In the slave’s galley, Max, Padr, Will, Rory, Dave, Stane, Sumi, Kaarl, Amlina, Aninya, and their son Dani met with Radhya. The slaves sat around the table while the lynxcats prowled among them, upset by the tension. Radhya stood with her back to the room, gazing out the window at the new sapling.

“I don’t like it Padr. She’s completely shut down. All I get is black. Have you felt her in the bond since Geo died?” whispered Max.

“No, but that was a terrible shock. You have to give her time and space,” Padr whispered back.

“I think you’re wrong,” cut in Will, “I think she needs to be with us now, not to cut herself off. Remember, she’s spent most of her life like that. It’s how she copes, but she needs to trust us, and she needs our help. There‘s something very dark here.”

Padr answered, “I still think she needs her space. You can’t crowd people.”

“We’re not people; we’re her bond mates. Haven’t you felt it getting weaker?” asked Max.

Padr nodded thoughtfully, “We should go tonight and ask the Chandrans.”

The other two nodded.

Radhya turned from the window, cold and distant. Even Kung and Ringha wrestling could not bring a smile to her face.

“I have to continue the plan. Geo would have wanted that,” she began. “I don’t have confidence anymore I can succeed, but at least I will die trying.”

“She’s planning suicide,” Will whispered.

“That’s why she’s shut us out,” Max retorted.

Radhya continued, “Rory, you are past fifty and most pilots retire before your age. I hate to lose you as my primary pilot, but I need a majordomo more, and other than Geo, you are the only one who keeps up with everything. Will you take over Geo’s position?”

“Milady I would be most honored. I was going to approach you about retiring after the status review because my reflexes are getting too slow.”

Radhya nodded at him. “Stane, you are primary pilot now, and I would like you to train young Dani here as co. How old are you Dani?”

“Milady, I’m thirteen almost fourteen,” he replied with his eyes wide with wonder.

“Are you willing to train as pilot?”

“Oh yes, my lady!” he responded eagerly. “I’ve always loved space, and I can’t believe I’m to train for it. It’s... it’s I just don’t know.”

Dani was grinning from ear to ear. Radhya had a small smile at his delight.

“Aninya, Kaarl any objections?”

“No milady,” murmured Kaarl.

“I thank you, milady. You’ll make Dani very, very valuable and I thank you for that,” Aninya babbled.

“Just train your new daughter to be as fine a chef as you are and both of your children will be more than common slaves. If I succeed, they will be successful freedmen in time as well.”

Aninya bowed her head to hide the tears.

“Dave, how does the security shape up?”

“Very well milady. I have successfully duplicated Lord Barone’s techniques for training, and I have five slaves in the training right now. All the other plans have been finalized.”

“Good, Kaarl, prepare all my documents for the proctors to review. Even if they don’t select Pleasant, I need them for the comps.”

“Yes milady.”

“Aninya, Amlina, if we get selected I need you to have menus prepared for me to choose from.”

“Yes milady,” the women responded.

“Sumi, is Singha due to kit soon? I can’t split myself more once Pleasant is selected, if it is.”

“She could go into labor at any hour now. I suspect Ringha will bear just at the time scheduled for the review.”

“Can you keep a close eye on them for me?”

“Of course milady,” Sumi bowed.

“Any other business?”

When there was no reply, Radhya dismissed them. She returned to the window. The selifla sent puzzlement around the bond, but from Radhya there was just blackness, only a frozen silent wall. Will rose and went to her. He put his hands on her shoulders.

“I know you loved Geo very much, but we love you, and we need you. Won’t you let us help you?”

Radhya shook him off and turned away with a weary sigh.

“You don’t understand. Geo was my father, my real father. The Great Lord Kirbyson, my supposed father, contributed only the genes that made me. I was an embarrassment to him. How many Lords have three children, two is a rarity, and three is unheard of. Geo fed my soul, made me grow, learn, and work. He made me a real person, and I owed him so much. I am nothing without him.”

Walking over Max said, “I heard him say he was proud of you. We all lose our fathers, and he was very old. He died the way he wanted to, protecting you.”

Radhya’s eyes blazed, “You don’t understand. None of you understands. I was doing this for him. It was all for Geo. You wouldn’t even be here except for him. He picked my co-conspirators for me. He picked you.”

She dashed from the room, tears streaming from her eyes. Max tried to follow, but Padr restrained him.

“Let her go. She’s in no mood to hear us.”

“But I can’t feel her anymore,” Max argued, his voice laced with sorrow.

Padr looked at him, eyes pained.

“Come on,” he said, “We’ll see the Chandrans right now.”

The three bodyguards slipped to the den and through the wall. Arming themselves with tazers, they traveled through the mountain passage to the forest. After a quiet trip, they reached the beach. A short way along, a grizzled grey alien waved to them from the woods. Reaching the Chandran, the three men were enfolded by him.

“You have great pain?” came the thought. “We felt you from a great distance. Tell me its source.”

“Geo died,” Will explained, “and Radhya has shut us out. We can’t feel her in the bond.”

The Chandran released them in its excess of horror and pulled away.

“Help us, please!” begged Max.

The alien gathered them again.

“You must restore the bond. The recreator is the nexus. Once formed it should never be broken. The recreator will die. All will sicken with great pain, but the nexus will die without the bond. Stay here.”

The father released them and vanished behind the trees as the men milled about in confusion. Shortly, the Chandran returned with two others. One was a beautiful golden color, the other a rusty brown. Gesturing for the men to return home, they followed.

Although the aliens had great difficulty climbing the hillside, they managed to keep up. At the tunnel, they bent almost double to fit through. They gazed around curiously in the den, touching and examining the furnishings.

Embracing Will, the brown communicated, “Fetch the recreator here.”

Will staggered from the den and trotted up the stairs. Radhya was not in lab one or two. Nor was she in the med lab, exercise room, storage room, or the washroom. He took a deep breath and returned to her room. He tapped on the door. When there was no answer, he opened the door and entered. He searched everywhere among the flowers and animals, but she was nowhere. He checked the dressing room and shower suits. Radhya was not there. Puzzled, Will tried to reach her through the bond. There were no feelings from Radhya, only Max and Padr patiently waiting, working to stave off waves of fear.

Will trotted downstairs checking the second floor, but she was not there. On the first floor, he surveyed the kitchen, parlor, Geo’s den, slave’s quarters, the washrooms, and the dining room which were likewise empty. Rory’s office contained only Rory.

Returning upstairs he opened Max’s door. Radhya was not there. The next room was Padr’s, and Radhya was curled in a fetal position on the floor. Will entered and shook her. She moaned.

“I don’t feel very good,” she whispered.

“It’s the bond. You’ve shut it down, and it’s making you sick,” Will replied.

He helped her up, but could barely walk. He tried to pick her up, but she refused. She tried to go to the med lab, but Will steered her down the stairs. Trembling and shaking, she stumbled several times descending. Will, half carrying her, brought her downstairs to the den.

Radhya gasped at the sight of the Chandrans. She staggered and would have fallen but for Max’s steadying hand. Will urged her to lie down on the carpet, which she did with Padr and Max on either side. Will sit at her head, half supporting her body. The Chandrans encircled them, touching them all.

“You must never close down the bond,” floated the thought. “The bond is your life and your strength. You are no longer four, but one in four bodies. You must keep your strength flowing one to the other. That way it increases and your life increases. You gain many years with the bond. Radhya, recreator, you are the nexus, open your mind and let your bond mates in. They have each other. You are alone; if you do not, you will die.”

“I can’t!” wailed Radhya.

“You must,” came the thought.

Radhya relaxed every muscle in her body, slowly, determinedly. She tried to call the electric blue light, but the dark was an impenetrable barrier. She struggled with her mind until sweat was pouring off her. She quit trying and felt herself start to sink into the black, dying.

“Radhya no. Try Radhya, come on.”

She heard the voices faintly, from a great distance.

“We’re losing her. Radhya stay with me, don’t leave me.”

“Is this what Geo felt?” she wondered.

“NO!” A loud yell penetrated to her.

“That’s what I said when Geo died,” she thought.

She managed to crack her eyes open a little. Padr’s face was next to hers, panic in his eyes, and fear in every line.

“No, fight Radhya. I love you. Let me go instead of you. I’ve only made a mess of my life. Will and Max need you. Don’t leave us alone.”

“Padr’s joined completely with the other two,” she thought wonderingly. “The original rebel is part of the group, but he’s wrong. My life is just as ruined as his ever was.”

She knew their lives depended on her. She performed the mental equivalent of a strip, laying every part of her mind bare to her companions, without the strength to help herself, yet wanting to survive. The emerald arrowed in immediately, cradling her consciousness tenderly. The gold and violet right after, pouring strength and healing into her. The evil black still threatened, rising to conquer her.

“It’s a volcano!” came the green thought.

“No,” corrected the violet, “It’s a boil, full of pus and infection.”

The three colors sharpened into a lancet, piercing the black and red throbbing cancer that threatened Radhya. The pain burst over them, an outrushing tide of pure poison. Her deepest, most painful memories invaded their minds.

Radhya was a teenager and Geo a younger, more vigorous man. He was striding back and forth in a darkly paneled room. They heard his voice.

“No! I’m not letting you go.”

Radhya replied, “I am going. You are not going to stop me.”

“Radhya, be reasonable, you don’t know the kind of men you are dealing with.”

“I know they poisoned my Grandfather. I know they want to kill me. I know I will get revenge.”

Geo continued, “It is a very bad idea, and I can’t let you go into a situation that is that obviously dangerous. Your confidence is too high compared to your skill at survival.”

“Geo, I am the master here, and you are the slave. I am going to get the information to bring these murderers down to slave status. I owe Grandpa that.”

“Your Grandfather would not want you to jeopardize yourself to get revenge for him. You know that. I can’t let you go.”

“Geo, I beat the university aristocrats, didn’t I?”

“Yes, little darlin’, you did. Nevertheless, they were men and women with at least a few morals left. You have no idea of depravity of the men you want to get involved with now. They would dearly love to torture you and kill you very, very slowly. You can’t do this.”

“I can and I will.” Radhya strode to the door.

Geo seized her by the arms. “I can’t let you do this.”

She tapped some codes into her wrist comp. Geo arched backward as a horrific scream burst from his throat. He fell to the floor in convulsions. Radhya stood looking down at him.

“I’m going,” she said.

The shame in the memory took their breath away, curdling in their guts and tensing all muscles into a painful rictus. They struggled to pull air into their starving lungs, but the memory continued.

Radhya and a young Rory were in a tiny two-man ship about to land on a small dark planet. The craft was slipping planetward with skill and stealth. Landing behind a large snow covered hill, Rory cloaked the ship.

“Stay here,” Radhya commanded. “I’ll be back as soon as I gather the information. Have the ship ready to lift the second I get back.”

Rory nodded as she slipped a hood over her head and popped the canopy. She was over the side and struggling up the hill in the blink of an eye. On the other side, a squat transport ship steamed in the freezing air. Radhya crouched on the hillside pointing a holomera at the scene as dozens of bewildered, naked people disembarked in the chill. One of the women, a tall, elegant brunette with a perfect oval face, fought with the guards. They tazed her into unconsciousness, then kicked her over the side of the gangplank. Radhya heard the crack of the woman’s head hit the frozen ground from her perch on the hill. The woman lay moaning in the snow. Large hovers drove up, and the new slaves were herded into the back. The vehicles were open, so the cold was not relieved for the victims.

Keeping low, Radhya snuck around the ship and jogged after the retreating vehicle. A new one approached, and she buried herself in the snow. After it passed, she rose and continued. A long, low, wide building hove up out of the blowing snow. It was enormous, but Radhya circled it, finding no entrance, except the one that the slaves were using. She waited until the door was clear, and then tried to slink inside.

“I was wondering when you were going to come in and join us,” a voice spoke behind her. “If you wanted a tour, you should just have asked, Lady Kirbyson.”

Radhya whirled. Lord Reman stood behind her, dressed in scarlet red, like blood to her eyes. He grabbed her arm and twisted up behind her back. He marched her into the room where dozens of slaves were being fitted with collars.

“Is this what you wanted to see? Or maybe you wanted a closer look.”

Reman tore away her clothes, leaving her as naked as the slaves around them.

“Not bad. Not bad at all. Maybe we can have a little fun, after your re-education.” He fondled her, and she came near to throwing up.

“You know former Lady Jamison didn’t make it. I could just brand you with her number and sell you in her place. It would be very easy, and I already have a sale for her. Lord Jabin is always especially interested in ex-royals.”

Lord Reman fitted a collar around her neck. “Barone would kill me if he knew you were here, so we will have to keep it quiet, but just to get you started, this is what the slave collar discipline is like.”

Reman hit some buttons and pain shot through Radhya. Even the memory of that pain was heart stopping. The Chandrans added strength to the humans and encouraged them to continue.

The memory continued, Radhya lay on the wooden floor in a pool of her own vomit. Others lay around her, in their sickness, or having convulsions. Cries and moans rose about them. Reman was droning on and on about the horrors in store for her. From somewhere Radhya summoned the strength, rose from the floor and slapped him across the face. He grabbed her by the hair and pulled her head back. His hand was around her throat.

Another red-clad figure came into the room.

“Is there trouble Chet?”

“Noel? I, uh, need to discipline this slave. It’s a little aggressive.”

Lord Barone came around and looked at Radhya. “Where is the brand?”

“I’m not a slave. I’m Lady Kirbyson, and this filth has put a collar on me,” she spat.

Lord Barone’s eyes widened. “Kirbyson? What are you doing on my planet? I don’t remember inviting you. Besides, young royals should always travel with bodyguards, big ones with wide shoulders and lots of muscle.”

Radhya flushed scarlet. “I was spying, trying to discover who killed my grandfather.”

She raised her chin in bravado.

“Noel, Lady Jamison suffered a fall from the ramp and died. This one could replace her,” said Reman with a sly smile. “Jabin likes them young and pretty.”

Barone nodded, his eyes roving up and down her naked body. “I wouldn’t mind her myself. Let me check her connections before I make a decision.” He marched from the room.

Lord Reman tied her wrists in front of her and fastened her to a stanchion on the floor. With a wink and a smirk, he left the room. Radhya stared at the writhing humanity on the floor, their smells and cries of pain soon to be her own and knew shame to the deepest core of her soul.

The door blew in with a tremendous crash. Geo stood there, three other men in familiar livery behind him. The back door swung open, and Reman dashed in followed by a dozen grey-clad guards. The Lord stood at the back directing his men against Radhya’s rescuers. Geo fought like a maniac, throwing bodies left and right. He shrugged off the tazers and slapped the projectile weapons from the hands of the enemy before they could aim them. Reaching Radhya’s side, he pulled a huge knife from his belt and slashed the bonds holding her.

He dashed across the room and grabbed Reman before he could escape to the back. Crushing his throat, he made him release the collar around Radhya’s neck, and then he threw him to the floor like garbage.

Lord Barone entered the room caring a tank on his back with a long nozzle protruding from it.

“What are you doing to my training facility?” he demanded.

“I am retrieving, my Lady,” snapped Geo.

A long tongue of flame shot out of the tube Barone carried.

“And I am protecting my property,” snarled Barone.

“Run Radhya,” yelled Geo.

He placed himself between Barone and Radhya. She dashed for the door. The three other slaves surrounded her and brought her to a waiting spaceship not far from the building. Radhya paused.

“Geo,” she cried.

Rory raced down the ramp. “I’ll get him. ”

Two men returned with Rory. Radhya boarded the ship and sealed the doors. Throwing on a garment, she watched in anxious suspense.

Rory staggered through the snow, Geo in a fireman‘s carry over his shoulder, wind whipped stinging particles into his eyes. Radhya opened the door. He dumped Geo on the metal grating and leapt for the cockpit. The small ship lifted without waiting for the passengers to buckle in.

Radhya stared at Geo. He lay unmoving, barely breathing. From the knees down, his legs were gone. Smoking black stumps were all that was left of his thighs, and scorch marks criss-crossed the rest of his body. His eyes slitted open despite the pain. Radhya fell to her knees beside him.

“Are you okay? Did they hurt you?” he croaked.

“They put a slave collar on me and activated it. That’s all they had time to do. Then you came.”

“I’m sorry you were hurt.”

Geo closed his eyes.

Radhya’s shame rose and overwhelmed them. Padr accepted, swallowing all the recriminations, matching them with the feelings from his own past. The horror at her own actions still pulled her from life. Padr, Max, and Will poured love at her. Radhya struggled.

A faint blue spark kindled in her consciousness. She breathed upon it with her spirit. She superimposed their faces on the spark. It grew to a small flickering flame. A shuddering breath rushed into her dying body.

“Come on darling, you can do it,” entreated Padr.

She could feel Will pounding on her chest, and her face was wet with Max’s tears.

“Max should never cry,” she thought. “His soul should see only beauty.”

Clinging tenaciously to the thought of helping Max, Will, and Padr, she rose on the blue flame. The black was thick and heavy. She pounded on it from within. Their colors pummeled it from without. It cracked. Through the fractures, she could see the gold, green and violet. Her soul yearned as never before, and the dark gave way before it. The colors merged in a glorious kaleidoscope, healing, purging, cleaning, twirling around the bond mates, affirming and cementing the love. The rainbow colors swirled in an ecstasy of sharing. They settled exhausted into themselves. Padr held Radhya close.

The Chandrans surrounded them again. “We are sorry you did not understand, to isolate is death.”

“Why weren’t the men affected?” asked Radhya lying contented in Padr’s arms.

“The fathers have the Talrie, the brotherhood of males. It is as strong as the Seliflarie, the bonding of genders. They did not shut themselves in, you did, you are the nexus, and therefore you were the one to suffer the most. They felt pain as well.”

“Is there more we should know about the bonding?” she asked.

“Your lives will be long, be without disease, unless you neglect the bond. You neglected the bond. There is a way to have emotions to yourself. We show you. ”

The Chandrans did something to each of the humans’ brains. The colors of the selifla dimmed. A twist in the brain and they were back to full brilliance.

“If there arises a need for separateness that is how to obtain it. If there is a need for far voyaging apart, use the Kenrie we just showed you. But not for too long. The more you join, the better will your life be. The Mokdor is a way to see with another selifla‘s eyes.”

Another part of the brain was accessed. Suddenly Radhya found herself staring down at her body. An eye blink and the perspective shifted, herself, Padr and Will. Again, this time she could see Max, Will, and herself. She did not want to leave Padr’s mind. A gentle push and she was home in her own skull. Then the men each tried it. She could feel each presence as they shared her mind and looked with her eyes. Each returned home.

“Mokdor is useful, but again keep the time short. The body deteriorates without the mind.”

“Thank you, thank you for coming here. I know how hard daylight is for you, and how difficult it is to leave your mother,” Radhya uttered to the Chandrans.

“She insisted we try to save you. If the bonding failed, there would be no more we could do for your species. Now we go.”

The Chandrans vanished into the hidden passage as Radhya gazed at the three men who again, had saved her life.

“I don’t know what to say,” she whispered.

Love and affection coursed down the bond.

“We’re relieved to have you back. Do you know I felt worse at the thought of losing you than when my son and Debra died?” asked Padr.

“Yes I did know,” said Radhya softly. “The same way I know the pain of Max’s father’s death and his pony being sold, and I know how Will fears to be abandoned again after his mother died when he was seven. I feel all your pain, but it amounts to nothing next to your love and your acceptance of my pain. We heal each other. I must remember that.”

As they were hugging, a tapping came at the door.

“Milady, are you there?” came an anxious voice.

Max rose and opened the door. Rory was fidgeting in the doorway. He looked at them curiously.

“Milady, Lord Grant wishes to speak to you, in the office.”

Radhya rose gracefully. She shook her ebony hair into place and rearranged the folds of her robe. Then she strode across the dining room to Rory’s office. At her nod, Rory put through the call.

“Yes, Lady Kirbyson, quite a wait you gave me,” huffed Lord Grant.

“Forgive me, Lord Grant, I was elsewhere, and my comm was off. I apologize.”

“Yes, of course, accepted,” he continued. “Are you feeling better after the altercation?”

“Yes milord, very well. Thank you for asking,” Radhya smiled broadly at the old man.

“Ah, good. That being the case, as chairman of the Status Review Location Selection Committee, I have the pleasure to inform you that your planet, Pleasant, has been selected to host the status review in exactly sixty-three days.”

“Thank you, milord Grant. Thank you more than I can express,” beamed Radhya.

“Quite all right my dear. Frankly, that last planet was a drag; dark, dreary and fishing was the only occupation for a gentleman. See you in two months.”

The old man winked and signed off. Radhya stood in silence for a moment. She looked at Rory and grinned broadly.

“Tell everyone we’re green for the status review. Plan countdown started at sixty-six. Go.”