Chapter Seven
If Zon hadn't assured her that they were miles underground and that the planet had a natural radiation that was harmless to organic organisms but made scanning difficult, Lisa would never have felt safe enough to fall apart the way she did. Even though she had had no idea about how she would get back to Earth, she had clung to the belief that she would, somehow, return. Now she knew that wasn't going to happen, and she curled up in bed, crying.
Zon sat beside her, stroking her hair silently, letting her grieve her planet, her family, her life. She occasionally wondered if he had ever been planning to take her back, but never asked. It didn't matter now.
"Senett is my home planet," he told her at one point. She didn’t know how long it had been since they had retreated to the cave. "The T'Shav home planet was destroyed hundreds of years ago. An asteroid collided with the moon, sending it off course. Only a tenth of the population was evacuated. The survivors had to take whatever work they could to survive or turn to piracy. It's why we have a reputation as being mercenaries. Because that's what my ancestors did to survive."
"Those people who took me said that you were a warlord."
"I command a fleet. A dozen fine warships, an army of strong soldiers."
Lisa rolled over and stared at him in surprise. "Then why are we here, alone?"
"Revenge is something one does on his own."
"You also die on your own," Lisa muttered. She wiped the remnants of tears from her face. "So… you are a warlord. A criminal."
Zon's brow rose. "Criminal? No, I make sure all of my services are legal. I might have criminals in my fleet, but our services are contracted by oppressed people to fight wars they can't fight themselves. I suppose I do police a rather large area. There are plenty of corporations and governments that want me dead because of it, but I also have a lot of allies, and the United Species is on my side. Most times at least."
"And here I am, just a scientist," Lisa said.
"A beautiful, intelligent scientist," Zon amended.
"Beautiful. Big boobs and big butt." Lisa ran a hand over her voluptuous curves. Too big, at least according to her last boyfriend. "I know a lot of my coworkers think–thought–that I only got the position and grants I got because I'm beautiful. And they were probably right, to a degree. There was a high premium on beauty in my culture."
"Did beauty matter more than skills?"
Lisa thought a moment and shrugged. "In a way, I guess. I mean, actors and actresses were always beautiful, and they got paid ridiculous amounts of money, especially compared to how much people like nurses and teachers were paid. You'd think people responsible for health and teaching the future generations would be worth more… maybe that's why our society collapsed."
Zon held her tightly and kissed her forehead. "When we get back to my fleet, I will make sure you have all the research facilities you want. Your science might be a little behind ours, but you're very intelligent, and I'm sure that you will be able to absorb it quickly."
Sighing, Lisa buried herself deeper into his arms. The science here was so beyond what she knew. Teleporters. Universal DNA. Cars that could reflect landscape but not living beings. It was going to take her a lifetime to figure it all out.
At least I have a lifetime to devote to it now.
The thought didn't really cheer her up, but with Zon's arms around her, she did feel a little better. "Did you contact your fleet?"
"Yes. They should reach Senett soon. A few more days at most. We'll be away soon enough. Before you know it, we will be flying through the stars. I can't wait to show you nebulas and supernovas."
"That sounds good. Nebulas and supernovas…" She raised her face to his, brushing her lips against his. It seemed like sex was the only thing powerful enough to distract her from the shambles her life was in. "In the meantime, can you show me stars?"
***
The next morning (at least, she thought it was morning), Lisa threw herself out of bed, grabbing the nearest container. Her stomach emptied into it, leaving her weak and shaking when she was finally done. It had been happening ever since Zon had rescued her from the traders, and like every other time he held her hair back from her face and rubbed her back soothingly until she was done vomiting.
"I don't like this," he said. "I understand that stress may have been responsible for the first few times, but it's been long enough, you should have recovered by now."
Lisa moaned, wiping her mouth. "Maybe it's the food. Maybe my system just can't handle it."
"You were fine before." Zon carried her back to the bed and took care of the vomit, all the while shaking his head and muttering. "I want to do a medical scan. There is a risk that it will cut through the radiation and alert them to where we are, but you're having difficulty keeping anything down. We need to find out what's wrong."
As always, the nausea faded rapidly after she had thrown up, and Lisa wrapped her arms around herself. "Shouldn't we wait until your ship gets here?"
"If they did something to you, or if the teleportation did, then we need to know now, so we can start to combat it. Space travel can be very dangerous for those who are sick. The ship has to generate tachyon particles, which infuse in both organic and non-organic matter, and some people have an adverse reaction to the saturation."
Tachyons. Lisa shook her head. Another thing that had been argued to be theoretically possible, but actually impossible as far as the science of her day was concerned. She was going to have to read up on that when she had the chance. In the meantime, she lay down on her back while Zon pulled out the medical scanner. It looked very similar to something you'd find on Star Trek, a wand wirelessly connected to a cellphone-sized tablet that showed the results. The technology that was hidden in this hidey-hole was obsolete by Zon’s standards, though, and the scan emitted its own type of radiation that could be easily picked up from space.
Lisa only hoped her kidnappers weren't looking for an odd source of radiation.
Zon passed the wand over her, and a little beep from the tablet indicated that it was working. His frown increased once he was done, and he tapped a few times on the tablet screen.
"What is it?" Lisa sat up again, peering over the top of his hand. The squiggly lines intersected with spiky symbols meant nothing to her. Either she was going to have to learn to read the other languages, or she was going to have to get an update on her translation chip, so it would translate written words as well as spoken.
Zon shook his head. "A parasite."
"Parasite?"
"The equipment is reading a lifeform attached to your uterine wall." He cursed softly. "I knew that I should have given you clothes sooner. Something has climbed up into you and attached itself there. It's feeding off you and changing your hormone production."
The moment he said 'uterine wall', Lisa's heart stopped. She hadn't even thought about her menstrual cycle since she woke up here, but… "How long have we been here?"
"Ten standard weeks."
That meant nothing to her. She had no point of reference to compare it to. Taking a deep breath, she plunged ahead. "All the species share DNA, right? Is interbreeding possible? Do they all have similar gestation periods?"
Silence answered her. Zon stared at her wide-eyed. She stared back, the possibility hanging between them like a physical barrier. Shaking himself, her alien warlord turned back to the tablet, punching in a few more commands. She didn't miss the way his skin paled when he received his answer. He stared at the tablet for a moment then stood straighter.
"The average species' pregnancies takes seventy-two standard weeks. It appears that you are pregnant. Eight standard weeks."
Pregnant. Lisa thought she might vomit again.