Chapter 2 -- Mother's Plea
Cole carried the fugitive up the stairs and gently settled her on the couch. "Rest here," he directed gently, walking into the kitchen and returning with a glass and a pitcher of water from the refrigerator. "I'm sorry I scared you in the bar," he told her gently, pouring her a glass of water and pressing it into her hands. "You startled me and I reacted by instinct."
She nodded slowly, accepting the glass and staring up at him with large eyes, eyes too big for her thin face.
"No harm will come to you here, Jenin," Cole promised, sitting down on the coffee table in front of her. When she had emptied the glass, he refilled it. Leaving the pitcher on the table, he walked into the kitchen again.
Cole waited in silence as Jenin drained three more glasses of water, drawing most of it into her lungs. When she had finished, he pressed a cup of mint tea into her hands. She was obviously nervous and he hoped that the tea would help. She gave him a wan smile as she accepted it. Cole watched her sip at the tea, curious. Her human host was young, not more than eighteen, if that old, and sick-looking. In spite of her advanced pregnancy, she was painfully skinny. Her skin was sallow, her eyes sunken, her manner anxious. She was beautiful, as pregnant women always were to him, but her beauty called more for pity than admiration.
He gently touched her throat again, his expression reassuring. He had always liked Jenin, felt very sorry for her. He could not help but consider life on Sar-Top too harsh a sentence for a crime he had once contemplated committing himself. She looked up at him with wide, pale eyes, her expression bespeaking gratitude for his kindness.
"Thank you, sir," she said quietly, eyeing him uneasily.
He dismissed her thanks with a shake of his head. He probably would have Collected her if it had not been for Gwen. As it was, he could not do anything but help her. "Why have you come?"
"I… I need your help, sir."
"Tell me everything, Jenin," Cole directed gently. "It's okay. I'll do what I can to help you. I promise."
She took a deep breath and considered where to begin. She shook her head and rested one hand on her stomach. "Zin wants my child, sir. I… I can't let him take her."
Cole blinked, startled. "Your child?" he prompted gently. "Your host's child?"
Jenin gave a little shake of the head. "Mine, sir. Conceived after I took this human's body." She bowed her head.
Cole closed his eyes, suddenly feeling horribly cold all over. As he recalled, Jenin had been informally mated to another of Sar-Top's inmates. Not just any inmate, either. "Kres was the father?" he whispered.
"Yes." She nodded. "Zin told me that you…"
"Collected him." Cole nodded apologetically. "I had to, Jenin. His human body was dying."
Jenin regarded him gravely, her expression sad. "Then… I thank you for his life." She wiped her eyes, her face set in a defiant expression. She inhaled deeply and squared her shoulders. "I thank you for his life and would ask another, similar, favor."
Cole regarded her uncertainly. "Your life, Jenin?"
She shook her head slowly. "My life means little to me any more, sir. I ask only for the life of our daughter."
Cole drew in a deep breath, feeling nauseous. He flatly refused to let his mind turn to Ashi. "Does Zin plan on harming her, then?"
She bowed her head and slowly nodded. "He… believes that… parents residing in human hosts… the genetic variance… their children will have all of the strengths and none of the weaknesses. He plans on experimenting on her, seeing if this is the case. He seems to think that the human genes are somehow key, important… There's something of the race he wants; none of us know what, though. He has geneticists, biologists, physiologists… They keep doing all these tests on me… and he's trying to cross-breed the other fugitives. Across species, even."
Cole stared. Zin had gone from playing at being a crime-lord to playing at being a god. It could not be allowed. "Is it working?"
She shook her head. "No. I'm the only fugitive so far who's been able to conceive. The… process of taking a human host mutates certain genes by necessity. It seems to almost invariably result in sterility." She sighed. "It's not stopping Zin, though. He… he has us experimenting with gene-therapy, trying to correct that."
Cole shook his head. "Jenin…" He regarded the Nodulian geneticist sadly, shaking his head. Asking her to do that, after all she had lost, all Zin threatened to take from her… It was beyond wrong. "Has he harmed you in any way?" he asked gently.
She shook her head. "Once he found out I was with child, he… he moved me into his home so he could keep closer watch on me. He's taken very good care of me, given me everything I could need or want. He's very attentive and solicitous, almost as if I were carrying his child. He takes good care of both of us, the right foods, the best doctors, nice things. Everything. Except…"
"Except that the price is too high." Cole sighed and slid his arms around her. "For you of all people, the price is just too high."
She nodded, leaning into him. "If it were any other Tracker after us fugitives, I probably would have gone to ground instead of coming here. You… I knew you would understand. I'm not asking for my own freedom or even my life. But my daughter must not be allowed to suffer."
"She won't," Cole promised, tenderly kissing her forehead. "I promise you. I'll do everything in my power to protect both of you."
"She can not be born in a human hospital," Jenin told him softly. "The ultrasounds reveal that she has certain… characteristics… gills, a vestigial dorsal fin…"
Cole stared at her, stunned. "She looks Nodulian?" Nodulian parents in human hosts should not have been capable of producing Nodulian offspring. No wonder Zin was interested.
Jenin nodded. "At least, I think she does. It's hard to say with how primitive imaging technology on this planet is. But she is definitely not going to be born looking human."
"That complicates things," Cole told her softly. "I'm not sure if I can help you deliver her myself."
He had witnessed one Nodulian birth in his life and might have been able to assist in one as a result. But a Nodulian woman inside a human host? All bets were off. Too many things could go wrong with the mother and the child. Human complications, Nodulian ones, complications resulting from the fusion of human and Nodulian traits… Too many risks even under the idealized circumstance of a Nodulian physician delivering the child as Zin probably would have arranged. A human physician, without so much as an awareness that his species was not alone in the universe, would be even more clueless. And once the child was born, she might need specialized care… Too many variables, none of which he could count on. His head was spinning.
"Is there another choice?" Jenin asked quietly.
"Yes," a quiet voice contributed from the hall. "There is."
"Gwen?" Cole said, regarding her uncertainly. Gwen, Mel, and Gwen's friend Táhirih stood in the hallway outside the living room.
"Tracker Kedriss Daggon." Gwen nodded and smiled wanly. "Gwynlyn Moiré Angelo."
Cole half-rose, staring at her. He had not known that Gwen was just a nickname, had always assumed it to be her full name. Gwynlyn was an Enixian word; it meant dark radiance. Fitting for a woman with a life-force like Gwen's. "You're not human?" he asked even though he was sure of the answer after her earlier display.
She was undeniably Enixian in so many ways that it was a wonder he had not seen it before. His only real question was what she was doing on Earth now. She was not a fugitive, of that he was sure. Which made her either a mercenary in Zin's service, a Migar security agent or scientist, or…
"Half human."
The hybrid child of one. Cole approached her slowly, regarding her thoughtfully for a moment before smiling and nodding. No wonder talking to her so often felt like going home. He smiled gently down at her. "Take out your contacts," he directed gently, turning off the light.
Mel was watching the display with wide eyes, stunned.
Gwen nodded and took them out, looking up at him. Her pupils were narrow sideways slits, like those of a cat, and her emerald green irises glowed in the darkness. Mel stared, amazed. She had not even known that Gwen wore contacts, let alone that her eyes were not black.
"Beautiful," Cole whispered, smiling and touching her cheek.
"I have my mother's eyes," she explained simply.
"Your mother? Moiré Nisei?" Cole ventured. At her nod, his smile widened. "I was never honored to meet her, but I've read all of her work. She was widely considered one of the best exoanthropologists in the Migar Federation."
"I know," Gwen said softly. "She made a name for herself in anthropology on this planet as well." She lowered her head and replaced the contacts.
"Cole," Mel said softly. "Can you tell me what's going on here? Gwen says this woman is a fugitive."
"The Enixian Gwynlyn is correct," Jenin told Mel softly, rising and walking over to them. "I was serving a life-term on Sar-Top for the crime of capital murder at the time of the escape." She regarded Gwen and Táhirih uneasily, not sure of their role in things.
As Mel gaped at the Nodulian, Cole quietly filled her in on why Jenin had come to him. Mel looked Jenin over as Cole spoke. She was struck by how young and afraid the fugitive looked. Her heart went out to the woman who only wanted to keep her child safe. Murderer or not, she could sympathize with a young woman who just wanted to protect her child from harm.
"You look exhausted, honey," Mel said when Cole was finished recounting everything Jenin had told him. "Come on. You can get some sleep in my room."
"Thank you," Jenin said quietly. "I haven't been sleeping much lately."
"I can imagine." Nodding, Mel gently took her arm and steered her into the bedroom.
"I'll come as well, if you don't mind," Táhirih said, making herself heard for the first time. At Mel's nod, she followed them down the hall.
Cole looked down at Gwen. "You've known about me since the beginning?"
She nodded. "The… smell caught my attention."
He smiled and nodded. "Of course it did. And then all it took was a little research."
Gwen gave another nod. "I'm good at research. It didn't take me long."
"Your working for Mel is a coincidence?"
"Yes," Gwen said, nodding. "As unlikely as it seems, it is. I was stunned the first time I met the two of you…"
Cole smiled and nodded. "Gwen, do you know very much about human and Nodulian physiology? Jenin's time grows near and I'm not sure I know enough about human physiology to be very useful…"
"It's okay," Gwen told him. "That's where Táhirih comes in. She's a doctor. Most of her patients are affiliated with the SST. Very few are human. And before she became aware of the SST, she was an obstetrician… a doctor who delivers babies."
"A midwife?" he queried, pleased. That was exactly what Jenin needed, a midwife who was intimately familiar with both human and alien physiology.
"Very similar, yes."
Cole nodded. "Then Táhirih will be able to help Jenin?"
Gwen nodded. "She will. It's why I've brought her here."
"Can she be trusted, Gwen?" he asked gently. "This is very important to me."
She nodded. "I understand that. Táhirih is a woman I would trust with my life or she would not be here now. In fact, I'll go a step farther and say that I would trust her with the life of my eventual children."
Cole nodded. It was not a claim that an Enixian woman made lightly. "Thank you, Gwen."
She nodded. "Can you keep the fugitive safe overnight?"
"I would guard her life with my own, Gwen," Cole assured her.
"Good." She nodded. "I'm going to go now. I'll set up a safe-house for you and arrange for Táhirih to have the equipment she needs available."
"Thank you, Gwen," Cole said, smiling down at her.
She shrugged. "Anything to piss off Zin."
"You know Zin?"
"By reputation only for the time being. I'm looking forward to getting the chance to kick his ass some day, though."
"Gwen, Vardians are very dangerous."
"So are hybrid Enixians with scores to settle," Gwen told him quietly.
Before Cole could question her on that strange pronouncement, she spun on her heel and left. Shaking his head, he walked down the hall to Mel's bedroom and tapped gently on the door.
Mel opened it immediately. "Cole, could you talk to her? She won't let Táhirih near her."
Cole nodded and stepped into the bedroom. Jenin had flattened herself into a corner and was hissing at Táhirih. He approached the Nodulian and gently took her hands in his own.
"Jenin," Cole whispered tenderly. "This is Táhirih. She is a human physician who works for the Security Taskforce. The Enixian female Gwynlyn has informed me that she would trust the lives of her eventual offspring to this woman. Will you let her look at you?"
Jenin stared up at Cole for a moment, then back at Táhirih. She nodded slowly, looking back up at Cole. "Will you stay, sir?" she asked anxiously.
He nodded and gently brushed her hair out of her face. "Jenin, I won't let anything happen to either of you, I swear it. This woman is here because she is trusted by someone that I have reason to trust. I won't let her harm you. I would never let anything happen to you, child."
Jenin swallowed hard and nodded. "I know you wouldn't. You take care of those who look to you."
"I do," he agreed gently, ushering her over to the bed. He looked up at Táhirih. "What are you going to do to her? What does it involve?" The question was more for Jenin's sake than to satisfy his own curiosity, although his own desire to keep the Nodulian safe factored into it as well.
Táhirih smiled reassuringly, not the least offended by the fugitive's refusal to trust her. "Well, right now just a basic physical exam. Vital signs, that sort of thing. And I want to give her stomach a feel." She reached into her bag and pulled out a small glass bottle. "Zin have your species taking anything like this, dear?" she asked, handing the bottle to Jenin.
Jenin opened it and sniffed the contents, her eyes half-closing. "Nothing so pure. We have our own methods, of course, but this is far better."
"What is it?" Mel asked.
"A zinc isotope," Táhirih told her, pulling out a stethoscope and blood pressure cuff. "Best form of the mineral available for Nodulians. Commercially available supplements don't come close. Lie back, dear," she directed Jenin.
Jenin complied, but only at Cole's quiet insistence and only after he had exacted a promise from Táhirih to tell Jenin exactly what she was going to do, step by step. She spent the entire physical with a vice-grip on one of his hands, glaring mistrustfully at the human physician. Mel watched curiously, wondering about many things. Like why this fugitive was so willing to trust the man charged with bringing her back and why Cole was being so gentle and solicitous towards her. Not that she would have expected Cole to be anything but kind and gentle, but she got a sense that there was a deeper, preexisting relationship between the two, and it made her curious.
Táhirih finished her exam with a nod and looked up at Cole. "Would you, Kedriss Daggon?" she requested politely. "Cirronian input always makes these matters clearer."
Cole nodded and looked down at Jenin, squeezing her hand and brushing her hair out of her face. "I'm going to have a feel now, okay, Jenin?" he asked gently. At her little nod, he reached for the hem of her shirt. "I need to pull this up, okay?"
Mel watched, fascinated as Cole gently pulled the woman's shirt up over her stomach and let his hands hover a few millimeters away from the skin, gently murmuring to her in a language that she thought might have been Nodulian. It was not lost on Mel that Jenin was emaciated rather than merely skinny. Obviously Cole noted this as well.
"Have you been eating enough?" he asked, his hands still moving above the surface of her stomach, never making contact.
"Yes. Zin has three nutritionists assigned to my case. And I have to take all these vitamins. They're in my purse," she added.
Táhirih rose and retrieved the bottles, perusing the labels as Cole continued his own examination. "Well, I'd say they have you on all the right prenatal formulas given your status. What's your caloric intake?" she asked.
"Thirty-five hundred daily," Jenin said softly. "I can't gain weight." She looked up at Cole. "Have you found her yet, sir?"
Cole smiled gently down at her, one hand moving to caress her throat. "Just relax so I can get a good reading. You're so upset that she is growing distressed as well, Jenin, and that will not do." He moved his hand to her forehead for a moment, releasing soothing energy before returning to his caresses of her throat.
She nodded and closed her eyes under his touch.
"There she is," Cole whispered, smiling. "Be calm, Jenin. I'm going to touch your stomach now. Don't worry." At her nod, he gently rested both hands on her stomach, his smile widening. "Hello, little one," he whispered, half closing his eyes. "Look at you. You're ready to join us in the great outside soon, aren't you?"
Mel smiled as she watched Cole quietly speaking. His tone and expression were both absolutely beautiful. Either alone would have made her heart flutter. Together, she just about melted. Táhirih looked entranced herself.
"Strong life-force," he observed, smiling and nodding to himself. Jenin's life-force was depleted, but she was in no immediate danger, even if she was very weak. The baby, she had the life-force of a fighter. He mentally reached a little more deeply, frowning. "These tests Zin's been performing on you, Jenin? They've been putting needles into you, haven't they? Into your stomach?"
Jenin nodded. "It's a human test called amniocentesis."
"It allows them to look at a child's DNA," Táhirih explained.
Cole frowned. "She does not like it."
Jenin half-sat up, gaping at him. "She told you?" she whispered, staring.
He shook his head, smiling faintly. "Only mother Cirronians can talk with unborn children. And then only their own. But I can feel her distaste for the procedure and her fear that it will happen again. It causes you pain and physical trauma."
Jenin nodded and leaned back again. "Yeah, it does."
Táhirih spoke again, her voice quiet. "It's typically only used in high-risk cases. I mean, I would have to say that this applies as high-risk, on many levels, but…" Táhirih frowned, shaking her head.
Jenin had numerous needle-marks on her stomach. Zin was many things, but an idiot was not one of those. You did not go around repeatedly sticking needles into a pregnant woman's uterus without damned good cause. Once he had an idea of the child's genetics, what was the point? The only explanation was that this was not a typical pregnancy, not by the standards of any species. There was something else going on, though she could not imagine what.
Cole shook his head. He nodded and gently caressed Jenin's stomach, healing the bruises and needle-marks as his hands passed. "She's a healthy child, Jenin. Strong." He smiled at her, rising. "And very ready to come into the world."
"How long do I have?" she asked anxiously.
Táhirih looked up at the question, her expression curious.
"Not more than 3 days. Probably less."
"You can tell all that by touching her stomach?" Mel asked, amazed. Just when she thought that Cole was done doing things to amaze her.
Cole nodded. "We should let Jenin rest now," he suggested gently.
Táhirih wordlessly gathered her things and slipped from the room, already mentally preparing a list of tests and procedures that she would need to perform on the Nodulian if her people could not get access to the results of the tests Zin had done. There was no way she was walking into this particular delivery blind.
Mel nodded and picked up a blanket, covering the Nodulian. "I'll be in the living room if you need anything at all," she promised gently.
Jenin nodded and smiled slightly. "Thank you. Both of you."
"You're welcome, honey," Mel told her.
"Sleep peacefully, Jenin," Cole told her gently. "I won't let Zin or any of his people near you. You can sleep without fear."
She smiled more confidently, nodding. "Thank you."
Cole sat on the edge of the bed, taking one of her hands in his and giving it a gentle squeeze. "Neither of us will let any harm befall you or the child," he promised. Smiling reassuringly, he bent and kissed her forehead. "Sleep peacefully," he repeated. He sighed and gave her another kiss, this one on the cheek.
Shaking his head, he rose and followed Mel from the room. Zin's involvement in the affair was troubling to him. The Vardian was no geneticist and, if he was dabbling in the area, it could only be because there was some material gain to be had. That the Taskforce had also been following Jenin's case bore out his assumption. Whatever Zin was playing at, it was big. And more likely than not very, very dangerous…