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“I did not,” he whispered at her ear. “I only thought I did. I was very young.” He lifted his head and looked into her wet eyes, and smiled. “I know the difference now.” He brushed his tongue against her eyelids, licking away the tears. He stiffened. “This is another of those covert feline behaviors. If you find it offensive...”

  She pulled his head back down. “Don’t be absurd.”

  * * *

  “YOU HAVE TO show the crew how the Cehn-Tahr truly appear,” she told him a few minutes later. “You have to,” she added firmly. “The bonding ceremony won’t allow you to be camouflaged. That’s why Caneese said the emperor is barring vid recorders from it. The crew can’t attend if they aren’t allowed to see you as you are.”

  His jaw clenched. “They will run for the exits and beg for court-martials so that they do not have to remain in the Holconcom.”

  “You underestimate their respect for you,” she replied. She smiled. “And their affection. They’d all follow you out the air lock if you asked them to. How you truly appear won’t matter. I promise.”

  He gave her a long look.

  “I promise,” she reiterated.

  He sighed. “Very well. I will call a shipwide meeting tomorrow to announce it.”

  She smiled her approval.

  * * *

  SHE HAD A gown fit for an empress, of a terribly expensive royal blue fabric with real gems sewn into the gold embroidery. Rubies and diamonds and emeralds glittered like tiny suns when she moved, a little heavily, to study herself in the mirror. With her hair pinned on top of her head, and the creamy skin of her neck and shoulders revealed modestly, she was beautiful.

  There was a thin silky panel over the mark of bonding which would be removed, she had been told, at the bonding ceremony. The mark of bonding was displayed by females only in rare public events such as this, to prove relationships.

  There were no rehearsals for the event, but as she tried on the gown for the final fitting with Caneese, she was given a brief overview of the ceremony, which would take place later in the week.

  She turned to Caneese, who had approved the construction of the gown at every stage. The older female nodded with critical appraise.

  “It is quite well made,” she said to the weavemaster, who bowed and flushed with gratitude at the praise.

  “It’s fit for royalty, though,” Madeline worried. “These are Imperial colors. I thought only the Clan Alamantimichar was permitted to wear them. Although the commander wore them to the Altairian reception,” she recalled with some curiosity, “and at our first bonding.”

  Caneese didn’t answer her. “The emperor himself approved them for you,” Caneese said with sparkling green eyes. “He is quite impressed by you. So are his ‘Praetorians.’”

  “But they don’t know me,” she protested.

  “They have certainly heard tales of you from the kehmatemer,” Caneese said, averting her eyes.

  “Oh. I hadn’t thought of that,” Madeline said. She grinned. “It’s quite bad for my ego, all this praise.”

  “You are not a conceited person,” Caneese said with praise.

  “Not much to be conceited about,” Madeline chuckled.

  “We could disagree about that.”

  She studied the alien woman with warm affection. “It’s nice that you share your true appearance with me,” she said. “I’ve only realized that it is an honor. You never reveal yourselves to outworlders. The commander was afraid that I’d run from him. Fat chance,” she drawled. “I’d crawl to him on broken glass on my knees,” she added with a sigh.

  Caneese found the imagery impressive. “You have changed him, as well as the emperor and our government,” she said complacently. “As I said, you carry the future within you.”

  “We’re going to name the baby Komak. I wasn’t sure, at first, but I do like the name. We were very fond of Komak.”

  “As was I,” the other woman agreed. She frowned. “You still have concerns. I do not pry,” she added quickly. “Your thoughts lie on the edge of your consciousness.”

  Madeline turned, sad. “I’m still a common soldier, and the commander is not only an aristocrat, but quite famous....”

  Caneese laughed. “The emperor himself was a common soldier,” she confided, “with no aristocratic ties and rough manners. Yet he achieved greatness.”

  “I’d forgotten that.” She brightened. “Thanks. That makes me feel a little better.”

  “You still underestimate the affection our people have for you,” Caneese said. “But it will become apparent. I must—”

  Caneese broke off as she heard a chime and moved away. “The dignitaries begin to arrive,” she said, interrupting the conversation. “I must be on hand to greet them, and there are still many preparations that must be made. We will have much time to talk, after the ceremony. You are not nervous?”

  “I’m shaking in my combat boots,” Madeline sighed. “But I’ll try not to embarrass you and the commander’s father in front of the emperor.”

  That brought another green laugh from Caneese’s eyes. “There is no possibility of that,” she assured her. “The emperor and his consort were notorious for the breaking of protocol at every occasion.”

  “I’ve heard about the empress,” Madeline laughed. “I think she must be a very special person. Not only for ignoring traditions, but for inspiring the emperor to conquer whole solar systems in order to win her.”

  Caneese had a secret smile. “She was quite flattered. He was an amazing warrior. He still is, despite his age.”

  “I saw the old fellow as a young Cehn-Tahr soldier, in my mind, when he saved my life on Akaashe,” Madeline recalled. “He was very impressive, too.”

  “Yes. So is your consort.”

  Madeline laughed. “Nobody is his equal.”

  “And that is as it should be.”

  Madeline allowed the assistants to remove the gown. Under it she was wearing brief robes, but she added heavier ones to them, so that she was discreetly covered. “I’ll see you at the ceremony day after tomorrow?” Madeline asked. “You and Dtimun’s father are both coming?”

  Caneese gave her an amused look. “Yes, indeed.”

  Madeline sighed. “I’m told there’s going to be a great crowd of foreign dignitaries and flash media there. Because the commander leads the Holconcom, of course, and is a high military official. I hope I can find you and Dtimun’s father in the crowd.”

  “I would not worry about it,” Caneese said drily. “I imagine it will be possible for us to find each other. Even in a crowd.”

  “I’ll be the one in the gorgeous, princess-type gown, standing next to the most attractive warrior in the room. You can’t miss me,” Madeline said, tongue in cheek.

  Caneese laughed like a girl. “I will remember!” she promised.

  * * *

  DTIMUN WAS APPREHENSIVE about confronting the human half of the Holconcom with his true appearance. Despite Madeline’s surprising reaction, he worried that some of the crew might rather face court-martial or execution rather than remain with a shipload of such alien creatures as the Cehn-Tahr actually were under their sensor nets.

  “You worry about shadows,” Madeline said gently when they arrived at the spaceport where he had ordered the crew to assemble aboard the Morcai.

  “Perhaps.” He walked beside her, tall and commanding in his uniform. She was wearing robes. He glanced down at her and smiled. “At least your condition will not shock them. They already know about it.”

  “Well, the officers do,” she corrected, and sighed. “I suppose it will come as a shock to some of the crew.”

  He chuckled. “It came as a shock to me. Despite Komak’s reassurances, I did not think it would be possible for us to breed.”

  She smiled. “Neither did I, really, but I
think he put something in that injection that assured a pregnancy.”

  He stopped and turned, frowning. “I wish we had been able to ascertain his Clan,” he said. “He used the name Maltiche, but there is no such Clan on Memcache.”

  “In the future, in his time, there might be such a Clan,” she pointed out. “I read that the Cehn-Tahr can create Clans in the Dectat to honor especially brave and heroic soldiers.”

  “Yes, but that has not been done in decades.”

  “We don’t know what they might do in the future.”

  “True.”

  They started walking again. “I know that the old fellow, I mean your father, wants us to call the child Komak, and I agreed, because I think it’s a wonderful tribute to our fellow crewmate,” she added, frowning. “But I don’t understand why he would make such a suggestion.”

  He stopped again, scowling. “He said that Komak had shared knowledge with him that he was not able to share with me. Perhaps he knows some things that we were not permitted to learn.”

  “Perhaps. I still wonder about that shadowy human DNA in Komak.”

  “So do I.” He chuckled. “Would it not be amusing if your colleague and Rhemun produced a child one day?”

  “You think that’s who Komak might be?” she wondered aloud.

  “If he has human DNA, it is one possibility.”

  She was having odd random thoughts herself. Her hand went to the growing mound under her robes. She had the odd impression that the child was laughing. She caught her breath. “No. It couldn’t be...!” She looked up at Dtimun. “What if he’s our descendant?” she exclaimed. “Perhaps a grandson or great-grandson?”

  “That is a possibility,” he replied. “Perhaps the old fellow will divulge what he knows at some point. And there is the data vid that Komak left with him, for us to view after the ceremony.”

  “I’d really like to know the truth. I miss Komak,” she said quietly.

  He hesitated. “So do I,” he confessed tautly.

  She laughed abruptly.

  He turned to her, his eyes questioning.

  “The baby laughed. He thinks it’s funny!”

  “What, that we miss Komak?” he asked, smiling.

  “Apparently.”

  He studied her with warm affection. “Your condition makes you even more beautiful,” he said softly. “It pleases me very much that we do not have to regress the child.”

  “Me, too.”

  There was a sudden commotion, and Rhemun and Mallory marched out toward them, side by side, both glaring.

  “You cannot give them back to the human military,” Rhemun began hotly.

  “I won’t go,” Edris Mallory said curtly. “I don’t care if Ambassador Taylor sends a squad of assassins after me...!”

  Dtimun held up a hand. He looked from one to the other and cocked an eyebrow at Rhemun. “You do not wish the humans to leave?” he asked, surprised. “You have more reason to hate them than any of the rest of our people.”

  Rhemun, aware of Mallory’s sudden curiosity, stared solemnly at his commanding officer. “It has become a tradition, this mixing of cultures and species aboard the Morcai. I would not wish to see it fail because of a renegade human’s threats.”

  “Am I missing something?” Madeline asked. “Was there an announcement that I didn’t hear?”

  “Ambassador Taylor has contacted the Dectat and made threats,” Edris said heavily. “He says that if the Cehn-Tahr don’t return our people, he’ll have his government, our government,” she corrected belatedly, “declare a war vote against the Cehn-Tahr.”

  “Good luck to him,” Madeline said, laughing. “He won’t get any support from the Terravegan government on that issue.”

  “Yes, but he can demand our return,” Edris began earnestly.

  Dtimun held up a hand. “That is what I came here to discuss.” He turned to Rhemun. “Have you assembled the humans as I requested?”

  Rhemun nodded. “They are all in the modified galley area.”

  “Then let us go.”

  Rhemun and Mallory followed them into the ship, running down the long corridor to the galley.

  Madeline laughed, panting as she ran. “It’s great exercise, but I feel like a Yomuth.”

  “I recall offering to trade you for one when the Holconcom were dispatched to assist the Dacerians, soon after the unit was formed,” Dtimun chuckled. “What a good thing for me that Hazheen Kamon declined.”

  “Well, he was fond of the Yomuth,” Madeline replied, tongue in cheek.

  “I was fond of you. I would never have traded you for anything, even then,” he confessed, and laughed when she flushed.

  * * *

  THE GALLEY WAS full of humans, and the murmurs of speculation were especially loud. Dtimun entered first. They all snapped to attention. There were many worried faces.

  Dtimun moved in front of the group, leaving Madeline to stand with Rhemun and Mallory. “I have heard of your ambassador’s threats,” he told the humans.

  “Just space us, could you?” Holt Stern said miserably. “I’d rather die here than at the hands of that fanatic.”

  “Me, too,” Strick Hahnson seconded. “Dying isn’t so bad. I’ve done it once already,” he added.

  There was a skirl of laughter.

  Higgins stepped forward. “None of us want to leave, sir. My department feels the same way.”

  “So does my whole damned department, too, sir,” Jennings seconded.

  There were murmurs of assent from the rest of the humans.

  “The emperor himself has been in contact with me,” Dtimun said, surprising Madeline as well as the others. “He proposes a solution. The Dectat is prepared to enact an amendment to our constitution, giving full rights of citizenship to all human members of the Holconcom. As citizens of the Cehn-Tahr Empire, you would be beyond the reach of the human military or its governing body.”

  There were gasps.

  “You would do that for us, sir?” Higgins stammered. “I mean, the emperor would? I thought he hated humans!”

  “Your devotion to duty, and to me,” Dtimun replied, “have altered opinions in my government, and inclined the Dectat toward great changes in policy. Dr. Ruszel has been responsible for much of that, as well.”

  Eyes turned toward a very pregnant Madeline Ruszel.

  “I saw you like that,” Stern blurted out. He grimaced as everybody looked at him. “When she was operating on the CO at Ahkmau,” he explained, “I had to help, and Komak was acting as blood donor. Somehow, I don’t know how, I saw into Komak’s mind, and there was a very pregnant Madeline. But the memory just went away, until now.”

  Madeline didn’t reveal that Komak was a telepath. She just grinned. “There are things about Komak that you can’t know, just yet, old dear,” she told her former captain. “Sorry.”

  Stern laughed. “There are a lot of things we don’t know, apparently,” he added with a chuckle as he nodded toward her swollen belly.

  “You can bet on that,” Hahnson said with a grin.

  “We digress,” Dtimun began again. He locked his hands behind him. “There are certain things about our culture that we have not revealed to you. There are precedents for this. Once, a group of humans saw us as we truly are, saw us fight as we used to. They did not react well.”

  Now the speculation grew louder.

  “I have been apprehensive about revealing these things to you.” He hesitated. “We have grown fond of our human crewmates. You may not wish to remain Holconcom if you see our true appearance.”

  “Sir, you can’t actually believe that?” Holt Stern spoke for all of them. “I mean, we’ve served with you for almost three years. I think I speak for all of us when I say we’d follow you into the Netherworld if you aske
d us to.”

  There were loud affirmatives from the officers and crew.

  Dtimun was visibly touched. “It may come as a very great shock, when you see our true appearance.”

  “No, sir, a very great shock was when we escaped from Ahkmau alive,” Higgins said. “It won’t matter a bit what you look like.”

  “Not a damned bit,” Jennings seconded. There were other murmurs of assent.

  Dtimun smiled. “Very well.”

  He nodded to the Cehn-Tahr contingent of the Holconcom. All at once, including Dtimun, they touched spots on their wrists. And the Cehn-Tahr reverted to their true appearance.

  There were faint gasps, and faint murmurs. Dtimun waited, his teeth clenched. But nobody fainted. There was no rush for the exits.

  Holt Stern stepped forward and glowered. “Well, isn’t that just great?” he said abruptly. “We already knew you could outrun us and outfight us. But now we have to get used to the idea that you’re even better looking than us!”

  There was a positive roar of laughter. Dtimun and Madeline joined in.

  “However,” Dtimun told them firmly, “you will not speak of our true appearance in front of outworlders.”

  Stern grinned. “Not to worry, sir, we Cehn-Tahr can keep a secret.”

  Another roar of laughter. Madeline glanced at Dtimun covertly. “Told you so,” she whispered to him mentally.

  He raised an eyebrow and smiled at her. His eyes were blatantly green.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  THE HUGE BUILDING was full of people—rather, humanoids—from all over the three galaxies. It wasn’t a cathedral, but it reminded Madeline very much of one. She’d seen static vids of old Earth which depicted such structures. It had a high ceiling, and glowed with a soft blue light. Dtimun had told her once that the form of power they used here, based on nuclear energy, gave it that color.

  She was nervous. Combat was easy compared to being on public display. She had wished for another small, private ceremony like their original bonding, but he had said that it wasn’t possible. His position in the Cehn-Tahr government made it a public event.

  She supposed he meant his position as leader of the Holconcom. But it was still odd that she was allowed to wear the colors of Clan Alamantimichar. Still odder that she was given a tiara to match her gown, one which was filled discreetly with dozens of small, incredibly expensive gems.