Children of Steel (49 page)

"Got any other surprises for me?" I
asked.

"Actually yes, but it's a secret still so
don't ask!" she smiled at me cryptically while reaching for me
then, and shortly thereafter further conversation became
undesirable.

Moral was pretty high on the way back to
Hobson, pretty high for most people that is, some, like Lyle or
myself, were a little unhappy to be losing somebody special. But
all in all it was upbeat; the people who were leaving were excited
about moving on to something different.

Quite a lot of people were being switched out
too; about one third of the crew was going to change. That meant
that we'd probably be in port for longer than usual, to give the
replacements time to get acquainted with the ship.

At the next clan meeting of the trip, it was
interesting to hear people talk about what they would do when their
tour would be up. Balizar would be with the ship as long as the
Captain was, he told us.

"Once you found somebody you work good with,
they don't make you change unless you ask. That is when you get
this high up in the company." He grinned at us, "I've been with the
Captain for eight years now. Been his security chief for six of
those, probably be here on the Astra until he retires."

"Think you'll go any higher than Section
Chief?" I asked curious.

"Well I'm pretty far up the scale right now,"
he said thoughtfully. "But you know, I think it's possible that I
could make it to exec one day. Unless I decide to go back to the
ground troops, then I could make Colonel easy."

"Exec? Really?" asked Lyle.

"Yes, I think it's a possibility. As Security
Head, I have a lot of responsibilities, and I have access to the
same material that the Captain and the Exec do. True I don't see
all the secret stuff that goes across the Captain's desk, but I'm
authorized to in an emergency and have the combination to his safe,
just like the Exec."

"Do you know of any animen that have made it
that far?"

"On smaller ships, and a lot have even made
it to Captain on the packets. But I don't know if that counts, they
are fairly small."

"What are your plans Sharazad?" I asked
looking at her.

"To buyout, get pregnant, have children, and
make him stay home!" She laughed at the reaction on Balizar's face
when she said that. "Actually," she continued, "Before I shock him
into a heart attack, I want to raise a couple of cubs before I'm
too old. So we've been thinking that maybe I should do a tour
dirtside.

"They don't appreciate cubs on company ships,
and once they're about four or so we could probably negotiate a
deal with the company for education and training."

"Ugh, children!" said Terease with a
disgusted look on her face.

"Oh, you'll change your tune; believe me
dear, even the men do!"

"That's a fact!" Said Herza of all
people!

"So how many kids do you two want?" Asked
Banner giving Terease a sidelong look.

"We'd both be happy with one litter, so I
guess that's one or two," Sharazad answered for both of them.

"How long before you're too old?" I asked
embarrassed.

"I'm forty two now, so I've still got a lot
of time left. According to the geneticist's and biologists who
designed us, after sixty it gets touchy and after seventy it could
be dangerous. That's when menopause is supposed to hit. They say
they probably could have stretched it into the eighties, but as
we're supposed to start our downhill slide at around a hundred now,
they felt we would do better physically if our bodies didn't have
that kind of demand put on it in the last third of our life
spans."

"Of course, that's assuming we live that
long," put in Herza again giving me a strange look.

"Didn't you pay attention when they taught
this stuff in class Raj?" Sharazad looked at me accusingly.

"Well to be honest," I said embarrassed,
"Once they finished the stuff on the guys, I stopped paying
attention." I had a big test the next class actually and had been
studying like mad.

"Typical male!" laughed Katrine, "Once he
knows how his own equipment works, he doesn't care about anything
else!"

"That's not true!" I protested smiling, "I
care about using it too!"

By that time everybody was laughing pretty
hard, so it wasn't till later that we heard about Kate's and
Franz's plans.

"We want to get attached to one of the planet
settlement teams," Kate told us. "You know, the people who help set
up and then run one of the company's Mining installations. With a
little luck, we figure we might even end up somewhere
worthwhile."

"Plus it's easier to have and raise children
that way!" said Franz matter of factly, and then quickly ducked as
Kate tried to backhand him one. "Hah, missed." he gloated.

"What makes you so sure that I want to have
children?" asked Kate looking at him accusingly.

"Just a guess dear, just a guess!" he said
laughing at her obvious discomfort.

"Am I that transparent?" she asked
Sharazad.

"If your mate can't figure out the answer to
that question, you've obviously picked the wrong one dear."

"Plus you always talk about how you want a
house with extra bedrooms," Franz grinned. "So it's pretty
obvious."

"Harummp," was all she would respond. They
were both pretty interesting and could be real characters
sometimes, Franz being the only leopard I had ever heard of who
liked practical jokes, and Kate having a backhand that could even
stagger me.

It was approximately a week out of Hobson’s
Choice when I found out what Herza's surprise was.

I hadn't seen her for several days which was
very strange, but she had left a note on my door saying not to
worry. Then I walked into my quarters one day and there she is,
spread out on my bed with a smile and open arms. I also noticed an
interesting and extremely erotic smell in the air that drove right
through me.

It was two steps to the bed; I was out of my
uniform before I had even finished the first one.

It was about six hours later when we finally
took a break. I noticed that strange scent was still there, even
stronger actually. And it was definitely having a most interesting
effect on my behavior.

"What is that smell anyway?" I asked nuzzling
her face.

"It's me silly," she was scratching me behind
the ears, so it took a moment before I felt like pursuing the
question further.

"What do you mean you? And why do I feel like
starting all over again?" I started moving my ministrations lower
and lower.

"I'm in heat you silly Tom," she said
huskily, "Now get back to work!"

That stopped me, but only for a second. "In
heat? I thought you had an implant to prevent that kind of thing!"
As a matter of fact, I knew she did. All female animen were
required to when working shipboard, and after the effect on me I
could see why!

"I had it removed when we left Osborn, my
system just finally got back on an even kilter last month thank
goodness. I was afraid it wouldn't happen before I left."

"Wait a sec, aren't you going to get into
trouble for this?" I asked as I continued working down her
torso.

"No, of course not, ooh that felt good, do
that again." I did so of course, "I've earned a good position
planet side on my next tour, and I'm exercising my option to
reproduce."

I thought about that for a while, once my
mouth was free to talk again I asked some more questions.

"So let me get this straight," I said.

"It feel's pretty straight to me," she smiled
up at me, by now I was on top of her once more, and she had her
legs wrapped well around me.

"I hope so,” I smiled. “Anyway I'm making
cubs here?" I was suddenly a lot more alert than I had been as the
idea burned into my brain.

"Oow that's right my big beautiful Tom, and
don't stop!"

"But we're not even mated!"

"So? Since when is that a requirement?"

She had a point there, "But you didn't even
ask if I wanted too!" It was all kind of sudden that's for
sure.

"Do you want to stop?" she asked grinning at
me.

"Hell no!" I don't think I could of if I’d
wanted to.

"You sure? I could get somebody else," she
teased.

I didn't find it very funny, in fact I was
surprised to feel a strong surge of temper at even the suggestion.
"If another male even comes near you, I'll kill him." I growled
hotly, giving her a tight hug.

"I kind of figured as much," she said
dreamily.

Once we had finished and things had calmed
back down for a while I looked at her. "Now I know why birth
control is required, you've really messed me up, you know
that?"

"It's only because you feel strongly towards
me," she smiled, "otherwise you wouldn't be so possessive."

"So why me anyway?"

"Who else could it be Raj? I suppose if
Banner hadn't gone and mated to Terease he'd be a consideration,
but you're my idea of a perfect specimen."

"But why now? I mean you still have another
thirty or so years of fertility."

"Raj, I'm a combat troop. My first assignment
was one just like your sister's and that's where I'll probably end
up again. I really don't think I'm going to be alive thirty years
from now. Don't feel bad though, I've been planning this for over a
year now. If Banner hadn't mated, I'd probably have had the two of
you fighting it out right now anyway!" She gave me a wicked grin
when she said that.

"I sure hope Cassandra doesn't kill me when
she finds out I'm a father." I sighed.

"Well you're not one yet, so back to work
stud!" she grinned and jumped me then. Actually it was more like
roll than a jump, but this time I got to relax at least.

It went on like that for the whole eight
hours I was off, make love, rest, repeat. I wasn't crazy about
leaving when my shift came, but I managed to tear myself away. It
wasn't easy though.

I went down to the mess, got a huge stack of
food, ate it then took another stack back to Herza. When she had
laughingly suggested going to get her own, I had told her in no
uncertain terms what I'd do to her if she put even one claw outside
the room.

One thing's for sure, I was in a real testy
mood and I didn't know how I was going to survive a twelve hour
shift without her. It was like being a drug addict and needing a
fix. I knew I was in serious trouble.

I ran into Balizar just as I was nearing my
room, I was trying to figure out how to get the food in without
staying.

"What's up Raj?" he asked looking me over
carefully.

I growled before I could stop myself,
"Sorry," I rasped out, "I didn't mean that."

He smiled, but took a step back too. "Herza
went into heat didn't she?"

I growled again, I really couldn't help
myself it seemed.

"Calm down Raj, I'm mated remember?"

That helped, I got control of myself then,
"Sorry, but I find I'm having a real hard time controlling myself
right now. It’s like an addiction."

"It's the pheromones, that's all. It's one of
those instincts that the Geneticists weren't able to change without
serious drawbacks. Unfortunately for you, it sets your temper on
edge too."

He had been walking backwards leading me back
to my room the whole time he had been talking.

"Tell Herza that she's in trouble for not
notifying my office that she cycled yesterday," I growled again but
he ignored it, the door was right next to me now and I wasn't going
to take any action that would move me away from it, and he knew it
too.

"Also," he continued, "You're confined to
your quarters until she conceives, that's standard procedure which
I'm sure you didn't know. I'll have one of the girls leave some
food by the door once a day."

He started moving well back from the door
then, "let me get away from the scent before you open that, or I'll
be bugging Sharazad all day myself."

I gave him a couple of seconds, then went
back inside. I was immediately attacked by Herza, who had obviously
decided that thirty minutes was way too long to be celibate. I
guess this had a big effect on her as well. How I managed to get
the tray of food on the desk with out spilling it all I could never
remember.

We did eat some of the food over the next few
days, and we even made some trips to the bathroom out of necessity.
But I scouted the halls at Herza’s insistence to make sure nobody
was about. She kept her head enough to know that I was on a short
fuse.

It was three days later when she just
suddenly stopped, kind of like somebody flipping a switch. The
scent stopped, except for the residual in the room which still had
me hopping, and she said she needed a shower and a lot of food,
that the room stank, and she was going back to her own. She even
punched me in the face when I continued to act amorous.

So I went down, got her some food and brought
it to her room, she took it, but took one whiff of me and told me
to get that smell off before coming near her again.
Or
else
.

So I went to the shower, where I had a
slightly embarrassing incident. One of the female Jags got a good
whiff of my body, and pinned me up against the wall with her body
as she rubbed the scent into her fur. I was too weak from lack of
food and sleep to do anything more than protest.

"Thanks Raj!" she smiled as she ran out of
the room, "York'll get a real charge out of this!"

After about seven showers I went back to
Herza's, and ended up picking the lock on the door to get in.

"What are you doing here?" She snapped at
me.

"I need some sleep," I told her as I climbed
into the bed. Now that she wasn't producing anymore of that dammed
pheromone, I found I was exhausted. "And I'm sure not going back
into my room, with that damn smell."