Daughter of Destiny (35 page)

The human, Naia, spoke in a
rapid low tone, rattling of medical terms that Finn didn't know.
The doctor nodded as he donned a green disposable gown. Across the
bed the nurse set up an intravenous line. Far too much blood pooled
beneath Katarina. A flutter of fear went through Finn as he
registered its warm, sticky feel on his hand. The doctor called for
several more nurses, but Finn tuned out their activity, focusing on
his baby girl.

He clasped her hand. "Hang
in there
inion."
She smiled, but the smile turned into a
grimace as a contraction gripped her.

"Doctor, her pressure is
dropping and the monitor shows fetal distress."

Finn glanced over at
Kieran, "What are you doing, lurking over there? Get over here.
Hold your sister's other hand and share your energy. I'll mask as
much pain as I can."

Kieran stared at Katarina
and looked almost as pale. "My energy? I-uh-" He broke off, and
shook his head. "Sorry." Before Finn could say anything, his son
shifted space.

Finn let out a stream of
curses in the old tongue, but then focused on Katarina again. She
panted as another contraction hit her. "Baby girl, I can't transfer
my energy, but I'll help you with the pain, okay?"

She nodded.

He opened his mind,
enfolding hers within his and absorbed as much of the pain as he
could syphon from her. He sucked in a breath. The impact of his
elbows on the metal rail made him realize his knees had buckled. A
nurse brought a chair over.

"If this is going to make
you faint, maybe you'd best wait outside, sir."

Finn glared at her. "I
won't faint, and I'm not leaving."

"Mmhmm, if you say so,
sir."

He let the medical staff do
their job and with his aid, Katarina rode the tides of pain that
grew in intensity. Time passed, but neither he nor Katarina marked
its passage. They merely rode from crest to trough of each
contraction until two tiny babies, one after the other exited her
womb. As the doctor staunched the hemorrhage and the nurses tended
the infants, Finn wiped at the sweat beaded on his brow with the
back of his free hand. Then he smoothed Katarina's hair. Dark
circles made her eyes seem too hollow and her skin seemed far too
pale.

Naia let out a long breath.
Finn met her gaze across the bed. She jerked a thumb in the
direction of the doctor. "He's done, which means it wasn't bad
enough to require surgery. She'll be fine."

"You did well, baby
girl."

A ghost of a smile flitted
across Katarina's face, but her eyes stayed closed. Naia picked up
Katarina's other hand. "Go on. Meet your grandkids." She jerked her
head toward the incubators.

He hesitated, but the nurse
had injected something in the I.V. bag, which seemed to dull pain,
as he felt very little from Katarina now. He nodded and released
his daughter's hand and made his way around the bed, veering around
the doctor and other medical staff.

Finn made no attempt to
mask his feelings as he watched his grandchildren blink owlishly at
him from the incubators. He reached in and picked one up and then
offered a smile of thanks when a nurse assisted him by handing him
the little blue bundle.

"Can you bring them here,
Da?"

Finn blinked rapidly to
hide the tears that filled his eyes when he heard Katarina's
request. A moment a lifetime ago he held her and her brother just
as he now held her children. A single foolish promise robbed him of
his daughter for so many years. He never thought to hear her call
him by name, let alone "Da". He took a breath and put on his
brightest smile. "Certainly, baby girl."

He tucked a bundle into
each of her arms. While she still looked pale, her aura remained
strong, and the I.V. of blood platelets and the bag of saline
dripping into her would no doubt help speed her
recovery.

For once, he was able to
look at Katarina and not regret leaving her with her mother. Her
life had given her an inner core stronger than tempered steel and a
generous loving heart to go with it. Although weary, her happiness
radiated from her.

"You're scowling
again."

Her comment made him
realize he was indeed scowling. He smoothed his expression. "I'm
furious with your brother."

"Da, I'm fine. Kieran just
met me and he isn't used to the human realm. Asking him to fork
over energy and share my pain was like dumping him in the deep end
when he can't even tread water yet, don't you think?"

A thrill of joy bubbled
inside him as she called him something he never expected to hear
from her lips. He treasured the bond forming between them and
resented anything which marred it, including his son's idiotic
behavior. "Perhaps, but he is your brother. He should have stayed
by your side no matter the cost."

Katarina sighed. "Give him
time. Our bond is a bit intense."

Finn furrowed his brow in
thought. Perhaps it was time Kieran learned what it was to be
human. Besides, if he stayed here under the premise of protecting
Katarina, Kieran would be out of sight, and hopefully out of mind,
of those who might try to strike at him by harming Finn's kin. He
pressed his lips together to hide a smile. If anyone could whip
Kieran into shape, Katarina could. She might wish she never had a
brother before it was over, but she would teach him what it meant
to be human. Of course, it would keep her out of Fairy as well, and
the less Grian saw of Katarina, the better. Finn winced at the
thought of having Grian and Katarina in the same room for longer
than ten minutes. He could hear Grian screeching just thinking
about it.

***

Rotvraoq took action when a
cloaked ship attacked the flag ship. He sent a coded signal through
his hidden comm link to his agents placed throughout the fleet.
Each man was assigned a specific task crucial to facilitating a
successful coup. Rotvraoq said a silent prayer, hoping that he had
not just sentenced everyone to death at either their fellow
Goloths' hands or the humans.

The bridge of the ship
shook from the explosion of the generator and he spread his feet to
ride the wave of violent vibrations. In front of him, Karglock
leaped out of the throne-like command chair bellowing orders, none
of which produced any results. Backup power provided emergency
lights and life support, but little else. No further enemy fire
followed, so Rotvraoq took the chance that the humans aimed only to
incapacitate the ships rather than kill everyone onboard. IGCF
could not be counted on to be as merciful.

In the dim glow of the
emergency lights, he locked gazes with the three other rebels on
the bridge. Simultaneously they readied their weapons. He stepped
to a mere hand's span away from Karglock's back and jabbed his
phaser into his back, precisely over his heart. Rotvraoq announced
in a deep resonating voice that held no resemblance to the
obsequious toady he played for months, "Move and you die." The
power and authority in his voice echoed throughout the
bridge.

At the sound of his command
and the realization that three other soldiers also had weapons out
and ready for use, everyone froze. Silence fell, interrupted only
by the complaining alarms.

Breaking the tense
stillness, Karglock sputtered with impotent fury, "You traitor!
Scum! Refuse!" He glanced around at his men. None met his eyes. "I
am surrounded by cowards!"

Rotvraoq growled, "Cease
your wailing. These men aren’t cowards. They are men whose
bloodlust has cooled. Logic tends to do that. You would abandon our
home world and its people to create your idea of a grand war
machine. You revolt me." Before Karglock could say anything more,
Rotvraoq said to one of his agents, "Devraqeg, hand me your
restraints." The man stepped forward and handed them over. Rotvraoq
restrained Karglock’s hands behind his back and shoved him toward
Devraqeg. "Take him to the brig. Feel free to stun him if need be,
but do not kill him. He deserves to feel the wrath of all of our
people at home."

Devraqeg glowered at
Karglock as if daring him to even twitch a muscle the wrong way.
"Yes, sir." He jerked Karglock forward with an iron
grip.

Rotvraoq addressed the
bridge crew, "Are there any of you who wish to challenge this
change in leadership?" Silence answered. He met each soldier’s
gaze, and all but one man looked him in the eye.

"I can’t afford a knife in
my back or some other untimely murder attempt." He gestured to
another fellow rebel. "Take him to his quarters for
now."

The man was relieved of his
weapon and escorted off the bridge. Then, Rotvraoq called each of
the ship’s departments to determine if they were secure. Some
departments experienced fighting, which resulted in wounded and a
number of deaths, but the ship was now in his control. He ordered
the injured taken to the medical facilities, no matter who they
were.

One by one he contacted the
other
Trapqerts.
His heart rate didn't slow until the last
one reported in, "Ship has been secured, sir. We await your
orders."

He said a silent prayer to
Uykal in honor of those who gave their lives for their people’s
freedom. The ensign monitoring what little sensors were working
broke into his moment of silence.

"Rotvraoq, sir!"

"Yes?"

"Several squads of
Kiwir
a
re heading out to meet the IGCF fleet. What are your
orders?"

"Tell them to break off
immediately."

"Affirmative." Then the
ensign added, "The ship that incapacitated our
Trapqerts i
s
under attack."

"Order them to break off as
well. All fighters are to cease fire and return to their
carriers."

The young ensign’s hands
flew across the board and then he reported, "Our fighters are
breaking off, but IGCF is powering up their weapons. I'm reading
power surges in some of the human bases sir. The computer isn't
available to analyze, but they might be launching ground to orbit
missiles."

"Signal our surrender to
both the humans and IGCF."

"Yes, sir."

***

Katarina smiled as she
watched, through a glass partition, Finn grilling the doctor on her
condition.
He's probably making a list of all the things I'm not
allowed to do,
she thought with a small laugh. She sympathized
with the poor man who kept nudging his glasses up and stuttering
under her father's intense scrutiny. It was a good thing she wasn't
as easily intimidated.

She glanced to her right.
Her babies lay well fed and sleeping in clear plastic basinets
parked beside her bed. She, however, could not yet rest. Her body
continued to pump adrenaline through her system and not just as a
side-effect of the rushed delivery. Something was about to happen.
She felt it with every instinct she possessed.

She sensed Kieran's
presence before she saw him. He materialized in the corner, out of
sight of their father. He wore an apprehensive frown on his angelic
face.

"The delivery went
well?"

"Yes."

Kieran averted his eyes,
stopping a second to focus on the basinets and then settling on the
machinery monitoring her blood pressure and heart rate. "I
apologize for leaving as I did."

Katarina shrugged. "We just
met. I'm not angry, Kieran."

His eyes darted back to
study her face. "I sensed just a flash of what you felt—" He broke
off and mimicked the shrug she gave him moments before. "We Fae are
essentially selfish creatures. It goes against everything to give
of our life energy. That Father expected me to do just that and
it…" he trailed off again and broke eye contact.

"Freaked you out?" Katarina
finished for him with a small half smile.

Before he could answer an
image flashed in her mind. General Westing received orders to
target the Goloth ships in orbit and to aim weapons at the IGC
fleet closing in. Her mind played events in fast forwarded. She
glimpsed the tapestry of the future and what would happen if that
single action occurred or didn't. At the same time, she sensed
Zane's frantic fight to control his dying ship and her father
stopped harassing the doctor and turned perceptive glowing eyes on
her.

She shook her head to clear
her vision and bring reality into focus. She yanked the IV needle
out of her hand and pinned her brother with a stare that brooked no
argument. "Watch my children. Guard them with your life, or I will
teach you the meaning of pain."

Before her father could
stop her, she shifted space and sent a telepathic message to him at
the same time.
"Zane needs help. Now. Save him."

If not for that glimpse
into the future, she would go herself, but everything rested on her
actions within the next few minutes.

***

"Yes, Mr. President. I
understand, sir." General Westing disconnected the private line. No
noise from the war room filtered into the small office. The
furnishings were sparse and mostly utilitarian but for the dark
leather desk chair. The general stood at attention at his desk in
front of a miniature holo comm with the chair pushed back. A silent
witness cloaked with magic, Katarina heard every word of his
orders. She cursed the Dedanaan for infecting the government with
their fear and hatred. No, she didn't trust IGC, but the situation
required diplomacy, not weapons.