The Ninth Orb (18 page)

“Either way, you’ve narrowed everyone’s options. We can no longer afford to take the time to feel our way carefully, to learn their customs and see how well they adapt to ours.”

Chapter Fourteen

Mel was the first of the prisoners to capitulate. Looking petrified, she stepped forward after deliberating the verdict of the council less than a minute. “How are we supposed to go about choosing, Madam President?”

“Are you crazy?” Marion hissed in a furious under voice. “They can’t make us do this.”

Mel didn’t glance at her. “I accept responsibility for my actions. I’d prefer to take my chances with the Xtanians to being imprisoned for fifty fucking years,” she snarled back in a harsh whisper that was perfectly audible to everyone.

“With the stipulation that you will be gracious and accepting of their efforts to please and do your utmost to maintain peace?” Eden demanded sharply.

Mel nodded. “Absolutely. At least I’ll never be alone,” she added with a weak chuckle.

It took less that another minute for the others to agree, Marion included.

“As part of your pardon, your behavior will be monitored closely until we are satisfied that you intend to uphold your part to the spirit of the agreement and not merely the letter of the law,” Eden cautioned them.

Marion sent her a resentful glance, but the others merely nodded.

Relieved, Eden settled in her seat. “You are released on your own cognizance … for now. When I’ve investigated the protocol for the choosing, I will summon you.”

When the women had left, Eden charged the other council members with the task of making the announcement and dealing with the questions bound to arise. She was glad when the last of them had filed out and left her to her thoughts. Shaky with relief that she hadn’t had to force the issue, with the council members at least, when she’d already promised Baen that everything was in order, she rose finally and went to her office.

She ignored the work awaiting her, however, and moved to the window to stare out toward the Xtanian citadel. Naturally enough, there was no sign of Baen, but she didn’t need to see him to resurrect the confusion of feelings that had filled her when she had kissed him. She was playing with fire. She had no right to sit in judgment on the others when she had willfully ignored the taboos because of her own needs.

It had been bad enough the first time. Even though she hadn’t completely understood their social structure then--she didn’t now--she had been well aware that she was taking risks she shouldn’t. This last time, when she’d yielded to the temptation to kiss him, she couldn’t even claim ignorance. It was some small consolation that she hadn’t allowed it to go any further, but that certainly hadn’t been due to her own clear headed decision.

Carter had watched her back.

Bless the woman!

And damn her, too!

As a politician and leader of her people, she could not but be grateful. As a woman and an individual, she resented the interference in her private life.

It was stupid, of course. The two were intertwined and could not be separated, but she hadn’t been ‘saved’. She’d only been spared indiscretion of the moment. The only way she could avoid the temptation to yield to her instincts was to stay completely away from Baen, and her position wouldn’t allow it.

Movement near the citadel caught her attention, distracting her from her contemplation of her personal dilemma. They appeared as little more than dark specks when she first saw them, and not much more than that when they reached the stream and crossed it. By her count, however, there seemed to be considerably more Xtanians crossing the neutral zone that she’d had any reason to expect.

In truth, she hadn’t expected to see any at all, but she supposed that it might be Letheen’s brood, and perhaps some others who had come to help them?

They were eager, if that was so.

She sincerely hoped Marion was properly appreciative, or at least could behave as if she was.

“Ma’am?”

Frowning at the distraction, Eden moved to her desk and depressed the communications button. “Yes, Lt. Carter?”

“There’s a … herd of Xtanians heading this way. I thought you might want to be informed.”

“I noticed them. Is Latheen among them?”

“Yes, ma’am.” There was a brief pause. “And Baen’s brood.”

A flash of heat went through her. It was followed by a flash of cold.

“Ma’am?”

“I’ll be there in a minute.”

If they’d been on Earth, and/or talking about Earthmen, she wouldn’t have thought much of it. Neighbors helped neighbors. But she’d gotten a fairly accurate, she thought, picture of how things worked with the Xtanians. That was the main reason for the family units they formed. Labor. Each ‘family’ unit formed a little self-sufficient community. And if every brood was a working unit, then would they still behave like their Earth brothers?

She didn’t think so.

It was possible, of course, that Baen had merely decided to come back for another discussion about some other point--or thought of an excuse to meet with her again.

But she had a very bad feeling that Baen and his brood brothers had either mistakenly, or deliberately, decided to interpret something she’d done as a commitment to them.

She didn’t know why that thought occurred to her, unless it was because she’d just been right in the middle of manipulating a few dozen people into committing to a really bizarre relationship for the sake of peace, but it did occur to her.

She frowned at that thought as she punched her destination into the lift panel.

She’d seen nothing at all in Baen’s behavior to suggest he was inclined toward subterfuge or manipulation. He was certainly intelligent enough, but he seemed very honest and straightforward.

Of course she couldn’t say for certain that she knew him well enough to determine that about him.

And she didn’t know his brothers at all.

An image of Trar abruptly popped into her mind and it occurred to her that Trar might well be capable of deception. He’d been groomed, after all, to be one of the ‘seducers’.

But nothing had happened at the celebration and she hadn’t seen him before or since.

It couldn’t be the kissing thing. In the first place, the Xtanians didn’t kiss so they couldn’t have any rules, or taboos, to apply to it. In the second, Baen was a warrior and even though he hadn’t specifically said so he had suggested that, as a warrior, his ‘duties’ did not include contributing to the gene pool. She was almost positive that she’d gleaned that much information and that he wasn’t restraining himself because they hadn’t bonded, but rather because he wasn’t supposed to at all.

Other than that, which she thought she could discount, the only thing she’d done was to choose the men who would attend the party, and if that was being interpreted as mate choosing, then she was really in trouble, and so was Liz and Ivy--because they’d all picked men from different broods. Having five to eight men to have to deal with was mind boggling enough. Having to deal with more than one brood just wasn’t acceptable. She didn’t care what their customs dictated. They were going to have to comprise on that little detail.

By the time she finally reached the observation tower and joined Lt. Carter, she was expecting the worst. She wasn’t disappointed.

The Xtanians had arrived, and the groups had split. Baen and his brood were very obviously examining the terrain to determine a location for their ‘nest’.

“Oh fuck!” Eden exclaimed before she thought better of it.

“I suspect that’s what they’ve got on their minds,” someone muttered in a perfectly audible under voice.

Janine snickered.

Eden lowered her glasses long enough to send a narrow eyed glance at the women crowding the observation deck around her. It was a wasted effort. Everyone’s attention was focused on the two groups of men below them. She was trying to decide whether to suggest that Sarah give them something to do or just ignore them when Janine sucked in a surprised breath. “Is it just me, or does it look like there’s about to be a fight?”

Dismissing her irritation with the gawkers, Eden snatched her glasses up again. It took her several moments to train the glasses on what was transpiring below, primarily because everyone on the deck had gone tense with excitement and began to jostle each other for a better view.

Apparently both hunting parties had settled on the same building site. Cal, Trar, Pizan,Vladiv, and another Xtanian Eden had not met before had settled themselves in the shade of a very large tree with the air of spectators. Baen and two other warriors, whom she knew must be his brood brothers, stood in a spearhead formation with their backs to the group. Facing them were the five warriors of the other group.

She couldn’t hear anything, naturally enough, from such a distance, but she didn’t need to to see that Janine was right. Everything about their tensed-to-spring stances screamed animosity. Moreover, the Xtanian who was obviously the dominant male warrior of the other group was speaking and gesturing angrily.

She couldn’t see Baen’s face from where she stood and after a moment, she lowered the glasses and moved to a different position. Frustration filled her when she tried again, because this time she found that the foliage of the tree was blocking her view.

Before she could try for another position, Baen moved--so swiftly she missed most of it, slamming one fist into his opponent’s mid-section and the other almost instantaneously into the man’s jaw as he bent double. The man toppled backwards like a felled tree, slammed into the men ranged behind him, bounced off and settled heavily to the rocky ground.

Eden was so surprised it took her several moments to realize that everyone was so completely stunned that no one, either on the tower with her, or on the ground below, moved for several moments.

“And it’s a knock out!” Sarah muttered with a chuckle.

“Did you see that? I missed it! What happened?”

“He sucker punched the guy. Can you believe that? One minute he’s standing there all cool and bored looking while the guy rants and raves and the next the guy’s on the ground!” Janine babbled giddily.

Apparently the Xtanians emerged from their stunned surprise at about the same moment the Earthlings did, because the nearly identical expressions of disbelief on the faces of those in the ‘enemy’ camp slowly gave way to anger and then blazing fury. As Baen’s brothers moved forward, ranging beside him and completely blocking her view of him, Eden swept past them to discover that Cal and the other spectators were now jeering and gesturing at the other brood.

Tensing, Eden swung the glasses back so quickly the movement made her dizzy and she had trouble focusing on the warring groups. To her relief, she saw when she finally did bring them into focus that Latheen and his brood brothers had apparently decided the building site wasn’t worth an all out battle. The laborers surged forward to collect their fallen man and hauled him to his feet.

He still looked dazed and wobbly as they led him away.

Baen and his brothers stood watching them, still tensed for battle until the group had disappeared from sight, apparently having decided to search for a building site a goodly distance from their rivals.

“Amazingly well disciplined but clearly territorial,” Lt. Carter observed.

Eden, who’d watched until Baen settled himself at the foot of the tree with his back to it, lowered her glasses and stepped back from the wall as Baen looked up at the tower. She immediately regretted the impulse to ‘hide’, because she was fairly certain that he couldn’t identify her even if he had spotted her, but the sudden movement was bound to draw attention.

“They haven’t seemed aggressive,” she said sharply in response to Sarah’s comment.

Lt. Carter turned to look at her. “Before now, you mean?”

Eden frowned. “If anyone was being aggressive it was Latheen’s group.”

Sarah studied her a long moment and finally grinned. “It was Baen that swung the punches.”

Eden shrugged irritably. “Even I could see the guy was working himself up to attack. I just don’t understand why they were arguing anyway. Obviously, the entire planet is up for grabs.”

Sarah shrugged and turned to watch the activity below. “But Baen and his brood brothers settled on the most ideal spot closest to New Savannah. They headed straight for it as they crossed the valley, as if they’d already staked it out. If I was a betting woman, I’d say Baen had thoroughly checked it out before they were ‘invited’ to settle nearby.”

“If they’d already chosen the site, then that’s all the more reason to refuse to give it up. Why is it the best spot?”

Sarah motioned for Eden to join her at the wall. “I doubt he can recognize you from here,” she said when Eden looked reluctant.

Curious, Eden moved to the wall beside her.

“… Unless, of course, he recognizes the hair,” Sarah added teasingly as Eden settled.

Self consciously Eden swiftly lifted a hand to her hair. “It’s dark. A lot of us have dark hair,” she said stiffly, irritated that Sarah obviously knew exactly why she didn’t want to stand by the wall in clear view of the men below them.

“But it catches fire in the sunlight, goes all bright and coppery. Not everybody’s hair does that. And I’d be willing to bet he’s noticed. I doubt there’s much about you he hasn’t noticed.”

Eden felt a breathless fluttery sensation grip her. It took an effort to resist the temptation to prod Sarah for more of her insights about Baen, but she firmly tamped it. “I didn’t realize you’d had that much opportunity to observe him,” she retorted, completely unable to keep a note of jealousy from creeping into her voice.

Sarah sobered. “Begging pardon, ma’am, but you are the most important person here and it’s my job to watch you carefully and everyone you come into contact with. Captain Sterling was concerned about your interest in him, and even more concerned about his interest in you. Anyone with a trained soldier’s eye can see that he has the potential of being a formidable foe.”

She hesitated, turning to study the subject of her conversation thoughtfully. “He’s a cool one. Outwardly, if you discount the fact that he’s built like a gorilla and is probably twice as strong as any man alive, he seems almost as gentle and unthreatening as a lamb--very gentlemanly, respectful, but it’s my considered opinion that he doesn’t miss much. I’m guessing that, by now, he’s figured out exactly how many soldiers guard New Savannah. When you take into account the fact that the Xtanians, by their own admission, have no designated leader as a whole, and yet no one challenged him when he assumed that role, you have to figure they know something about him we don’t.”