Page 72 of Taken to Kor
He fails.
I start to wonder ifallof these human females don’t have a little space pirate in them, though certainly none are more pirate than mine is. Deena is shouting orders even as I bring her from the surface of the hot dusty rock these humans occupy into a silver lift and take her down a long hallway decorated in vibrant colors and into a room that is…passable.
I frown around at the facility. It’s perfectly pretty but I don’t see any yeeyar anywhere. Are they using ancient technology here? A female Voraxian escorts Deena and I into a separate room divided from the first by a panel of glass that my pirates quickly remove so as to create a single room large enough to accommodate about twenty of them, but not more.
The Voraxian healers make sure of that. “It needs to be sterile!” The one with the strange title like Fi-lemoree or Fileee, snaps. These titles are unnecessary and confusing so, in my mind, I deem her Fifi.
“Sterile conditions are not created by allowing a horde of blood-covered pirates in…augfff!” Fifi throws her hands in the air and returns to my female lying in a plush furry nest just as another bout of pain washes over her. “I’m familiar with Niahhorru birthing, but only through study, never in practice. Are any of you bloody pirates familiar…”
Quintenanrret steps forward, taking the space beside her. Even though she is a tall female, he still towers over her. He removes the gamma wand from his belt and quickly sterilizes his hands with it. He does the same to hers when she lifts her palm towards him as if to shake his hand like the humans do or offer him some kind of Voraxian greeting.
“No time,” he answers and her mouth quirks.
“You’re right. Her vitals are elevated and I can feel that the kits have begun to turn. But she hasn’t yet had many contractions…”
“You mean this pain sensation?” He says, then shakes his head when she confirms. “Niahhorru females release their water, have three of these pain sensations, then they must push.”
She nods, then checks a screen on the wall — a physical holo screen —dear stars, what sort of technology are they using here!“You need serious upgrades,” Gerannu says, as if reading my mind. He stands at the front of the crowd, doing his best to hold others back while also glowering around at everything. “Is that an ion laser? Ion! That technology has been out of date for six rotations!”
Krisxox, who is standing close to him and also helping keep Niahhorru back and out of the way, snorts, “You pirates wouldn’t know structure or organization if it stabbed you in the gut…” I meet his gaze and am surprised when his brow illuminates in shades of brown and grey, Voraxian colors that, when coupled, can meanuncertainty. Not bad considering a little while ago he wanted to tear out my heart.
A dozen pirate voices speak all at once and Deena laughs. “Oh stars,” she says as her third pain wave comes.
Svera leaves her mate’s side, much to his terror and chagrin, and starts to make her way towards me. Standing close enough to Deena to touch. I feel…uncomfortable…and clear my throat as Svera approaches, her warm shoulder coming close to brushing my outer arm. She smiles up at me and my mouth opens. Then she reaches towards my female and places her hand over our joined hands.
“All is forgiven. Thank you for taking such good care of Deena in our absence. You did a much better job than we humans ever did.” And then her gaze turns to Deena and a crease appears between her eyebrows. “I’m sorry we failed you.”
Deena’s face twists while the Voraxian healers begin pushing Deena’s dress up to reveal the slit between her legs. I feel oddly uncomfortable with pirates looking at her in such a way, but I don’t dare ask them to leave. I would not deprive them of the magnitude of this moment — should everything go well, and it will. It has to. The alternative is too painful to imagine. I just squeeze Deena’s hand tighter and watch as she tells her kinswoman, “I got her, Svera.”
Water wells along her lower eyelid as she drops her head back and spreads her legs. Quintenanrret pushes aside the too-tall stool built to Voraxian proportions and drops to his knees. He shoulders his way between Deena’s legs and asks for tools which Fifi already holds at the ready. She slaps a scanner into his palm and he brings it to Deena’s stomach while his fingers probe my female’s insides in a way that makes me want to snap those fingers clean off.
But Deena doesn’t seem to mind. She’s uncomfortable, that I gather, but she trusts him. Trust. A pirate? I sneer at the thought. There’s only one pirate I trust, and it’s this one holding my lower right hand. The same one who holds my heart.
Svera nods. “I saw. I’m so sorry I exiled her. I just…sorry! Alright. Just concentrate.”
“Centare…it’s…a helpful…distraction.” Deena exhales a little more shakily. Sweat appears on her brow. Fifi mentions giving her something for the dizziness.
“Fifi, will that hurt Deena or the kits?” I ask.
She opens her mouth, then snaps it shut and smiles as she says, “Of course not. I’m here to save human lives, not harm them.”
“This is no human,” I answer her. “This is a pirate.”
Her expression softens and she tips her head forward slightly as she brings a diffuser below Deena’s nose and asks her to inhale. She does several times and when she leans back, she seems to breathe a little easier and her gaze is no longer so unfocused.
“Thanks, Fifi,” Deena answers, making Svera giggle and Fifi’s forehead brighten in surprise. Then Deena says to Svera, “Whatever you’re feeling guilty about, don’t.”
“I should have killed her.”
She shakes her head. “Ineeded to. I needed to see her ship blown apart in the sky and know that this solar, when I bring mine and Rhorkanterannu’s kits into the world, that woman can’t hurt them. I just wanted to thank you for letting us help after everything Rhork did to get us here.”
Svera’s cheeks redden again and she pulls back her hand. I flex my fingers, not liking the feel of her skin against mine. It tastes too much like failure, like an alternate path that could have been and would have deprived me of the female in my arms. “All is forgiven.”
“The xok it is,” Krisxox shouts across the room, clearly paying attention to his female’s every word, even though they are speaking in Human. I’m surprised further when his next words are in Human and not in Voraxian. I can only understand them through my token. “You still need punishment!” He stabs his finger through the air at me.
I suck in a breath, prepared to defend myself and my female if it comes to blows, but it’s my female who says, “I think we have something else we can offer…” Her forehead creases. She exhales in big heaving breaths. “Have you considered…ever moving off…of this rock?”
Svera makes a face. “We have, of course, but there are few safe places for us humans in the cosmos, and we can’t survive the climates of the uninhabited places in Voraxia…”
