Part 24 (1/2)

”They are not,” he told her, ”and part of their DNA is also human. Which is why I remained a little longer before your bonding ceremony. I wished to gather information for my mate about her parents.”

”Rhemun,” Madeline guessed.

”Mallory.” Dtimun nodded.

Komak roared with laughter. ”You are too perceptive. However, I must let you a.s.sume some things because I cannot deal in facts. The future is delicate.”

Madeline sat back down beside Dtimun. ”Can we do this again?”

”Do what?” Komak asked.

”Talk to you like this with the interface?”

He smiled sadly. ”That will not be possible. I cannot risk contaminating my own time by saying something unwisely.”

”I see.” Her face was sad.

Komak took a long moment to look at his parents as, before, he had only seen them in vids made by the Clan, in the future.

”You are not what I expected,” he said softly. ”I saw only the authority figures and the history. Now I am able to see the real people, in all their dimensions. It was a rare and beautiful glimpse into a world I have only seen in vids, and few of those due to the coronal ma.s.s ejection that crippled our libraries and archives.”

”I never expected that you would be our child,” Madeline replied, her eyes warm and sad, because this would be the last time for many years that she would speak with her son as an adult. ”I thought of Mallory and Rhemun instead, because I had planned to return to active duty when we rescued Chacon.”

”One should never make plans and expect them not to change with circ.u.mstances,” Dtimun counseled.

She wrinkled her nose. ”Spoken like a true military commander.”

”Yes, but that career, and yours, must be sacrificed so that we can raise our son,” Dtimun told her with affection. ”We will remain on active duty, however. And when the children are older, the emperor has approved your plan for a division of female troops, which you will lead.”

Madeline glowed. ”What a nice wedding present that was. Like my citizens.h.i.+p,” she added.

”Your rescue made possible the Nagaashe treaty,” Komak told her. ”The Nagaashe will a.s.sist you in research in years ahead. They are the key to time travel. I will say no more,” he added, smiling. ”But all the tech that my generation enjoys has theirs for its basis.”

”It's amazing,” Madeline said.

He nodded. He glanced from his father to his mother and struggled with emotion. ”I will miss you both very much,” he said. ”But I rejoice in the future that we will all share.”

”I can't wait!” Madeline said breathlessly.

Dtimun glowered at the boy. ”I know now that your parents must have been quite lenient with you to produce such rebellion and audacity,” he began.

Komak held up his hand. ”You are not lenient, and I have never been rebellious. I have simply been interesting,” he told his father. ”Surely you do not wish me to grow up to be taciturn and unapproachable?

My grandfather is the emperor, and he can be surprisingly outrageous.”

Dtimun looked at Madeline. ”Yes, like your mother.”

She raised both eyebrows. ”I'm not outrageous. I'm interesting.” She grinned.

He chuckled. ”So you are.”

”I must go now,” Komak said. He smiled gently at them. ”I told you once, but I will repeat it. It has been the greatest joy and privilege of my life to have served with both of you in the Holconcom, to know you as comrades. It is difficult to leave. But the present is where your focus should be now. I leave you with great affection. And I will see you very soon. Farewell and fair sailing, as the humans say.” He hesitated.

”I love you both, very much.”

And he was gone. Madeline's eyes were bursting with tears that she couldn't prevent. Dtimun was very still for a few moments. He would not let Madeline see his face. When he stood up, and noticed her emotional response to Komak's farewell, he pulled her up into his arms and held her very close to him, rocking her in the silence of the room.

”He was our son,” she whispered huskily. ”Our child.”

He smoothed her hair. ”I could not be more proud of him,” he replied. ”I was proud of him when I had no idea that he was my son. He is quite exceptional.”

”Yes,” she replied softly. ”Quite exceptional.” She closed her eyes and pressed closer to Dtimun. ”The future looks very promising.”

He smiled above her head. ”Promising,” he agreed. His eyes closed as he rested his cheek against her hair.

”Promising.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN.

With so much going on, Madeline hadn't thought too much recently about childbirth. Her pregnancy, thanks to Komak's mix of genetic materials, had gone quite smoothly, even with the growth spurts. She and Dtimun grew closer, and the more she learned about his culture, the more content she was to live in it.

The most important thing was not material wealth or owners.h.i.+p of things. It was family. That was the core of Cehn-Tahr society. There was no money, as such. Each person or family contributed to a fund which was coordinated by machinery that could not be tampered with. Funds were distributed according to need. Greed was almost unknown. Clans lived in great compounds, and were related to Clans all over the planet and in its many independent colonies. Clan members could not marry within the Clan, regardless of the distance. Females might not go to war, but they controlled most of the planet's finances and service organizations. They had great power. Many served in the Dectat, many more were governors of outlying colonies.

However, Madeline would become the first female brigadier general in Cehn-Tahr history, and she made certain that the emperor understood her plans for it. She wanted a combat division, as capable as the Holconcom, with women in positions of command within it. Tnurat rolled his eyes, but he laughed and agreed and pushed the legislation through the Dectat. As Dtimun often said, Madeline could do no wrong in the eyes of the emperor.

Dtimun walked in as Madeline was trying to study a vid on human childbirth, while Rognan and Kanthor looked on with fascination. The Meg-Raven and the galot had been her constant companions since the formal bonding ceremony. Madeline could not go two steps around the estate without her two companions. The emperor was highly amused. Kanthor rarely a.s.sociated even with Cehn-Tahr and he hated Rognan, but he was quite protective of Dtimun's unborn cub.

Caneese and Rognan had been enemies for decades, but the prospective child had made friends of them.

Now, when Caneese worked in her biolabs, Rognan occasionally found his way there to offer her a bit of fruit or a sample of some elusive fauna which she coveted for her experiments. Being part of a family was the most delightful part of Madeline's new relations.h.i.+p. Even her father visited quite often and they grew closer, too.

Dtimun was always nearby. He had new duties in the capital, overseeing imperial concerns of the Dectat, but as Madeline's time drew near he was more often home than not.

He frowned as he stared over Madeline's shoulder at the wall-wide vidscreen. ”This is unspeakably disturbing,” he said when footage of a human newborn, before it was cleaned up, flashed on the membrane-thin screen.

She glanced at him and grinned. ”Yes, but it's part of the process.”

”You are feeling all right?” he asked gently.

She laughed and started to stand. ”Of course I...” She gasped and doubled over and pa.s.sed out.

Dtimun had servants covering the room, some dispatched for Hahnson and Mallory, some sent to the court physicians, some to summon the imperial family. He delegated well despite his fears for his mate.

She came to, held close in his arms. His eyes were royal blue with concern.