29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Palathum

She was only halfway through reading the captain's report when sudden movement to her left made Palathum react without thinking.

Dropping her Ident, she grabbed the arm reaching for her. Without pause, she swept her leg out, at the same time hauling on the arm so the person reaching for her lost their footing and got launched into a nearby wall.

It was only as the body was in full motion that she realized it was Utharium!

"Oh! No!" she gasped, and kept hold of his arm. That helped mitigate his impact into the wall, but he still ended up on his back, staring up at her.

"Is this a hint?" he asked with an amused rumble.

"I've told you not to sneak up on me!" Palathum reminded him as she got into position to haul him to his feet. He waited until she'd shifted, then swept her legs out from under her. With skill and speed equal to hers, he guided her down right on top of him.

Now it was her turn to be surprised. "Utharium! What do you think you're doing?"

"Putting everyone on equal footing," he explained.

"But neither of us is standing," she protested with an amused rumble.

"Exactly," he agreed. He wrapped his arms around her. She let her legs relax on either side of his hips and nested into his bulk. His unique scent filled her nose slits as he rubbed his scent glands against the top of her head. It made her glands ache to do the same.

"I was eager to talk to you," he explained. "I forgot to announce my presence before touching you. I'm sorry, I deserved to be tossed."

"I should've been more aware of my surroundings," she acknowledged. "But I'm not upset at how we ended up."

His rumble was a mix of amusement and a sensual purr. She loved the way he could mix his rumbles, it was a unique talent among their kind.

When he finished emptying his scent glands, he loosened his grip so she could shift on top of him. Instead of moving up to rub on his head, she ran her cheeks over his chest, covering him in her bonding oil.

He growled a little and gently ran his claws on her back. If he kept that up, they might need to make their way back to her cabin. Progress might be a safe place to be scent bonded, but no one wanted to walk in on the two of them mating in the galley!

"My cabin," she demanded, feeling a little breathless.

"Yes," he agreed. Then he stopped purring, sat up, and sounded a loud negative rattle. "No, no we can't go there."

Confused, she pulled out of his arms and sounded a worried rumble. "What's wrong? Have you lost interest in me?"

He sounded an even louder negative rattle that echoed in the room, and he wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight against his chest. His hug was just shy of too powerful, and she loved it.

"I could never lose interest in you!" he said fervently. "You bring color to my gray world. Without you, I'm a moon with nothing to orbit."

She melted at his poetry but still felt a little hurt. "Then why aren't you interested in going back to my cabin?"

Switching to a soothing rumble, he continued to hold her as he spoke. "I have something important to discuss with you, and if we're alone in your cabin I'll be…distracted."

"Perhaps you can tell me here and then we can retreat to my cabin," she offered. Secretly she questioned what could be more important than naked time together doing things other than talking.

"I know how to solve all our problems!" he blurted out.

Sounding a curious rumble, she pulled away so she could see his face. "What problems?"

"You want a child," he reminded her in a hushed tone. "I've been thinking about our conversation, and I believe I have the solution. You marry me, and we start a colony! It would be easy to buy an artificial womb and pretend to use it. No one expects a new colony to have their children born and raised in a Talarian cresh."

"But colonies take so much infrastructure. We'd need to hire skilled staff and start a cresh and…" Her voice drifted off as she realized that if she hand-selected everyone that was allowed to invest in or live on the colony then there would be no reason to hide anything except for during the rare inspection. The cresh could be nothing more than a school where her children came back to her in the evening.

She could birth and care for her own child!

On the heels of that thought was the knowledge that it could never happen.

Sounding a mournful rumble, her shoulders slumped. "I can't stop working long enough to bear and raise my children on a far-off colony planet. I have obligations to my family and many other families within my clan. The space stations we build and maintain create a lot of wealth for all of us. I can't simply stop."

"Of course you can't," he answered.

His words made her rattle with surprise then annoyance. "Why did you propose such an idyllic life if you knew it was impossible?" She felt cheated.

"Let me finish," he said, his tone bright and cheerful. "Of course you can't stop working this rotation or the next, but with proper training, you could hand your job to another."

"There's no one in the family that can do this work," she argued. "It takes a high degree of technical knowledge, diplomatic skill, and most importantly, you have to be a member of my family."

Utharium's eyes sparkled with excitement as he asked her a question she'd never expected to hear. "Have you ever thought about adoption?"

***

Iris

When Palathum had asked her to meet in the galley, Iris wasn't surprised to find Utharium standing at her side. What she didn't expect to find was Grace and Merrick there also.

"Hi guys!" she said with a little wave. With Damascus next to her, she headed to the long table they were all sitting at. Before she could take a spot next to Grace, Damascus swooped down and picked her up. Sitting down, he settled her in his lap with a purr.

Grace grinned. "There are worse ways to sit."

Iris rolled her eyes even as she smiled. "It's too bad he's not any softer than the seat."

A brief worried rumble interrupted his purring. "I'm sorry, Iris. I can start carrying a cushion with me so you'll be more comfortable. I didn't think about how all the hard surfaces we use might affect you."

Reaching up, she cupped his cheek. "I'm not serious. I love sitting in your lap. Grace and I are bantering."

"Bantering," he said, testing the unfamiliar word. Apparently there was no equivalent in Talin.

"I've asked all of you to gather because Utharium and I have proposals for all of you," Palathum said, drawing everyone's attention.

"Is this about the pet thing?" Merrick asked. "Because we already agreed to your terms. Everyone did. No one wants to end up on another Dandilow II or as a slave being sold at an open market."

"A collar and occasional pat on the head isn't much of a hardship compared to what we've endured," Grace added, looking down at little Maeve. The toddler was fast asleep in her arms. "For a guaranteed safe future for my daughter, I'd give anything."

"No one will pat you on the head without your permission," Utharium said with an angry rattle. "If they do, you must tell me. I'll make sure they never come near you again."

"It was only a figure of speech. I didn't mean it literally," Grace said with a soft smile. Iris could tell the new mother was close to tears at Utharium's protectiveness. "But thanks. It means a lot to us to feel so secure."

"The proposal isn't about being a pet or not, but rather where you'd like to live your lives as pets," Palathum said.

"I thought we were going to Talarian to live with Iris's people?" Merrick said, looking over at her.

Iris shrugged. As far as she knew, that had always been the plan.

Palathum sounded a soothing rumble. "That is one choice. The other is that you stay with Utharium and me."

Merrick and Grace exchanged a look before Grace started talking. "That's nice of you to ask, and I can see if anyone wants to take you up on it, but I don't want to raise Maeve on a ship. Besides, you can't want all of us to stay, that's too many bodies for Progress. We love it here and never want to go back to Dandilow II, but it's a bit crowded."

Utharium started purring also. "You misunderstand, we are going to marry and start a colony on a planet at the edge of the Talin Empire."

"Being far away from the central system and homeworld means the humans who live there will have almost all the freedom they'd enjoy elsewhere in the universe but with the added safety of being on a Talin colony."

"You own a colony?" Iris asked and Damascus rumbled with amusement.

"How is that so surprising?" he asked. "Palathum's family owns entire space stations, and they're often far more expensive than a planet. Our empire has many planets that can sustain life in random and inconvenient places rather than space stations in major trade zones or hubs."

"Huh," Iris said. "I didn't think about it like that."

"Colonies can become expensive as you build infrastructure," Palathum pointed out. "But I have plenty of wealth and many contacts to make that relatively easy."

The bigger implication of this conversation hit Iris. "You're going to give up traveling. You're going to create a community on this planet and stay there and raise a family."

"That is our plan," Palathum agreed. "Utharium and I have already agreed to a marriage contract and sent the formal request to the Lineage Committee."

"Once the Lineage Committee approves, the marriage contract becomes binding," Damascus explained before she could ask.

"I'm really happy for you," Iris said, working hard to keep her expression pleasant. It was going to be hard to stop all the traveling and experiences she'd had, but at least she had all the captures and vids she'd taken to remind herself of everything she'd seen.

That would have to be enough.

"I'm afraid I'll need your help to make it work," Palathum said with a worried rumble.

Iris tilted her head in confusion. "My help?"

"You and Damascus," Palathum elaborated. "I know you will wish to stay with me and live on the planet, but I need the two of you to continue my work."

Damascus's body went stiff, telling Iris he was as shocked as she was. He sounded a surprised rattle before speaking. "That isn't possible. I'm of the Rora clan, not Uriam. I'm also unqualified for this position. I know nothing about building space stations."

"You don't need to know those things, Iris already does," Palathum explained with an amused rumble. "She started learning the moment she boarded the ship. She was the one who realized a grid pattern error before I did on the last project."

"That was only because I had the time to read that report before you," Iris demurred, but felt a proud grin fill her face. She had learned a lot over the last six months. It helped that not only was Palathum eager to teach her, but all the crew wanted to help her acquire knowledge also.

She only thought to be an assistant to Palathum; she never considered being in charge!

A frown replaced her grin. "No one will listen to a human, pet or not."

"That's why you need Damascus," Utharium explained. "Not even Palathum did this job alone. She had help. You'll have this ship and the crew to continue building and maintaining the space stations."

"There is still the issue that I'm not family," Damascus said. "There will be a rebellion within your clan if you try to put me in charge."

"Not if I adopt you," Palathum said, making Iris and the other humans gasp in surprise.

"I did not see that coming," Grace murmured.

"Can you adopt an adult?" Merrick asked. "That seems weird."

"It's not weird," Damascus said without looking at Grace or Merrick. "But it isn't common. It's even more uncommon among Talins of such severe rank difference. My family isn't poverty stricken, but I have no wealth, no title, and I was dishonorably released from my service. Your clan will never let this happen."

"They will when they hear the rumor," Palathum said.

"What rumor?" Grace asked before Iris could.

Merrick looked fascinated. "This is better than a Ugarian soap opera!"

"Damascus sacrificed his career, wealth, and risked his citizenship to aid me in an operation to discover several individuals who'd been spying for the Orlok against their own empire."

"You did?" Iris asked, twisting so she could see his face.

He sounded a negative rattle for her, but never took his eyes off Palathum. "I'd heard your family were members of Tor Tiron. I see that is the truth. No one would believe I was a member. Everyone knows the Tor Tiron only pull the most affluent into their ranks."

"You don't have to be a member of Tor Tiron to be recruited by them," Palathum countered.

"Many individuals were pressed into service during the Orlok war," Utharium said. "It was the most espionage we'd ever had to deal with."

"Wait, is that how you met Palathum?" Iris asked, feeling excited. "Oh wow, it's so romantic. You guys were spies together!"

"I could see this being an entire movie," Grace added.

Merrick spoke up in his best movie-announcer voice. " Even during war, there is time enough for love."

"Not catchy enough," Grace said. "What about: Counter espionage agents by day and lovers by night, these two won't rest until they've taken care of all the business! "

Iris burst out laughing. "That was so bad!"

Grace snorted. "Hey, at least I didn't say Love-nado, the love storm that might consume you with passion."

That sent them all into peals of laughter. The Talins sat in silence, probably because they didn't get the human references.

"No one will believe the rumor," Damascus said once the laughter died down.

"Some might not, others will take it as fact," Palathum said, obviously unconcerned. "The most important thing is that it's a rumor. It can't be verified or refuted. It will give a plausible explanation for my adoption of you. After all, you lost everything assisting me, it's only fitting I take care of you after."

"Wait, does stuff like this really happen?" Iris asked. "Do some Talins end up used and discarded by your organization like that?"

"It has happened," Palathum said. "But not within my tenure."

"Let me get this straight," Grace said, shifting Maeve a little. "You want to adopt Damascus so he and Iris can do your job while you raise a family and build a colony for Talins and humans?"

"That's my wish, but I need Damascus and Iris to agree," Palathum said, never taking her gaze away from Iris.

Iris couldn't look away from those eyes. Palathum had gone completely silent, as if Iris's next words would decide everything.

In a way, they would.

"I want nothing more," Iris whispered. "I'm honored, Palathum."

Grace and Merrick cheered while Palathum sounded a triumphant rattle.

With a sudden and loud worried rumble, Damascus stood up and carried her out of the room. She didn't protest and no one tried to stop him. He had something important to say and needed privacy. She could understand because his world had been shaken again. She was ready to take on Palathum's job, but maybe he wasn't.