As Tiny whined sadly, Bard made himself carry her out of his suite, and headed for the Docking Bay.
There was nothing else he felt he could do.
26
Bard watched the cargo shuttle with Makenna aboard take off and fly into the darkness of space. In the end, she had kissed him sadly and then crawled into the shuttle without another word. She had crept into the back seat and looked straight ahead, refusing to even glance at him as the door shut and the pilot powered up.
His last sight of her had been her lovely, delicate profile, her lush lips pursed, as though she was trying hard to keep herself from crying. Then the shuttle took off and Bard was left there, alone, feeling like he wanted to die.
“Are you all right, Brother?” It was Sylvan and when Bard glanced up at him, the other male gave him a sympathetic look.
“Fine,” he said gruffly, staring up through the invisible atmosphere bubble into the black void of space where the shuttle was fast disappearing. “It’s for the best. She’ll like it on First World. Lots of other females for her to talk to, like you said.”
“You know, if you change your mind—” Sylvan began.
Bard shook his head.
“Not changing my mind,” he growled. “Just gonna stand here and watch until she’s out of sight.”
“Of course. Forgive me.” Sylvan withdrew and Bard stood there, watching the shuttle as it disappeared into the red gash of the fold in space that would take it to Rageron and then on to First World.
He had no idea that someone else was watching the shuttle too.
27
Biter had been stuck on the far side of the galaxy for the better part of a solar week and he was fucking sick of waiting around. Staying out of sight of the Kindred Mother Ship was difficult—using his cloaking device all the time was draining his fuel cells and he was running out of the raw meat pouches he kept in his stores for emergency use.
He was tempted to leave—there was no way he was ever getting aboard that floating fortress of a Mother Ship, and his star charts showed several viable worm holes in the area he could use to get back to his own side of the galaxy. But Gods damn it, he had paid good credit for that humanoid female! All his savings had gone into her, just so he could have an heir.
Possessing an heir was the ultimate status symbol among the Trollox and Biter wanted it fiercely. Having only one head, when most Trolloxes had two or even three, already put him in a lower social category than the rest of his kind. Why, some of the males who lived in his area wouldn’t even speak to him when they met him on the street!
But if he had a pregnant humanoid female with him to show off—one whose gravid belly proved she was carrying his heir—well, that would change everything, Biter was sure of it. He could just imagine his three-headed neighbor stopping him on the street to congratulate him. Or the two-headed shop keeper where Biter bought his supplies—he was always distant and disdainful. Just as though he was better because he had two heads instead of just one! He would treat Biter with respect when he saw that he had an heir on the way. He—
His thoughts were interrupted by a sharp ping from the console of his ship. Biter sat up in a hurry—the girl! It must be the girl!
He had set an automatic alert on the tracker she still had implanted in her body. It was set to go off if and only if she left the Mother Ship.
Squinting at his viewscreen, Biter saw a silver shuttle leaving the Docking Bay of the enormous ship. Directly in front of it, a red gash appeared in space.
There! That was it! Biter’s nine-chambered heart began to pump faster. He recognized the fold in space that only the Kindred Mother Ship could generate. It would take the shuttle with the girl aboard to a whole different part of the universe.
What part? Biter didn’t know and he didn’t care. All he saw was an opportunity to get back what was his—what had been stolen from him.
Making sure his cloaking device was set at maximum, he followed the silver shuttle into the red gash in space.
It was time to take back his own.
28
Makenna didn’t like going through the red gash in space. It made her feel dizzy and ill—or maybe that was just the Fever coming on. Anxiously, she put a hand to her forehead. She didn’t feel hot—yet. But she knew that couldn’t last for long, not with The Emptiness tormenting her like it was.
“Well, there it is—Rageron. My home world,” the pilot said in a friendly tone.