Ch 14

Sitting on the back porch of the hotel, Bob eyed Tenya after she explained she had to go home. He asked, "So what brought this on?"

Tenya shrugged, not looking at him. "Well, I am a draco after all. I'm thinking I can consider this a very nice vacation. And well, I'm sure my family does miss me."

"I thought all your immediate family are dead?"

"They are," Tenya said with a sigh. "Still my Uncle Graden is looking for me. I'm sure he'll make sure I'm taken care of."

"Ahh, so he'll raise you?"

Slowly Tenya said, "I think it will be like that policeman told us. He'll make sure I'm with a good family."

"Complete strangers to you," Bob said with a nod.

Tenya cast him a sad look. "Yeah, complete strangers."

"And you'll be happy with that?" he asked softly.

Tenya's face twisted up. She pounced on him to hug him with her arms and legs. She sobbed out, "No, I won't! I don't want to leave but I have to!" she wailed.

Bob rubbed her back and asked, "Why is that?"

"If they make me go, then there's going to be a big fight! I don't want anyone hurt because of me! Robert, if I have to go, then please let them take me!"

Bob hadn't heard her cry since she'd been here. She was crying on his shoulder now, clinging tightly to him. It was obvious she didn't want to leave.

Petting her, he softly said, "OK, hon, calm down. Ever think that they will let you stay if you want? I seem to remember you're a princess, right? I'm sure that status is good for something."

"It should be, huh?" she sobbed out.

Bob offered, "How about this, my little Princess. When that ship arrives, tell them the reasons you want to stay, and let them know it's in your people's best interests."

"And if they refuse?"

"Then we'll do our best to convince them. OK?"

"I really wish you could have sex with me."

Bob winced. "Sorry, you're too young. Can't change that. But hugs are good too, aren't they?"

"They are. I love you Robert, you're my hero."

Bob chuckled. "I'm rather fond of you, Tenya, and the last thing I want is for you doing something you really don't want to do. I know it's probably not right, but I'm starting to see you as my kid. I'd rather go through hell than see you unhappy."

"I know," she squeaked and sniffled.

"Then don't let anyone force you to do something you don't want to do."

Tenya wanted to be comforted by his words. She knew though, if the dracos coming said she had to go, then she would have to and leave all this love and comfort behind. He sniffled on her hero's shoulder, hugging him tightly for a while. This time she would protect her hero and all her friends.

.

Emperor Graden got word that the problems on the new interstellar ship was found and repaired. The energy feedback units were prone to failure. Over the probe that extended slightly into the engine exhaust to monitor the gasses, the engineers found if a magnetic shield was put over them they still functioned as designed, but no exhaust gasses would get into the feedback units themselves. The first test run of the ship with extra monitors showed the units stayed cool with the current cooling system. The also estimated the trip to Earth in one of these ships would be only 9 months. Still too late to stop the ship already headed there, but they would be faster going to collect whatever remains there were. Emperor Graden wrote the authorization for the launch to Planet Earth.

Hoping Little Tenya was still alive and well, he also wrote a letter to her, put it in a packet for her and sealed with his seal.

"And how are you doing, Mr. Emperor?"

He froze, he knew that voice. A chill went up his spine. Turning his head slowly, he saw Goddess Anne sitting on a chair at the end of his desk, her feet on his desk. She eyed him with a smirk.

She pointed to the packet. "What's that?" she asked in a conversational tone.

"I wrote a letter to Tenya. To let her know the execution order for her has been cancelled, and she may come home in safety." he said weakly.

"I can take that to her," Anne said. "Oh, would you also write one for the Captain of the ship that's approaching our planet? I'll be sure he gets it."

"They will be able to live?" he asked eagerly.

"As long as they obey your decree and don't give us any trouble," Anne agreed. "You wanted to save them. This is your chance to do it."

"Yes, Goddess, right away!" he agreed and wrote out a copy of Tenya's pardon for the ship captain.

Anne let out a sigh. "My master said I had to come clean with you. I'm not a Goddess. I'm a demon. See, Gods and Goddesses are not normally allowed to interfere directly in the material realm. They must use messengers. Since I'm a demon, I can screw with anyone my Master lets me mess with."

Graden paused and looked at her. "What's a demon?"

Anne spread her hand and wiggled it. "Kinda like Angels, but instead of belonging to the positive plane, like Gods. What you'd call holy beings. I'm of the negative plane. The Unholy. That means I have very little restrictions on what I can do."

Graden thought for a moment, then asked, "Can you bring Tenya here?"

"If she wants to visit I can make it happen. See, she is really loving Driftwood, and she doesn't want to leave."

"Driftwood?" he asked. "Isn't that the place on Earth that's very dangerous just to get near?"

Anne grinned widely. "It is to some, but Tenya's doing well there. She's real upset thinking she has to leave."

Graden kept writing. "I'm adding onto my decree that if Tenya wants to stay on Earth, she will be allowed to." He finished that letter, then put it in a packet and sealed it. He handed it to her. "Please, ensure the captain of that ship coming to Earth gets this."

She frowned at him. "But then I'll miss seeing a good fight."

"Please!" he pleaded.

Anne frowned in thought, then grew a grin. "And what do I get for delivering it?"

Graden's jaw dropped. "What do you want?" he asked weakly.

Anne's grin got wider. She took her feet off the desk and leaned forward to rest her elbows on it. "Make a pact with me. I deliver that to your Captain, and later, when I figure it out, you do a favor for me. Always remember, Graden, I can take you out of that seat as fast as I got you into it." She snapped up the packets and said, "See you later." She winked and disappeared.

After she left, Graden was sure he'd just made a big mistake. He send out an urgent message to ask Lisa Teel to come see him.

.

Bob got Tenya calmed down. He went in to talk to Joan, Tenya decided to go for a swim. Of course she stripped down and left her clothes on the beach.

Joan was starting to show already, as was Malinara. She also liked it when he rubbed her baby bump. Relaxing on the couch, she explained her schedule. "Not much is happening before February. Cameron said I will be due the last week of February or the first week of March. Malinara's due to pop around the beginning of April. She had nanites but not the builder ones. Me and Allie might miss it because we're due at the Acoustics training center April 3rd."

"I can handle Malinara's birth," he assured her.

"The middle of April that draco ship is due in. Dad told me it's scheduled to land up at the small lake airport so we have good control over it. There's a good chance Allie and I won't be able to be there, but the Sheriff and Anne, JJ, Kaede, Sophie, Sonya, Moms and Dad and about 50 terminators will be. Jackie is coming too. Tenya will not be getting on that ship if she doesn't want to go."

"Tenya's changing her tune on that," Bob explained. "She just cried her eyes out on the porch because she feels she must go. Not because she wants to, but to protect any of us from getting hurt."

"Very noble of her, but not needed," Joan said.

"I tried to tell her that, but she's insisting she had to keep any of us, or those dracos from getting hurt."

Joan snorted and cast him a crooked grin. "You know this is almost like bringing those slaves back with you. Except for the sex."

"Joan, she's a kid who needs help."

"She's also a young lady who sees you as her savior. Never forget that."

"I know," Bob said with a sigh.

"You're just a woman attractor, Bob," Joan said and elbowed him.

"Am not. I just end up in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"You're a sex magnet." Joan said and giggled.

He knew she was picking on him. "At least I was able to attract you." They kissed.

.

Tenya went to school and did things with her family, savoring every moment she had left with them. They were getting ready for Christmas. That ship was coming in on April 3rd. December was about over except for the Christmas holiday. She had three good month left here, and she was doing her best to remember every second of it. Honestly, it felt like that was all the life left she'd have. She equated getting on that ship to leave as dying.

The idea of exchanging presents was new to Tenya. She got that one bought a gift for others special to them, then eap them up and hid them until the day they all met around the tree they'd all put up, they people opened the presents they'd gotten.

This was a really strange thing to do. Tenya found it was fun shopping and figuring out to get other people. She went out with Joan, then later with Allison to get Joan's present. She also found this was a form of showing people you cared for them. Tenya also found she could spend her allowance money she'd been collecting for helping with chores and jobs every day.

Going up to Dripping Springs with Allison, Tenya had yet to figure out what to get Robert and Malinara. Joan was easy, she needed a couple new bras, a small towel for her football uniform, and new uniform socks. Ellen wasn't hard either, she got one new battery for her power chair, Bob had gotten the other one.

One thing did surprise Tenya. While humans she'd met in other places and Patricia, were shocked at her appearance, The people they met here only asked if she lived in Driftwood. Once they found out where she lived, they commented on her smooth skin and pretty yellow eyes. No one screamed, ran or avoided her. If anything they welcomed her. She was happy they accepted her.

In a gifts store, Tenya looked over the different things they had from the silly to the very romantic. She found a t-shirt for Malinara that had flames on it stating 'I'm a flamer!'. She showed it to Allison, Allison laughed. Allison also got Malinara a set of bedroom slippers that had flames on the sides.

Looking at the various music boxes and 'singing' gifts, Tenya noted one of a dark skinned doll sitting on a chair backwards above the small box. The writing in the lid read : I will always love you. She pushed play to see what the song was.

The song was about the woman leaving reluctantly, but swearing her forever love and remembering her guy would always remain with her.

It was perfect! The song was so sweet and sad, and fit Tenya so perfectly, she began to weep.

Allison came up beside her. "Beautiful, isn't it?" she asked.

Tenya nodded. "It feels like it was meant for me. Even after I'm taken away, I will always remember all of you, especially Robert."

Allison have her a one armed hug. "That is yet to be seen. How about if you get that in case you do go, but get something else for him to put under the tree?"

Tenya nodded. After all, this song was about leaving a lover. She wasn't ready to leave quite yet. She still had three months to go.

Allison giggled and showed Tenya a sweatshirt. It read : I have more kids than IQ points!

It was a funny shirt and went with the other presents Tenya had gotten.

When Christmas day came they had breakfast then gathered around the tree to open presents. Tenya was surprised she got so many! One cylindrical one was from JJ and his family. She opened it to find it was a bottle of grape juice.

"Gee, thanks Tenya!" Malinara said, and showed everyone her 'flamer' shirt.

Of course the one Malinara gave her, Tenya opened up to find a shirt claiming : 'Yes, I am a lounge lizard'. She laughed at it.

It was fun opening presents and seeing reactions. It was a happy morning. Tenya was even allowed to drink her grape juice, which she shared with everyone.

Around noon, they had a snacking lunch that the alligators came in and shared with them. It was getting cool outside and the alligators were spending more time inside in their pool in the corner. Tenya had learned how to feed the alligators and keep her hands away from their mouths.

Sitting in the couch with an alligator on her lap, Enel showed her how to pet under their long snout. They liked that. The one on her fell asleep. With the joy of the day and warmed by grape juice, and wearing her 'I am a lounge lizard' t-shirt, Tenya truly felt like this was home now. She was content and wanted to stay here forever.

The alligator got down and went over to the pool. Seeing Robert in an easy chair, Tenya got up and determined there was enough room for her. She sat with her legs over his and snuggled up to him. "Pet me?" she asked.

He did, one arm around her back, the other petted her leg.

Let's see if we can fit three," Malinara in her 'flamer' shirt said. She got on Robert's other side. Now he had an arm around each of them. Tenya didn't mind Malinara's legs over hers. Her hero was holding her. She was so happy she wanted to cry. This was another day to cherish and remember forever.

"Girl magnet Bob," Joan said with a silly grin nearby in her own chair.

"Just cursed I guess," Bob quipped back.

.

Lisa Teel wasn't happy about a squad or dracos coming to tell her that their emperor wanted to see her as fast as possible. Thinking there was something terribly wrong in the draco empire, she decided to go to see if there was something he could help with.

Getting to the planet with her escort, she was announced and even though it was late in the day, she was ushered into the emperor's private rooms. Her escort stayed outside. Upon him getting up from his stuffed chair, she recognized this draco.

"Graden?" she asked.

"Yes, please come sit," he said, moving over to a table. She sat across from him. Looking at her intently, he said, "I found the Anne that Tenya said took her to Earth." He then explained he thought Anne was a Goddess, and he prayed to her. She came and laughed heartily at him, then froze him in place and read his mind, finding out the emperor wanted Tenya retrieved and killed so her mother's blood line would be removed. With a huff, he added, "Then the emperor was killed and being the next in line, I became emperor."

"Did you remove that nasty order to have an innocent child killed?" She asked.

"I did. I was writing her pardon when Anne came to see me. She just appeared in my office," he explained. "I did not want a confrontation when the ship headed for Earth arrived. To do so, I begged Anne to take the pardon, and a copy for the ship's captain so when he got to Earth, he would not attempt to force her to go with him, or kill her. It was only then Anne explained she wasn't a Goddess, but a demon. She agreed to take the documents and ensure Tenya and the Captain got them, in return for me doing her a favor."

Lisa's jaw dropped. "You said this Anne is a demon? Describe her."

"Generally a human shape, but she had these large dark wings, horns curved back on her head, and she's got this long thin tail behind her."

Watching him intently now, Lisa asked, "You agreed to exchange favors with her, knowing she's a demon?"

"She didn't use those words, but that is correct?"

Leaning closer, she asked, "What words did she use to describe this exchange?"

"She called it a pact…"

"A pact!" Lisa cried. "You made a pact with a demon! What was it you were to do for her?"

Graden winced. "She hasn't said yet."

Lisa gaped at him then face planted. "You utter fool!" she grumbled.

"I don't understand."

Lisa pulled her face up enough to look a him. "She could ask anything of you and now you are bound to fulfill this favor she wants! What if she asked you to hand over your entire empire to her?"

"I would not comply," he stated.

Lisa all but shouted," YOU. HAVE. NO. CHOICE! A pact is not just an agreement. A Pact is a vow the Gods themselves take note of. If you do not fulfill your side of the pact, she OWNS you! She could sent you straight to the abyss, make you her puppet, anything she wants to do with you!"

Graden's jaw dropped. "How do I stop it?"

"You can't. She already took those documents to Earth like you wanted so now you must do what she wants, and you don't even know what it is she wants!" Lisa said firmly. "You my dear emperor, are at the mercy of a demon. I bet she made sure you got into the emperor's seat, didn't she?"

Graden thought for a moment then said, "She did."

Lisa explained, "Demons can be very sly and crafty. Act pleasant and be your friend until they get you where they want you. It appears this Anne has done just that."

"Can I pray to a real god for help?" Graden asked.

Lisa shook her head. "No God will listen. You chose your side. You've made a pact with a demon." she stated.

"What do I do?" he asked weakly.

"There is nothing you can do. You are bound to do whatever favor this Anne wants."

"There must be something you can do to help," he pleaded.

Lisa held her hands up in surrender. "I will not, in any way get involved with a demon. You have made a very bad mistake, and now you must see it through." she got up and headed for the door. She paused briefly to look back at him and said, "You have brought this on yourself, and no one can help you."

Graden sat staring at nothing as she left. What had he done?

.