It was still a high protein, low carb type diet—mostly rare meat and fruits and vegetables, but Christine didn’t mind. In fact, she thought that the diet must really be doing her a lot of good, because parts of her body seemed to have firmed up and she could barely see her stretch marks anymore.
But as lovely as it had been, she was ready for their time in the holding cell to be over. She had to get back down to Earth and let her kids know she was all right. They didn’t all call her every single night, but she was especially close to her girls and she knew they must be frantic with worry by now if they’d been trying to get hold of her and couldn’t.
So she and Roarn were standing side-by-side, holding hands as the Time Lock cube turned green and the door finally slid open.
“Well, I must say, the two of you are looking extremely well,” Chief Commander Rarev remarked, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
“Certainly much better than we’d feared when we realized that you’d slipped through the door of the holding cell and locked yourself in,” Emilia said to Christine. “I was so worried about you,” she added.
“I know—I’m sorry,” Christine said contritely. “But I knew it was my only chance to bring Roarn back to himself. I had to take it.”
“We understand your reasoning,” the Monstrum commander rumbled. “And I take it that your gamble paid off?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
“It did,” Roarn said. He spoke clearly and lifted his head to look his commanding officer directly in the eye. “Chris-teen saved me by giving herself completely,” he told Roarn. “She drove away the Fury with her love.”
“Yes, we did notice her, er, giving herself,” Emilia said dryly. “Don’t worry,” she added hastily, as Christine felt her face get hot with a blush. “We made the walls of the holding cell opaque when we realized what, er, strategy you were using to help Roarn find himself again.”
“Thank you.” Christine nodded gratefully. She had given herself to Roarn out of love and necessity, but bonding was a private act and she was glad to know that no one had witnessed it.
“Come on,” Emilia said to her. “I’m sure you’re dying to get cleaned up and change your clothes. The facilities in those holding cells are rather primitive, I believe.”
Christine gripped Roarn’s hand more tightly.
“I’m not going anywhere until I know that Roarn is pardoned,” she said firmly, lifting her chin and looking at Commander Rarev. “As you can see, he’s in his right mind now. And he was when he came to find me at Mike Fenster’s trailer, too.”
“Roarn, is this true?” The Monstrum commander cocked his head, his eyebrows raised questioningly.
Rarev nodded.
“I was in my right mind until I heard what that bastard wanted to do with the female I love,” he growled. “And then I believe I entered a state of Rage, which allowed the Fury to come back. I lost myself in it and I was no better than a beast until Chris-teen brought me back.”
“You killed a human, which had been forbidden to all Monstrum” Commander Rarev told him. “But given that you were protecting your female at the time, I will officially grant you a pardon. However,” he added, lifting a finger. “We will have to discuss your actions for the future. For now, however, let’s get back to the Light Side of the ship.”
They made their way through the holding cells and down the long path of lighted flowers that led them through the Dark Side of the Monstrum Mother Ship.
On their earlier trip there, Christine had been too worried about Rarev to enjoy this strange section of the Monstrum ship. However, now she found herself fascinated as they walked through the pitch blackness, lit only faintly by the glowing blossoms that made up the curving path.
“What are these flowers called?” she asked Commander Rarev as she strolled by Roarn’s side, holding her new mate’s hand.
“Ah—we simply call them ‘glow blossoms’,” he remarked. “They are common enough in our ‘verse. But I understand they are rare in this one. In fact, we have a famed botanist coming from Earth to study them next week. She’s extremely eager to see them. Though of course, we will send a guard with her—we don’t recommend any female coming here to the Dark Side of the ship by herself.”
“Really? How interesting,” Christine remarked.
“Yes, those aren’t the only interesting plants they have here, though,” Emilia told her.
“If you’re referring to our pleasure buds—” Rarev began.
“Pleasure buds?” Christine exclaimed. “What are those?”
“Well…” The Monstrum commander cleared his throat. “Being a species that is 95% male comes with many difficulties—not the least of which is sexual frustration. Males must have some way of satiating their cravings. I understand that the Kindred of this ‘verse have invented mechanical pleasure dolls to help with the problem. But for the Monstrum…well, we have the pleasure buds.”