara laughed, a tinkling sound. “That would
be delightful. Mark is a bear without his coffee and Juraens is
getting just as bad.”

“Bear?” Tarin raised a brow. The three
Earthen send him pictures of a grisly.

Tarin’s eyes popped. “That bad?”

“Daddy is also that bad. I found my coffee
pots last evening, thank the Goddess. No grumpy Warriors this
dawntine.”

Tarin laughed. “I can see where this might
become a problem. If you could come to the workshop with me and
describe how such an appliance should work, I’m sure I can contrive
a prototype and we can replicate it for all the fem and their
Warriors.”

“I’ll give you the pot this moontine. I have
two.”

“There is an addictive substance in both
coffee and chocolate called caffeine. It’s mostly harmless. But you
do get cravings,” Sam told Tarin. “So, I warn you before you start,
there is a reason this is an essential import item.”

“I like the taste. Especially what we had
this dawntine that the
barista
made.”

“There is a barista on Sarran?” Sara was in
shock.

“One of the more enterprising fems set up a
shop in small building central to the council chambers, the
barracks, and the Academy. It seems she’s drawing the unbonded fem
and unpaired Warriors in after the doubletines before the moontine
meal. She had a sign last midtine advertising that she had fresh
coffee. I saw the sign and decided it would be a good place to talk
to Sam.”

“I’ll have to see if she wants to sell baked
goods with her coffee. Because I’m pregnant, I’m going to postpone
opening a bakery, but if I could supply her with fresh baked goods,
it would be to both our advantage.” Sara grinned.

“I’ll have to get you to design and fabricate
a commercial kitchen for me at CastleWater,” she said absently to
Tarin.

“I’m glad to be able to help,” Tarin said and
smiled at her.

“Sara, maybe you should ask before you
assume…” Sam chided gently.

“Oh no, my fox; on Sarran, giving a fem, any
fem, never mind our own femspring, what she needs is our primary
purpose, other than fighting the Zyptz.”

“We intend to spoil Sara for the rest of our
days. I’ll get the coffee and dessert.” Mark got up and kissed the
hot spot at the nape of Sara’s neck and she turned red because she
emitted a barely audible moan.

* * * *

Gatehouse, Castle Air: 22:00 tines

“This was a marvelous evening. I’m so happy
to have acquired two offspring and a femspring with my bonded, to
say nothing of two grandspring. Ah, yes, I meant to ask—why
Nafchael? I understand the meaning but the origin escapes me,”
Tarin asked Mark.

“On Earth, they have a culture of celebrity.
When two actors join, the media link their names. The actor Brad
Pitt got together with the actress Angelina Jolie and they became
Brangelina. They now have six offspring.” Mark chuckled.

“We should be so lucky. Although the Earthen
fem seem to be giving lie to the former low Sarran birth rate,”
Juraens said, smiling fondly at Sara.

“This is going to be like a snake digesting a
mouse. A real baby boom. There was one on Earth after the Second
World War. It changed everything.”

Tarin appeared thoughtful. “I can imagine it
would. All of the offspring and femspring clamoring for bebe beds,
bebe riders, and all of the other things young bebes need at the
same time. I think after I do Sara’s kitchen, I might do a bit of
tinkering with bebe apparatus. I could get together with Bron.
Sara, I’m sure you and Syn can come up with dozens of items I can
design that would be of use to the Zinnas.”

“The face of the planet will change. What
with the offspring and femspring the Earthen fems brought with
them, Lunas and Saxon installed a playground on board the
Brightstar so the offspring and femspring wouldn’t get bored and
therefore into trouble. It’s difficult now that most of them can
transport anywhere they want to go. Maybe you could design a
monitor for all of the older littles, like Naffie and Michael.
Goddess knows, with those two the four aides have their hands full.
We may have to get two more aides who just mind the littles. Naffie
took Michael to see Castle Water this rising.”

Tarin’s jaw dropped. “That’s halfway across
the planet.”

“Exactly…they are coming into their psy young
and it’s very strong and may only grow stronger as they age and
learn to control it better. However, it’s going to be difficult to
control them while they are so young.”

“I’m seriously thinking about staying in the
gatehouse until Syn gives birth. She can’t be expected to chase
after both of them and at least if they’re together the number of
places we have to look is halved.” Sara took a sip of Tierest
juice.

“That makes a lot of sense, I’ll speak to
Zaron,” Juraens said.

“They’re determined to be together. Michael
told me that they will alternate between houses, but will sleep
together in the same room every moontine. If Juraens hadn’t assured
me that things will not get sexual this young, I’d be petrified.”
Sara shook her head and wasn’t quite able to hide a yawn.

“My fox, I think our femspring is weary.
Let’s call Midnight and go home to Soarer’s Nest. We’ll teleport
Sam’s things next rising. I called Bron after we had coffee and
told him I wouldn’t be at the lab for a while until we got
settled.”

“He can spare you?” Sam asked.

“He said we have to get settled quickly
because the council needs Bron and I to finish testing the
anti-breach device. We have until the mixing. Bron said Naffie told
him we will find a fem there, so we’re going to have to arrange for
the Falling Waters and the Duchy to be refurbished quickly. We
can’t bring a fem to Soarer’s Nest. It’s definitely a manor for a
WarriorPair, not for a fem or Triad.

“You recently refurbished Castle Water and
the Duchy is in the same general area, by the sea. Maybe you could
recommend workmen that can get the job done quickly? I believe the
structure is sound. Anything built by the ancients is, but the
furniture needs to be aired and maybe recovered,” Tarin said to
Juraens.

“If we can get it cleaned and fitted out with
a new kitchen and baths, we could bring our fem and have her pick
out the decorations. I’m not good at that,” Sam admitted.

“I’m good at it, but I agree, our fem should
have the final say. If the house is clean and the baths and
kitchens are new, we can order linens in the house colors.”

“What are the house colors?” Sam asked.

“The dark blue of the depths of the ocean and
the silver of a fish. We linger…let’s call our feline and go home.
We can walk to the village from here and you’ll get to see the
area.”

::Midnight, are you ready to go home.::

::Yes, I must admit to needing a nap. When
we get home I’ll tell you how to make my things.::
Sam and
Tarin gave each other a sidelong glance and covered their chuckles
under a cough.

* * * *

Soarer’s Nest: 23:30 tines

Sara had fabricated a basket for them to use
to carry Midnight and they strolled through the village.

“Next rising we have to get busy. Luckily
most of the WarriorPairs on Brightstar are already bonded so the
promise rings and Asta glasses can be made right away before the
rush after the mixing.”

They reached the manor. Midnight jumped out
of his basket and walked in as soon as they opened the door.

::I’m going to take a nap in our slumber
chamber, then I’m going out to look for bancs. There will be no
bancs in our home. My size makes me an excellent hunter.::

::Thank you, Midnight. While you nap, we
will fabricate your things. Someone put a PetSmart catalog in the
fabricator, so we’ll have them for you by the time you
return,::
Sam assured their very large cat.

Midnight took himself off to the slumber
chamber. “How large is he going to be?” Tarin asked Sam.

“From what I understand, the males can be
eighteen pounds or more depending on how long they get. They can
get as long as forty-five inches.” Sam laughed.

“We’ve taken in a laptard.”

“Maybe he’ll help us hunt them.”

“What are we going to use as our house
symbol? Mark says we need one.”

Tarin walked over to what looked like a
drafting table but was in fact a holo projector for design. He
sketched in the air and showed Sam the design. There was a faint
small blue orb for Earth and beneath it ran a silver stream for the
Duchy of ClanWater. Beside the water sat a grove of Tierest
trees.

“That’s beautiful. How did you come up with
that so quickly?”

Tarin’s face flushed. “I’ve been looking at
you and thinking about us together all evening long. As delightful
as our offspring, femspring, and grandspring are, I longed to be
alone with you. But our femspring needed reassurance that I
wouldn’t take you from her so we went to her moontine meal. It was
the right thing to do.”

::I love you, my Sarran. You are perfect for
me. You understood what our Sara needed and generously gave it to
her. Let’s get our feline straightened out, then we can get on to
more adventurous pursuits.::

They looked through the catalog on the
fabricator and nothing seemed quite big enough for Midnight until
they looked in the dog section. They found a bed, fabricated scat
boxes two sizes larger than the one Zaron originally designed, and
found large dishes. The only problem was the cat tree. Once Tarin
saw what one looked like, he quickly sketched a sturdier, more
interesting design.

“This will be delivered in a quarter-tine
from the fabrication center. There are Warriors on duty at the
center all cycle long.”

“Sort of like a twenty-four tine
Walmart.”

“Walmart?”

“A grocery and dry goods store open every
rising, twenty-four tines. It only closes one day a year.”

“Yes, like the fabricator shop. Every
Warrior, including the Elder Council, does duty at the fabricator
shop. Lucky for us, I did my duty two phases ago and our names
won’t come up for quite a while.” Tarin chuckled. “Many a bond
began at the fabricator shop. They always schedule WarriorPairs
together, but the unbonded get switched around so they have a
chance to meet other unbonded Warriors.”