A pounding on the door interrupted the answer to his question. Beka tried
to hide her relief. Tyr covered his by shouting, "Who dares disturb the
Alpha and his family?"
"Hey Big Guy." Harper threw open both doors and rolled past the disgruntled guards. "Are we pregnant yet?"
"We?" Beka and Tyr yelled at the same moment.
Tamerlane dashed across the room to grab the small man in a hug that lifted him off his feet.
"At least someone other than my thirty-one wives is pleased to see me." Harper slapped the boy on the back. "Are we pregnant yet?"
The doors remained wide open. The senior guard pulled one side closed, then stood at attention in the doorframe of the other one.
Tyr acknowledged the soldier with a snappy, "What is it?"
"The Lord Mechanic, he would not take no for an answer."
"He never has. Return to your duty and close the door."
"That's Lord Engineer to you, dogface," shouted Harper to the closing door. "The discipline is quantum mechanics, the application requires a quantum engineer. You would think after ten years that your people would understand the difference."
"Uncle Seamus, why are you using 'we'?" Tamlerane released his grip. "Is that a Harperism?"
Harper strolled over to the bed to kiss Beka on the cheek. He placed a hand on the sheets above her stomach.
"That's my son-in-law, the father of my grandchildren, cooking in there. That makes us family. And you should know by now, my boy, that in the land of the Kodiak family is family. There are no individuals."
Beka raised her eyebrows. "Seamus Harper, you peeked."
"What's the point of being in charge of all Kodiak cyber-security, if I can't use my All-Access Pass for advance news every now and then?" Harper presented Beka with a data file.
"Tyr," Beka squealed. "We are pregnant. Tamerlane, you are going to have a brother." She reached for Harper to envelop him in her arms.
"Blessed be, the First Father, for recording the first impregnation." Tyr yelled, slapping his son on the back.
Beka started to laugh, "It was the First Mother, who recorded it for posterity. The First Father spent too much time bragging about his prowess with his cronies to make notes."
"Let's see, by the time the little gaffer is old enough to be chosen, I should have," Harper tapped his data pad, "fifteen eligible daughters. I'll send you their DNA charts when I get home, Beka."
"Wait a minute!" Tamerlane tried to drag order out of chaos. "What is wrong with my DNA, Uncle Seamus, that you would not encourage me to display for your daughters?"
Silence so loud that they could hear the blood rushing through their veins blanketed the room.
"You haven't told him, then?" Harper sat on a chair by the breakfast table. The effervescence with which he arrived sapped from his body.
"Tyr was about to tell him, when you interrupted us." Beka smiled. "A welcome interruption, Seamus."
"Tyr was going to tell him?" Harper shook his finger at her. "How could you?"
"Enough." Tamerlane drew himself to his full height and put the power of perfect Nietzschean lungs behind the bellow. "Lord Engineer, since you expect to be the grandfather of my future niece or nephew and have access to all state secrets, tell me why my DNA record has been erased from the Kodiak database."
"It hasn't been erased, Tamerlane." Harper looked sheepish. "It was never entered."
The disclosure stopped the boy cold. Not recording DNA was a federal offense, punishable by banishment from the Pride. "But I've seen it. Olma would show it to me on my birthday."
"Son, Olma showed you what we wanted the world to see, until it became to risky, then Harper erased that entry." Tyr interjected. "Your DNA was sent to the central registry at your birth. Olma did it on behalf of your mother and the Orca Pride. When the Orca were destroyed, those DNA records were sealed."
Harper took up the tale, "When the Kodiak Pride was reestablished, your father put me in charge of cyber-security and asked me to fudge your records, until the time was right."
Beka finished for him, "Tamerlane, that time is now."
Tyr wrapped an arm around the boy's shoulders. "Sit down, son. We will try to reduce a fifteen-year long story into a few moments."
"So, the only other people in the universe who know that I am the reincarnation," Tamerlane stumbled over the last part, still not convinced of the truth of the story, "are Beka, Harper, Olma, Dylan, Trance and Rommie."
Tyr nodded, "No one has been more loyal to you and your destiny than they have been. Should anything happen to me, trust them with your life, Tamerlane, as I have all these years."
"Must I be the reincarnation, Father?" Tamerlane beseeched the older man. "Why can't I be plain, ordinary Tamerlane Anasazi, out of Freya, by Tyr, with a destiny far in the future as a Kodiak Alpha?"
Beka answered for them all; "To be an Alpha, you must submit your DNA for examination. To be a Neitzschean husband and father, you must submit your DNA for examination. Either way, your secret is out. The only choice that you have is to never submit your DNA for examination and denounce the Neitzschean life. But that won't assure your anonymity. What happens if you are injured beyond the capability of your nanobots? Blood will be drawn. Tests will be conducted. Your identity will not remain secret for long."
"The only way that we can protect you, Tamerlane," Harper continued, "is to proclaim your identity, with all the pomp and circumstance to which you are entitled."
"What about becoming a husband and father?" Tamerlane let a tear tickle down his cheek. "Will that be denied me as it has been denied my father?"
Beka wished that she could dash across the room and embrace the boy, but she had the welfare of his brother to consider. She remained where she was flashing signals at the father of her baby.
Tyr could see her distress, but took a moment to interpret it. When he understood at last, he turned to his first born and placed a hand on each of the lad's upper arms. Holding him at arm's length, he presented the first of his options.
"Child of my loins, you may have no choice, but to make me a grandfather a hundred times over."
"Hey Big Guy." Harper threw open both doors and rolled past the disgruntled guards. "Are we pregnant yet?"
"We?" Beka and Tyr yelled at the same moment.
Tamerlane dashed across the room to grab the small man in a hug that lifted him off his feet.
"At least someone other than my thirty-one wives is pleased to see me." Harper slapped the boy on the back. "Are we pregnant yet?"
The doors remained wide open. The senior guard pulled one side closed, then stood at attention in the doorframe of the other one.
Tyr acknowledged the soldier with a snappy, "What is it?"
"The Lord Mechanic, he would not take no for an answer."
"He never has. Return to your duty and close the door."
"That's Lord Engineer to you, dogface," shouted Harper to the closing door. "The discipline is quantum mechanics, the application requires a quantum engineer. You would think after ten years that your people would understand the difference."
"Uncle Seamus, why are you using 'we'?" Tamlerane released his grip. "Is that a Harperism?"
Harper strolled over to the bed to kiss Beka on the cheek. He placed a hand on the sheets above her stomach.
"That's my son-in-law, the father of my grandchildren, cooking in there. That makes us family. And you should know by now, my boy, that in the land of the Kodiak family is family. There are no individuals."
Beka raised her eyebrows. "Seamus Harper, you peeked."
"What's the point of being in charge of all Kodiak cyber-security, if I can't use my All-Access Pass for advance news every now and then?" Harper presented Beka with a data file.
"Tyr," Beka squealed. "We are pregnant. Tamerlane, you are going to have a brother." She reached for Harper to envelop him in her arms.
"Blessed be, the First Father, for recording the first impregnation." Tyr yelled, slapping his son on the back.
Beka started to laugh, "It was the First Mother, who recorded it for posterity. The First Father spent too much time bragging about his prowess with his cronies to make notes."
"Let's see, by the time the little gaffer is old enough to be chosen, I should have," Harper tapped his data pad, "fifteen eligible daughters. I'll send you their DNA charts when I get home, Beka."
"Wait a minute!" Tamerlane tried to drag order out of chaos. "What is wrong with my DNA, Uncle Seamus, that you would not encourage me to display for your daughters?"
Silence so loud that they could hear the blood rushing through their veins blanketed the room.
"You haven't told him, then?" Harper sat on a chair by the breakfast table. The effervescence with which he arrived sapped from his body.
"Tyr was about to tell him, when you interrupted us." Beka smiled. "A welcome interruption, Seamus."
"Tyr was going to tell him?" Harper shook his finger at her. "How could you?"
"Enough." Tamerlane drew himself to his full height and put the power of perfect Nietzschean lungs behind the bellow. "Lord Engineer, since you expect to be the grandfather of my future niece or nephew and have access to all state secrets, tell me why my DNA record has been erased from the Kodiak database."
"It hasn't been erased, Tamerlane." Harper looked sheepish. "It was never entered."
The disclosure stopped the boy cold. Not recording DNA was a federal offense, punishable by banishment from the Pride. "But I've seen it. Olma would show it to me on my birthday."
"Son, Olma showed you what we wanted the world to see, until it became to risky, then Harper erased that entry." Tyr interjected. "Your DNA was sent to the central registry at your birth. Olma did it on behalf of your mother and the Orca Pride. When the Orca were destroyed, those DNA records were sealed."
Harper took up the tale, "When the Kodiak Pride was reestablished, your father put me in charge of cyber-security and asked me to fudge your records, until the time was right."
Beka finished for him, "Tamerlane, that time is now."
Tyr wrapped an arm around the boy's shoulders. "Sit down, son. We will try to reduce a fifteen-year long story into a few moments."
"So, the only other people in the universe who know that I am the reincarnation," Tamerlane stumbled over the last part, still not convinced of the truth of the story, "are Beka, Harper, Olma, Dylan, Trance and Rommie."
Tyr nodded, "No one has been more loyal to you and your destiny than they have been. Should anything happen to me, trust them with your life, Tamerlane, as I have all these years."
"Must I be the reincarnation, Father?" Tamerlane beseeched the older man. "Why can't I be plain, ordinary Tamerlane Anasazi, out of Freya, by Tyr, with a destiny far in the future as a Kodiak Alpha?"
Beka answered for them all; "To be an Alpha, you must submit your DNA for examination. To be a Neitzschean husband and father, you must submit your DNA for examination. Either way, your secret is out. The only choice that you have is to never submit your DNA for examination and denounce the Neitzschean life. But that won't assure your anonymity. What happens if you are injured beyond the capability of your nanobots? Blood will be drawn. Tests will be conducted. Your identity will not remain secret for long."
"The only way that we can protect you, Tamerlane," Harper continued, "is to proclaim your identity, with all the pomp and circumstance to which you are entitled."
"What about becoming a husband and father?" Tamerlane let a tear tickle down his cheek. "Will that be denied me as it has been denied my father?"
Beka wished that she could dash across the room and embrace the boy, but she had the welfare of his brother to consider. She remained where she was flashing signals at the father of her baby.
Tyr could see her distress, but took a moment to interpret it. When he understood at last, he turned to his first born and placed a hand on each of the lad's upper arms. Holding him at arm's length, he presented the first of his options.
"Child of my loins, you may have no choice, but to make me a grandfather a hundred times over."