The Siren Scent Pt. 02

"But you did not kidnap the Salician senator's daughter; instead you, plus Lamia, fled to Frontier 4, stealing a Confederation vessel in the process. Piracy is a capital crime, of course. But your actions forced Gunderson to track you down in order to cover up his plot. And once he found you, he sent a senior operative undercover, accompanied by an elite assassin. Yet the three of you (she added Lamia to her count) managed to subvert and turn Kayla, and you captured the operative Henderson.

"But that wasn't the end of your activities. You proceeded to return to Terra aboard the pirated vessel and attempt to kidnap Gunderson." She looked coldly at Diego. "As the captain well knows, entering Terra's atmosphere without proper authorization is a crime, not to mention kidnapping the Terran agent Henderson. But, once again, both crimes were committed in your efforts to prove your own innocence."

She began to pace back and forth. "Your quixotic little plan was doomed to fail. Yet somehow you managed to succeed in uncovering Gunderson's treachery and, thanks to Kayla, enabling us to avoid a trial for treason." She turned to the assassin. "And for the record, the recording clearly shows that your actions were in self-defense and thus fully justified, if extremely messy."

She looked around to stare at the whole group. "On top of that, you somehow managed not only to thwart a Balagan plot but also to dispatch the Balagan Hafnar in combat -- with a little equine assistance. Because you did so, we were able to seize the Balagan's spacecraft, and Confederation scientists are in the process of analyzing how it was able to penetrate our defenses so effectively."

Now she folded her arms. "The truth is, you four people are no small embarrassment to us. You have committed a significant number of non-trivial crimes over an extended period of time. Yet without your actions, a traitorous plot between a mole at the top of our Intelligence Service and the Balagans might very well have succeeded. Due to your intervention, we have prevented a diplomatic catastrophe, rolled up a cadre of turncoats and gained invaluable military intelligence. In short, you are simultaneously heroes and a major embarrassment to the Fleet and the Confederation.

"Frankly, the best thing that could happen is for all of you to disappear." She saw the looks exchanged and hastened on. "I don't mean that in any barbarous sense; merely that your continued presence here will inevitably entail embarrassing questions we'd rather not answer. Accordingly, we're going to repatriate you to wherever you'd like to go, as long as it's very far from Terra. You can tell us after the meeting and we'll try to make that happen as soon as possible.

"Now, any questions?"

Before anyone else could speak, Colin was on his feet. "Is there going to be any trouble with Salicia about Lamia?" Seeing the woman's confusion, he hurried on, "I mean, she is from Salicia, and didn't have permission to leave, and . . ."

The woman shook her head dismissively. "I don't understand your question. Lamia is a citizen of the Terran Confederation. As such she has the right to travel anywhere within the Confederation she chooses."

Colin quickly sat down, ignoring the questioning look from his wife. That Sheba! She made up that whole story just to get at me one more time.

"Very well, if there are no other questions, I'll thank you one more time for your service to the Confederation." She gave a wry grin. "And if we in Intelligence never see or hear from you again, that will be fine with all of us." With that she left and the four friends crowded around talking excitedly.

"What are your plans, Diego?" Colin asked. "Me and Lamia are headed back to Frontier 4. After all we've been through, running the Dancing Harlequin is going to seem like a vacation to us."

The former captain smiled. "There's no way they're going to let me back in the Fleet, so I'm also going back to Frontier 4 to restart my trading company. In fact, I've got a big order to deliver, so that's my first priority. Listen, if you get tired of running a saloon, you ought to think about joining me."

While the two continued talking, Lamia looked around for Kayla and saw her leaving the room. She slipped away and hurried after her.

Later that night, Colin and Lamia were allowed to sleep in the same room. Their love-making was a mixture of urgent and tender, a celebration of their happiness and their relief at survival.

As they lay together afterwards, Lamia propped herself up on one elbow and looked solemnly at her husband. "There's something I need to talk to you about, Colin," she said in a serious tone. Instantly he was flooded with fear that she had somehow found out about Sheba. He was wrong.

"When we go back to Frontier 4," she told him solemnly, "Kayla is going to come with us."

"Oh," he said, relieved, "I wondered what her plans were. Anyway, that's fine with me. What is she going to do there?"

A smile flitted over Lamia's lips. "She's going to be your wife."

"What! I don't understand." New fear flooded over him. "Is something wrong . . ."

She pressed her finger to his lips to silence him. "Don't worry, I'm not going away. But Kayla loves you and needs you just like I do. It would be cruel to keep her apart from you."

He shook his head in confusion, trying to comprehend what his wife was saying. "But . . ."

"And there's another reason, Babe. Kayla is pregnant."

He stared at her open-mouthed. "You know that after all the modifications they made to me, I can't get pregnant," she explained. "This way we can have a family after all."

He still couldn't quite grasp what was happening.

She gave him a smile full of promise, then hopped out of bed and hurried over to the door. When she opened it, Kayla shyly stepped inside. Lamia put her arm around the woman's waist and led her over to the bed.

"Now, husband of mine, you have only one more thing to figure out: how to keep both your wives satisfied."