Pact (7 page)

“It makes sense to me. I am confident that I will be sore in the morning, though.”

“I will give you a rubdown tonight. It will help with the pain in your limbs.”

“Oh good.”

He smiled, and the smile was evil. “You will need any relief you can get. You are doing this again in the morning.”

She paused with the water bottle near her lips. “You are joking.”

“Nope. It is a better use of your time than hacking into secure files.”

“But, I like hacking into the files. It is a new skill for me.” She gave him a sincere look.

“Don’t batt your eyes at me. There is no reason for you to be running around our history.”

She waved that off. “Of course there is. I am curious as to what brought your progenitor to the attention of the scientists.”

“Curiosity is not a reason to breech our protocols.”

She shrugged. “It seemed like a good reason to me. I was promised that I could pursue information and learning.”

He wrinkled his nose. “We did not know you meant our systems.”

Mila stared at him. “You were the one who authorized it?”

“The Elder council did.”

She snorted. “Well, when I wanted to look into all information, I meant all information. The idea was that I could educate myself as much as I wished.”

He groaned and massaged his neck. “Why do you want to rifle through our history?”

Mila opened the container of nuts and seeds, and she took a few. “Because I love to read. I love moving through the data. It makes me happy.”

He groaned again and looked at her with narrowed eyes. “When you access our historical documents, make sure I am in the room. Yes. You were authorized to do it, and if it makes you happy, you are welcome to it.”

She munched and reached over to pat his shoulder. “Don’t look so upset. I am not a gossip. Once I read the data, I have no interest in it. I just want to know it.”

He nodded, and they looked at the vista stretched out before them. She moved the food and scooted next to him.

She leaned her head against him and smiled. “It is a lovely view.”

“Only because you are with me.” He shifted his position and kissed her.

It was a romantic picnic. Too bad they never made it to the food.

It was decanting day, and Mila was meeting her heir. She had spent four hours of every day reading to the little one as she grew in the tank.

The other Brides all had their own gestation rooms and their own heirs to chat to.

Alveck and the council were here for the decanting. Hrakin’s hands were clenching and releasing with nerves. The other Elders were staying far away from him.

Lynni had her own heir in a harness against her chest. Tiny Yma was asleep during the tense moment with her pudgy fist against her rosebud lips. Leko had his heir in his own harness, and Keela looked even smaller on him. His tiny daughter looked around with wide eyes, but she was quiet.

Alveck checked everything and nodded to Mila. “Ready.”

Mila took the few steps up to the top of the tank, and she decanted her daughter, every slippery inch of her. Alveck stood by with a towel, and the moment that Niika was out of her mother’s arms, she screamed.

Alveck nearly dropped her. Hrakin stepped in and touched his daughter, easing her into the infant scanner. She went quiet the moment that he touched her.

Alveck ran the scans, and she didn’t cry on the equipment. The moment that he touched her, she screamed again. It was definitely an angry scream. She turned the same scarlet that Lynni sported.

Hrakin smiled and lifted her in the towel, handing her to Mila. “It seems your daughter has your temperament.”

Mila made a face and stroked the perfect and downy cheek. “Shut up, Elder.”

He sighed and Lynni snickered.

Niika’s little hands waved around, and Mila slipped her finger into her daughter’s grip. “Wow. You are impressive, little girl.”

Niika squealed. Yma and Keela shrieked.

Lynni and Leko went into damage control with their little ones, and the Elders looked at Niika as if she was possessed.

Mila rocked her daughter and chuckled at the chaos she created. “We have a little disrupter in our midst.”

Hrakin winced. “Are you sure?”

“No, but it is a pretty safe guess. She makes the adults uneasy and upsets her peer group. It is the first sign.”

“Please take that back.”

Mila chuckled. “Now, why would I want to do that? She is my clone and made to be my closest genetic match on this world. She is me if I had been born pure Lrrko. Why are you surprised that I would be a disrupter?”

Alveck snorted. “No surprise here.”

Mila frowned at him. “Hey, you have managed over a hundred eggs out of me in the last year. Quiet or I cut off the supply.”

Alveck held his hands up. “Right. Sorry, Ma’am.”

Hrakin snorted. “Come on. Check the scans Alveck. Let us know if she is all right.”

“Oh. Right.” He went to the scanner and checked the readout. “Wow. If you were born a Lrrko, you would be the scariest female I have ever met.”

Mila looked at the infant in her arms. “Do you hear that, Niika? You are already scaring people. It is a fun sign. You are going to have your Familiar running for the hills.”

The baby waved her hands again and let out a kittenish mewl.

Hrakin snorted. “I think she is already imagining terrorizing him. This is going to be a very long growth period.”

Mila looked to Alveck. “Can we take her home?”

“Please. There is another decanting tomorrow. I don’t know what kind of havoc she would wreak with the infant.”

Mila spoke to Niika. “We are going to get you cleaned up and get you dressed, and then, we are going to the city apartment and, then, we are heading home. You will like it. Plenty of rocks to play with and only me and your father to torture.”

Hrakin sighed. “Come, my lovelies. We have plenty of time in the air, and then, I have a council vote to attend.”

Mila wrinkled her nose at the baby and leaned against her Familiar as he walked her to the lift and their vehicle.

* * * *

Niika Mila-Hrakin looked at the candidates for the dubious position as her Familiar, and she grinned. She gave them unease and watched to see who shifted. She gave them panic and watched to see who tensed.

At the age of twenty, it was time for her to pick a Familiar. Her father was still head of the council, but he had no say in this choosing. That was one of the regulations that Elder Lynni had put in effect. Their daughters could choose as long as the men were in the compatible range.

The Elders had made all volunteers jump through hoops to make it this far, but Niika wanted to push them further.

She manipulated their emotions for about five minutes, and then, she turned to the councillors. “I have chosen.”

Her father looked relieved, and her mother shouted from next to him. “Woo hoo!”

“Name your choice, Daughter of Mila.”

“Rylin. I have selected Rylin.”

She turned, and the projectile specialist looked at her with surprise. She grinned.

Weaponry was one thing that she had not quite grasped, and having her Familiar train her would be educational.

Her mother had always stressed the importance of a good education.

My thanks to my editor, Janet, who was slaving over this book on release day to finish it in time.

Well, after my surgery, I had to deal with losing my grandmother, and I am hoping that it is as bad as 2016 can get. It is not off to a stellar start.

Thanks for reading,

Viola Grace

Viola Grace (aka Zenina Masters) is a Canadian sci-fi/paranormal romance writer with ambitions to keep writing for the rest of her life. She specializes in short stories because the thrill of discovery, of all those firsts, is what keeps her writing.

An artist who enjoys a story that catches you up, whirls you around and sets you down with a smile on your face is all she endeavours to be. She prefers to leave the drama to those who are better suited to it, she always goes for the cheap laugh.