Hunting Cari (First Wave) (17 page)

He and Cari
created not only one miracle, but two. He couldn’t be happier. One way or
another, he would protect his family, and he would keep them together. His
resolve strengthened; he reached out his hand and placed it tenderly over where
his children rested inside of their mother, his mate.

His happiness
and pride washed over him until he felt giddy with it. The warmth he felt
emanating from where his hand rested proved to him that Amun had been right.
His little ones were very powerful to not even be born and have the ability to
share their emotions.

If what
Amun had told him was true, it was their daughters who had taken them away from
the ship, in their minds, somehow in order to give them the one thing they
wanted… to be together. He gently caressed Cari’s belly, and spoke softly to
his daughters, making sure they knew how much he loved them. That he would do
anything to make their mother and them happy and to keep them together and
safe.

Everyone in
the room stood in amazed silence as the intense emotions of the children and
Scaden encompassed them all. The entire ship was mesmerized by the scene on the
comm of their commander and his children. The emotions so strong they could be
felt several levels above and below the MedLab.

“She
doesn’t know. We need to wake her, so she knows.” Scaden told the room in
general. Not caring who answered, as long as someone did something to wake his
mate.

“Scaden, we
can’t wake her the same way we woke you. We had to forcefully break the
connection to you, Cari and the children by sending a strong electrical impulse
directly into your brain. We don’t know how that will affect the babies. It
could hurt them or kill them…” Scaden didn’t let Amun even finish.

“NO!!! We
will do nothing that will harm any of them! Is that clear?”

“Calm down,
we agree with you. That’s why we have done nothing to disturb her in any way.”
Gracus tried to placate his friend. At Scaden’s outburst, he had seen on the
hologram that the babies had become very agitated. Not knowing what they were
actually capable of, he didn’t want them upset. None of them thought the
children would harm anyone, but he thought it best to not have their father
upset.

“Then how
do we wake her?”

“We’re not
really sure. We were hoping that if you were awake, that you could convince the
babies to wake her up. I know it’s not much, but it’s all we have right now.
The other ships will be here in two days, and she has to wake up before they
get nearby." Gracus hadn’t yet told Scaden of the plans that they had
formulated during the weeks that he had been in a coma with Cari. She had to be
awake for it to work.

“I can only
guess at what happened, but I think that once the babies were able to realize
the connection you and Cari had established after mating, and saw the pain you
were both in, that they took it upon themselves to help push the two of you
into a coma to protect you. I think when they realize that their mother will be
happier awake; now that you are, they will help wake her. Again, it’s only a
guess, but it’s all we’ve got right now.”

Amun felt
almost foolish even suggesting it. None of his training ever prepared him for a
situation like this. Mates with no Ator-Ma, a female with powerful gifts,
induced comas by babies not even born. And twins! At times, he wondered if any
of them were sane, or if they were all infected by something.

“I’ll wake
her… somehow I’ll find a way.” Scaden ran his hand through his hair in
frustration, trying to think of a way to make that happen.

*****

Cari awoke
slowly. It took a few minutes to realize she was alone in the large bed.
Missing Scaden already, she got up and dressed intending to go look for him.
She figured he was probably in the kitchen making them something to eat. She
was hoping anyway; she was starving. She has been hungry a lot lately.

Wandering
through the house, she didn’t find him in the kitchen, or anywhere. Beginning
to worry, she walked around outside calling his name. When she didn’t find him,
she began to panic. Where was he? Running down to the lake she jogged along the
shore, continuing to call his name. He wasn’t there either.

For hours,
she ran through the woods around the lake and the house, calling for him until
her voice became too hoarse to continue. How could he leave her? Where did he
go? Returning to the house, she collapsed on the couch. Burying her face in her
hands she cried until she felt into an exhausted sleep.

She awoke
with a start to a hand on her shoulder gently shaking her. Thinking it was
Scaden, the smile on her face died when she saw it wasn’t him.

She looked
in confusion at the two beautiful little girls standing in front of her. How
did they get here? They had long, wavy blonde hair, and the most piercing blue
eyes she’d ever seen, with hazel swirls that seemed to move around in them. How
unusual. Small and slight, she guessed their ages to be around six or seven
years old.

They were
attired in identical little pink dresses, with lace at the bottom and a silk
looking sash at the waist in a darker pink. They were adorable twins, but she
couldn’t imagine how they had found the house and gotten here. They’d been
silent the whole time she had perused them, and seemed to know when she was
done and confusion replaced the curiosity.

“Hi… Cari.
I’m Tessa, and this is my sister Amia.” The little girl on the left told her,
pronouncing her sister’s name as Ah-mee-ah.

“We knew
you were lonely now that Scaden had to leave and didn’t want you to be sad.”
Amia said next.

“Who are
you? How do you know me and Scaden? Where did he go? Is he coming back?” Cari
asked in a rush. She had so many questions and needed Scaden.

“We are…
friends. He had to go back and make sure that he could find a way to protect
you and keep you both together. You will have to leave this place and go to
him, when things are ready.” Tessa told her with a smile. Her dimples, so like
Scaden’s, Cari felt a pang of sadness at his absence.

“Don’t be
sad. He’s going to make everything ok, and then you can go to him. We’ll keep
you company until it’s time.” Amia smiled an identical one as her sisters,
dimples and all.

It was hard
not to look at these two adorable children and not smile back. There was
something so charming about them that was difficult to resist. And they were
right; she didn’t feel lonely at all with them here. She wondered if Scaden had
sent them to her, until he could come for her.

“I bet
you’re hungry. I know we are. Do you think you can help us find something to
eat?” Amia asked her hopefully. Cari laughed at the child; she was hungry.

“Well, I
can’t guarantee that I can make anything as good as Scaden since I’m not
familiar with the food here. But I think I can recognize enough things to make
us something edible. Do you want to help me?”

“We’d love
to!” They exclaimed in unison. Cari could feel their excitement, and smiled at
how adorable they were.

Going into
the kitchen she began going through the cabinets and fridge looking for the
foods she recognized. As she pulled things, she would need she would hand them
to one of the girls who would place them on the counter. The three of them
working together like a team.

Once she
had found all the delicacies Scaden had prepared for her their first night
here, she started trying to copy the way he had cooked it. For some reason, she
wanted to share those special dishes with the little ones.

“Won’t your
mommy and daddy be worried about where you are?” She asked, suddenly concerned
that they might have to leave and not wanting their parents to worry. If they
were her daughters, she’d be in a panic if they had disappeared from her sight.

“Our
parents know where we are. We would never be far from them and wouldn’t want
them to worry about us. They love us very much, and we love them very much.”
Tessa answered with a wide smile.

Satisfied
with her answer she began to help teach the girls how to help her prepare the
meal, hoping she got it right, and it would turn out correctly.

When she
thought, it was done, she filled three plates, while the girls gathered the
utensils and set them at the bar area. In silent agreement, the girls sat on
either side of her and waited for her to take the first bite.

Knowing the
girls were waiting for her to try it before they did, she stabbed the same
purple tubular item that Scaden had made her try first and popped it in her
mouth. Oh that was so good! And it had turned out almost exactly like how
Scaden had made it! Her hunger came back with a vengeance, and she began
digging in as the girls followed suit.

Cari smiled
as the girls exclaimed over how good the meal was, and how much they were
enjoying it. If she didn’t know better she’d think they had never actually had
food before. What a crazy thought that was!

After they
had stuffed themselves until they were full, they cleaned up their mess and
placed the leftovers in the fridge for later.

“Can you
please show us the lake? We’ve heard how beautiful it is but haven’t been there
yet.” Tessa asked politely.

Cari
wondered if their parents would be upset if she took them there, but figured it
would be ok, as long as she didn’t let them in the water. She made up her mind,
when she heard Amia’s pleading tone saying “Please”. She couldn’t resist the
little charmers, and she thought they knew it too.

She led the
two girls out the door and smiled as each one grabbed one of her hands as they
walked down to the lake together. She had no idea why, but she felt such peace
and contentment with the adorable girls here. If she and Scaden were ever lucky
enough to have children, she hoped that they would be just like these two
little darlings.

She smiled
at the girls’ excitement when they saw the lake. Their excitement was contagious,
and she listened intently to them both as they bombarded her with questions.

“Can we
touch it?”

“Is it
cold?”

“Why is it
so blue but yet so clear?”

“What makes
it?”

As she
answered their questions, she walked to the edge with them and allowed them both
to touch the water and laughed as they giggled at the feel of it lapping
against their toes.

They played
for a while at the shore, laughing and splashing each other in the water until
the suns had begun to set, and she saw both of the girls yawn. Suddenly very
tired herself, she led the girls back to the house together. 

“Are your
parents going to worry if you don’t come home? It’s getting very dark, and I
can walk you there if you tell me where you live.” Cari offered, but not truly
wanting them to leave. The thought made her very sad; she really adored these
little ones.

“Our
parents know we’re going to stay with you until Scaden finds a safe place for
you both to stay.” Tessa told her, and Amia shook her head in agreement.

“Are you
sure?” Cari couldn’t imagine any parents allowing their children out of their
sight for this long. When she and Scaden had children, she would never allow
them near a stranger like this. Their father must trust Scaden very much for
him to allow this.

“We’re very
sure!” They chimed at the same time.

Cari began
to dig through the closet to find something for them to sleep in… all of them.
With only the one bed in the house, she wasn’t going to sleep naked in the bed
with the girls.

She found
three of Scaden’s shirts and helped the girls out of their dresses and into the
shirts. They were extremely long on them, and Cari did her best to roll up the
sleeves, so they could use their hands.

The girls
giggled the whole time at just how large the shirts were on them, and Amia
flapped the long sleeves as Cari tried to roll Tessa’s sleeves up. When the
girls were dressed in their new nightwear, Cari went into the bathroom and
changed too. The shirt she was wearing fell to the tops of her knees, and she
had to roll the sleeves as well.

By silent
agreement, Cari got into the bed and laid on her side in the middle; Tessa laid
down in front of her and Amia behind her. Tessa cuddled into the front of her,
and Cari put her arm around the little girl, while Amia put her arm around
Cari’s waist and snuggled in close.

It wasn’t
long before all three were sound asleep.

Chapter Fourteen

Scaden
settled Cari into the large bed and pulled the covers around her to make sure
she stayed warm. He wondered for the hundredth time when she would finally awaken.
They were safe now; safe from the council for good. Nothing could separate them
again. He wouldn’t allow it, and apparently neither would his crew.

He stroked
her growing belly through the covers and marveled again at his little girls
growing there. His love for them grew every minute it seemed, and he couldn’t
wait until he could hold them in his arms. He made sure to let them know it too
and smiled at the little excited kicks they would make against his hand.

Sighing, he
left the room to go meet Randor downstairs. Walking through the large house, he
was again amazed at everything his friends and crew had been able to accomplish
while he and Cari were 'out of it'. He was overwhelmed by their loyalty to him
and Cari… and his children. He hoped that none of them would be in trouble with
the council over this. However, he knew they had covered their tracks pretty
well.

Stepping
into the kitchen, he saw Randor was already stocking the fridge with food and
putting others in the cabinets. He sat down at the table in the kitchen, not
even trying to help since everything in, there was so strange, and he had no
idea where anything was supposed to go.

He was
going to learn everything he could though. Since this planet was now going to
be his home, he needed to learn everything he could in order to keep his family
safe and to provide for them.

“Is she
settled ok?” Randor asked as he sat at the table with Scaden.

“She’s
resting the same. The little ones seem to be much more active and happier than
they have been. I guess that’s a good sign. Hopefully, they’ll be able to get
her awake now that she’s safe.” Scaden had been hoping for that for days.

The days
before the other ships were to arrive; they had to go ahead with the plan that
Randor, Gracus and Amun had come up with to keep them from the council. They
couldn’t wait any longer for her to awaken.

They had
made it appear that Randor had helped Scaden escape in a transport with Cari.
Once they were on the planet, they had disabled all tracking on the transport.
Randor had gone down a week before they had left and found a house for them, in
what appeared to be the middle of nowhere in a place called Montana.

Randor had
assured Scaden the place was so remote and the people so friendly, that they
wouldn’t care they were strangers and would be open to them staying there in
the old ranch house.

He and Cari
had been in this part of America before and had really enjoyed it. He had
easily convinced Scaden it would be a good place to raise his family. And being
halfway across the country from where Balduen and Niklosi were still trying to
track Jess, he had figured the council wouldn’t look for them there.

He was
grateful that Randor had come with them. Since Cari was still comatose, he
really needed someone to help him figure out how to navigate this new world.
And to help him protect Cari and his children while he learned.

He had
already learned lot about how Randor had provided money for him and Cari to
travel the world without having to find work. Apparently, the coins and items
he had saved from when he had first arrived on the planet were worth a lot of
money to what he called collectors.

Before they
had invented the computers used worldwide, he had sold pieces here and there in
the towns they had traveled to and used the cash to support them.

Now that
there was an Internet and most things were done by credit card, he would sell
things online and transfer the money to pre-paid debit cards that would act as
credit cards when they needed to make reservations for places to stay. It was a
very confusing way of commerce, and nothing like how things worked on his
planet, but he was learning. He would learn and do anything he had to do in
order to keep her and his children safe. Randor brought him out of his
thoughts.

“We should
be able to stay here for a long time, as long as we don’t have to deal with the
Relians. I think after what happened when we got Cari back, and killing Vikan,
will make them think twice about searching for more of us. Especially if they
know there are two of us.”

“And this
place is very remote. The townspeople will consider us their own within a few
weeks and will let us know immediately if strangers show up. Especially
strangers who may ask about us. And the more money we spend in town, helping
their businesses the more they will be willing to assist us when we need it. .”

“I was
thinking that we could do ranching. Since it is a lonely sort of profession, it
wouldn’t be suspicious if we kept to ourselves and spent the majority of our
time here at the house. The townspeople will expect it of us since we bought so
much property. Anything else would be very suspect.” Randor had already thought
long and hard over this while Scaden and Cari were locked in their quarters on
the ship. It was the perfect solution for them.

“Randor, I
can’t thank you enough for what you’re doing for us. Giving up your family
again couldn’t have been easy for you, and for that I am so sorry.” Scaden
couldn’t help but notice the sadness that seemed to be riding below the surface
of the man and knew the decision he had made to help them had been difficult.

“She’s my
daughter, she is my family. And my great-daughters are my family as well… and
now you. If my father and the council can’t comprehend that things are no
longer the same as they were in the past, then they’ve given us no choice but
to do things this way. I still hope that they will realize their mistake once
Amun and Gracus show them the vids of Cari and the babies. But if they don’t,
then I plan on staying here with you and them for the remainder of my life.”
Scaden could actually feel the heart-felt words that Randor had spoken.
Reaching across the table, he squeezed his hand in support.

“I am
honored to have you here with me. There’s no way I could navigate this place
without you. And I can’t think of a better person to be at my side helping me
to protect my family.”

Scaden was
dead serious too. Not only had Randor found this place, but he had obtained
fraudulent identification and introduced him around the townspeople as his
brother ' and he was now ' It wasn’t a bad name, and he could get used to be
called Scott if it meant his family was together and safe.

He owed the
man across from him so much, and he intended to learn everything he could from
him, so he could shoulder as much responsibility as Randor was in order to
protect his family.

*****

Cari
couldn’t figure out why people had such a hard time telling twins apart. It
hadn’t taken more than a few hours in their presence, and she could already
tell the girls apart. Besides the obvious beauty mark at the corner of her
right eye, Tessa was also much more outspoken than her sister. She threw
herself into the moment and pulled as much enjoyment out of everything that she
could.

Amia, on
the other hand, was much quieter and more thoughtful. She paid attention to
everything around her, learning all she could. And she chose her words
carefully. She was also very affectionate and loved to touch.

They were
together at the house on Scaden’s world now for about a week. They had played
games and chased each other through the woods. Cari had even built a small fire
for them at the lake a few nights and told them stories. Not scary ones of
course, she knew they were far too little for that and didn’t want to frighten
them. She told them fanciful fairy tales she had learned on Earth that she
embellished upon.

Other than
missing Scaden, this whole time with the girls was perfect. She had begun to
love the girls and truly wished she could keep them.

“Ready or
not here I come!”

She closed
her eyes and turned in a small circle, concentrating hard on opening her
senses. Immediately, she felt Amia’s curiosity at something she was looking at.
Following the imprint of Amia’s emotions, she saw a glimpse of her behind a
tree and moved quietly behind her, curious herself at what had the child
fascinated.

“Boo!”

Amia
squealed and threw her arms around her. Cari held the little-girl close,
enjoying the feel of her in her arms.

“What is it
Cari?” Amia asked pointing at something behind Cari’s back.

Cari turned
slowly with Amia still in her arms looking for what held her attention. There
was what looked like a small black house cat not far from where they stood, and
it appeared to be watching them curiously.

Not sensing
any hostility from the animal, Cari didn’t panic and just looked at the
creature. It was a little taller, and broader than a house cat, with dark black
eyes that were much larger than on a normal animal on Earth for its body size,
and a thick soft looking pelt of black fur. It reminded Cari of a small black
panther from Earth.

Cari heard
Tessa walking quietly up behind them, the game of hide and seek forgotten as
Tessa’s curiosity over what Amia and Cari had found took over her.

“He doesn’t
want to harm us. He’s just as curious about us as we are about him.” Amia said,
stepping away from Cari and closer to the strange animal.

“He’s
wondering how we can feel him the way he can feel us. He has the same kind of
gift we do.” Tessa added, stepping up next to her sister and closer to the animal.

Cari could
feel the animal’s curiosity, but nothing like what the girls were feeling.

“How do you
know that girls?” Cari was now just as curious about what the girls called
their gift as she was about the animal.

“Here, feel
it.” Tessa and Amia each took one of her hands. Within moments, she could feel
what they were talking about. The animal was even more curious now that the
girls had helped Cari to understand it too.

All three
of them could hear clearly that he wondered what their funny-looking skin felt
like, and how they could be warm without fur.

The girls
giggled, and they spent the next few hours learning that he was what the
Valendrans called a Sibiox and very much like a black panther on Earth. He was
able to tell them his name was Giblounian, which was far too difficult for the
girls to say, and he readily agreed with Cari’s suggestion that they call him
Gibly.

When he
asked why they were there but yet not there, Valendran yet not Valendran and
had abilities no Valendran had, the girls became agitated.

“It’s
getting late Cari; we should probably get back to the house now.” Tessa said
quickly.

“I’m
getting hungry, can we make dinner please?” Amia asked.

Cari was
very curious why they had been so excited moments ago, but now were trying very
hard to get away quickly. What had Gibly said that had made them so upset and
try so hard to hide it?

Using the
connection the girls had helped her to forge with the animal, Cari asked Gibly
what he had meant about them being there, yet not there. The question visibly
upset the girls and both began to shake slightly as if afraid of something.
What the hell was going on?

Gibly
responded by explaining that even though they could touch, taste and feel, they
were not truly on the planet. That their minds had somehow traveled them there,
but their bodies were elsewhere. He was truly fascinated as he had never known
anyone who could do that. Even the leader of their pack didn’t have that
ability. He wanted them to show him how they had done it.

Cari felt
the fear and shock coming from the girls and knew that something or everything
he had said was true, and they knew about it and had been hiding it from her.
What could it mean? Where was her body if not truly here? Is that where Scaden
was too? Were the girls keeping her from Scaden? Is that why they had shown up
after Scaden disappeared? Did they take him away from her?

She began
backing away from the girls, her mind whirling with the possibilities of what
was happening and what part the girls might have played in where Scaden was.
Not sure if it was the girls fear she felt or her own; she turned and ran to
the house. There were no locks on the doors, and she had no way to keep the
girls out.

What had
she been thinking? What parents in their right mind allowed their little girls
to spend a week alone with a complete stranger? She should have known something
was wrong! She used one of the chairs to bar the front door, knowing there was
no way the girls could push it open; they weren’t strong enough. Maybe they
weren’t little girls… perhaps they were shape shifted Relians, and she was
actually still being held captive by Vikan?

“No, we
aren’t anyone evil, and we would never hurt you… or Scaden. I swear.”

Cari turned
around at Tessa’s words and stared as she and Amia stood just inside the back
door. Ugh she was such an idiot!

“Please
Cari, let us explain. We didn’t mean to scare you, and we would never hurt you.
We just wanted to spend some time with you. At first, we did it because the
pain you and Scaden were feeling at being apart was more than we could bear.”
Amia said stepping forward just a little, stopping when Cari had backed up
again.