Sister Katherine (7 page)

The Dramok noted the minute tremble that shivered Katherine’s frame.  Yet her expression was resolute.  Simdow was impressed that one this tiny could be so brave.

She spoke.  Her voice was high and light with an undertone of huskiness. It was also remarkably steady given the terror she must be feeling.  “I am Sister Katherine, Kalquorian.  What guarantee can you offer that the rest of these women will not be harmed?”

Simdow’s heart stuttered to have her large blue eyes gazing on his face.  To hear her words directed at him.  He bowed deeply to her and saw from the corners of his eyes his clanmates do the same.  “None of the members of the colony are in danger of physical harm from us, Matara.  Any man who endangers an Earther female’s life will answer to me and my Nobek clanmate.”

Katherine’s gaze flickered to Miv for an instant.  Simdow was well aware of how imposing his warrior clanmate was, as well as how protective of women.  While Katherine could not know the depth of Miv’s determination to keep females safe, she obviously discerned that part of his character.  She nodded and started forward.

Hands of the other women clutched at her as she walked through their number.  There were sobs and calls of “God keep you,” “be careful,” and “may the prophets walk with you.”

Simdow watched the ethereal creature move towards him.  Her huge garment billowed over her, hiding her body.  Her foaming hair was a curled flood around her pale face. 

Was this really his clan’s lifebringer?  Was he truly so fortunate?

She at last stood before him, looking up to search his face.  She even sounded angry with him, as if chastising a child rather than a man who loomed tall above her.  “One of the women was taken from here, First Officer.  Three of your men took her away.  Where is she?”

Simdow answered her truthfully.  “The young woman you speak of was clanned, Matara.  Female prisoners of war are subject to being made part of our family groups.”

Her lush lips thinned in anger, but her eyes blinked hard, as if to keep tears back.  “Those men took her away to rape her then?  Is that what you’re telling me?”

Simdow’s heart lurched, and it took a lot of control to hold Katherine’s gaze and not check on Miv.  “Rape?  Matara, we will do all in our power to make the mating as pleasurable as possible—” 

The Earther would not be deterred.  “But it is rape.  You capture us and expect us to have your children.  You want to breed, so you are making us slaves for that purpose.”

Simdow did jerk away from that accusing glare to exchange horrified stares with Vadef and Miv.  His Nobek actually seemed to have shrunken into himself, something the proud warrior never did.

How was he supposed to answer Katherine’s accusations?  Especially when from her viewpoint, she was absolutely correct?  She was being forced to join a clan for the purposes of breeding.  It didn’t matter to her that the Kalquorians worshipped their lifebringers, and that their clans revolved around the care and happiness of Mataras.  She and the others were being taken against their will, to be coerced into bringing a new generation to the nearly extinct Empire.

Like most Kalquorian men, Simdow wanted a lifelong female mate to serve.  Yet, this was definitely not how he wanted to gain the fourth member of his clan.  How could he make Katherine understand the depth of devotion his clan was ready to show her?  That if they were compatible, she would be their heart and soul?

Sounding uncertain to his own ears, Simdow told her, “It is – perhaps it is more complicated than you think.  It is not as ugly as that.”

Her eyes narrowed.  “I am your captive, correct?”

His answer ground out between his teeth.  “Yes.”

“I will be expected to join a Kalquorian clan and give them children.  I am given no choice in the matter.  Do I have the facts right on that?”

Damn it, she wasn’t going to let this go.  “In a matter of speaking, but to call it rape—”

Her eyes suddenly widened, and she interrupted him.  “Are you the ones I will have to be with?  Are you my owners?”

Simdow shook his head violently.  “Not owners.  Your clan.  We would be your clan.”

“And these other women will be forced to join clans as well?”

Simdow drew a deep breath.  No matter how he put it, there was no getting around the facts.  “Yes.  They will join clans.”

“What about the children?”  Katherine shot a glance at Miv, who stared furiously at the floor between them.  “He says the little girls will be spared.”

Simdow jerked.  She thought his people would harm younglings?  The thought made him ill.  “Of course they will be left alone.  All females under Earther legal age for marriage, and thus sexual relations, are to be left here unharmed and untouched.”  He stared at her.  “The thought of clanning children is abhorrent, Matara.  We ourselves do not clan until the age of 25, unless we have gained parental permission to do so at a younger age.”

She blinked at him, as if surprised.  Her stern expression eased just a touch.  In a softer tone than she’d used before, Katherine told him, “I want to see them.  I want to see my little ones.”

Simdow hesitated.  He wasn’t sure he should allow it.

Katherine stepped closer to him.  All the coldness in her face fled, and her big blue eyes beseeched him.  The look on her face threatened to unhinge his knees.  No one had ever given him such a pleading, heartbreaking look.

He was shocked anew when her tiny hands wrapped around his.  She was touching him.  She stood close enough for him to feel her warmth.  To smell the sweet, clean scent of her.  Simdow stared, his mind washed clean of everything but the lovely face peering up at him.

Her voice implored him, filling his ears with entreaty.  “I need to see them, First Officer.  I need to know my girls are all right.  Please. They are like my own children to me.”  Her voice caught on the next statement she uttered.  “I’ll submit to whatever you want, but let me see my girls.”

Simdow’s chest throbbed at her desperate concern.  Her devotion to the younglings was as obvious as if he’d felt it himself.  He wondered, if he settled her nerves over the welfare of the little ones would she look upon him and his clan with less dislike?  Would letting her see the girls show how he placed her in the highest of regard?

It was an opportunity he didn’t dare pass up.  “We will take you to visit the young ones.”

Katherine’s eyes closed with relief.  Her hands tightened on his for a moment before releasing their tender grip.  “Thank you.”

Before he could respond, she turned back to the other women who waited and watched in silent fear.  She told them, “I am going with these men to visit the younger aspirants.  Be brave, all of you.  Remember, no matter what happens, you are in the care of God.  Keep praying that he sees fit to deliver us all.”

There were murmurs of tearful support.  Simdow saw how the women looked to Katherine, the hope she put on their faces.  He suddenly felt terrible for their fates.  He knew the clans on his ship were made up of good men.  For the rest of the women not claimed by them, only those clans passing rigorous standards back on Kalquor would be allowed to claim them.  Still, it had to be frightening for these women to be made mates to men they didn’t know.  Simdow sent a silent plea to the ancestors that the clans receiving these women would be patient and kind.

After a few encouraging words, Katherine gave Simdow her attention once more.  “All right.  I am ready to go with you to see the children.”

Simdow nodded.  He cupped her elbow in his palm, not knowing if she would allow him such familiarity.  When Katherine didn’t pull away, he nearly sighed in relief.  Vadef walked on the other side of her, and Miv followed close behind them.  They left the room with the greatest hope a clan could imagine; in the company of a potential Matara. 

Simdow watched the beautiful Earther move at his side with poise and grace despite the terror she no doubt felt.  While all women were special, he had no doubt this was the best of them all.  A woman others looked to.  A woman who put others ahead of her own welfare.  Who faced the unknown without hesitation. 

Simdow suddenly worried he might not be Dramok enough for such a female.  How could he hope to win the heart of one such as her?  His mind scrambled for a way to impress this woman with the ultimate kindness of his intentions.

Chapter 4

The men took Katherine to the chapel.  The building was like all the rest on the colony, a simple box-like white structure but for the steeple at the top.  Inside, it wasn’t quite as utilitarian as the other convent buildings with its stained-glass illuminated inserts that mimicked windows.  The soothing scent of incense, burned at many a service, washed over Katherine as the door opened to admit her.

The softly lit environs were hushed until Katherine entered the chapel.  She was instantly greeted with shouts from the younger girls, who dashed down the middle aisle between the blanket and pillow-covered pews.  They threw themselves at her.  The two smallest, Marci and Darci Soames clung to her fiercely, hugging and crying and laughing all at once.

“Sister Katherine!  Sister Katherine!”

Katherine knelt to wrap her arms around them, tears stinging her eyes.  They were all right.  Her girls were okay.  She buried her face in first Marci’s and then Darci’s cotton-candy foams of black hair, kissing their soft cheeks.  There was fourteen-year-old Brenda to embrace, her round face streaming with tears.  Blond Ashley kissed Katherine back almost as ardently as a lover in her relief to see her.  And more, over forty more girls, mostly teenagers, exclaiming and crying and jostling to get close.

Nine-year-old Marci refused to let any of the older aspirants push her aside.  She clung to Katherine like a burr, her thin brown arms locked about the nun’s waist in an uncompromising grip.  Katherine made no attempt to brush her youngest off, keeping one hand on the girl’s shoulder as she greeted the others, seeking to calm their fears.  They cast frightened glances at the Nobek guards.  The Kalquorian sentries stood around the perimeter of the stained glass lit panels on the walls.  The three men who had walked in with Katherine received their share of terrified glances as well.

Katherine hated to see the fear.  “It’s all right, my girls.  It’s all right,” she reassured them. 

She was aware of the elder sisters standing nearby, but for now she concentrated on the youngsters.  Sixteen-year-old Ashley was one of the more mature and capable of the aspirants, and Katherine directed her questions to her.  “Is anyone hurt?”

“We’re okay, Sister.”  The fresh-faced teen darted a glance at the Kalquorians.  “The aliens say they’ll leave soon and we’ll stay here.”

Brenda clasped her arms around her thick waist, hugging herself for comfort.  “Is that true?”

Katherine gave her a confident smile she didn’t feel.  “That’s what I’ve been told.  They don’t intend to hurt you.  They have no reason to harm young girls.”

“You know this for a fact?  You trust the words of Earth’s greatest enemy?”

Katherine started at Mother Superior’s voice.  The lined face of the eldest nun stared at her, having quietly made her way through the crowd of aspirants.  Whether by accident or design, the holy icon of the Church that hung over the chapel’s altar seemed to float over Mother Superior’s head.

The great metal cross with the Star of David at its center and crescent moon at the top gleamed in the chapel’s soft light.  It seemed to cast its reflected beams all around Mother Superior, bathing her in sacred illumination. 

Even wearing only a nightgown that billowed about her stark frame, her tangled gray hair loose to her shoulders, and eyes black-hollowed with strain, an aura of absolute command remained with Mother Superior.  Katherine dipped her head in respect before slowly rising to her feet.  Marci’s continued clinging made her ascent somewhat clumsy, but Katherine made no attempt to pry the child’s hold loose.  In fact, she clutched her tiniest closer to her side.

Katherine darted a glance at the quietly waiting Simdow, who stood with his equally silent clanmates a few feet back.  Her tone carefully nonchalant for the sake of the girls, she told Mother Superior, “They have no use for anyone who has been sequestered in the chapel.  You are all to remain at the convent.”

Mother Superior’s dark eyes narrowed.  “They have a use for you though, don’t they?  Then again, it is what you wanted, isn’t it, Sister?  To be among these alien men?  To
minister
to their needs?”

A chill raced down Katherine’s spine, and she stared at the head of the Europan convent.  The hint of a sour smile appeared on Mother Superior’s face.

“Yes, Sister Katherine.  I know all about you and your wish to tend to our enemies’ souls.  These ‘fellow creations of God’, I believe is how you put it to the Church?  But then again, God created Satan too, didn’t he?”

“We were given free will,” Katherine said weakly.  “I’d only hoped to convince the Kalquorians that they did not have to pursue the path they were on.  I wanted them to find the right way with faith and prayer.  To teach that the love of God was the better route to everlasting peace.”

Mother Superior’s stare never wavered.  Katherine felt skewered by that discerning gaze.  “I’ve been watching you and hearing how you speak of God’s love and everlasting mercy.  What of his punishment, Sister?  What of his judgment against those who sin in their hearts?  Would you have taught these alien creatures, these abominations, such things?  You’ve certainly been remiss about it where the aspirants are concerned.” 

Katherine’s body stiffened.  “Children should know they can trust God and that he cares for them.  That his love is without condition, his forgiveness theirs simply for the asking.”

“They should also know how their immortal souls lie in jeopardy for their transgressions, lessons I fear you may have forgotten to teach.”

Mother Superior grasped Brenda by the shoulder.  The aspirant, like the rest of the girls, looked from her to Katherine as if watching a tennis match.  Their eyes were wide with fear.  Mother Superior was strict but fair.  They trusted her.  Yet they trusted and loved Katherine too.  The conversation was confusing them, tugging at their loyalties.