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She sprinted from tank to tank, hearing the distinctive coughing and the retching sound that said they had a healthy alien in their midst.
When she came across a man with deeply dark eyes, she thumped him on the back and said, “Congratulations. It’s a boy.”
She was about to leave when he grabbed her wrist. “Aka’s daughter.”
Her eyes widened. “What? How do you know that?”
“You have her sense of humour. I am Kabriuk, and I am your ancestor.”
It was a good thing he was hanging on to her. She nearly went into the tank.
“What?”
“Jeanell Aka was my mate. They separated us, and they put me here. I am glad to see that her genes run strong.”
“I am really confused here. What do you mean ancestor?”
He knelt on the grating at the top of the canister. “I mean that Jeanell and I were bonded mates. I knew she was pregnant and that was why I agreed to this incarceration. They said she would be allowed her life if I went quietly. We all had mates who were in varying stages of pregnancy. It happens during war.”
She stared at his sharp features, his solid black eyes, the pointed ears, long limbs, slightly odd musculature, and the long ripple of dark hair that cascaded to his mid-back.
She heard coughing and was suddenly reminded of where she was. “Right. I have to keep waking you folks up.”
He smiled. “There is clothing for each of us at the foot of the canister. Make sure they all use it.”
She lowered herself on the ladder, and he said one more thing. “Child, what is your name?”
She looked up at him and said, “Duel, Duel Aka pilot of Kab.”
His grin showed sharp white teeth with long canines. “It is a very good name.”
She nodded and got back to the ground, looking for the next frozen alien.
That hulk couldn’t be her eight-times great grandfather, could he?
* * * *
Hima kept working on each of the sleepers. Her view through the lens told her that they were almost finished.
The man on the current tank was recovering nicely, and she tapped him on the back. The small birthmark on his back made her pause. The crimson stain with blue edges on his lower back was a hallmark of the Aggrer clan. It was one of the clans without a bot that still had a measurable population. The birthmark was nearly identical on all of them.
She waited until he sat up, and then, she asked, “Who are you?”
His voice was hoarse, but his sea-blue eyes were clear. “Zeddanik, husband of Maria Aggrer. You are not one of mine.”
She blinked slowly. “No. I am not one of yours.”
He examined her features. “But you have seen them.”
“Several of them. There is a new generation that just started.”
“How do you know what they are?”
“The Aggrer clan all have a mark on their backs like yours. I am a midwife. I see them first.”
He smiled, and there was a sad look in his eyes. “Then, she lives on. That is excellent.”
“You are sad.”
“I know she is gone. She refused a full bonding, as did the other women. They knew their government was pushing to segregate us and also knew that being separated from our mates would cause us agony and death when they died.”
Hima blinked. “Wow. That is hard core.”
“It is how we live and how we die. The Nine take mating very seriously.”
“Apparently. Now, would you like to stand up and put something on? The bots have been distributing clothing to each tank, almost as if they knew you would be exiting your prison.”
He smiled slightly. “I will make my way down when my limbs stop shaking.”
She nodded and headed down the steps. “You would shake less with clothing on.”
He chuckled, and she left him.
There was only one tank left with the warm centre, so she headed for it. Corbyn beat her to the ladder, so Hima walked to the centre of the space and waited for those who were awake to join her.
One by one, the men walked out of the darkness and stood staring down at her.
She blinked and looked up; it was a strange feeling that they were slightly taller than she was but not much. She was getting used to being taller than the city folk, so this was a sudden switch. The oddest thing was that they appeared to be related to the inhabitants of the valley and that was not at all what they had been taught in school or the crèches or the training courses.
She looked around and then dove in. “Which of you were mated to Dbor?”
One of the men smiled slightly and stepped forward. “Engineer and medic Dierdre Dbor was my wife by human standards. I would have made her my mate in a heartbeat if the circumstances were different.”
“Who are you?” She felt her brows draw together.
To her surprise, she saw him do the same. “Lenfenik. Why?”
She took in the similarities from his jawline to the tip of his nose. “I think we are related.”
He gave her a look, and his lips quirked. “I can see her echo in you.”
Hima felt the warmth of the compliment, and she gave him an amused look. “Good. There are over four hundred women in my clan. They are all her echoes.”
He staggered back, and his companions caught him. “Four hundred daughters?”
To her surprise and against all that she knew about men wanting sons, Lenfenik was congratulated, and there were grins all around.
She wondered what would happen when they found out the Aka clan had over eight hundred women in it. The miners were everywhere under the ground, and seeing them in force, the strength of their genes was impossible to miss.
If these guys were happy to have female descendants, today was their lucky day.
Chapter Six
Kiida walked back toward the centre of the space where the bio signs were strongest. She met Corbyn, Duel, and a few freshly dressed members of the Nine on the way.
When everyone was in the centre, she cleared her throat. “Gentlemen, we are learning of your connection to the valley today. It is a bit of a surprise to say the least.”
One of the men said, “Where did you think the bloodlines came from?”
Hima explained. “We have been taught that our genes came from the pilots. Our bloodlines were continued with the genes of those pilots over the centuries. They have been altered and mixed a little to prevent an inbreeding effect, but that was always the theory.”
The men looked at each other and a few sighed. “That would have been to protect the children. By declaring them the offspring of pilots, they would have had protection from the head of the colony.”
Hima looked at the speaker, and she smiled. “I will guess that you are related to Xaia. You have the same grim talent for sucking the fun out of a statement.”
He placed a hand on his chest, and he bowed. “I am Aikoro, husband to Alexandra Turo.”
Kiida wanted to ask which one of the assembled men was her grandfather, but she didn’t know how.
Duel piped up, “Who is related to Adreda Lead Otta?”
A man with one blue eye and one black stepped forward. “I am Diferno, husband to Adreda Otta.”
Duel brought Kiida forward. “Diferno, this is your descendant, Kiida.”
Kiida looked at him and focused on his eyes, smiling slightly. She reached up and removed the lens that she wore over her left eye. “I don’t really see the resemblance.”
He looked at her and cracked a smile. “The left one is hers.”
She nodded and lifted her headset slightly to show him the brilliant blue eye that she usually matched with the lens.
“And the left is mine. Hello, granddaughter.”
She grinned. “Hello, eight-times great grandfather. I have many cousins, sisters, aunts and a mother who are interested in meeting you. We are the smallest clan, but we have impressive accomplishments.”
&nb
sp; He smiled. “It’s the eyes, right?”
“It is. Fortunately, lenses are easy to come by, so we have been able to take our turn leading the valley.”
Diferno extended his hands to her.
She placed her hands in his, and it felt like seeing an old friend.
Kiida suddenly remembered where they were. “Right. We need to get topside.”
One of the men said, “Why don’t we take the lift?”
Kiida blinked. “Point it out, and we will take it.”
The men looked to each other and led the way deeper into the lab to a point that would take them to the far side of the tower.
* * * *
Duel spoke quietly. “Kab, we are moving beyond the tower. When we come out, we will need a lift.”
“We will be there. You have them all?”
“Thirty of them. We have each and every one of them.”
“How will you divide them?”
“We will let them divide themselves. We can fit fifteen of them comfortably, but less would be better.”
“Tell them. Tell them on the way up.”
“Gotcha. How are things topside?”
“Nyvett and Iff are making friends with the locals. Apparently, the underground movement in the city is to remain human. It has been interesting listening to the exchange.”
“No kidding. I want to hear that story. We have a few tales of our own to tell.”
Kab chuckled. “You and your companions are handling the discovery very well.”
“Our minds are still figuring it out. This has gotten complicated.”
“More complicated than wiring yourself into a robot and breaking into an ancient city to save your people?”
“Uh, pretty much on par.”
He laughed again. “Ride the lift with the others and get them into sections, so we can do a quick pick-up. We will track your placement and do a quick retrieval. We want to get them to safety, and the city is the least safe place we can imagine.”
Duel nodded, and oddly, he could see it via her headset.
She caught up with the group, and her eyes widened when she saw what they were calling the lift. A round panel on the floor mirrored a matching panel in the ceiling high above them.
She recognized the tech when she saw it; it was a mining device. They weren’t going to rise; they were going to punch a hole that would cause the collapse of the facility.
Duel looked around. “Who built this place?”
One of the men she hadn’t met yet said, “This was where we last saw our wives. They designed this facility, knowing that it was the last time they would see us.”
She shivered at the grief in his tone. “I am sorry for your loss. If you tell me your wife’s name, I can tell you about her clan.”
They stood close as the platform shivered and began to rise. Corbyn was at the controls.
“She was Letti Rergan, my wife, my match.”
“Rergan.” Duel found the right words. “The Rergan don’t have a bot of their own anymore, but they are counsellors, educators, and they are the first person outside our immediate family that we remember.”
He smiled. “She would like that. Thank you.”
“You will see for yourself, and I am sure that you will meet many of your descendants.”
One of the men on the other side asked, “Will we all meet our descendants?”
Duel was candid. “If you and your wife had a child, then that child would be the first spawn of your clan. After that, I am guessing that some cloning went on.”
He nodded. “Thank you. That is some very fair information. Also, that explains the continuation of some weird genes, like the eyes.”
One of the others piped up, “Or the birthmark.”
He nodded.
Duel remembered as they rose through the depths that she needed to tell them where to go.
“Gentlemen and ladies, there are five bots up there who want to get back to the valley as quickly as they can. We need to separate into groups of no more than seven. Please divide up as you see fit, but when we get to the surface, the bots are going to want a fast response.”
“Five? There are only three of you.”
“The fifth has been watching over our unoccupied bots. She is stuck until we get back, but Iff will be there with his hand down to pick you up.”
She could feel the thuds of bot feet above them and that meant they were nearly there.
Kabriuk came to her side, and he smiled. A few of the others gathered in her small group, and the others all formed up next to their bot pilots. The fifth group remained calm but stood separate.
“When we get to the surface, the bots will lower their hands and left us all in one shot up and into the command deck. There are handholds for stability, and we will return to the pilot’s cradle for our trip. You can talk to us, but we look a little confined.”
Light was beginning to make itself known, and when the lift burst free of the soil, the light struck their guests, and they covered their eyes.
Kab hadn’t lied. He was next to her when she came out, and she turned to step on his hand. “Gentlemen, please follow my voice, and Kab will tuck us all in.”
She made sure that she had her guys in tow before she asked Kab for the lift to get them to safety. As they lifted, she could see that Iff was there, grabbing his own group, and in under two minutes, the members of the Nine were tucked away and the pilots were in the cradle.
Duel murmured, “Gentlemen, please hold on to the straps. This is going to be a bit of an awkward start.”
Kab rose to a standing position, and the tilt and rocking had her passengers hanging tight.
“We now have a run back to the city. If it is too much motion, I will go faster. Going slower just makes it worse.” Duel smiled and turned back toward the broken gate.
No one was saying anything, so she ran at a full clip, walked over the bridge, and then kept running for home.
When Duel had a chance to stare at them, they were all watching her moving the bot.
Kabriuk asked her, “Is it difficult to move?”
“No. His systems are synched with mine. When I step, he steps.”
“Is there damage to your body or nervous system?” His brow was furrowed in concern.
“No. The nanites fill in any damage before it becomes worrisome.”
One of the men chuckled. “Nanites. She did love to program those tiny machines.”
“Who was your wife?” Duel asked while she kept running.
“Elieata Peck. I am Ubradu. Do I still have people within your community?”
“You have one hundred and fifty. They are all programmers who work in refining the minerals that we coax from the ground. We use everything, and the Pecks make sure it is strong.”
He nodded and sat back with a smile.
Kabriuk said, “You have something good to say about all of the clans. There are none that stand out as particularly annoying?”
She smiled. “The Norms are a bit irritating. They pride themselves on knowing everything and managing the valley, but they are also good hearted and are trying to make sure that our provisions go as far as they need to. That includes population control.”
She could see the valley on the edge of her displays, and she enlarged it on the monitor. “That is our home.”
She continued to run closer, and they all stared.
Kabriuk scowled. “You live in those derelict buildings?”
“Of course not.” She snorted. “Our city is below it. It was decided early that the city shouldn’t know how many of us there were. Apparently, they expected us to die out when they cut off supplies.”
He opened his eyes wide. “What did you do?”
Kab answered his mind-brother. “They went hunting.”
Two of the men had slow grins, and the rest simply nodded as if it was the only thing that the women could do.
“Now, we raise
our own beasts, have our own gardens, and the city still thinks that our population has died out.” She slowed her pace as they approached the city.
“Kab, do they know we are coming?”
“They know. The elders are all coming out to greet their ancestors.”
Kabriuk chuckled. “That sounds very odd.”
“I agree, but there is no other way to describe it.” She paced slowly with the others and prepared to stop at the edge of the settled area, near the com tower. She had delivered her payload, and it was weirder than she had imagined.
Chapter Seven
Nyvett stood in wait with the others; Iff’s hand was down on the ground when the grasses erupted and the upper disk fell away.
The sight of the pilots standing next to males who were to scale was a little odd. Nyvett was just getting used to the idea of the women of the valley being taller than others on Hera, and now, there were beings that looked fit and were taller than the women at their sides. It took some getting used to.
As Iff lifted his hand, she realized she didn’t have a chance to get too used to it. They were coming in.
She cleared her throat when they arrived and greeted them. “Welcome to bot Iff. I am Nyvett, and I will be your pilot today.”
The men bowed formally to her, and she nodded in return. “I would return the bow, but I am a little tied up. If you could grab onto one of the support straps or sit on the floor, we will get out of here.”
The men settled quickly and hung on. One of them smiled. “Ready when you are.”
She turned Iff, and they followed the others toward the broken gate. She sighed. “If I had a new program for every time I had been here in the last few hours, I would have enough to keep me busy for months.”
One of the men was staring at her. He finally said, “This bot is called Iff?”
“Yes.”
“You are from the Norm clan?”
Nyvett blinked. “Yes.”
“I am Iffendro, husband of Ladra Norm. I believe that we are related.”