Chapter Twelve

Tanner

Heading toward the brothers' hidden spaceship, they flew over the town. Unfortunately, the sweet-smelling, drugged air got into the hover and was giving Tanner a headache.

It was one of the reasons she stayed out of the city as much as possible. It never took long for the air in town to affect her, and when she got out into the forest, it didn't take long for the headache and other symptoms to go away. The air in the forest was heavily perfumed, but it was natural, with the scent coming from several types of flowers. This… wasn't natural.

Rubbing her forehead with one hand, she closed her eyes. Tanny kept the other hand solidly on Mama C. The cat didn't move. Maybe her head hurt, too.

Binja frowned. "Tanny, is something wrong?"

She kept her eyes shut, but answered, "Coming into town always gives me a headache. I'll get used to it in a moment. It's the damn air here. I swear it's drugged. Would the air bother Mama C?"

"I didn't think," Binja said to his brothers. "She needs a re-breather. I'm not sure about Mama C, Tanny. ReBOrB, do you know if the drugged air bothers the local animals?"

Reb frowned, but answered him, "I have no idea. But really it has to since they breathe the same air. I started filtering the air in the hover, but by the time it helps we'll be at the Paradise. Why do you care about the animals? I don't have a re-breather for your mate. We need to stock them in every vehicle, just in case. Cammy will meet us with one as soon as we get to the ship. She'll have something for Tanner's headache and the other symptoms."

"What's a re-breather?" Tanny didn't speak above a whisper. Binja knew her head hurt.

Jay answered her, "It filters the air, so the drugs the Andaran pumps into the atmosphere won't bother you. I think the drugs are stronger up here than they are on the ground."

"Any stronger and I'd cry. I knew the damn creep was doing something like this. I hope the re-breather works." She was getting nauseous.

Binja cradled her against him, stroking her head. "It will work, love. Just a few minutes before we're on the ship. The air onboard is filtered and you'll get the re-breather for when we go out again."

Tanner knew he was keeping Mama C and the kittens a secret from the men, so it wouldn't spoil her surprise for the women. He was a sweetie.

"We should move the factories pumping the drugs into the air—higher on the list of things to do." Now her sweet man was talking to his brothers about sabotage.

Keeping her head down, her eyes closed, she still couldn't keep the grin off her face. They were made for each other.

Bao answered, "We don't have a list, but I think it's time to start one. We're home. Let's get your mate inside."

Binja put one arm under her knees and the other around her back and lifted Tanny in his arms. He was careful to keep Mama C on her lap, under the robe.

Tanner wanted to open her eyes, to look at the spaceship and their surroundings, but it was impossible with her head pounding. Thankfully, within moments, she could sense a difference. The air didn't smell sweet now—it was fresh. She could tell it was drug free.

Binja continued to carry her. He put his mouth by her ear and whispered. "We're getting in the elevator and going up to the conference room. The healers will make you feel better and we'll meet with Catalina right away."

Thank God. She didn't want to wait. Just having fresh air to breathe helped ease her headache a little. Her mate stopped moving. She felt him sit in a chair with her on his lap.

She heard one of the brothers say, "Tanny, I'm going to slip your re-breather on. It won't hurt." Then she felt fingers lightly touch her face, and slip something into her nose. Just a little tickle.

A female voice said, "Here. Have her drink this. The headache will go away on its own in an hour or so. This will stop it immediately."

She liked the sound of that and stuck out her hand for the glass. It was more shot glass than a tumbler and tasted faintly herbal. Seconds later, she grinned and opened her eyes to find three women seated at a long table with men she assumed were their mates. Tanner was relieved no one loomed over her, or crowded in. Her smile grew bigger as Mama C squirmed in her arms. The cat was feeling better, too, and had enough of being carried.

Binja helped her to her feet and said to everyone in the room, "This is my mate, Tanner." He sounded so proud, pleased.

She grinned at him and then faced everyone. "Call me Tanny, please. Babe, will you help me take this robe off, please? My surprise has her claws out," she whispered the last.

Immediately, he slipped the fabric over her head. Tanny stepped up to the table as the three women gasped their joy, "Kitty!" "It's a cat!" "Oh, my God… I want one!" echoed in the room.

Tanny sat Mama C on the table, and Binja handed her the backpack. The mother cat looked at her as if to say, GIVE ME MY BABIES. She was losing her patience. Taking a quick look around the table, she explained, "I've been on this planet for months. Doing nothing but hiding and looking for my sister. I'll talk about that in a minute. Mama C found me, in many ways, helping me stay sane. I've been alone, except for her… and her babies. I brought them to you—for the women to pick one. Mama C is mine. A sort of happy stand-in for my cat on Earth."

Tanny opened the backpack and removed the five small bundles of gray fur. Their bright orange and green stripes mimicked the ones on the mother cat. The women in the room went crazy.

"Oh, my gosh. Yes, I miss my kitty so much!" Two women who looked like clones themselves said the words. Twins. They had to be twins. When they stood to gather a kitten into their arms, Tanny noticed that both were very short. Just over five feet, she guessed. They had pretty blue eyes and very short, dark brown hair. It looked as though they'd recently shaved their heads—just like their mates.

It clicked for her. Tanner remembered Binja telling her that these women had all been healed of serious illnesses by the mating marks. When she thought about them having cancer and a head injury, the short hair made sense.

The woman sitting beside Reb, the light blue brother from the hover, said, "Thank you." She clutched a kitten in her arms, tears running down her face. "I'm Cameron, mated to Reb. He's the medical expert on the ship, and I'm a nurse. That is my twin, Casey. Welcome to Paradise!"

Tanny frowned.

The other twin giggled. "We three girls named the ship. Paradise —as in it beats the Hell out of this planet. I'm Casey, married to the mint-chocolate colored brother. Welcome home, Tanny. Thank you for the kitten. I missed mine."

The third woman had a shocked look on her face, then a thrilled smile when her vibrant green mate, BaOBy, the Captain, put one of the kittens in her arms. This was Catalina, then. She had long blonde hair and very pale skin. Her eyes were an amazing green color.

Tanner always said that she had sage green eyes, a sort of pale, dirty green. Cat's eyes were… almost the same color as her mate's skin—a dark, vibrant green. She smiled.

Cat smiled back. "I am Catalina. I have lived on Viant since I was a child." She sighed. "I didn't remember kittens. I don't think I had one before they kidnapped me from Earth." Frowning, she looked at her mate. "But I want one. This one. He's purring, Baby. Can we keep him?"

Tanner realized Cat called her husband Baby, and this was a joke. Yet, Captain Baby seemed fine with it. He looked at his wife, then at the other women, and finally at the twenty-pound mother cat at the end of the table. His gaze shifted to Binja and then to Tanny. "They appear safe?"

Tanny nodded. "They are. Just like the cats at home, every once in a while you'll get scratched, or they'll nibble on you, but nothing major." She had to tell the truth.

The captain looked back at his woman and nodded. "Yes, love. You'll have to come up with a name."

She grinned at him. "I like Baby."

Everyone laughed, and Tanny relaxed.

After a few moments, Captain BaOBy looked at Tanner again. This was a serious look. She sat at the end of the table and waited for him to speak.

"Binja let us know he found you, and that you wanted to speak to my mate. But he didn't say what it was about."

Catalina looked at her mate and frowned. She shifted her gaze down the table toward Tanner. "You need to speak to me?"

Binja said, "Tanny's story is not mine to tell. As Catalina's story is not mine. Yet they are connected."

Tanner leaned forward. "When I was kidnapped almost a year ago by those nasty red creatures, I wasn't alone. My sister, Candy, was with me. She is about ten years younger and her hair is blonde and straight. And the last time I saw her was in Viant. She was in a house, connected to an IV." She didn't miss the looks of horror on Catalina's face. Or the shock and sadness on the faces of everyone else in the room.

Taking a deep breath, Tanny reached for Binja, holding tight to his hand as she continued. "There were two other women with her. All three were deeply unconscious. I couldn't wake them. I left in order to figure out how to save them, and when I came back the next night to check on them, they were all gone. The three women, the guards, all of them. Binja said you were in that house too. That you could tell me what happened to Candy. He assured me she is safe, I understand that. But do you know how she got pregnant? What the Andaran did to her?"

Before Cat could reply, BaOBy took her hand in his. "I can tell her," he said.

Tanner frowned. What the hell? Was this too hard for Cat to tell her? Or maybe they thought Tanny was fragile and she couldn't handle this story. "Catalina, you can tell me anything. You do not need to be careful. I understand it won't be a cheerful story. I was in the military for six years, as a sharpshooter. Which means my job was to kill terrorists. After discharge, I became a cop and worked Vice. Basically, as a decoy for human traffickers, because with the right makeup I look young and innocent. But believe me when I tell you… I'm not."

Catalina studied her for several minutes. "This is difficult. For me, and it will be for you as well. It isn't what you think. A male did not rape or impregnate Candy. It's so much worse." She sighed. "I'm going to give you the basics. Just the bare minimum. Everyone here knows my story except for you. In some ways, it is similar to your sister's, but in other ways, it is vastly different. I was awake for all of it. They kept Candy and the other two women in a coma. For at least as long as they were in that house. I don't know if they were ever aware of what was done to them."

Tanny nodded her understanding but kept quiet.

"I worked for the Andaran for four years. He is not a nice person by any stretch of the imagination. Eventually, he decided I knew too much and was getting ready to do something about it. He was right. I gathered information on him and tried to figure out how to kill him. I don't believe capture and imprisonment would work for the Andaran. He has too many psychic abilities to remain a captive for long. Jacanas had his scientists impregnate me with a raptizaer zygote. The raptizaer species are violent and considered to be incompatible with any humanoid species. The Andaran planned to kill me, but he wanted my death to be spectacular. Which is why I wasn't locked in a coma like the other three women. Part of my torture was to be aware of everything." She took a sip of water that someone had placed on the table.

Tanny blinked. There was a glass in front of her, too. Her throat was parched, so she drank a sip as well. Trying to process what Cat said, to understand it.

Catalina sighed. "Jacanas knew once he implanted the fertilized egg that, at some time during the following ten months, the baby would kill me. He knew because the raptizaer species don't give birth. The mostly avian fetus uses its hooked beak and razor-sharp talons to eat and slash its way out of the mother's womb. Causing the mother, or in my case, the human incubator, to die." Her eyes snapped to mine.

Cat must have seen the look of dawning horror on my face, because she hurried to explain. "That won't happen to Candy. She's in the DoMicile. The brothers have cryo tubes on their ship that keep the occupants in suspended sleep. She won't age and the raptizaer inside her won't develop any further. The ship is going directly to Megoth, where Grace is waiting for them. Grace is from Earth. She's a doctor. An OB/GYN who specializes in difficult pregnancies. She has all the equipment, all the supplies, and people to help her remove the raptizaers from the women and help them heal."

Tanner sat there, staring at nothing. Realizing she'd lied to Catalina about her ability to handle anything. Knowing this… was too hard. She couldn't breathe or move. She had questions, not a lot. Not… it was too much.

Mama C head-butted her. Binja picked her up to take her… away. She wanted to go away. Except… "Stop," she whispered. Louder, she asked, "Why?"

Cat understood the question. "To punish me, I don't know why he picked your sister or the other women. For me, it was a punishment. Also, he did it because raptizaer couples pay the Andaran six million credits for what they're calling a throwaway womb."

"Death is too simple," she croaked out before the tears started. Tanny knew Binja had taken her out of the room. By the time he laid her on a bed, she was crying harder than she ever had in her life. It didn't hurt this bad or scare her this much when her parents left them.

Because she had Candy…