Текст книги "Sleeping With the Enemy"

Автор книги: Kaitlyn O'Connor

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Текущая страница: 16 (всего у книги 17 страниц)

    Sybil took it. “Thanks!” Ignoring the uneasiness that flickered through her, she took the lid off and took a few sips and handed it back.

    “We were immunized against human diseases.”

    Sybil felt her face redden. “Good for you! Unfortunately, I wasn’t immunized against anything you might be carrying,” she said tartly.

    He grinned at her. “You were thoroughly exposed, however. I think you can consider yourself safe. If there was danger of that, you would know already.”

    Sybil couldn’t believe he’d made a reference to her liaison with Anka! “You have a point, but it might interest you to know not all of us carry diseases.”

    “Those you have on your world were eradicated from ours long ago. We were already mostly immune, but they mutate and so we had to have immunities from the new strains.”

    Sybil stared at him. “Seriously? You had some of the same diseases on your world as we do?”

    “Yes. They aren’t confined to one world. The seeds are carried across the universe in the dust of comets and asteroids. They’ve been capable of space travel since long before we were.”

    Getting up, Sybil dusted the seat of her pants and took up her tool again. It wasn’t a hoe, precisely. It looked more like an adze but it worked well enough for chopping dirt even it did look like a woodworking tool. “So… maybe we all evolved from the same bacteria?” she said, only half joking.

    He shrugged. “Very likely.” He flicked a look over her that was speculative. “Just differently.”

    Sybil frowned, chopping at the dirt. “You think we’re that different?”

    “In some ways very clearly. In others… not so much.”

   “But you don’t like humans, do you?”

    He frowned. “I haven’t met many. I haven’t decided.”

    “Well,” Sybil said. “At least you’re honest.”

    He paused and looked at her. “Commander l’Kartay trusts you. That’s good enough for me.”

Chapter Sixteen

    “The Americans are accusing us of kidnapping Lieutenant Hunter and holding her against her will, Commander l’Kartay! I was sure it had to be a simple misunderstanding and now I learn that you have her in your quarters!”

    Anka ground his teeth together, struggling with his temper. “She needed protection… from them. She came to me.”

    Premier d’Zubi blinked several times and turned to look at the other council members as if he doubted his hearing and thought their reactions might help him clear up his misconception. Councilman Mortzay apparently decided to interpret the look as an invitation to join the discussion. “You’re saying that she’s asked for political asylum?”

    Anka considered the question. “Something of that nature, yes.”

    Mortzay turned and frowned at the Premier.

    “Well is she a political refugee or not?” the Premier demanded testily.

    “They coerced her to come here against her will, hoping to use her to gather information through me for their government. She’s carrying my child. I couldn’t allow them to put her and the child at risk.”

    “Now there is a child, as well?” Councilman l’Bevridge demanded. “How do you even know that it’s yours?”

    “I know,” Anka said tightly.

    Premier d’Zubi surged to his feet. “Well, I hope you know that this is a hell of a damned mess, Commander l’Kartay! We have just made treaty with them, gods damn it! You assured us that that would give us time to secure our colony and focus on internal problems-before we all starved to death! We’ve barely even begun to solve the biggest threat to our survival since the disaster!”

    “I’m aware of that. I hadn’t anticipated the… complication, but I have a moral obligation beyond my affection to protect my family-just as I would any man, woman, or child of Sumptra.”

    “Hadn’t anticipated…?” Councilman l’Bevridge exploded. “You took her as your lover and you hadn’t anticipated the possibility?”

    Anka’s lips tightened. “I assumed she would use protection.”

    “So you used none to protect our interests?” Mortzay demanded. “It didn’t occur to you that she might use the opportunity to place just this obligation upon us? It might be laughable if you were some callow youth, l’Kartay. It would certainly be more understandable when the young are so thoughtless and reckless, but it concerns me a very great deal, I don’t mind telling you, that our lives are hanging on your experience and judgment when you obviously have none where this… female is concerned!”

    “May I remind you, Councilman, that it was the capture of the crew of the Mars II that gave us the opening, and the leverage, we needed to negotiate a treaty with the Earth people to start with? And that it was the bond formed between Lieutenant Hunter and me, because I had taken her as my lover, that convinced her to support the Sumpturians throughout those negotiations? We may or may not have succeeded in securing a treaty with them at all if she hadn’t been willing to give us all the benefit of the doubt and refused to misinterpret our motives.

    “She has befriended our people and she is in trouble because of it. I have sacrificed as much or more than anyone here. I have worked as hard or harder than anyone here for the greater good. I will not sacrifice Sybil and my child because it would be easier for everyone for me to do so. If she was Sumpturian we wouldn’t be having this discussion. You would have accepted that we are responsible for her welfare and that the greater good is not more important than the individuals that constitute it!”

    “If she was Sumpturian we wouldn’t have to be discussing it!” Premier d’Zubi snapped testily. He sat back down, drumming his fingers on the table in front of him. “Not but what I see your point. I don’t mind telling you that it disturbs me that you have taken an Earth woman as a lover at all, politically expedient or not, and spurned good Sumpturian women in the process! Our society is crumbling! We have little left beyond our traditions of the old world. You are an example for our young people! Before you know it we will have all of them clamoring for Earth lovers and dragging them into their quarters and then our traditions will fall by the wayside like everything else!”

    “What traditions do you perceive that we have left?” Anka growled furiously. “Without Sybil and my child I have no one! I have lost my mother, my siblings, their children! I have lost my lover of fifteen solars and the children we had together! What do I have left to build upon? What do any of us have to build our old traditions upon? There are maybe a dozen matriarchs among us and they have lost their families!

    “Do you mean to begin to dictate who we chose as our lovers? Because the moment you do, you have also done your part to destroy the very traditions you believe you’re protecting!

    “I chose Sybil because I wanted her and she wanted me-It was not politically motivated-on either side! She did not get pregnant to bind me to her. She was terrified when she discovered it and forced by that circumstance to do something repugnant to her to protect the child we’d made together.

    “She wanted to go back and pretend to help them so that she could help us and I refused to allow it. She knows as well as I do that the treaty is shaky at best, but it is signed and they have all agreed upon it. The Americans cannot break the treaty without just cause and they cannot use Sybil as just cause when she will dispute their claim that she is being held against her will!”

    To his relief, the members of the council exchanged thoughtful glances and fell to considering what he’d said. “They will want something in exchange-mark my words!” the Premier said irritably.

    Anka relaxed. “I’ve considered that. The atmospheric unit number twelve has broken down again and we have no parts to repair it. We will offer them that. They will be delighted to get the technology and very likely they can fix it. As long as they believe that we will keep the treaty and they can wheedle more technology from us from time to time, they’ll be happy.”

    Premier d’Zubi scowled at him. “You think too much like the humans,” he growled.

    Anka shrugged. “I have to be able to get inside their minds to deal with them.”

    Mortzay grunted irritably. “Just don’t begin to behave too much like them! What do you plan to do with the woman? It’s unseemly to keep her in your quarters. It simply isn’t done! And you can’t expect to preserve the relationship when the two of you are under the same roof, so to speak.”

    “We will have to work harder to preserve it,” Anka responded. “Housing is one of the many shortages and until we have permanent residences there isn’t an alternative.”

    “What about the matriarchs?” l’Bevridge suggested. “Perhaps one of them could be persuaded to adopt her? The poor things are lost without their families to cluck over and beyond that, they are too old to live alone. They need young people to help with the chores, or will when they are assigned to housing.”

    Reluctance immediately tightened in Anka’s belly. It was… strange to live with his lover. He would’ve never considered it before, but it was also true that he’d lost his own family and he was reluctant to give up the closeness of living with someone again-however uncomfortable that could be at times. “I think they’ll have plenty of young people to choose from to adopt,” he said finally. “But that’s something that will have to wait.”

* * * *

    Sybil searched Anka’s face worriedly when he joined her in the storage unit where the seeds were kept after his meeting. To her credit, she didn’t ask him anything in front of Cerek, who was with her, sorting through the seeds the Americans had provided.

    She lifted one of the packets and shook it. “They took these damned things right off the shelves! None of them have been altered in any way for the special conditions here. We’ll be lucky if any of them sprout!”

    Anka instantly felt a surge of both anger and anxiety. “We used the same seed in the greenhouses.”

    Sybil looked at him in surprise. “I hadn’t thought about that. Maybe the soil is more similar to Earth’s than I thought even if the conditions aren’t?” She shrugged. “I’ve picked drought resistant plants indigenous to the hotter regions on Earth. I’m sure these are our best bet.”

    Anka gave Cerek the bucket full of seed packets and sent him ahead.

    “What did they say?” Sybil asked breathlessly the moment he was beyond hearing.

    “We will negotiate.”

    She’d expected as much and she still had to struggle with the churning fear that surged inside her. It was going to be worse if she had to go back. She’d shown them she’d never had any real intention of doing what they wanted. They’d ship her directly back and probably to jail.

    Anka tapped her chin, forcing her to look up at him. “Trust, nodia. I will protect you… whatever it takes.”

    Sybil swallowed with an effort and nodded instead of telling him that putting himself in danger wouldn’t make her happy either.

    An elderly Sumpturian woman joined them when Sybil and Cerek made it to their garden project. Sybil had noticed her slow progress toward them and wondered at it. She hadn’t realized the woman had them in her sights until she upended the empty bucket she’d carried out and sat down on it.

    She looked Sybil over with frank curiosity and began to babble at her in her native tongue. Sybil stared at her dismay. “I’m sorry. I don’t understand your language.”

    “She said we were doing this all wrong,” Cerek translated and then spoke to the woman.

    The woman snorted in disgust.

    “What did you tell her?”

    “That you couldn’t speak or understand hiutzu.”

    “I’m guessing that’s your language? I suppose I should try to learn it,” she said a little doubtfully. Smiling at the older woman, she held out her hand. “I’m Sybil Hunter.”

    “We don’t shake hands,” Cerek said in a low voice. “You smile and bow politely.”

    Sybil reddened. “Sorry.” She tried to comply with Cerek’s suggestion.

    The old woman snorted again. “Look like cow squat!”

    Cerek uttered a snorting laugh and tried to pretend he was coughing when Sybil sent him a narrow eyed glare. He shrugged. “She’s old. They figure they’ve earned the right to be rude. You should watch the way the other young rilous greet older rilous.”

    “Oh god!” Sybil muttered. “Don’t tell me! You have different greetings for everybody?”

    He considered it frowningly. “I guess so… sort of. It’s more a… variation. You bow one way to elders and a different way to peers. And then a little differently if it’s someone of great respect.”

    “They’ll think I’m being rude for staring.”

    “Well, I guess I could show you,” he said a little doubtfully.

    The elder woman obviously wanted in on the conversation. She spoke rapidly to Cerek, no doubt asking what had been said. Clearly, she understood just enough English to be insulting!

    “She wants to know why you aren’t wearing a hat to protect your skin for your lover.”

    Sybil stared down at her arms in dismay. “I don’t have a hat.”

    The old woman promptly removed her own and handed it over when Cerek had translated. “You use. Me old. Look like…,” she paused, frowning, “mertirz anyhow.”

    Cerek chuckled and the old woman swatted him.

    Sybil bit her lip. “What was that about?”

    “She said I was disrespectful for laughing.”

    “What’s merirz?”

    Cerek turned red faced. He cleared his throat but finally shrugged. “It’s a bad word. Well, not polite to use.”

    “How do I say thank you?”

    He demonstrated the correct bow and said, “Shumitzfa.”

    Sybil tried to mimic him, but could see from his face that she didn’t pull it off very well. The old woman confirmed it, uttering another snort and then babbling at Cerek. “She said I looked like a she-man and you looked like a man-she.”

    “Her polite way of pointing out that you look effeminate when you do that and I look like a man trying to be woman?” Sybil guessed dryly.

    Cerek looked surprised. “Exactly!”

    “I think I’m getting the hang of figuring out her insults.”

    Sybil had no idea why the woman had singled her out for insults, but she stayed and pointed out what they were doing wrong all the way through the process of planting. Anka arrived just as she was contemplating knocking the old woman in the head. The old woman immediately went into a tizzy, leaping off her bucket and standing between Anka and her. Sybil simply stood gaping while they argued. Finally, clearly disgusted, the old woman wandered off with her bucket, flinging insults, Sybil didn’t doubt, over her shoulder as she left.

    Anka looked at her with amusement. Jerking a dismissal at Cerek, he helped her up.

    “What in the world was that all about? I didn’t say anything to upset her! I swear! I was really careful.”

    “She was offended that I showed up when you were working,” Anka said, laughter threading his voice.

    “I’m sorry, what?”

    “The… uh… lecture was for me. On Sumptra, we live in the home of our mothers. My sisters would never have allowed their lovers to see them working in the garden and their lovers would’ve had better manners than to show up before they’d had time to groom themselves.”

    “Oh,” Sybil said in dismay, wondering abruptly just how bad she looked. It didn’t take much imagination when she could see she was filthy from crawling around in the dirt.

    “I told her that you were always beautiful to me.”

    Sybil couldn’t help but be pleased. “What did she say to that?”

    He grimaced. “She said that I was a fool and I should send you to live with her. She would be willing to adopt you as her daughter and teach you how to be a good Sumpturian woman.”

    “Oh! That was so sweet!” Sybil exclaimed, dismayed at the notion.

    “I told her that you were my Earth woman and that I was content to learn your ways.”

    “You are?” Sybil gasped, thrilled beyond measure.

    “Shall I shock the pants off everyone and prove it right here by kissing you?”

    It was tempting. “I’m filthy and sweaty,” she said pointedly.

    He looked down at himself ruefully. “Me, too.”

    Sybil chuckled. “I wouldn’t mind that… but I don’t like being dirty, you know?”

    “I told her that I would speak to you about a possible compromise,” Anka said, slipping an arm around her waist and guiding her toward the transports waiting to take the workers back to the habitat.

    “What sort of compromise?”

    He frowned. “You will be more comfortable living among us, Sybil, if you understand our language and our ways better.”

    Sybil’s heart leapt. She knew nothing was settled yet, though. There was no point in asking if it was. “I’m willing.”

    “It would mean that you would spend your days in her company.”

    “Oh.”

    He paused, stroking her cheek. “I don’t want you to be a good Sumpturian woman. I like you the way you are.”

    “You’d like being able to talk to me in your own language, though, wouldn’t you?”

    His lips curled up. “Maybe. There is a certain advantage.”

    She gave him a look. “Yes, but it’s your advantage, not mine!” she said tartly.

    He looked uncomfortable. “You might overhear things you’d rather not.”

    Sybil sighed. “You think I can’t tell when they’re talking about me now? There are some things that don’t really need translation. You can tell from expressions and gestures and even body language.”

    “So… what am I thinking?”

    Sybil laughed. “What you’re always thinking!”

    He sent her a mock glare. “I don’t always think about that! You have dirt all over your face, by the way.”

    “Oh! And you just let me flirt with you like I looked good!”

    “You’re cute even with a dirty face, nodia.”

    “Well! I don’t want to be cute, damn it! I want to be sexy!”

    “Sexy, too.”

    “Right!”

    “I’ll prove it the minute we have a little privacy.”

    “No you won’t! I’m taking a shower first!” She got a crash course on just how determined Anka could be when they got back to his quarters, but she discovered the grime didn’t make it any less exciting. * * * *

    Coward that she was, Sybil had hoped she could avoid the unpleasantness of dealing with Meachum about her supposed kidnapping. She didn’t object when Anka explained that it was necessary for her to be present during the discussion. She knew he was right, but that didn’t make her dread it any less.

    She was vastly relieved, though, when she discovered the discussion would be conducted via satellite. At least she didn’t have to be in the same room with the bastard!

    It occurred to her as she walked with Anka to the communications center that the conference would offer them an opportunity that she hadn’t immediately considered-the chance to make sure her side of the story was heard by someone other than the people who’d blackmailed her to start with.

    “Can we broadcast to several satellites at once?” she asked Anka as they reached the center.

    He looked at her curiously. “We could. What are you thinking?”

    Sybil gripped his hand tightly. “I’m thinking I’d feel better, much better, if more than a small panel of government goons heard the discussion. As long as it’s closed to everybody else, they can say anything they want to, even alter the recordings to make them work for them. The best way to keep them honest is to make it where they can’t put their own spin on the talks.”

    Anka still looked unconvinced. “You’re saying broadcast it where the public can watch and listen?”

    “Yes. There can’t be a cover up if everything’s out in the open.”

    He frowned. “It’s risky, Sybil. They could refuse to discuss this at all if they discovered what was happening. We need to come to an agreement.”

    “I know we do, but don’t you see? They could double-cross us if they get to tell the story their way. Who knows what they’ve leaked to the press? Or how everyone on Earth sees the situation? They could be scaring everyone with lies and using fear to get people to agree for them to do whatever they want to do! They’ve done it before!

    “And if they’ve leaked that bullshit about me being kidnapped, a lot of people could be scared and angry about it. I’m more interested in reassuring everyone back home that it isn’t true than Congressman Webb and Meachum! They don’t give a damn about me!”

    He studied her doubtfully for several moments but finally nodded. “I hope this doesn’t backfire on us, nodia.”

    The suggestion that it might increased her uneasiness, but she was sure-as certain as she could be-that anyone as underhanded as Meachum could be counted upon to stab them in the back if possible. She couldn’t think of any other way to insure that it wasn’t possible.

    Of course, as insurance went, it still wasn’t fool proof. They could still come up with a lie to bury her attempt to get the truth out, but she didn’t see any other possibility.

    Inside the communications room, she was introduced to the Premier, whom she remembered meeting before, and two councilmen she didn’t remember. Anka moved to the communications console and spoke to the officer there. When he returned, he spoke quietly to her. “We’ve linked to two other satellites, but one will be out of range shortly. I instructed Inge to watch for another and link with it when possible. I hope you’re right about this.”

    She wished he’d quit saying that! It was undermining what little confidence she had in her idea!

    Congressman Webb’s face appeared on the large vid display at the front of the room. Any doubts Sybil had entertained that the transmission was two way vanished when the Congressman looked directly at her. “Lieutenant Hunter. It’s good to see you. How have they been treating you?”

    “Very well, Sir,” Sybil said a little stiffly.

    He looked at the other men in the room with her. “You may speak freely, Lieutenant. We’re watching over your interests.”

    “I am speaking freely, Sir, and you wouldn’t do me much good from Earth if I wasn’t.”

    He frowned. “They haven’t coerced you in any way? I notice you look a little… Your skin looks burned.”

    “It’s sunburn, Congressman. I’ve been working in the garden, and, no, I haven’t been coerced. The report of my abduction was entirely wrong. I’m here because I want to be.”

    He frowned, looking down as if he was studying something on his desk. “The report I have says otherwise. According to this you were taken against your will from the Embassy, which is American territory, I might add and a breach of the treaty agreement so lately signed!”

    Sybil gaped at him in disbelief. She’d expected that they would try to twist everything she said to make it sound as if she was afraid to tell the truth and she was still too shocked for several seconds to react. “That is a bald faced lie!” she said angrily. “Anka didn’t even go inside the Embassy! He asked for me at the door. Ask Lt. Brant! He was on duty! For that matter, check the security tapes!”

    Congressman Webb’s face was stony. “The report was filed by Lt. Brant.”

    “Well, he’s a damned liar!” Sybil glanced at the Premier. “Don’t look if you’re squeamish,” she said warningly just before she jerked her top up and her trousers down to fully expose her blossoming belly. She turned to give the Congressman a profile view. “I’m here because Commander Anka is the most wonderful man I’ve met in my life, because I want to be with the man I love and I want his baby born here, among his people. I was invited to live with them.”

    Anka settled his hand over hers. “I don’t think you needed to do that, nodia,” he said, laughing. “I think they would’ve figured it out.”

    “They would’ve said I had something stuffed in my shirt!” she said testily. “They know you didn’t kidnap me. They’re just trying to wiggle out of the treaty they made!”

    Anka glanced at the Congressman questioningly. “Are there any more questions you’d like ask my woman?”

    The congressman looked like someone had shit in his mouth. “I think we’re satisfied,” he said tightly, “… on that score. Since Lt. Hunter claims that she left of her own free will, however, there is the little matter of her being AWOL.”

    “Not unless someone forged my signature on a new enlistment, Congressman Webb,” Sybil said tightly. “My tour was up before I left the moon for Venus and I refused to sign up for another tour.”

    “I’ll look in to that,” he said through gritted teeth. “You’re dismissed… for now.”

    Sybil turned to look up at Anka. On impulse, she rose to her tiptoes and kissed him full on the mouth. She hadn’t actually intended to give him more than a peck, but Anka had other ideas. “I’ll remember to take my hat with me when I go to work in the garden. I wouldn’t want them to accuse you of staking me out in the sun.”

    Anka shook his head at her, but he smiled.

    She turned and waved at the congressman. “Hello everyone back home! Don’t worry about me. I love it here. Venus is growing more beautiful every day!”

    Anka glanced back at Inge. “You can cut the feed to the other satellites now.”

    The congressman looked blank for several moments and then turned so red Sybil more than half expected him to explode. She turned to the Premier and the other two councilmen. “I apologize if I embarrassed you. I just had to be sure they couldn’t twist this into something it isn’t.”

    The Premier and both councilmen assured her that they hadn’t minded looking at all, that it was a lovely display of womanhood.