Quin's Fresh Start Read online

  ‘Dari? Yselt? Do you trust me?’

  They both nodded against his chest.

  ‘We’re going to get you out of here, to a good place where you can love each other and raise your babies in freedom. Alright?’

  He got hesitant agreement from both of them. He wasn’t sure they even knew what freedom looked like.

  ‘But we have to get you to a doctor right away, because you’re ill, and the babies are at risk. If you’ll let us do that, I’ll go and get your third. Can you tell me where your third is?’

  Neither of them spoke, and they just looked at each other. Did they think it was a trap?

  ‘Does he have the other child with him? I’ll get both of them, I promise. If all of you are together there’s a much better chance that you and the babies you carry will survive, but you’ll have to trust me.’

  They both raised their heads, and something he didn’t understand passed between them.

  Yselt raised his head. ‘It’s not just him. My twin brother is with him as well, and they say they have met up with another escaped slave who helped them. He is a human, who is in hiding. They will kill him, for having escaped. And our other baby is still very small …’

  ‘We’ll get all of them, I promise. Can you show me a picture of where they are?’

  The mental picture he got was of a cave in the mountains above the town, but it was a second hand picture from their third, and not a clear enough image that they could lock onto it with the transporter.

  ‘Kaji?’

  ‘I saw that. What do you want to do?’

  Quin sighed. ‘What do you think, Kaji?’

  ‘Sweet ones? Can you be very brave, and I’ll transport you out of this prison, and then my friends will take you in a small ship back to our big ship where our doctor will take care of you. And I’ll go and get those other ones, all of them, and bring them to you. I promise.’

  No-one was going to die on a strange planet again, not if he could help it.

  Chapter 3.

  He knew they still weren’t sure if they could trust him, but then Dari suddenly cried out in pain and bent over, holding on to his stomach. Yselt cradled him and looked up at Quin, who stroked their heads and waited.

  ‘Our third, the other blue one, is Maki, my twin brother is Odin, the other human is Jonah. The baby we named Catin, after our mother, who died bearing us. We trust you, but please, if there is a choice, save our babies before us. Save Catin and these two, please.’

  ‘We’ll save all of you, sweet ones. Hold onto each other and me, breathe deeply and be strong.’

  ‘Kaji? We’re ready.’

  ‘The shuttle is coming in, we’ll transport on my count to six …’

  Quin wrapped himself around the two, and prayed while Kaji counted.

  ‘Hang on, sweet ones, this will be the worst part …’

  And then they were in a field beside the shuttle, and a medical team was jumping out and strapping monitors onto the two, and he managed to kiss both of them before they were loaded.

  ‘I’m going to get the others now, it’ll be alright, gods willing!’

  And the shuttle lifted off again, and he could hear shouting and alarms in the town.

  Quin smiled at the two soldiers who were left with him in the dark field, and took the weapon pack they offered him.

  ‘So, we go up the mountain, my friends. There are four up there - one of our people, two humans, and a baby, all of whom would be killed by these creatures. We’re going to deny them their prey.’

  They moved into the shelter of the trees, and waited until the commotion in town had settled down.

  ‘The officials in the town, they’ll think we all transported right off their planet, won’t they?’

  ‘With luck. They probably think it was magic. But we have to get up that mountain before those ones come down looking for Dari and Yselt.’

  Quin relaxed and let himself feel where that cave was, and was surprised that it felt like someone there was calling to him. That wasn’t possible. It wasn’t given to find more than one set of beloveds. It was simply Dari and Yselt’s third, and their baby, who were calling to him, because of the promise he’d made to them and because he’d nursed them.

  He heard Kaji laughing at him in his head.

  ‘Don’t challenge the gods, Quin. Just go get those ones.’

  They moved up the mountain with all the caution of skilled soldiers on foreign territory, and Quin was surprised at how good it felt to be in action again. In action and making a difference. He glanced over at Yuri and Keni, and they smiled back.

  ‘Something is pulling us, Quin. Our third is up there, I think.’

  ‘Just hope it isn’t a mountain goat.’

  He got a glare, and then a laugh.

  ‘It would have to be a beautiful and very clever mountain goat. Or maybe the one who is Yselt’s brother?’

  ‘Maybe. We’ll see, won’t we?’

  He didn’t tell them that something – someone – was pulling him as well.

  There was good cover on the forested slopes, and they were able to move quickly, arriving at the opening to the cave just before dawn. There were a few small trees concealing the entrance, but he was sure it was the right place.

  Just as he was about to move forward, he heard from Kaji again.

  ‘Quin? Dari and Yselt both seem to be holding steady, thank the gods. Dari is still having pains, but Karo says they are under control, and he’s staying with them, monitoring. We have a good lock on you, and as soon as you have the rest of them we’ll transport all of you.’

  ‘Thank you, Kaji. We’re at the cave now.’

  He looked around cautiously, but couldn’t see any sign of life.

  ‘Maki?’

  There was silence. He didn’t want to have to talk out loud, but he needed to find them quickly.

  “Maki? Odin? Jonah?”

  There was the sound of rifles being readied behind them, and they turned to see an unlikely fighting force.

  Maki was unquestionably one of Quin’s people, even with the dark purple-blue color that indicated stress and poor health. He was painfully thin, although the baby strapped to his chest explained some of that. Partially in front of him, protecting him and the baby, were two humans. Odin was clearly Yselt’s brother, a small fair human with the same striking blue eyes. Quin heard Yuri and Keni both gasp quietly, and he smiled to himself.

  The one who must be Jonah was a large and badly scarred human, with dark shaggy hair on his head and on his face. His dark eyes looked angry, and of the three he was clearly the most dangerous. This one was a warrior, Quin thought with admiration.

  They all held ancient rifles and those were pointed at Quin’s team with determination, and there was nothing but disdain on the shaggy one’s face.

  “How did you know our names? Do you torture pregnant ones now?”

  Maki held up a hand. “Wait, Jonah, these are blue, they are my people, mine and Dari’s, I think. Are you? Why are you here?”

  Quin wondered if maybe all of these ones suffered from malnutrition, and if it was affecting their brains. It seemed perfectly obvious to him why they were there.

  “Yes, we are People, from Cerulea, Maki and Dari’s home planet, and we’ve come to rescue you all, to take you away from this place. Dari and Yselt are safe now, on our ship, with a doctor taking care of them. They and their unborn babies are fine, although they’ll be better if Maki is with them when they give birth. This little one, this is their other baby?” If they could ask stupid questions, so could he.

  Maki wrapped his arms protectively around the little one, and looked like he might cry. “I lost contact with them, I was so afraid …”

  “No, it’s alright, they’re safe. They said that this little one is named Catin? After Yselt and Odin’s mother? I wouldn’t know that if I hadn’t talked to them, would I?”

  They all nodded, Jonah reluctantly.

  “Please, can we go inside the cave, into shelt
er, while we talk? I’m not sure who might be looking for us, and I don’t want to make it easy for them.”

  They followed Quin into the shelter of the cave, and Quin tried not to look at how few supplies they had there. They had been running on short rations for some time, he thought.

  He passed out high-energy nutrition drinks and food bars to the adults, and then hesitated, looking at Maki.

  “If I may nurse the baby? The transporting that we’ll need to do takes some energy, and the little one …”

  Maki held the baby closer to him, and looked defensive. “I’ve given him everything I have.”

  “Yes, sweet one, you have, I see that, but you haven’t had much to give. You’ve done the best you can, and it’s a miracle that any of you are alive after what you’ve been through.” Quin thought about it.

  “I nursed Dari and Yselt before we transported them, to give them energy, so I am already your family, in some way.”

  Jonah snorted, but Maki seemed to see the logic of that, and grudgingly passed the baby over, although he stayed close enough to keep a hand on the baby, as though Quin might drop him, or steal him. Quin pulled his tunic to one side and settled down against the wall of the cave to do something he had never thought he’d be able to do. To nurse a baby …

  Catin latched on to a nipple and suckled energetically, and Quin smiled happily up at Maki. “You’ve done a good job with this little one, he’s strong.”

  Maki relaxed a little bit and smiled back. “He’s beautiful, isn’t he?”

  They passed out more food to the adults, and Quin let Catin fill his belly. Gods, that felt good, having a little one at his breast.

  “We’ll transport to the ship now, and you can rejoin your beloveds”, he assured Maki quietly, as they sat together. “And there you’ll see that bonding in threes is normal, good. There are many other triads on our ship, the Crusader. And some triads where one of the three is a human, too, even our Captain’s. You’ll all be loved and safe.”

  “They can go, I still have work to do here, a promise I made.” Jonah said. “And if you could leave me a few of those nice new guns you have, my job will be a little bit easier.”

  Quin stared at him, and wondered about the strange pull he had to this unkempt human. He sighed.

  “And when you’ve rescued them, you’re going to live in a cave with them?”

  Jonah glared at him. “Better that than dead, Blue. Or slaves to be bought and sold like cattle.”

  “Quin. My name is Quin. Why don’t we send Maki and the little one back to the ship with Odin and my team here, so his triad can be together and they can give birth to those babies safely. It’s best if families are together for births. And I can have the ship send down more supplies, and I’ll come with you and the two of us will do what has to be done?”

  It hadn’t escaped Quin’s attention that while they were talking both of his team members were trying to get as close as possible to Odin, and were touching him gently, stroking him, and encouraging him to eat and drink as much as possible. Odin, on his part, was trying to get as far away from his two suitors as he could within the confines of the cave, even though he couldn’t keep his eyes off of them.

  Quin tried to keep the look on his face reassuring rather than amused. “Odin, did you know that my people, and many others in the universe, live in triads, that it’s normal in many places? Only on this silly place is it bad, an illegal thing. That’s why we weren’t surprised to find Dari in a triad. Anything else would have been surprising, truthfully. Our people can’t become bearing, what you call pregnant, without all three in their triad. And they don’t have to be all the same color or species, just their beloveds.”

  Odin looked at him in surprise. “Really? Loving two others at the same time, it isn’t a bad thing, then? I thought, after what these people did to Yselt and Dari ...”

  Odin shuddered, and eyed Yuri and Keni, who eyed him back.

  “No, it would be totally good and normal, almost everywhere else in the universe. And our people bond for life, forever.”

  Odin quit edging away from the two. “So, what I feel …?” He looked embarrassed.

  “Is good, beloved, and normal,” Yuri assured him. “Is that why you have been moving away? We felt the bond beginning with you the minute we saw you, even when we were coming up the mountain, and this has been very confusing.”

  “We know humans can bond with our species, because we have seen it before on our ship and at home,” Keni added. “Our people don’t become sexually mature until we feel the bonding, and we were both feeling it, as soon as we felt your presence, and we’re starting to morph now …”

  “Really? You only mature when you meet the one you are intended for? That sounds … wonderful. You know them when you meet them? Humans have to guess, I’m told, although I’ve always been a slave, and never had any choices about anything …” His voice tapered off into silence, and clearly his memories weren’t good.

  “Our people know, and then they bond for life.” Yuri stroked Odin’s head gently, and then looked over at Quin. “I’m sorry, Quin.”

  Odin looked over at Quin, puzzled. “Why is he sorry?”

  “I had beloveds, a bonded triad, and the other two died in an accident. It ripped my heart out.”

  “Can you bond twice?”

  “I don’t know. I’ve never heard of anyone who has, and it’s rare for one to even survive the loss of the other two. That’s one reason we were so worried about Dari, we thought maybe his third had been killed, and to add transporting and giving birth to that … well, we were worried.”

  Quin looked over at Jonah. “I feel something now, though, for this big shaggy one. I don’t know what, but it feels like a bond again.”

  “You are pretty open in talking about your feelings, Blue.”

  Quin stared at him. “Yes, of course, it is not a children’s game we’re playing, it is a bond, forever. Honesty matters.”

  Jonah glared back at him. “I am a man, a warrior, I do not play with other men.”

  Quin smiled back. “I am a hermaphrodite, both of your genders in one, and a warrior, and play is good, but only a small part of it. What do all the words mean? That we can’t have feelings for each other, that maybe we can’t love each other, if it comes to that?”

  Yuri managed to get close enough to Odin to wrap his arms gently around him, and Keni came in on the other side.

  “Beloved? We’ll never hurt you, and we will protect you, always, you and your family. What happened to your brother, being punished for who he is, who he loves, will never happen to you, I promise. No more being slaves. Gods willing, one day we’ll have little ones, but they’ll be safe, always. We’re warriors, fighters, and there isn’t anything worth fighting harder for than our own family.”

  The three of them wrapped themselves into a hug, and Quin had a memory of what it was like to be young and believe in the future. He spared himself a moment to envy them, then pulled himself back together.

  “What will we need for supplies, my hairy friend?”

  Jonah glared. “The guns you have here, if these two won’t need them, and food for a week.”

  Quin sighed and passed that on to Kaji. He seemed to be sighing a lot lately.

  Maki and the baby were both looking less gaunt and a slightly healthier color, and he didn’t want to keep them from the rest of their family any longer. He reluctantly handed the baby back, and hugged Maki.

  Odin was painfully thin and would need to be examined by the doctor, and although Yuri and Keni might be useful on this expedition, there was no way that they were going to be separated from Odin. Quin wouldn’t have wanted them to be.

  “Gods willing, I’ll see you all again before the two new ones are born. Take care of them and yourselves, my friends.”

  ‘Kaji, the big human and I are staying here, but transport all the others on my count to six …’

  And then they were all gone, and it was just him and Jonah. They star
ed at the cave wall and waited until they heard from the ship.

  ‘Quin?’

  ‘Yes, Kaji?’

  ‘There is a great deal of hugging and crying happening in Medical right now. I’m told it’s all good, my friend.’

  ‘Yes, someone told me that saving children is always good. As is love. Now we are going to go fight some bad guys and maybe save someone else. I’ll stay in touch.’

  Quin slumped down against the cave wall and stared at his new partner. “Who are we going to save, anyway?”

  Chapter 4.

  Jonah smiled at him. “First we rest. We’ll have to travel at night, and it’s not an easy journey.”

  “Can we transport directly there?”

  Jonah thought about it. “The first few days when I left there, I was just running and hiding. I don’t have a clear picture of it, if that’s what you need.”

  “It’s alright, we can go on foot. We’ll find them. Kaji can send us maps, the old-fashioned kind, on tablets, and we’ll figure it out.”

  Quin sighed, again, and looked at Jonah. “We need to learn to talk to each other in our minds. It’s safer.”

  “Talk to each other in our minds? You can do that, can’t you? I’ve been catching parts of what you say with this Kaji, I thought he was your partner, until I heard … I’m sorry.”

  Quin sat down against the wall of the cave with his head down on his knees, and the pain came flooding back. Bonding and babies and young love all around him, and he felt like his heart was being ripped out again. He breathed deeply and tried to let all of the old grief go.

  He felt Jonah sit down beside him, and then a strong arm going around his shoulders. Quin was big for his people, and had always been the dominant one in his triad, so this was a strange feeling. He hesitated, then leaned into Jonah, letting his weight rest on the big human.

  He waited for the man to say something, but Jonah just held him, and he gradually relaxed. After a while Quin brought a hand up and ran it through the long hair on Jonah’s face. It was softer than he had expected, and pleasant to the touch.