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  "She might be pregnant. Very recently, tonight, in fact. Is there anything you can do to save it?" Hska blurted it out, rubbing her own scales nervously. Steel had gotten them moving in the same direction in the women's quarters, sharing food and watching for guards. She couldn't die like this, marks of the mating chain still on her.

  "Get an incubator, bipedal humanoid type. Now." The healer moved quickly and started the heart before closing the veins, arteries and blood vessels. She wove the tissue back together with a slow and even concentration.

  Hska watched in amazement. She had heard of healers of this calibre, but never saw one in action before.

  A stumbling attendant rushed up to them and the healer looked down. "Put tank fluid and nutrients in it. Heavy on the protein supplement."

  The attendant nodded and quickly measured and assembled the fluids with shaking hands.

  "Calm down, we need to do this right. We have one chance and one chance only."

  The incubator that they had obtained was a cylinder two hands wide, six tall. With the fluid inside it, a slight flick of the power button and it began to burble in a most disconcerting way.

  The healer looked up and with a serious expression asked Hska, "Do you think it will matter that she will be losing an ovary for this? I need to build a compatible womb and her tissue is best."

  "If you can save the child growing in her, she will take what you can give." Hska felt odd making that choice for Steel, but it was a choice that she could live with if her friend would live at all.

  The healer nodded, "Attendant, get a massive fluid dump ready. Two litres and two drips. I will keep her stable, but it needs to be administered immediately."

  Hska had to ask, "Why don't you stabilize her, then withdraw the baby?"

  "If we give that mass of fluids to her and she goes into shock and she will, she will start to abort while her body fights to save itself."

  "Oh."

  The healer pressed her hands to the abdomen of their friend and Hska and the others watched while those hands lifted a chunk of flesh, forming it into a ball that she gently placed in the incubator tank.

  Alarms were bleeping, at the healer's nod, the injectors were wired into the Terran's body and the healer closed the opening she had made in Steel's womb.

  The next few hours were touch and go while Steel fought for her life and the healer fought to keep her stable. Hska kept her gaze on her friend as Steel arched and her body shook in the grip of a massive reaction.

  Officers came to claim them and S'sran and the others went. It was time to determine where the survivors would live.

  Who would want those who had been sold into slavery by their own family and friends? Only Steel had bothered looking past the rejects and turned them into a community. Hska was not leaving until she knew that her friend would survive.

  * * * *

  Wyanic was cold. He had felt the moment that his mate died and Khass had died an instant later. The damned chain had pulled her back into harm's way and he had forgotten all about it until she had snapped into Khass's way.

  The sight of that blade slicing through her flesh and cleaving steel was a sight he wished he could remove from his memory. She had fallen free of the chain and as the puddle of blood grew around her, the women from the breeding and women's quarters had gathered around her.

  The Alliance medic wouldn't touch her and that alone let him know that she was dead, the fading brightness in his mind was the other confirmation.

  He went mad. None of the other marauding males were getting at the women that she had given her life for. He stood between the women and the slowly arriving gladiators with the urge to kill burning through him.

  Anyone foolish enough to challenge him ended up at his feet, the chain around his waist with its bloody end a reminder of what he had come close to having.

  The security officer for Barkesh colony was the familiar face that stopped his rampage. Davol came to him and disarmed him, the sympathy in his green eyes undoing Wyanic as he turned to view the corpse of the woman he could have loved.

  She was gone, his true mate, and he didn't even know her name.

  Chapter Three

  Everything hurt. "Why aren't I dead?" She opened her eyes to dim lighting and her fingers found a set of goggles on her eyes to protect them.

  A low voice and a soft laugh drew her attention. "You were. I restarted your engine. That Pishin friend of yours is very persistent."

  "Hska. How did they get me here?"

  "From what I observed, a l'nal teleported. Your friends were in the huge spider's grasp, so they came along for the ride."

  "S'sran. I bet Hska mugged one of the medics for transport details." She fumbled around until she could lift off the hospital bed. It was a relief to look around her and see Alliance personnel and only a few serious injuries from the slave quarters.

  "And I have someone here you need to meet." The healer moved to the side of the bed and wheeled out a cylinder filled with liquid with a mass about the size of Estelle's fist floating there.

  A thousand thoughts ran through her mind, but she focussed on the tank, "What is that?"

  "It's a girl. Your friend, Hska, insisted that you wanted it, so we sacrificed your right ovary for the honour of hosting the little one as a sculpted womb. This isn't a full-strength incubator, so you might have to wait a year instead of your normal nine months."

  A kernel of wonder bloomed inside her. "It's my baby?"

  "Yes. Half-Terran, half-Oefric and perfectly healthy despite her initial trauma. About the size of a tealeaf right now. A dry one." The healer laughed again.

  "What is going on with the survivors?" She didn't take her gaze off the small tank.

  "Well, since they were all sold into slavery by their own people, some as penal offences, others as trade, it is more difficult than just returning them home. Small colony worlds have been contacted and there is a lead on a few of them. Currently, for most of the bipedals, there is an Oefric world, Barkesh, that will allow them to start a small village provided that they use only locally obtainable tech."

  "I was supposed to be posted on Barkesh. I was on my vacation between assignments, got a drink at a tavern and woke up in the women's quarters on that station months ago."

  "Estelle Vargas, Terran Volunteer. You have been killed in the line of duty and are now free to live where you will. Would you like to be on the colonist roster for Barkesh?" The healer was grinning with an evil look.

  Estelle looked down at the incubator. "I can't. This is a high-tech gadget and I am pretty sure that what is left of my womb right now is not hospitable."

  The healer rubbed the back of her neck. "I hadn't thought of that."

  "I am all about the logistics."

  "Are you interested in being on Barkesh? If so, I can make this happen."

  "If they can provide for my little one, I will be happy to offer my skills to the new colony as a carpenter and mechanic."

  The healer smiled and nodded. "I know. I read your file and I believe that it is of vital importance that you get your butt to Barkesh."

  "Are you a seer as well?" Estelle reached out and put a hand on the small tank containing her daughter.

  "No. Just nosey."

  With a rush of robes, the healer bowed and left her alone with the tiny cluster of cells that, hopefully, would grow into a healthy daughter.

  * * * *

  "There is a request for a time-limited dispensation for an electronic device to be allowed for the period of one year." Davol was trying to interest him, but Wyanic was still grieving for the woman he hadn't even known for more than two hours.

  He straightened his tunic and scowled at his security officer. "What kind of device?"

  "An incubator."

  "Allow it. Allow two years for any incubators and power supplies needed. Those women have been through enough without separating them from their young." Wyanic remembered the tense faces of the women leaving the breeding area. Some had cradl
ed gravid bellies, a few had held infant offspring. Those women needed to be safe and protected.

  Just because his life could not improve did not mean that the survivors of the ship could not have a brighter future.

  * * * *

  The goggles and deep hood protected Estelle's eyes as she worked her way into the sunlight. Most of the women were still light sensitive and wore the voluminous protection that the Alliance had offered.

  An Oefric colonist was on hand to lead them out of the shuttles and over to the emergency housing that had been assembled for their use.

  The Oefric town was four hills over. Close enough to share resources if it came to that and far enough to keep the survivors from becoming dependant on the shapeshifters. The town and village were not to mingle except in forms of trade. That was fine with Estelle, she knew the women that she was dealing with and knew what they were capable of.

  Their village was going to kick ass if Estelle had anything to say about it.

  "It's so bright." Hska was supporting her, her arm around Estelle's waist.

  "It is." Estelle smiled. Her child was growing slowly but measurably, supplies were being offloaded for her and she would have a place of honour in the clinic under the watchful eyes of the healer from the Alliance warship.

  Healer Neeva was a Wyoran with golden velvety skin and a wicked sense of humour. She had met a Terran on her home world and now considered herself a friend to any that she met. Neeva had enjoyed her time with Estelle so much that she was joining the colonists.

  Estelle heaved a mental sigh of relief when no other Oefric were present beyond the male giving them orientation. His name was Davol and Neeva and he seemed to have a mutual fascination that made even her hardened heart soften.

  "Steel, look over there!"

  The housing was high on a slope and the location made Estelle smile as much as the nickname did. Estelle in Pishin was the maker and Vargas was steel. So, she was the maker with steel. Steel for short.

  It hadn't been long before all of the women called her Steel.

  "Well, Steel, what do we need to do first?" Tahsh and Vendu closed in on her, their eyes bright and claws flexing.

  While hobbling to see the interior of the first hut, she was knocked to the side by some of the gladiators.

  "That isn't going to do." She raised her voice. "Ladies, appropriate three of the houses. Defend them by any means necessary. After we arrange for a meal, we will discuss our options."

  "Does that mean a communal meal?" Hska sounded downright enthusiastic as the gladiators tried to make another lunge for a shelter and had to face the fangs and claws of pregnant females.

  "Yes, Hska, you get to hunt."

  Hska got her into the shelter and to the back of the room in under a minute, scampering outside with her hunting spikes sliding out from under her skin.

  Chuckling, Steel settled on the bunk furthest from the door. Other women came up to her and asked about everything from water to waste processing.

  Her study of the manifests was complete and she answered the questions until her exhaustion was overwhelming her. The sun was dimming outside

  Hska came in with three small carcases. "I left the larger one outside."

  Laughing, Steel went out with the ladies to take a look at Hska's kill. A full-sized ruminant was lying on the downward slope and several of the other ladies were splitting logs with wedges of stone and hammers made of wood. The few ladies with spurs and blades made of bone sliced up the smaller saplings for firewood.

  A gathering of men were grouping on the outside of the invisible fence that the women were creating with their attitudes. It was time to start the next phase of the village.

  Steel walked up to the alpha of the group, a male who was older than the rest and covered with scars. This man was a survivor and he had a wary look in his eyes as she approached.

  "Yes, what can I do for you?" He licked his lips lasciviously.

  "Well, it seems that your men are going to be doomed to eating rations until they run out. Now, our hunters have brought back more than enough for this evening. Do any of the men here want to enjoy a hot meal?" She finished the last sentence with a raised voice.

  Several men stepped forward. She nodded to them. "Many of these women have been bred against their will. No woman here will be subjected to that again or our entire community will take action. Is that clear?"

  The men shifted from foot to foot, some of them concerned, some of them angry and a few took defensive postures.

  "You, oldie-locks. Do you agree to work as a unit, to form a village that will make the Oefric gnash their teeth with envy?"

  He gave her a considering look, as if she was something different from the woman who had walked up to him. "What are you, miss?"

  "You may call me Steel. I am a Terran Volunteer, carpenter and mechanic. I wish to create a self-sufficient village and I need all of the people working as one. We can't afford to have anyone not chipping in. I need to know that before we let the men in, they will pull their own weight."

  He cocked his head and Steel could see him looking over her shoulder at the gutting of the animal that was being executed with the help of a sapling and belts from the tunics of the women.

  "May we court the women?"

  Steel grinned at the man who spoke. "You may, but if she declines your attentions, you must wait three months before trying again." She qualified the last statement, "Unless she is in heat. Then you may press your suit until she gives you a definitive no. No means no."

  The male nodded and several of the other men smiled eagerly.

  "What is our first goal?"

  "A longhouse. A communal eating centre." She turned and walked forward while talking, the men drifted along with her.

  "How do you have all of this knowledge in your mind?" the older male asked.

  "It is my talent. I had an interest in knowing how to start from nothing. It became an obsession, so I am familiar with farming, hunting, basic construction to level three on the technological scale and assembling basic mechanical devices like windmills and lumber mills. It is why I was allowed to leave my world with the rest of the volunteers. Apparently, this level of obsession becomes a talent after the first five years."

  He laughed. "I am Vullo, by the way. Pleased to make your acquaintance. I apologize for my earlier behaviour. When you spend enough time with only males, your competitive drive becomes everything."

  "I understand. I confess that it has been a little trying for me. My baby isn't due for a year, but it was conceived on the day of the escape. I don't have any interest in any of the men around here, I can tell you that." She chuckled and watched a flicker of understanding. He would find out later that her child was growing in the clinic.

  The ladies stood with bloody spikes, blades and pointed sticks.

  "Ladies, these males have agreed to join our efforts. They have also agreed not to infringe on your personal preferences in a mate. Each of our groups will have to elect a representative and each of those reps will be responsible for dealing with issues brought to them. That can be handled in the morning." She yawned and gestured for the men to come forward. "We are attempting a fire, so if you would be so kind as to assist, that would be lovely."

  She stumbled to the side and was caught by caring hands. "Oh, hey, Neeva."

  "Steel, what are you doing out of bed? You were supposed to be in bed for another three days." The healer draped Steel's right arm over her shoulders and headed to the clinic building.

  Vullo made a noise and lifted Steel from Neeva's embrace. "Where do you want her, healer?"

  "In the clinic. Next to her baby."

  Vullo stood by as Neeva lifted her shirt to examine the angry red stripe on her belly. "What did that?"

  "Khass. He came at my breeding partner during the escape and tried to kill him. My partner shoved me back for safety, but we were chained and I bounced back."

  "Ouch."

  "You have no idea." She looked over
at the small bundle of tissue growing in the tank. "This is my daughter. One year from now, I will be able to hold her in my arms. That is the day I want the village ready for."

  Neeva pressed her hands on Steel's abdomen. "You forgot to tell him about dying."

  "Dying?" The man's jaw opened.

  "I don't remember much about that. I was gone, then I was back." She shrugged and winced as Neeva's talent repaired minor damage. "She woke me after my friends teleported me here."

  Vullo's expression became even more impressed.

  "That's right, Vullo. We have a very competent healer on our hands."

  He looked from Steel to Neeva and back again. A grin crept over his face.

  "What is the smirk about, Vullo?"

  "When they offered me a chance to come here, I was worried the Oefric were just going to use us as slave labour." His grin got wider. "Now, I realize that I am in very good hands. That we are all in very good hands."

  Chapter Four

  Six Months Later…

  A wave of nausea rippled through him and he lost the contents of his stomach…again.

  "Wyanic, you are still losing weight, you can't stop throwing up. You need a healer." Davol scowled at his friend and superior.

  "I will be fine, just get me some dry flatbread." Wyanic splashed water on his head.

  "It's in the other room. Come on."

  He gave into his friend's insistence and joined him in the front room of his quarters. He passed the mirror and looked at the tattoo he had placed there in memory of his true mate. A broken chain that wrapped around his bicep reminded him every day of the woman who died because he wasn't able to protect her.

  The flatbread was welcome to his upset stomach, the roiling settled swiftly and he sighed in relief.

  "Come to the survivors' village with me."

  It was the twentieth time that Davol had asked him that very thing. "Why?"