Knaleg: A Terraneu Novel (Book 3) (4 page)

After a restless night of sleep Knaleg had returned
to Catherine’s quarters to release her for the sunlight she was going need. He
was still trying to figure out his reaction to the tiny female. He didn’t want
to believe she had shot Kneus on purpose. When she had tried to touch his hand
while seated on the bench he had pulled away without thinking. Pain had flashed
in her expression for a moment, and he wondered at that as well. Why would she
care what he thought of her?

Upon arriving at her quarters he knocked out of common courtesy then
proceeded to let himself in.

“Hello. Please do not be alarmed. I am here to take you for your morning
sunlight.” Knaleg called out.

“I’ll be right there.” The tiny female yelled back, then she walked
through the curtain, still fastening the top of her dress. Her arms were pale
but the muscles were nicely defined. Her chest wasn’t overly large but they
were in a generous proportion to her frame. He knew for a certainty that her
legs were not long, so why did they look so long in the dress? How short was
she wearing it?! Why was he noticing?

She had stopped in front of him so he gruffly snapped to cover his
hesitation, “We can go anywhere you would like. Is there anything you require?”

Not even pausing at his rough tone she stated, “Yes. I would like some
workout clothes. Something I can exercise in.” She waited for him to open the
door then followed him, “Also, I need a hair cut. I am not used to having it this
long.”

“I can take you to both of those domes. Which would you prefer going to
first?” Knaleg asked.

“The hair cut I think.” She answered making her stride faster to match
his.

Knaleg thought it would be a shame for the female to cut her hair short
but figured it was her preference. When they arrived at the dome where the
female Lacey did hairstyles, she wasn’t busy so took Catherine inside right
away. Knaleg followed to stand guard, which had the female giving him strange
looks.

“My name is Lacey. I am the hair stylist here, what kind of cut were you
thinking you would like?”

“I am Catherine it’s nice to meet you.” She paused for a second then
said, “I would like something layered around my face. Chin to shoulder length
should look nice.”

Knaleg just stood back and watched as the females chatted. Black hair was
hitting the floor in huge clumps and he wandered to watch outside the doors.
Since industrial domes usually kept their doors open during business or working
hours he could watch the other members of the community come and go. He
absently listened to the women talking.

“You know it is going to show major growth in a few weeks or so right?”
Lacey asked Catherine.

“That fast?!” The tiny female laughed, and he stiffened as the sound
floated along his nerves.

“Yes. The average time from a cut to grow back to full length is about
two to three months. You can play with color and styles as much as you want. We
have some interesting hair dye we have processed from the local plants.” Lacey
pointed to the different colored lengths of her own hair.

“Thanks for the tips. I will keep that in mind. I always wanted to try a
nice purple, but always felt I was too old to carry it off back on Earth.”

After about an hour of waiting he heard, “There you go all done.”

He spun around, “The clothing dome is…” what he was going to say next was
suddenly lost on him. Catherine had the largest blue eyes he had ever seen!
“That is to say…” he tried again. She was standing there waiting for him to say
something, and he couldn’t remember what.

“The clothing dome is…” she prompted him.

“Yes. The clothing dome.” He realized how ridiculous he was acting, “We
can find some exercise clothes for you there.”

“Okay. Thanks.” She turned back to the hair stylist and thanked her too.
“How do I pay you?”

“We don’t use any kind of money here. Anything you want or need is
provided. We do the things we enjoy, just for the pleasure of doing it.” Lacey
shrugged.

With a final thank you and good-bye they were leaving for the fabricating
dome.

As they walked to their next destination Knaleg couldn’t help it. He
found himself saying, “That style of hair looks good on you.” He silently
cursed at his need to flatter her. She wasn’t the female for him, he argued
silently with himself. For one thing she was potentially dangerous. For another
she was tiny in stature. He had figured he would end up with a female that
matched him in height. He didn’t want to constantly worry that his mate was
intimidated by his size. Not that he wouldn’t shrink down once he stopped
training so hard, he just wasn’t sure that he was going to slow down. He
enjoyed his training sessions and treks into the wilds of Terraneu. He didn’t
want or need some fragile female who would complain when he left, or worse
demand to be taken along!

“Thank you.” She sounded pleased at the compliment. He just hurried his
pace, the faster they got her some clothing, the better for his peace of mind.

“Here we are. They have a small variety of clothing from Earth that you
might be interested in. There is also the dress you are wearing it can be any
color you wish.” Knaleg waved her into the building, “They will be happy to
help you. I see someone I need to speak with. I will be right over there.”
Knaleg moved to talk with Fortem, a guard in the military or as the females
called it, “police force”.

Fortem was a good friend to his brother’s mate Mairi, and had found a
mate himself. It seemed everyone around him was either part of a couple or
mated. He was beginning to wonder if a mate was in his future. He had gotten to
know a few of the females, but nobody held his interest. None of them had
broken through the genetic block. The ability to have a physical relationship
hinged on a female putting off a strong enough sexual pheromone. He had not
found that female yet, but he was determined to keep looking.

When he finished with his conversation with Fortem, he spun back around
to return to the fabricating dome. Catherine had been standing behind him and
slightly to the side waiting for him. She jumped out of the way and he missed
plowing over her by a few inches. He looked down to apologize, the words stuck
on his lips. What was she wearing? The top looked like something he had seen
the others wear in Yoga but never like that! Half of her stomach was showing! Also,
were those male pants? The males may wear the pants low on the hips, but he had
never recalled seeing any of the females wear them that low! His eyes must be
bugging out of his face, and the other males around the domes were noticing her
too! Had other females worn the black pants favored by the males? He hadn’t
noticed before, but to his mind females should not be allowed to wear them like
that! He knew the thoughts in his brain were rambling around, she had just
stunned him so badly with that outfit!

She smiled cheerfully at Fortem, who smiled in return. She held out her
hand to the other male, “I am Catherine…”

“The female who shot Kneus…” he hadn’t meant to blurt it out like that.
He would blame it on the shock of her wearing men’s pants, and the fact that
they looked painted on her
.
It also did not help that you could see all
of her toned stomach!

Her smile died and he felt a small part of him
shrink away from the fact that he had taken the happiness from her. The look
Fortem gave him only made him feel worse. So he snapped at the male
telepathically,
“Don’t look at me like that…she is the one that shot Kneus.”

”Yes, I am the one that came through the portal with
Kneus.” Catherine whispered, clearly deflated.

Fortem snapped back in mind,
“I heard it was an
accident. Mairi said that she explained what happened and the council decided
to wait for Kneus to awaken to make a decision about her!”

Aloud Fortem told the female, “I am friends with
Mairi, and she explained that it was an accident. The council is fair to wait
for Kneus to awaken to make a decision.” Fortem shook her hand, “It is nice to
meet you Catherine.”

”She is still to be guarded until then. Don’t you
have a mate to go bother or something?” Knaleg shot back.

“It is nice to meet you too.” Catherine regained her
smile for Fortem.

“He already has a mate!” Knaleg barked out.

Both Fortem and Catherine gaped at him, their mouths
open.

“What is the matter with you?!” Fortem snapped
back in mind.

”Are females not allowed to talk to a mated male?”
Catherine snapped out loud.

Knaleg could only shrug. “Females may talk to a
mated male, I was just letting you know that he already has a mate. In case you
were thinking he was available.” Before she could argue with him he grabbed
Catherine by the hand and started pulling her along. He wasn’t happy with the
way the males were staring at her. He wanted them to stop because in his
opinion they were being very disrespectful. He would not consider there was any
other reason for his irrational behavior.

“I know you think I’m some kind of criminal…”
Catherine was running to keep up with him.

“I do not think you are a criminal.” Knaleg stated.

Catherine stopped and he had to stop with her when
she pulled her hand free. “You don’t?”

“No. I believe that Kneus can confirm your story,
but until then we have to err on the side of caution. When you stated what
happened on the port pad I listened to what you said.” He glanced down at her,
“You didn’t make excuses for what happened, only stated facts. It is something
a male of Terraneu would do. I respect that...” Knaleg stopped talking then and
got a horrified look on his face.

 
“Oh…No!” He
choked out. Without another word he swung the tiny female over his shoulder and
started running.

When she had accused Knaleg of thinking she was a
criminal it had warmed her heart a little when he said that he didn’t. He
believed his brother would confirm that she had not shot him on purpose. Which
left the way he was acting, under normal circumstance she would think he was
jealous. This situation on Terraneu wasn’t normal though, so she didn’t know
what to think. She had seen the other males staring at her with interest, and
she had noticed Knaleg noticing! She was about to ask him when he had stopped
short, then grabbed her up and started running.

“What are you doing? Have you lost your mind!?” She
yelled as she bounced along.

“There is something wrong with Amber!” He yelled,
clearly panicked.

“How could you possibly know that?” Catherine yelled
back.

“Because the males of Terraneu can speak
telepathically. I just got the message that they are rushing her to the medical
unit in New Haven. Something is terribly wrong!”

Knaleg was beginning to pant from exertion and fear.
She supposed it was a good thing that they finally reached their destination.
When he dropped her to her feet she noticed a growing crowd of males rushing to
the same medical dome. Then she looked toward the doorway and stopped short
pulling her hand out of Knaleg’s.

“What in the hell are those things?” Catherine had
unconsciously taken a fighting stance. Her hands fisted up like a boxer, ready
to defend herself. Knaleg had stopped and looked at the doorway. Cebat and
Tabec were prowling in front of the door, trying to get inside, yowling and
growling their displeasure.

“Amber called them ‘saber-toothed cat-dogs’ when she
first got here. They are her pet sacaths. I will explain more
later…Cebat…Tabec…get back!” Knaleg pushed his way past the two gigantic “pets”
and pulled Catherine along.

Once inside Catherine was immediately aware the
situation was dire. Amber was on a medical table with Mairi performing CPR. She
was pale with a slight blue gray tinge and unresponsive.

“Hurry, Gwen…”

“I am working as fast as I can Mairi!” Gwen was
performing what Catherine believed was an emergency cesarean.

“What happened?” Knaleg gasped out.

“I don’t know! Amber was on bed rest so we were in
our bedroom. She had complained of being tired, but that was nothing unusual.
One minute we were talking and laughing and the next thing I knew she had lost
consciousness.” Kniam was beside himself with panic. “Gwen do something!” He
ran his hands through his hair pulling at the strands in frustration.

“Can’t you use the medical unit to deliver babies?”
Catherine was stunned at what she was seeing.

“We can’t be sure the medical unit wouldn’t see the
babies as a foreign object to be destroyed.” Knaleg gasped out clearly
horrified by what was happening. “We have been trying to work on the systems,
but Kneus was our expert on the medical units.”

At this point Gwen had delivered one of the babies
and gently placed it in the bassinet. “Apgar is zero. I’m sorry Kniam. Mairi
was the only one trained to help me. I don’t have anyone else…” her indecision
on what to do next was obvious. If she helped the baby in the bassinet, what
would happen to the other two? “I don’t know…”

Catherine had heard enough. She started toward the
bassinet. There was this one situation in an African village that might come in
handy at this moment. Kniam saw her advancing and went to stop her. She figured
he would be better off sleeping through the rest of this. She used his momentum
to block the arm reaching for her, swung her hand up and with two fingers and a
quick thrust to the side of his neck he was out like a light. She thought it’s
a good thing they hadn’t changed that little genetic “off” switch.

Before Knollig or Knaleg could stop her she yelled,
“Stay out of it! You don’t know what you’re doing and I am trying to help!”

She had reached the bassinet and saw some basic
tools. She found the suction bulb and quickly suctioned out the female babies
airway. She held her upside down, then rubbed her back and gently patted to
force the fluid from her lungs. Using the suction bulb again and when that
didn’t improve her color she began to blow puffs of air into her lungs. She
felt for a pulse, and not finding one she initiated infant CPR. She knew that
an oxygen machine or an ambu bag would be better, but she didn’t see either
sitting around.

“Are you making any progress on the other two?”
Catherine asked between puffs. “I could use your expertise over here.”

“I’m working on it.” Gwen snapped back, obviously
stressed. “Knollig take your nephew and place him into bassinet number two. Let
Catherine use the bulb on him. Mairi how are you holding out?”

“I’m getting a little tired but I will keep going as
long as I have to!” Mairi gasped out. “Just please hurry…I am not getting any
response and I don’t know how long she has been out now.”

“I’m getting some color on the female.” Catherine
hurried to clean out the male’s mouth and airway. When he let out a great
bellow she figured he was okay for now. “Knollig, use that material in the
bassinet to clean him off, then wrap him in that blanket.” She then quickly
returned to the female. Going over the same steps as before, using the bulb to
clear out any amniotic fluid and gently patting and rubbing her back. Hoping
for some sign of improvement.

There was some groaning on the ground, indicating
that Kniam was coming around.

“Knaleg keep Kniam off Catherine!” Gwen yelled over
her shoulder. “Knollig, take your second nephew to bassinet number three.”

Catherine moved to clean out the second male’s mouth
and airway with the bulb. Knollig didn’t have to be told to clean and wrap the
second male. She turned back to the female baby. She still hadn’t cried, but
she was showing better color.

“We have to move Amber to a medical unit…Knollig
help!” Mairi didn’t have to be told to move, she jumped out of the way as
Knollig reached for Amber. Gwen and Mairi helped to carry her to the medical
unit. Just as they closed her in they heard a commotion behind them.

“Knaleg…let…me…go!” Kniam was frantically trying to
get up off the floor. Knaleg was using some kind of headlock to keep him on his
stomach on the ground.

“No. Not until you get a hold of yourself.” Knaleg
grunted with the exertion of holding his brother down.

“Kniam…Amber is in the medical unit. Try to calm
yourself!” Gwen rushed over to the babies in the bassinets. She did a check on
each baby then told Kniam, “When you have composed yourself, your sons will
want to meet their father.”
  

“What about my daughter?” Kniam’s voice cracked
either due to the fact that Knaleg had his full, and not unsubstantial weight
holding him down or his emotional state. Catherine had a feeling it was the
latter.

“Thanks to Catherine I think we will have three
babies to celebrate.” Gwen stated. To accentuate the good news there was a
third cry added to the two hearty cries already echoing around the room. Though
decidedly weaker, the female had finally shown some sign of life.

Knaleg must have felt it was safe to let his brother
off the floor, because Kniam was suddenly rushing toward the bassinets.
Catherine backed away, so he could reach the female she had been working on.

When she hit what felt like the wall she stopped.
Then she realized it was Knaleg when he put his hand on her arm.

“My brother will thank-you when he regains his
composure.” Knaleg whispered softly, “I want to give you my thanks now. You
saved my niece and helped my nephews.” His voice had broken toward the end and
Catherine just smiled weakly at him.

“Go meet your new family members, and be there for
your brother.” She gestured. “I’ll stay here until someone can escort me back
to my quarters.”

“We need to talk. I will walk you back.” Knaleg
spoke quickly as he hurried toward the bassinets. Mairi, Knollig, Kniam, Gwen
and Knaleg surrounded the babies. Gwen was showing Kniam how to hold his
daughter. It was a decidedly loving moment seeing the huge man tenderly holding
the baby. The other two males were touching the babies in the bassinet with
awed looks on their faces. Mairi then handed Knollig one of the male babies and
Knaleg was holding the other. Each of the grown males had tiny fingers wrapped
around a single digit of their own. Catherine figured that was prophetic
symbolism if she had ever seen it! These men were going to be wrapped around
those children’s fingers!

To regain her equanimity Catherine looked around the
medical dome they were in. Her eyes strayed to the unit that held Amber and she
wondered at the new mother’s status. She had looked so pale and had lost so
much blood. She knew the longer she had remained unconscious the worse her
prognosis. Then again they did have some incredible medical capabilities. She
just hoped it was going to be enough.