Alien Redemption [Clans of Kalquor 06] (25 page)

Vel arched an eyebrow. “I am fully aware of where I’ve been and what I was doing. Just because I saw you in your office does not mean I know how safe the working conditions are.”

Sletran’s tone was tight but reassuring. “I have visited Conyod’s worksite and have seen the safeguards in place there. The security since the Empress’ near-kidnapping has been re-examined and new protocols have been enacted. It is very safe for him to work there now.”

Vel scowled. “Every contingency cannot be foreseen.”

Tuher smoothly interjected. “All the more reason to not worry unnecessarily. Even raising kestarsh in these mountains comes with its share of dangers.”

Rachel thought she heard Lafec gasp. The Matara’s face was stricken as she stared at her Dramok, as if he had said something terrible.

Tuher refused to look at her. Instead he turned to Conyod. “I know you must be eager to check on your stables, my son. And you should introduce Rachel to Dresk. Two of your best successes must be brought together.” He smiled at Rachel with seeming approval.

Conyod stood, tugging Rachel up with him and looking relieved. The rest also rose to their feet. Lafec continued to cling to her son, both hands circling his arm.

He said, “I really should check in with my staff, and I thought Ray-Ray might enjoy going for a little ride.”

Lafec’s grip tightened. “But you’ve only just arrived! Surely you can spend more time with us.”

Sema’s tone, while kind, was firm. “He’s here every ten days to tend to breeding business, and you’re right there with him each time. Don’t act as if you never see your son, my Matara.”

She scowled at him and Tuher, and then looked up at Vel. The Nobek stared at Rachel. He seemed just as unhappy as Lafec, but he said nothing.

Erybet smiled brightly at Lafec, as if he didn’t feel any of the tension surrounding the group.

“We will return after our ride for a longer visit. After all, it is early in the day and we don’t want to interfere with ranch business. Perhaps we can invite you into town for evening meal?”

Lafec’s upset turned on its head, and she actually smiled at Erybet. “I will cook. After all, Rachel – Ray-Ray – deserves a proper welcome. We will sit and eat together this evening.”

Erybet bowed. “Thank you, mother of my clanmate.”

Sletran echoed the bow. “Your food outshines any dining option I know of.”

Rachel nodded her thanks and gave Lafec her brightest smile. Lafec waved them all off, but she looked very pleased. “Enough flattery out of all of you. Enjoy your ride.”

Rachel contained a snort. Lafec was a charming hostess and completely agreeable now that she knew Conyod would be returning later. Rachel knew the drill well. Lafec was just like any jealous Earther mom with a son whom no woman would ever be good enough for.

* * * *

Rachel held tight to the saddle handgrips of her mount as she rode. She sat atop the celebrated Dresk himself, above the waist-high grass of the plain, surrounded by the clan as they rode Conyod’s other kestarsh.

Dresk was monumentally huge, so big that Rachel had initially found it terrifying to approach the animal despite Conyod’s assurances. She came only to Dresk’s thickly muscled shoulder. But as she’d neared him, he dipped his massive head down to look her in the eye.

After a moment of quiet regard, he brushed his muzzle against her cheek and offered a soft chuffing sound. He stepped forward and nudged her with his head so that he could circle her shoulders with his long neck. The warm smell of sun and grasses seemed to be imbedded in his fur, offering a sense of comfort. She felt as if he was giving her a hug.

Conyod confirmed her assessment with a laugh. “Dresk just made you a part of his herd, Ray-Ray. He’s welcoming you into the fold.”

As Dresk released her, Rachel grinned. She ran her hands over the animal’s neck, burying her fingertips in the short curls of fur.
I like you too, big guy.

He was the biggest of Conyod’s seven kestarsh, and she’d expected to ride a smaller mare.

However, Dresk had other ideas. Though the other kestarsh were just as friendly and doting when they approached her, the moment Conyod tried to help her mount one, Dresk gently bumped them out of the way.

After attempting to put Rachel on a third kestarsh with the same result, Conyod finally threw his hands up. “Fine, she’ll ride you,” he told the stallion. The Imdiko gave Rachel a rueful grin.

“Apparently, Dresk thinks only he is qualified to train you to ride.”

He’s going to teach me?
Rachel was amused. It was backwards to the animals she’d known on Earth, but she had no doubt the kestarsh were not only gentle creatures but immensely intelligent as well. Dresk as her teacher made perfect sense.

Now she sat atop the champion, enjoying the slight sway as he bore her behind Conyod, who rode a younger stallion. Sletran kept pace with her on a spirited mare while Erybet brought up the rear on a quieter, older kestarsh.

“I never rode before I met Conyod,” Erybet told her, rolling his eyes. “The kestarsh find my lack of experience amusing, and the younger ones like to take off with me holding on for dear life.”

Conyod chuckled. “You ride like a sack of grain. They like to throw a scare in you, but they’ve never let you fall.”

“That’s true. Tricky creatures.” Erybet scratched his mare’s neck with affection. She nickered and threw her head back to bump his shoulder in return.

Sletran noticed Rachel’s sudden white-knuckled grip on the saddle holds. “Don’t worry, Rachel. Dresk has no intention of frightening you with a sudden run.”

It was true. The massive beast stepped carefully, grunting at Conyod’s mount when the younger animal got a little too far ahead. Only as Rachel relaxed and gained trust in him did he quicken his pace. They rode closer to the misty-topped mountains.

She didn’t even have to steer. The long triangles of Dresk’s ears tipped forward, flicking slightly when Conyod gave his mount direction. Rachel had expected to use reins like Earth horses, but the kestarsh responded to spoken commands.

“A hand on his left or right front shoulder would also suffice,” Conyod told her. “Swinging your legs forward tells him to halt, and swinging them back tells him to go or to increase speed.

He’s already figured out you’re mostly nonverbal, so he’s ready to respond to touch commands.”

Sensitive creatures, Rachel marveled. Dresk made her feel safe. He often looked back at her as if to check on her wellbeing. It was no wonder Conyod loved him as he did.

The ride she’d half-dreaded was so enjoyable, she already anticipated the next excursion.

The tall, gray-red grasses perfumed the air, reminding her of wisteria. The breeze that wafted through the tall, thin fronds sounded like a gentle waterfall. The sun warmed her shoulders, left bare by her sleeveless top. Dresk’s rolling gate was like riding a sea swell.

The day was a pleasant, drifting dream, one Rachel thought she might never want to wake from. Contentment hummed through her. She was almost in a trance state from the blissful relaxation.

Conyod turned in his saddle to grin back at her. “What do you think, Ray-Ray?”

She grinned big enough to make her cheeks ache and nodded enthusiastically. In Kalquorian she said, “Good. I like. Dresk good.”

Dresk blew and his head bobbed up and down, as if to agree.

Erybet’s voice came from behind and to the left. “Her speech is really coming along.”

And it’s only going to get better
, Rachel thought with determination. She pointed to the mountain looming before them and looked to Sletran. “How to say?”

“
Pabem
. The mountains are called
pabem
.”

Rachel repeated the word, memorizing it. After a few minutes of searing it onto her brain, she asked, “We go mountains?”

Conyod snapped, “No farther than the stream.”

Rachel cocked her head at his almost angry tone.

“
Werpac
.” Conyod slowed his mount so he rode beside her. “I’m sorry. I was a bit short, wasn’t I?”

She shrugged. Dresk nuzzled Conyod’s knee and nickered worriedly.

The Imdiko sighed and pointed to the left lower ridges of the closest peak. “That was the last place my brother was seen. He never came back, and we never found him, though we did recover the kestarsh he’d been riding. It was injured with claw marks from a
zibger
on its body.”

Erybet urged his mount forward to flank his Imdiko’s opposite side. “That’s why Conyod’s parents are a little on the protective side with him. I can’t imagine the hell of losing a child.”

Conyod nodded. “It was hard. The damage was tremendous to our family. They became suffocating with their need to know where I was every minute of the day.”

Sletran asked, “Would you have done any different?”

Conyod looked out over the plain. “I don’t blame them. But I nearly went crazy under the constant vigilance. I finally ran away from home. The authorities got involved and the whole family was put in counseling.”

Rachel considered him. He’d had a death in his family too, with the opposite effect of what had happened when her father died. She wondered whether she or Conyod had received the worst experience.

Withdrawal or smothering? I guess neither is a good way to live.

Out loud, Rachel said, “Dramok and Imdiko father good.”

Conyod smiled. “With the help of our therapist, they saw the damage the overbearing protectiveness was doing to me. I still see the worry in their eyes, though they have stopped the damaging behavior. My father Vel tries most of the time to not run my life, but being the protective Nobek, he can’t help but hassle me about my safety at times. My mother was the worst affected by the experience. She makes no secret that she would prefer I lived at home with her where she can keep an eye on me.”

Rachel felt a small pang in her chest. Her mother had retreated from her, from all life, until she was unable to even care for herself. It had been Rachel forced into the parental role, compounding her rage and grief over her father’s early death.

Sletran offered Conyod an understanding smile. “Mothers can be like that.” He told Rachel. “Mine cried for weeks when I was classified Nobek and had to be sent to the training camp. My parents were much older and had given up on having ever having a child when they learned I was on the way. I was considered their miracle and letting me go was quite a trial.”

Rachel had heard that young Nobeks were wild, savage creatures unable to rein in more primal impulses. Once a child was identified as that breed, he was sent away to a type of boarding school that taught him to contain his feral urges, to gear them towards constructive endeavors. Many went into the training camps as young as five years of age. She couldn’t imagine having to give up a child that young, though the destructive nature of young Nobeks could be deadly.

What if I have children with this clan? What if they turn out to be Nobeks and I have to
send them away?

Now there was a sobering thought. One that Rachel decided was better left for another time. She’d be able to interrogate Sletran on the matter when she was ready to face it.

She struggled to ask Conyod a question, not having enough Kalquorian under her command to speak clearly. “Son of Lafec? Not Conyod?”

Fortunately, the Imdiko understood what she was trying to ask. “My brother’s name was Hoslek. He was a Dramok.”

“Conyod big? Hoslek small?” She made height motions with her hands, Dresk’s gait smooth enough to allow her to let go of the saddle to do so.

“Do you mean our ages?” At her nod, Conyod said, “He was a couple years older than me; nine years old at the time of his disappearance. We were very close.”

A stab of pity went through her. “Sorry, Conyod. Sad.”

He reached over and took her hand. “Don’t be, Ray-Ray. This is supposed to be a good day. Maybe we can make some happy memories in the sight of these mountains to replace the bad.” He smiled, and the expression chased away the sorrow in his eyes.

She nodded enthusiastically. She would do anything to take that sad look off his face, and her seemingly always naughty brain had an idea of how she might accomplish it.

* * * *

Rachel – Ray-Ray – was so beautiful. Her smile was the sweetest he had ever seen, making his heart ache. If only that smile could be trusted. If only she and her kind were not the savage killers he knew them to be, monsters that turned on those who would save them. And in her presence, the clan lit up. Faces that had grown so despondent had learned to smile again. It made him want to scream that destroying her might finish them off as well.

He could see how happy she made them. For their sakes alone, he did not want to kill her.

If only he could be sure her smile was not a lie!

He would keep a close eye on her. He would wait and see if her true nature rose. The members of the clan were precious to him, and if he could save them, he would. But she would not be suffered to live if she showed signs of turning on them. He would not lose them as he had so many others.

Meanwhile, there were others demanding his justice. So many of the Earther menace infesting Kalquor that needed to be eradicated. He looked away from that pretty face that wanted to mesmerize him, peering in the distance where his special secret place was. The abandoned stables tucked away on a forgotten corner of the land waited for animals of a different kind. It was where he took the Mataras, where he punished them and executed them for their heinous crimes.

He felt the need boiling in his being, the despairing rage that could only be quenched for a short time by soaking in piercing screams, by flesh parted with his blade, by gushing blood pulsed out by a rapidly failing heart. He licked his lips in anticipation and looked forward to returning home.

It was time to collect another prize. It was time to send another message to the pretty monsters.

* * * *

The group stopped a few yards short of the stream, a clear rush of water winding down from the nearby mountains to cut a swath through the plains. It chuckled to itself as if enjoying a private joke as it raced over rocks.