GALLANT (The Innerworld Affairs Series, Book 3) (3 page)

He hadn't even meant to stun her—only convince her of the seriousness of the situation. But something about the way she defied, no
dared
him to stop her, had made him react with force rather than thought. He could hardly remember the last time he had allowed that to happen.

Yanking off his eye patch, he scanned Cherry Cochran from head to toe, as if the explanation for his error would make itself clear if he used both eyes. Her costume kept him from judging her perfectly but there was nothing about what he
could
see that might have made him forget himself.

Even as he picked her up in his arms to take her to his ship, his instincts were sending warning notices that he should leave her there. He couldn't afford to be around someone who was capable of triggering a spontaneous
aggressive
response from him so easily. Not only his mission but his life depended on his keeping secret the fact that his ice-cold demeanor went no further than the image.

For the countless time, he cursed the fates that forced him to live a lie.

Despite the uneasiness he felt, he decided she could do him no harm in the short time it would take to discover what the Weebort had said to her.

Out of habit, he was about to replace the eye patch when he realized he would need both eyes to do what had to be done. In order to carry an unconscious female aboard his ship without answering any questions, he was going to have to perform a little
magic
. Because it was another of his necessary secrets, he only used his special ability in extreme circumstances and, much to his frustration, this was turning out to be one of those times.

* * *

The solid kick in the ribs jolted Romulus out of a deep sleep.
"Drek!
That one hurt." He rolled toward Aster and massaged the spot on her taut, swollen abdomen where their baby had called attention to itself. Whether it was his large, warm hand or the calming thoughts he was sending, the fetus soon settled back down.

Aster placed her hand over her mate's. "I'm sorry, love. That one was a surprise. I didn't have a chance to block it from you."

"And I told you to stop trying to spare me. You've got enough to do just dealing with your own discomfort. Roll onto your other side and let me rub your back." As she happily obliged, he chuckled to himself. When they had joined ten years ago, they were not only bound physically but spiritually and mentally as well. Aster's pregnancy was the first time since then that he was less than pleased by the results.

Although Innerworld's medical achievements were far beyond anything she had known in Outerworld, carrying a child for nine months wasn't much easier. The first bouts of morning sickness before Aster was treated for it left Rom weak as a baby himself. Later in her pregnancy, Aster prevented him from feeling most of her aches and pains and did her best not to relay her cravings and mood swings, but even the little she had not blocked was enough to let him know how uncomfortable she was. However, it would all be worth it in the end.

Attempts had once been made to fully develop the fetus outside the mother's womb but the babies' minds and bodies were never quite as healthy as when it grew inside its mother. As Rom kneaded away the tension in her lower back, he felt his own muscles relax. At least they would not have to tolerate the kind of pain a woman in her world would during their daughter's birth.

Their daughter.
The first child born of a mixed joining between a Noronian and a Terran. She wasn't even born yet and her responsibilities were already overwhelming. He stopped himself from thinking along those lines. There would be time enough for that later.

Though her gender was known, her physical characteristics were not. Genetic control had been limited to defects several centuries ago after a series of experiments went awry. He couldn't help but wonder what she would look like.

She'll be beautiful, of course,
Aster thought back to him. Rom was six foot three, she was five foot ten and they both had imposing physiques. Their child would undoubtedly grow to be a statuesque woman. She would probably inherit dark hair as well, but there was no way to tell if hers would prematurely turn silver in her twenties as Aster's hair had.

The baby's eye color was the only real unknown. Aster's eyes were an unusual midnight blue and Rom's were a green-brown shade of hazel... most of the time. Like many Noronians, his eye color changed with his emotions—a characteristic Aster had learned to use to her advantage shortly after they'd met.

It had been years since she gave more than a passing thought to the circumstances that brought her to Innerworld and Romulus. They were of two different worlds and a joining between their races was forbidden by law. Yet the Noronian mating fever struck them both, proving they were soulmates, destined to be together for eternity.

Unfortunately, the same prejudice that had existed when Aster first arrived in Innerworld still simmered in some corners of the colony. Only the support of the Ruling Tribunal of Norona prevented the bigots from speaking out too loudly.

Aster prayed that their daughter would be strong enough to withstand whatever trials lay ahead for her.

Rom stopped rubbing her back and snuggled up behind her. With a soft kiss on her cheek he assured her everything would be fine. "In another month the worst will be over."

Aster laughed. "Ha! That shows how little you know about babies. But then I don't have much more experience than you. Being an only child didn't exactly prepare me for this role. Thank heavens we'll have Cherry to help. She never talks much about her childhood but she had nine brothers and sisters, so she had to have picked up some practical knowledge about babies."

Rom blocked his next thoughts from Aster. He liked Cherry and was glad Aster had been with her best friend when they arrived in Innerworld but Cherry's high energy level and unleashed spontaneity always made him feel like he was caught up in a tornado. The expression
opposites attract
was certainly true in the case of Cherry and Aster. Imagining the little dervish under his roof for extended periods of time did not fill him with the same sense of gratitude Aster felt.

Just before Aster fell asleep, she reminded Rom that Cherry promised to come by for lunch tomorrow. As always, she looked forward to hearing what her friend had done for excitement this week. He was her soulmate but Cherry held an equally important position in her life.

Long before the disaster landed them in Innerworld, Cherry had appointed herself Aster's savior from workaholism. Cherry was her alter ego, surrogate sister and the closest friend she'd ever had. Cherry had not only shared the most traumatic events in Aster's life, she always forced Aster to see the bright side of everything.

If anything, her bond with Cherry had strengthened over the years because of their being removed from the world they once called home. Despite the fact that Aster and Rom shared thoughts, Cherry was the only person in Innerworld who could truly understand her feeling of alienation that never went away.

And the fears she harbored for her unborn child's future in a society where prejudice against Terrans still fermented.

Thankfully, Cherry was around to keep her fears from overriding the joy.

* * *

Cherry felt the softness beneath her and tried to orient herself before opening her eyes. A sense of danger swept through her, instantly followed by the memory of a wicked-looking stranger. At least she hadn't been incinerated like the Weebort.

Cautiously, she opened her eyes and surveyed her dimly lit surroundings. She was in a gray-walled room on a large bunk that took up most of the limited space. That devil must have brought her here... wherever
here
was. After a moment, she recalled his insisting she accompany him to his ship.

Panic assailed her as she leapt off the bed and pressed her palm to a square metal panel on the wall beside the door. The door slid open with a soft
whoosh
and relief that she had not been locked in quickly replaced the momentary fear. Years of improvising on stage had conditioned her to instantly adjust to whatever situation she found herself in. She usually relished an unexpected turn of events but this one made her furious.

Stepping into a narrow corridor, she noted it ended a few feet to her right at one door and two more doors were across from her. About fifteen feet to her left, light streamed into the corridor. She headed toward that light fully prepared for a heated confrontation.

The angry words on the tip of her tongue were suspended by shock as Cherry reached the doorway and her worst suspicions were confirmed. Although she had never traveled out of Innerworld, she had no doubt she was on a ship. Her gaze quickly scanned what had to be a bridge, with no visible walls, ceiling, or floor. She would have examined the unusually clear glass beneath her feet but the darkness beyond, accented by distant dots of light, brought the panic back in a surge.

She was in space!

Two people were in the center of the bridge behind a control panel. Long black hair with two white stripes identified the man seated in the only chair. At his side, a tall female stood facing Cherry, wearing a body-hugging, olive green jumpsuit and a very amused smile. Tight coils of chartreuse hair sprung out from her head, making Cherry think of the Statue of Liberty's crown. The woman seemed to be patiently waiting for her to stop gawking.

"Greetings," the woman finally said in a deep contralto voice. "Are you well?"

The instant the woman spoke, the man started to swivel his chair around but stopped abruptly and donned the black eye patch before turning the rest of the way to face her. That seemed odd to Cherry but she had too many other concerns to question it. As he rose, she thought his expression looked somewhat contrite... until he opened his mouth.

"It's about time," he said abruptly then turned to the woman at his side. "Well? What are you waiting for?"

"An introduction," she answered calmly in her husky voice. "I believe two people who are about to become intimately acquainted should at least know one another's name."

"Now hold it right there!" Cherry exclaimed, taking a step backward. "I draw the line at—"

"Calm down," the man interrupted with a wave of his hand. "No one's—"

"Calm down?" Cherry asked with disbelief. "I haven't
begun
to get upset. I had better hear some satisfactory explanations in the next ten seconds or... or I won't be responsible for my actions."

"She sounds dangerous, Captain. Should I restrain her?" the woman asked in a serious tone, but the sparkle in her emerald eyes let Cherry know she probably wouldn't do such a thing even if he ordered her to.

"Eight seconds,
Captain,"
Cherry warned, planting her fists on her hips.

He scowled back at her and crossed his arms. "I don't respond well to threats, particularly from someone half my size."

Cherry marched forward, poked him in his chest with the index finger of her robotic right hand and sent him sprawling backward into his chair. "And I don't respond well to being abducted. Now you have three seconds left before you find out what all five of my fingers can do."

Rubbing his chest, he rose with a grimace. "I suppose an explanation is in order. I am Gallant Voyager—"

Cherry snorted. "Come on, you can do better than that. How about Luke Skywalker? I've always been kind of partial to that one. Or maybe Judge Dredd would suit you better."

Gallant straightened himself to his full height, which was a good foot taller than Cherry's. His tone of voice revealed that he was a bit touchy on the subject. "I assure you, that is my name. Gallant Voyager is a direct translation of my birthname, which is extremely difficult to pronounce."

"Okay, so you have a name. How about the explanation?"

"First, allow me to introduce you to my navigator. Cherry Cochran, this is Mar-Dot."

"Actually," the woman said with a grin, "I am Dot." She turned around, as if to present her back, but what Cherry saw was another front.

"And I am Mar."

Cherry gaped at the man in front of her. The hair, eyes, nose and voice were the same as the woman's but his lower face was covered by a kinky, close-trimmed, chartreuse beard. The snug bodysuit that had clearly displayed a woman's figure a moment ago, now showed that of a man... and a very well-endowed man at that.

Never one to let her curiosity go unsatisfied, Cherry circled Mar-Dot, her eyes filled with fascination. The creature had one body with two legs, but the booted feet extended in both directions, like pedestals. The male half and the female half each had its own pair of arms and hands and Cherry thought she could have identified the gender of each pair even if Dot's fingernails weren't an inch long and painted lime green.

"Pardon me for staring," Cherry said as she came back around to Mar. "But I've never seen anything, pardon me,
anyone
, like you."

"Not many people have," he told her with a smile. "For all we know, we may be the only he-she in existence."

In the blink of an eye, the he-she turned and Cherry was facing Dot. "I tell this story better than he does. We were sold to a traveling circus as a baby. Unfortunately, no questions were asked at the time, so no one was ever able to tell us where we had come from. If it was not for the captain—"

"I believe you asked me for an explanation, Cherry," Gallant said, effectively cutting off Dot's story.