The Forgotten Four Read online

  Fully expecting him to follow her, Danielle pushed past him and stalked into the living area, flinging herself down on the couch dramatically. She discovered when she sent a scowl in his direction, however, that he'd turned and left.

  The discovery knocked the wind from her sails. After staring blankly at the door panel for a few moments, debating whether to follow him and continue the disagreement, she realized what a very bad idea that was and dismissed it.

  It occurred to her when she'd gotten over the shock of him leaving in the middle of a disagreement that he might have gotten it into his head to take up the fight with Baen, but reflection convinced her that she'd managed to diffuse his temper. Her own was still high, but after dwelling on the conversation for a while she found it impossible to work it any higher-just the opposite. She was still irritated, felt vaguely misused, but she couldn't arouse enough anger over it to convince herself she'd been treated abominably.

  He didn't understand. As hard as that was to grasp, she knew she had to accept that he just didn't for the simple reason that he had nothing to build an understanding on. He hadn't had any opportunity to learn by interaction and it was as clear as day that he had only the most rudimentary understanding of the mating process through information supplied to him by Manuta and his own biological instincts. No wonder the conversation with Baen had seemed so bizarre!

  And that completely explained why he hadn't taken the opportunity to explore the fascinating concept of kissing when she'd been certain he would!

  After a while it occurred to her that she should be more focused on her predicament than theirs. She hadn't managed to convince Kiel to abandon the plan to take a detour to their home world before taking her back and time, on her side, was of the essence! Somehow, she couldn't seem to concentrate on that, though. Instead, she kept going over and over what Kiel had said, and not said but implied, about their situation.

  It dawned on her that he'd succeeded in arousing a lot more sympathy for their cause than vice versa-at least as far as she could see-but she finally managed to convince herself that it was really the same thing. To get what she wanted, she needed to think of a way to convince them that she could give them what they wanted. Otherwise, they had no motivation to help her, right?

  The problem with that was that she was so far from certain that she could actually deliver on her offer that she felt really uncomfortable at the thought of making the attempt. They had a lot stacked against them and it began to seem like a mountain. From what she'd seen, they were a handsome people-exotic, but close enough to human in appearance, and attractive enough physically, that she thought they might be able to overcome the fact that they were alien fairly easily and not just find acceptance but arouse a lot of interest in the women back home. One of the biggest problems, though, was that they were so damned big! If they'd been tall, muscular, handsome, human men, the women would be falling over themselves to get to them, but put that size and their obvious strength together with 'alien' and they were as unnerving as they were attractive-maybe too intimidating to get close enough to human women to convince them.

  And she was pretty sure the women would totally freak at the discovery that they were cyborgs and four or five times stronger even than they looked. Women might like the 'air' of danger some men exuded, as she'd told Kiel, but there weren't a lot of them that actually liked to play with real danger and alien plus cyborg strong and gigantism equaled running for the hills as far as she could see.

  Actually, she supposed it was unfair to call them giants, but they were damned close-well above 'tall' for humans-and although they could appear surprisingly gentle, they were scary times ten when they got pissed off. There were going to be some serious trust issues to overcome and she had a feeling the cyborgs had run out of patience. They wanted mates now!

  Maybe what she should be focusing on instead of helping them was figuring out a way to ditch them and head home by herself?

  She knew as soon as the thought occurred to her that that was exactly what she should be considering-not helping them. As allies, they could probably tip the scales in the war against the Nubiens, but at what cost? If she led them back to her own people and they flatly refused to have anything to do with them, what then? A new war! And she had a bad feeling that they would be even more formidable enemies than the Nubiens.

  They hadn't really behaved aggressively toward her, but Kiel had danced around the subject of taking what they wanted, which meant he'd thought about it. He seemed inclined to dismiss it and hope for acceptance, but that didn't mean he and the others wouldn't decide to take if that was the only thing that would work!

  Considered in that light, she realized that it might work out a hell of a lot better if they did go to the home world of the Danu first. If they found their own people, the Danu wouldn't be her problem.

  Supposedly. She couldn't be absolutely certain of that either, she realized in dismay. Was there a workable alternative, though?

  Even supposing she could figure out some way to outwit them, grab her ship, and take off, they knew how to build it now. What was to stop them from making more and coming after her? She didn't even have the comfort of thinking they wouldn't know how to find her if they wanted to. They'd gotten everything out of Gertrude's memory banks.

  For a little while panic threatened to overcome any possibility of reasoning, but she finally accepted that she had to work within the parameters available to her. She didn't think it would be possible to sneak off without them. They were focused on securing the ship before they'd even started putting it back together, so that was out of the question. She didn't think she could convince them to head directly back to her home base, but that probably wasn't a good idea anyway. It might work out best all the way around if they went to their own home world first.

  So what she needed to focus on was worse case scenario-that they would still pursue the idea of finding mates among the humans. That might not be an issue, but she had to consider that there might be a really good reason why the colonists they'd been expecting hadn't shown up-they were gone.

  Even if that wasn't the case, she realized, she needed allies. She needed to befriend them to keep them from leading the other Danu to her doorstep if their parent race took it into heads to consider humans a threat.

  She had a headache by the time she'd gotten that far. Getting up, she went to search for something to eat in the hope that food was what she needed for the headache and settled to working on 'if-then' scenarios.

  * * * *

  Baen wrestled with himself and finally stalked over to the wall and settled in the shade next to Kiel. "You were gone a very long time when you returned Danielle to her habitat," he said challengingly.

  Kiel slid a narrow eyed glance at him, debated whether or not he wanted to take issue with the challenge in Baen's comment, and finally decided against it. As tempting as it was, they would need to watch themselves if they did not want to encourage Munata to make a decision they did not like. "We talked."

  Baen lifted a dark brow questioningly, but despite his outwardly calm demeanor, Kiel could see anger glittering in his eyes. It made his own anger surge to the forefront. He fought another round with the temptation to plant his fist in the middle of his face and managed to master it. "She was surprisingly honest. She does not think we will find acceptance among her people and said as much. She suggested that if we befriended them and helped them to defeat their enemies, we would be welcomed as allies but that acceptance as mates was doubtful."

  Anger tightened Baen's features. He looked away from Kiel, watching the robots still at work on the wall. They had no need to rest. They had no muscles to become fatigued nor flesh that became dehydrated. "She means that she will not," he said flatly.

  "She said that also. She said that she had told you that."

  "She said that she was not ready. That is not the same thing!" he responded tightly, trying to decide if he was more angry or … he was not certain what the emotion was behind the si
nking, faintly nauseated feeling in his gut. Disappointment? It felt almost more like fear, but he could not accept that. Why would he feel fear? There was no threat.

  Beyond the threat of disappointment. "For every living thing around us, there is a season," he responded finally.

  Kiel's lips twisted. "She said that we were doomed to disappointment if we could not get around the belief that women had a season."

  Baen scowled at the robots erecting the wall across from them. "Mayhap they do not, not in the way we thought, but there is surely a time for them when they decide they are ready for off-spring! We just have not managed to accumulate that data yet."

  "We have no data that would be of use to us in this particular endeavor," Kiel said with disgust.

  Baen sent him a speculative look. He didn't care for the fact that Kiel had said 'we'-not in the same breath as Danielle. If he was speaking in general, he had no problem with that. They were going to have a very big problem, however, if Kiel had decided to set his sights on Danielle. He would have taken issue right then and there except that Jalen's arrival distracted him long enough to bring it to his attention that their conversation was not even semi-private. Everyone around them was listening keenly to every word.

  Jalen had come to settle beside them and discovered there was no room to plant his back against the wall as Baen and Kiel had. After scowling at the man beside Kiel for a few moments, he finally crouched in front of the other two. "That is not true! I understand the principle of reproduction! You use the phallus to inject the seed into the female's womb! I have seen the beasts do it many times. It cannot be much different between us when we are formed in much the same way!"

  Kiel studied him irritably. "First off, we cannot know that. I agree that it would appear to be so, but things are not always as they appear. Beyond that, Danielle finds it insulting to be compared to a beast. She has at least made that abundantly clear! And she is more likely to punch you in the nose than respond as you desire if you point that out to her.

  "Even if you are right, however, and it is basically the same, it is almost certainly not exactly the same because there are logistics to consider that are not an issue with the lower beasts-clothing for one and the fact that we are two-legged creatures! Beyond that, I would not feel comfortable chasing her around and trying to hem her into a corner to mount her! Or even waiting until she was preoccupied and taking that moment to catch her off guard and mount her! As I pointed out, there are differences that would make that difficult to say the least! Also, given what I have learned about her, I could easily see that it would be akin to the mating habits of the souza! If she was not prepared to allow it, she would wound far more than your dignity! And I do not want to be bitten, clawed, and kicked while I am trying to sex her!"

  Baen looked disgusted. "We are creatures of logic-even her people obviously are-and capable of verbalizing our wishes, which the beasts are not! Naturally, that part of the mating process would be undesirable!"

  Kiel eyed him skeptically. "Reasoning did not seem to work for you," he said pointedly.

  Baen's anger threatened to erupt. He tamped it with an effort. "Yet," he ground out. "She is considering it, however."

  "You asked her straight out?" Nail, who was sitting several men down from where they sat demanded abruptly, making it clear that Baen had been right about the discussion.

  Disgusted that he had been lured into admitting it in front of everyone by his focus on the discussion, Baen threw him an irritated look but realized it would be nigh impossible to keep his plans secret from the others anyway. "I did not see that there would be any benefit in waiting until someone else had had the opportunity to speak to her."

  "You think it works like that?" Talor asked doubtfully. "They simply approach the female they have interest in and ask?"

  "Why would it not?" Baen demanded defensively. "We are beings of reason!"

  Talor scowled at him. "I was only considering what Kiel had said, that we do not have much data on this. It seems to me, if that is the main reason that we are considering going against Manuta's plans, then we must formulate a plan of our own, and that means that we will need more data. Why not simply ask her to explain the customs? She is a female. She will know."

  Kiel felt a cold wave wash through him and glanced quickly at the server bots to see if any were near enough they might have picked up the comment. Thankfully, he saw that they were not within range and were producing enough noise anyway to make hearing difficult. "Are we all considering going against Manuta's plans? I think we should establish that before we consider going to Danielle for the data we need since there is no point unless it has been decided that we will not accept Manuta's decision. Even if the stones prevent Manuta from hearing, there is a risk in openly discussing other plans since the robots are liable to report the discussion to Manuta. I do not see that Manuta would consider a discussion of mating practices as a threat. That could be interpreted or explained as pure curiosity, but this is treading dangerous ground."

  The others around them glanced at one another questioningly.

  "Consider it. Make certain that everyone knows what we are thinking of doing and report to me when you have decided. I think we must discard the notion if we are not united on this. Otherwise, we will be warring over the division and vulnerable to termination by Manuta."

  "But, what of those in the other settlements?" Talor pointed out. "I do not see that there would be any way to contact them and discover their intentions without alerting Manuta."

  "We cannot. That is why we will not consult with them on the matter. In any case, they would not be able to do anything about the decision to join us. We are in a position to act."

  Baen eyed Kiel speculatively when he rose and ordered everyone back to work, but it was not until much later, when they had finished their work shift and been dismissed for a rest period, that he had the opportunity to discuss what was on his mind. He drew Kiel aside as third and fourth platoon arrived to take the place of the first and second. "It did not take you long to decide that you would rebel when you seemed outraged that I would consider it," he said pointedly. "I am wondering why."

  Kiel narrowed his eyes at the tone. "Is there is a question in this?"

  "You know the question," Baen said tightly.

  Kiel tilted his head questioningly. "I do. What I am trying to decide is why you would think it would be your concern."

  "Why do you not think it would not be my concern when I have made my intentions clear?" Baen growled.

  "You believe there is a possibility that Danielle might chose me over you?"

  Baen's expression hardened. "I knew that you had set your sights on her!"

  "Mayhap I had before you had," Kiel growled. "I was the one who pulled her from the crash."

  "This is why you were trying to convince me that she had decided she would not consider being my mate!"

  "I have not tried to convince you of anything. I was merely relating the discussion between us, but you are right. I did not get the impression that she had decided to favor you. In any case, there are six hundred men in our settlement alone. You will no doubt discover that many of them have interest in that direction! Even those who do not find her particularly appealing to their senses will have that interest when she is the only female on Marchet. The only way that they might be diverted from pursuing her is to convince them that they will have choices."

  "How are we to do that?" Baen demanded tightly. "Manuta has made it clear that it will not consider using her DNA to design mates for us."

  "There are many others where she came from," Kiel said pointedly.

  "That is an assumption on your part. They are at war. For all we know there might be none in the time that she has been here! It was clear from the data on her computer that their enemies meant to wipe them out and they may have already succeeded! And everyone has had access to that data."

  "That is a possibility," Kiel conceded, "but there is also the possibility that they are
still there and that is what we must focus on. They are not as likely to begin to fight over Danielle if they believe there are others to choose from."

  "Except that you have already pointed out that we will have difficulty finding acceptance," Baen said tightly. "Not that we do not all know that, but it will be harder to convince them when you have made it clear that Danielle agrees with that assessment."

  "I did not speak without considering everything," Kiel said angrily. "As you pointed out, I was in Danielle's company far longer than it would have taken to simply escort her back. I was gathering intel. From what I understand, it seems that we must consider finding mates for ourselves in the light of a military campaign. It will require subterfuge."

  "What sort of subterfuge?" Baen asked suspiciously.

  "We appear much as they are," Kael responded. "Danielle suggested that we should allow them to believe we are, that it will be easier to overcome prejudice that we are alien so long as they are under the impression that we are still much as they are. We are forewarned, now, that we are much more different that we had assumed. Only Danielle knows just how different and she has given me to believe that she will befriend us and keep that knowledge to herself."

  "She said that?" Baen asked, feeling a surge of … hopefulness?

  "It was she who suggested that we should be careful not to allow them to know how different we are. She also suggested another possibility. I confess, she used terms that I could not completely understand, but she mentioned a company of people who seek partners, or mates, and said that we would have much to offer that would convince them to consider us."

  "What do we have to offer?" Baen asked a little blankly.

  "Marchet. I interpreted that to mean that it is akin to the nesting urge in the mating rituals of the beasts even though she was adamant that there is a vast difference."

  Baen frowned, struggling with the sinking sensation in the pit of his belly. "Then we must destroy Manuta."

  Kiel's expression turned grim. "You did not think there was another way, did you?"