Rebel (26 page)

“What makes you say that?”

“I smell chamomile. Tom-tom always gives it to me when I don’t feel well.”

“I
am
kinda dizzy,” she admitted. “Not sure why that is.”

Kim was glad Rashe hadn’t just taken a sip of the tea himself or he probably would’ve sprayed it all over the sofa.

“No shit?”

She nodded. “I started feeling that way a little while ago. I figure it must be something in the air around here.”

Clearing his throat in a rather ominous manner, he sat up. “Maybe.” He scratched his head, messing up one of his braids. “I don’t know jack shit about Zetithian women, but if you were human, I’d say you were pregnant.”

Rashe wasn’t the only one who didn’t know jack shit about Zetithian women. Kim was at something of a disadvantage herself. But she did know one thing. “I’m not human. Apparently we don’t do the whole monthly cycle thing—at least, I never have.”

“No PMS, huh? Damn. That alone is reason enough for Onca to snap you up.” He gave himself an admonitory smack on the cheek. “Sorry. That was tacky of me. But there has to be
some
way for you to identify fertile periods. What I mean is, even animals go into heat and behave differently…” He tipped his head to the side as his eyes took on an introspective cast. “Then again, maybe that dizzy feeling is it. Be easy enough to find out. I’m sure that information is
somewhere
on the Net.”

“Captain told me lots of things, but that wasn’t one of them.”

“Makes sense, though. You’ve only been hanging around with Onca for a couple of days. Even if you were pregnant, you wouldn’t be having symptoms yet. At least, I don’t
think
you would.” He shrugged. “But what do I know?”

“Maybe more than I do—and I’ll bet you’re right.” She wasn’t sure whether to feel relieved or disappointed. Nevertheless, being in heat might explain why, despite her dizziness, she could hardly sit still. The urge to go dashing over to the Palace to find Onca was becoming stronger by the second. In fact, if Rashe hadn’t come in when he had, she’d probably be on her way over there already. Too bad she wasn’t sure where it was.

“Why do I get the feeling that pregnant is exactly what you’d like to be?” He heaved a sigh. “Don’t bother answering that. Guess you want me to take you to the Palace, huh?”

“If you wouldn’t mind.”

“I’m not the one you need to worry about, sweetheart. Onca’s gonna be pissed at me, no doubt about it.” He chuckled. “I’m also guessing the bad guys are kinda freaked out by all the kids showing up over there. They made a mistake before. If they’d been a little less noisy, no one would’ve reported a riot, and they could’ve kept it out of the news. Now that the Palace is full of kids, they’ll have a tough time explaining a show of force—which is probably what Shemlak had in mind when he told them to head over there. If Onca’s surrounded by a bunch of kids, only a lunatic would use the kind of firepower they used at the Den.”

“I’d like to believe we could depend on that, but villains aren’t always that smart.”

“Maybe not, but if this goes as high up in the government as I suspect, they’ve got to consider public opinion. Elected officials have to at least
pretend
to be decent, law-abiding citizens. Allowing the police to open fire—even with stun weaponry—on a bunch of homeless orphans will get a politician hounded out of office quicker than he can zip his pants.”

Kim bit back a laugh. “I hope you’re right about that.”

Rashe patted the pillow in his lap. “Speaking of which, guess I’d better put on a pair and take you to the Palace. If I let anything happen to you now, my goose would be cooked for sure.”

Whether she’d ever heard that expression before didn’t matter. The meaning was quite clear. “You think Onca really cares?”

“Oh, hell yes. He’s
crazy
about you—just don’t tell him I told you so. But I’m not talking about Onca. Jack’s the one who’ll kill me.”

“You know Jack, too?”

He nodded. “Everybody knows Jack.”

Kim didn’t but suspected she would before long. “I’m beginning to believe we really should’ve waited for her. The way everyone talks, she could’ve solved this mystery single-handedly.”

“Nah. Where’s the fun in that? We may be glad she’s on her way in case someone needs to save our asses, but with any luck, we’ll have it all sorted out before she gets here.”

“But what happens if Onca gets arrested? If the corruption is as bad as you say, how will he ever get a fair trial?”

With a wink, he stood and tossed the pillow on the couch. “Don’t worry. Onca can take care of himself. He’ll land on his feet. He always does.”

Kim suspected this was the first time Onca had been in trouble of any kind, let alone something of this magnitude. “What makes you think that?”

Rashe shrugged. “He’s a cat.”

***

Onca had completely forgotten Val’s connection to Anara Threlkind, the lawyer advocate for clone rights who had freed Val and his fellow Avians. “Does Anara live here on Rhylos?”

Val nodded. “I am certain she would take your case.”

“How come you didn’t mention her before?” Roncas demanded. “Seems to me she should’ve been the first one we called.”

“Perhaps,” Val admitted. “But we had very little to go on until we actually got inside the Den. Now we have proof.”

Onca nodded. “He’s right. We went in and got those girls out last night. The legal process would’ve taken forever, and with at least part of the police force on the take, there’d be no way to stop the proprietors from moving the girls somewhere else. No. We did the right thing going in the way we did, and if that Herp hadn’t filed charges against me, I wouldn’t have
needed
a lawyer.”

By this time, Peska and Cassie and several of the other girls had drifted over to listen in on the meeting.

“What can we do to help?” Peska asked.

Onca thought for a moment. “Think you can look after the kids for a while?”

“Sure,” Cassie said. “Shouldn’t be too hard. After all the food they ate, I’m surprised any of them are still awake.” With a shy smile, she added, “We owe you a lot, Onca. If there’s ever anything we can do for you, all you have to do is ask.”

“You don’t owe me anything,” he said, surprised to find tears stinging his eyes. “Just don’t let anyone near the controls for the risers. Actually, it might be better if I disabled them.”

“Risers?” Peska echoed.

“Sections of the floor that float up into the trees,” he replied. “They’re the, um, bedrooms. They’ve got force fields on them so no one can fall off, but I’d rather the kids didn’t know about them.” Childproofing the Palace was a thought that had never occurred to him—or any of his partners. “This was a brothel, you know.”

Cassie giggled. “I might’ve actually enjoyed working in a place like this.”

At least she could laugh. “Our clients seemed to like it,” he said. “We made it look as much like the forests of Zetith as possible. I don’t remember them myself, but Tarq and Jerden do.”

“I’ve never seen Davordia, either,” Cassie said. “I guess most of us on Rhylos are transplants. One thing I’ve always wondered about, though. Are there any natives of this world?”

“If there are, I’ve never heard of them,” Onca said. “I seem to recall hearing that there were no indigenous intelligent life forms here when it was first colonized. But then, the conquerors are the ones who write the history books.”

“Probably similar to what happened to my people,” Rashe said as he sauntered through the arched doorway from the reception area. “War, disease, famine—stuff like that.” He glanced around at the “forest” and its new inhabitants. “If Jerden could see you now…”

Onca’s retort died on his lips as Kim came in behind him.

One glimpse of her had Onca purring so hard he could scarcely control it. Not only did she look absolutely adorable in her pink shirt and jeans, as she approached her scent slammed into his groin like a quadruple dose of the most powerful aphrodisiac in existence.

He had to do something.

Now.

“Okay, then,” he said, doing his best to speak without purring. “Here’s what we’re gonna do. Val, you contact Anara, and I’ll run a search for investigative reporters. There are bound to be a few hard-nosed types who dearly love digging up dirt on politicians—maybe even some who are former clients of ours.” He glanced at Roncas. “Can you think of any names?”

“Not really,” she replied. “I don’t watch the news much.”

Onca gaped at her. “But you said I’d fucked enough reporters to fill a space cruiser! You mean you didn’t recognize any of them?”

“That was more of an assumption than a statement of fact,” Roncas admitted. “Besides, I think it’s best if we keep this impartial. Getting someone you fucked to report the story might be seen as a conflict of interest. Stuff like that can come back to bite you in the butt.”

“Yes, but if no one knows they were ever here—”

Rashe snorted. “Do you really think they wouldn’t have told anyone about their visit to the Palace? Hell, I’m surprised your clients don’t run around in
I
fucked
a
Zetithian
T-shirts.”

“Now, now, Rashe,” Roncas admonished. “No need to be jealous just because women don’t say the same things about fucking
you
.”

“Some may have boasted about having been a client,” Val said. “But certainly none who could help us now. Anyone with any power at all would have been more discreet.”

“True, but there’s bound to be
someone
willing to report the story.” Onca blew out a breath. He hadn’t exercised his brain to this extent since he left the refugee ship, and even then the problems he’d solved were hypothetical. This was real life-and-death stuff. He couldn’t afford to let Kim’s scent cloud his brain. “Roncas, I want you to work on advertising. The public needs to know the truth about what’s going on here. We ran ads for the Palace in the
Tribune
and on several other sites. I never canceled those accounts because I wasn’t sure whether my vacation was going to turn out to be an actual retirement. See if you can use them to drum up support.

“After we’ve done all that and we know the reporters are on the way, we’re gonna call the damn cops and tell them to get their asses over here.” He glanced at Rashe, carefully avoiding Kim’s alluring eyes. “Val says he can identify the policemen who were at the Den last night. If any of them show up, he can point them out. With that many witnesses, we should at least be able to undermine their credibility.”

“They’ve certainly done their damnedest to undermine yours,” Rashe said. “Not sure what we can do to combat that.”

Onca didn’t, either. “If anyone as any ideas, now’s the time to speak up.”

***

Now that Onca was near enough for her to inhale his scent, Kim knew Rashe’s theory was correct. If she wasn’t in the throes of the first fertile period of her life, she was definitely ill. Without Rashe’s supporting arm, she probably would have fallen on her ass. Unfortunately, the cure for her condition was busy.

“You’ve got us,” Cassie said. “Everyone who was locked up in the Den owes you her life and her freedom.”

“You saved me, too,” Kim said. “And Jatki. You saved us
all
.” She drew in a shaky breath, hoping it might clear her head. It didn’t. In fact, that extra whiff of Onca made her feel even worse. “I know we’re only a bunch of homeless orphans, but we’ll find out who’s behind this racket, and we’ll make them pay. We won’t let anything happen to you.”

“I can’t let you risk your lives for me,” Onca protested. “I’m not worth—”

Kim let out a growl. “Don’t you dare say that! You’re worth more to us than any man on the planet. We won’t let you sacrifice your life or your freedom for us again. We’re your army now. We’re here to protect
you
.”

As woozy as she felt, she hoped the others would agree, although considering the horrors they had endured as slaves, she couldn’t be sure. But as she glanced at the group that surrounded Onca, she saw raw courage and grim determination written on the faces of every one of them.

“They can’t silence all of us,” Peska declared. “And do we
ever
have stories to tell.”

Onca nodded slowly. “If you can bring yourselves to talk about it, I’ll do my best to find someone who’ll listen.”

Kim couldn’t help noticing he avoided her gaze, which was probably just as well. She ached for him in ways she couldn’t express aloud, nor could she hurl herself into his arms the way she longed to do.

We
have
to
get
through
this
first. Then, we’ll see.

Knocking up a girl he had known for less than three days certainly wouldn’t improve his public image. She had to be strong. Too bad she was weaker now than she’d ever been. She wanted nothing more than to lie down on one of those grassy “bedrooms” and float up into the trees with him while he worked his magic on her, body and soul. Her knees buckled at the mere thought of making love with Onca one more time…

“Kim!” Roncas said sharply. “Are you okay?”

Kim nodded. At least she thought she had. As dizzy as she was, she wasn’t sure she had even moved her head.

“She’s a little off-kilter today,” Rashe explained. “Think you ought to sit down?”

Kim squeezed her eyes shut. “Yeah. Maybe over there by the waterfall. Might be…cooler.”
And
the
air
might
carry
less
of
Onca’s scent
.

“I think the pheromones are affecting her,” Rashe said. “You have them turned off in here, don’t you?”

Kim had no idea who he had asked the question of, but Roncas replied. “That feature has
always
been turned off in here.” She seemed rather huffy. “My Zetithians never needed any help getting women to desire them.”

Onca’s laugh sounded…strange. “Why, Roncas. That’s the nicest thing you’ve said since I fired you.”

“You didn’t fire me,” Roncas retorted. “You pensioned me off.”

Kim didn’t care if he’d cast the Zuteran out without a reference or a credit to her name. All she knew was that if she didn’t put some distance between her and Onca, she was going to pass out. “Can you help—?”

She staggered against Rashe, who immediately scooped her up in his arms. “Sure thing. Over by the waterfall, you said?”

This time she didn’t even try to nod. “Yeah.”

“Hold on a second,” Roncas said. “Let’s run you through the medscanner and see what’s wrong with you.”

“Scanner?” Kim didn’t know whether to agree or not. However, Rashe didn’t give her the option and carried her back out to the reception area.