The Sarran Senator (12 page)

“Are we expecting trouble?” Tonas asked.

“We’re always expecting trouble. There have
been too many incidents. Remember just before the last voyage
council traitors tried to kidnap Naffie. We must remain prepared.”
Bron looked grim.

The door opened and Midnight came in,
followed by a dozen cats who walked by the group. A very elegant
red Abyssinian stopped in front of TeWell and TeAllen.
::I have
chosen your fem as my person. She is preparing for the dance in two
risings. My name is Zorah.::

Allen’s and Well’s jaws dropped.
::Zorah,
welcome. Can you tell us our fem’s name?::

::She’s what you could call a ‘romantic’ and
wants to meet you at the dance. I’ve told her she has a WarriorPair
waiting, but she wants you to see her at her best. She hasn’t had
much time to heal and wouldn’t use the healing chamber more than
once because they were many worse off than she was. She and her
offspring were badly used. I didn’t tell her who you were. That
would frighten her.::

::What do you mean badly used?::
Well
and Allen asked, bristling.

::Her husband was unfaithful and beat her.
When she confronted him with the evidence, he broke her arm. He
kicked her and her offspring out of their home and moved in with
his mistress. She went for legal help but he is rich and powerful
and Legal Aid could only do so much with their limited resources.
She was out on the street for a while until she made her way to a
shelter with her offspring. The head of the shelter told her about
the new dissolution law. The shelter took pictures, so he was
arrested, fined, and a dissolution was granted. She’s very fragile.
She and her offspring spent a week on the streets. One of the fems
who is a doctor took care of her on the ship.::

Bron told them.
::There was information on
every fem in Mark’s report.::

::No offense, Sam, but the Warriors who
run your world are barbarians.::
TeWell and TeAllen shook with
anger.

::Not all Earthen Warriors are barbarians.
But we have enough of them to be ashamed that they exist.::
Sam
shook his head.

::Sarran has their share of bad Warriors.
We performed the Rite of Dissolution recently for a Warrior who
struck TaSyn.::
Tarin stood up for his bonded.

Well considered what Tarin said. “That may be
true, but…”

“Consider the reason our laws are there to
begin with. We slaughtered our fem. The Goddess forced our hand
with the Codex and the genetic modification to mate in Triad.”

TeWell had the grace to look shamefaced.

Jonal added, “We’ve had more than a few
thousand years with the law in place and still occasionally need to
execute a Warrior for this crime. Earth hasn’t had civilization as
long as we have and the topography lends itself to nation states,
which are too busy fighting each other to take care of their
people.”

Sara came up behind them. “Daddy, you’re not
enjoying your own party, standing here talking politics. The fem
are not pleased.” She stood there tapping her foot.

Zaron looked about. “She’s right. We
shouldn’t be speaking about neglect of fem when we are in the
process of being guilty of a mild offense of the same nature. Come,
let’s enjoy the party.”

Tron rolled out the name day cake on a
beautiful wooden silver-inlaid tea cart. The cake towered with four
tiers. Each tier was three thin layers, one flavored with
raspberries, one with Tierest fruit, and the last with vanilla. The
layers were covered with white chocolate, silk meringue
buttercream, alternated with raspberry jam. There were spun sugar
flowers arranged over the top two layers. Sara served coffee with
her cake.

Sara clapped her hands. “This is Daddy’s
birthday cake, but it’s also his and Tarin’s bonding cake. On Earth
we celebrate bondings with friends and family. Our friends and
family are gathered here this rising so we can celebrate both of my
sires.”

Sam and Tarin came up to Sara and took her in
their arms for a hug. Sam and Tarin cut the cake together.

“You have to put the top cake in the freezer
and eat it on your anniversary,” Sara said.

“Better still, we’ll eat it on the rising we
find our fem,” Sam said.

Sara clapped. “What a good idea. I could make
bonding cakes.”

“You’d be doing a lot of baking. The mixer is
two risings from now.” Zuron chuckled.

“I didn’t think about that.”

“Truthfully, if you cost it out, the Earthen
ingredients make this particular cake beyond the means of many
WarriorPairs who have to save from the time of puberty for their
rings and glasses. Asking them to save for a cake that you eat once
is too much for the younger Warriors. However, those older, more
settled Warriors who wish to entertain for their or their fem’s
name day would gladly pay the twenty credits it would cost for you
to make a profit,” Zuron spoke and Axit nodded his head. Sara’s
face fell.

“On the other hand,” Axit said as he finished
a forkful of the cake, “if you use Sarran ingredients like you did
with the Tierest shortcake, you could charge two credits and make a
decent return. With your training there could be quite a variety.
Look what you did with the bread. I have never tasted bread so
fine.”

“And the Tierest shortcake could be a name
day cake if cake on a name day is an Earthen tradition.”

“Sounds to me like you’ll do well with your
bakery when you decide to open one.” Sam hugged his femspring.

Sara walked away mumbling, “I wonder what
fruit they have for pie and pastry.”

* * * *

Each meeting occurs at the precise moment

for which it was meant. Usually, when it will
have

the greatest impact on our lives.

―Nadia Scrieva,
Fathoms of Forgiveness

The Hanger, Birthing Class 08:00 tines

When word got out on the comm that there was
to be another birthing class the rising after Sam’s party, other
Warriors like Tarin who felt they hadn’t absorbed the material at
the first class and had since bonded, came to take the class again.
Mark assisted Anya and the new ob/gyn, Dr. Lisa Fox. Lisa had come
to the ship because of the Sarran television commercials.

“The contract stated that we could go back
home if we wanted and the print ads said they were looking for
ob/gyns. If nothing else, I thought I would get to actually see
another planet. But now I know I’m needed here and the Sarran
Warriors are amazing. I’m hoping to be bonded at the dance.”

“How did you get to a place where you decided
to come here,” Anya asked Lisa. Anya and Lisa became close very
quickly. Lisa had also trained at Manhattan General Medical Center
and knew Mark. She’d been a few years ahead of Anya.

“You and I have a lot in common. I lived with
nuns too. My parents sent me to Catholic boarding school through
high school and I wasn’t an orphan. I rebelled when it was time for
college and attended Columbia. I was happy to get a place at
Manhattan General when Dr. Stern was Chief of Staff.”

“Where did you go after your residency?” Anya
sorted through the visual aids. They didn’t have holos for the
class, although some fems suggested that their Warriors record an
actual birth for the archives to use for future classes. The
council fem agreed it would be useful as an example to the
others.

“University of New Mexico, Sandoval Medical
Center. They needed doctors in New Mexico, especially doctors who
took Medicaid. I wasn’t interested in making a fortune, only in
helping other fems.” Lisa chuckled. “I keep wanting to say women
despite the translator chip. I actually love the term fem. The word
woman is a derivative of man.” Anya nodded her head in
affirmation.

“Fem is a word unto itself and puts us in our
own place, not as an appendage of a man,” Anya said.

“Huh, I never thought of it that way before.”
Amused, Lisa smiled. “Even the Sarran language treats fems as
equals. That’s why I came.”

* * * *

Academy Grounds: The Tierest Tree 10:00 tines

“I enjoyed the class now that I know I may
have to use the skill,” Tarin told Sam. They held hands while
walking to the Tierest tree on the grounds of the Academy.

“This tree is important to many Sarrans. The
legend is that it was the first tree planted by the Goddess after
the ClanWars and because of its connection to the Goddess it has
been reserved for Sarrans only. Many a WarriorPair formed their
bond under this tree.”

::Did you and Nezier…::

::I wouldn’t do that to you, my fox. No,
Nezier and I met on Starlight, one of the ships of the fleet. He
flew fighter light slips and I worked in Engineering. We were
quartered across from one another. I had just made lieutenant and
he was an Ensign. We were very young. It hit us right away, but I
didn’t feel like my heart had stopped like I did when I met
you.::

::I felt the same, my love. Tomorrow we go
to meet our destiny. May our fem be sweet and kind. Let’s go and
pick up our Asta glasses. I want to go home and love you in our new
slumber chamber. I’m glad you put the navy leather sofa in our
study. It’s special to me because we first made love on it,::
Sam said in reflection.

::There will be certain things we only share
with each other and certain things our fem will only share with one
of us. This is as it should be. Each of will have needs that only
one of the others can fill. The couch is for you and me. The
slumber chamber is for our fem.::

“I think Syn’s right. Our destiny awaits us
next rising at the dance.” Sam nodded his head in emphasis.

“All the more reason for us to make love now,
under the Tierest tree. No one will disturb us. I put a white hanky
on the edge if the hedge that surrounds us.” Tarin took Sam in his
arms and laid him down on the soft blue-green grass. He undid the
fastenings of Sam’s flightsuit but didn’t take it off. He
unfastened his own.

Sam grabbed Tarin’s neck and brought him down
for a kiss that seemed like it lasted forever although it was only
a moment. Tarin moved his mouth down Sam’s chest, now devoid of its
small patch of hair. He stopped at his nubs pinching, laving,
licking, and biting until they stood up.

Sam trembled in his bonded’s arms. Tarin took
out Sam’s shaft and began to lick and suck around the sides.
::I’m going to embarrass myself when we leave here. My
flightsuit will be soaked with slick, you make me want you so much.
I long for you to be inside of me with me inside our fem. I dreamt
of our fem last moontine. She had hair as dark as the moontine sky
and blue eyes that saw right through to my soul. She has a cat that
she brought from Earth. The cat is sentient.::

::I too dreamt of her. She is petite and
beautifully made but doesn’t think she is, there is something wrong
with her aura that Syn will have to fix. However, right now, I want
to fix you, my fox.::

Sam’s plunged his mouth down on Sam’s shaft
moving it up and down in conjunction with his right hand. With his
left hand he kneaded Sam’s balls. He took his mouth from Sam’s
shaft and went down to lick his perineum barely touching the rim of
Sam’s hole with his tongue. Sam was on a hair trigger. He erupted.
::You didn’t give me a chance to touch you.::
Sam
complained.

::That’s because I wanted to give to you this
rising to show you how much I appreciate what you gave up to come
here and how lucky I am to have you as my bonded.::

::I was fated to be here with you, as was
Sara with Mark and Juraens. I must have done something right to be
favored by your Goddess. She gave me you, a gift I can never repay.
You mean everything to me. This, what we have, won’t change with
the addition of our fem, will it?::

::No, my fox, we will still have alone time
and our fem will only strengthen our bond. You’ll see.::

::Let me take care of you now.::
Sam
pleaded.

::You already did. I came when you did,
just from the taste of you. Let’s teleport to our home to change
our flightsuits. We still have to pick up your things at the
tailors and your boots at the cobblers in Vineleaf. We need to look
our best next rising.::
Bron took Sam’s hand and kissed his
knuckles.

::Yes,::
Sam smiled,
::We do. I
want to dazzle our fem so she comes to us without
reservations.::

* * * *

Fem Barracks: 18:30 tines

Margaret Mary O’Neil was fussing over her
dress. She was thirty-six years old and this was her first dance.
Meg, as her mother used to call her, didn’t have much in common
with the other fems she met on the ship. They had lives they lived;
they’d experienced dates and dances. She, on the other hand, had
cared for her abusive, drunken father and never had anything of her
own. Sarran was heaven to Margaret Mary.

I can’t believe this place exists…a place
where women receive respect from the men around them instead of
verbal abuse and a cuff on the ear. Every man, oops, Warrior, I
meet is unfailingly polite even when I ask stupid questions.

Meg always wanted to be a dress designer but
on Earth her father forbade her to go to school. She took in
washing and mending, but she made her own clothes.

After seeing the commercials and reading the
print ads, she made the decision to go to the relocation center.
Her neighbors mocked her. “What would they want with a dried up old
prune like you? They want women who can breed,” one of her more
spiteful neighbors said.

Meg didn’t listen. “If they don’t want me,
they’ll tell me, not you.” The neighbor was in shock because it was
the first time Margaret Mary had ever stuck up for herself.
Margaret Mary was tired of being someone’s whipping girl. It was
bad enough she had to put up with abuse from her father for twenty
years, she wasn’t going to put up with any more from anyone
else.