Sister Katherine Read online

  Simdow wished he was close enough to touch the Nobek. “Don’t be, Miv. I don’t want her that way either.”

  Vadef’s tone was careful as he joined in the conversation. “Nor I. It is my understanding that many of the women will be coerced, mostly through the bite, to gain their acceptance.”

  Miv’s fists clenched. He shuddered all over with barely restrained fury.

  Simdow saw that Katherine watched them with concern, especially Miv. She didn’t understand a word they said, but she could read emotions perfectly well. Simdow kept his voice even. “The decision to gain the women’s compliance with the bite was not made lightly, my Nobek. There is a reason for it.”

  “What reason would that be?”

  Vadef put a hand on Miv’s arm. “Many Earther women have been brainwashed to despise their own bodies simply for being female. The government, religion, and a large number of men on their planet treat them as lesser beings.”

  Miv’s lip curled. “An attitude I have never understood. Females are the lifebringers after all.” He looked over at Katherine. Seeing her wide eyes on him tempered his anger. All at once his rage was gone, and he looked at her with an expression of open worship.

  She blinked at him, her mouth falling open. Some of her fear seemed to vaporize in the strength of his overt reverence. She stopped shaking, which afforded Simdow some relief.

  Simdow told his Nobek, “The Earther women have to be re-educated to accept that they are the source of all. Kalquor’s solution is to make them enjoy the attention of men and to understand we hold them in high esteem. They hope to force them to learn they are due all the pleasure we men can give them.”

  Now that he was aware he had Katherine’s attention Miv kept his tone mild, though his words told Simdow of his continued angst. “I don’t like it. The effects of our venom might lower their defenses and allow them to get past their learned abhorrence of sex, but it is too close to coercion for my conscience.”

  Simdow nodded. “I know. That’s why we are going to take a different route with our own Matara.”

  Miv’s gaze flickered to his face. There was a note of desperation in his eyes, and Simdow’s heart ached for his proud and fierce clanmate who had known such terrible pain. “You swear it, my Dramok? You will be careful with her?”

  “We all will. There will be no shortcuts taken with this lovely. Even so, you must be ready for her to fight us or cry at times, much as she already has. We will push her comfort levels from time to time, because it is unavoidable. However, I promise we will proceed with great care so that she is as little traumatized as possible. So that she learns she has nothing to fear from us.”

  Miv said, “Thank you, my Dramok.” The relief on his face heartened Simdow. His Nobek trusted him, and it meant much to the clan leader.

  Simdow turned to their Imdiko. “Vadef, when we get to the ship I’d like you to arrange a consultation with Dr. Degorsk. Make him aware we don’t wish to follow the recommended protocols with this one’s re-education and get his input on how best to proceed.”

  The Imdiko smiled and nodded. He also looked much consoled. “I will.”

  Simdow noted that as their emotions eased, Katherine’s did as well. She still looked quite upset but not nearly as petrified. Slowly, carefully so as to not make her panic, he brushed a lock of her curly golden hair back from her face. She flinched at his touch but didn’t recoil. Her eyes met his and he smiled at her. She bit her lip and didn’t return the smile. She also didn’t cry. He hoped that was a good sign.

  He told her, “There is no need to be afraid, my beauty. You will not come to harm.”

  Katherine didn’t speak. She simply continued to stare at him, the look she gave him telling Simdow she didn’t believe him. That she still feared him. He restrained a sigh and reminded himself that there might be a day when her gaze would be filled with warmth instead. As far as he was concerned, that day would not come soon enough.

  Chapter 5

  Katherine walked the corridors of the alien ship between Simdow and Vadef. Miv followed close behind. The only other space-going vessel she’d ever been on was the transport that had taken her from Earth to Europa. The first half hour of that flight had been through the violent Bermuda Triangle wormhole that lay on the other side of Earth’s defense grid. There had been much bumping and lurching through that unstable passage, and Katherine had wondered if the transport would get through it in one piece. The transport had been double-hulled with solid buffering systems, however. Other than nausea, Katherine had come through the ride unscathed.

  Following that had been a dull two days in a cabin with a small bunk and a table. Her meals had been delivered via a vacuum system that ran from the kitchen. Lonely and isolated, Katherine had been relieved to reach the place of her exile.

  The transport had not been fancy, merely a small ship used for short jaunts. The halls had been unrelieved gray and white metal, with a softer but still firm floor that thudded loudly no matter how gently one tried to step. The lights had been bald and bright, almost painfully so. It had been a stark and ugly ship.

  The Kalquorian spyship was utilitarian too, but its lines were more graceful. The flooring beneath Katherine’s feet was springier and cushioned so that everyone’s steps were muffled. She couldn’t even hear Miv, spurring her to peek back at him from time to time to check that he was still there. The lighting that emitted from the glowing wall panels was softer too, almost intimate. Katherine had heard Kalquorians could see in near dark, so it was no surprise the ship’s illumination was kept dimmer than she was used to.

  As they passed other Kalquorians in the corridor, Katherine noted them bowing slightly to Simdow. She supposed it was the alien version of the military salute. However, she wasn’t quite sure what to make of it when they bowed to her as well. Was it because she was with their first officer? If so, why didn’t they bow to Miv and Vadef?

  Her brain posed a lot of questions, but not enough to distract her from what lay ahead. Too soon, the men stopped her before a door. It opened, and they ushered her through to their private quarters.

  It was a space much larger than her cell in the convent, but it didn’t allow much room for three men. A desk with a computer sat in the corner. A few shelves with small objects, probably personal mementos, ranged across the walls. Katherine couldn’t take in the details however. Not when she saw the huge bed that filled most of the space.

  All the terror of her captivity crashed down on her at that moment. This was where she would be made to breed with the aliens. Where she would accept their sinful flesh inside her own. Where they would lay her down naked and hurt her as they sought to breathe new life into their dying empire.

  Katherine stood and stared at the billowing cloud of linens on the humongous stretch of bed. It looked soft and welcoming, as if to lure her gladly into its horrid trap. She didn’t dare breathe or move. She thought if she did, the world around her would disintegrate.

  Simdow waved towards the end of the massive bed. “Sit, my Matara.”

  The Kalquorian who wasn’t much taller than herself asked, “Do you need something to eat or drink? Water? Perhaps a juice?”

  Katherine looked at them. How could they look so open and friendly when they had such terrible things in store for her? How could they behave as if this was natural and good?

  A passage from the earliest stories of the bible came to her: When you go to war against your enemies and God sees fit to deliver them into your hands as captives and you see a woman you wish to make your wife, bring her home to your house. Go in unto her, be her husband, and she shall be your wife.

  Her own religion’s teachings made her the property of the Kalquorians. In the occasional uprisings that occurred on Earth every few decades, soldiers sometimes made use of that passage to bring home foreign wives, women stolen as war prizes from their traitorous fathers and husbands. Katherine had disagreed silently with the practice, but it was often upheld in the courts. The Church condoned i
t as just punishment for betrayal.

  Apparently, Kalquorians held the same beliefs about the women of their enemies. She knew she was theirs, that she had no choice in the matter, but it didn’t make anything better. Her stomach lurched.

  Terror reduced Katherine to the tears of a child as she looked at the men who held her fate in their warrior hands. Her legs gave out beneath her as she burst into sobs.

  “Don’t hurt me. Please don’t hurt me.”

  Miv caught her from behind, his muscled arm a band of iron that kept her from falling. At the same time, Simdow fell to his knees before her, grabbing her hands in his. Vadef frantically stroked her hair, petting her as his face twisted with upset.

  Simdow kissed her tiny fists enveloped in his much larger paws. “No, Matara. We will not hurt you.” As she continued to sob violently, he raised his voice so she could hear him. “I swear it. Katherine, you have nothing to fear from us. Hush, my beauty. Sit down.”

  They moved her to that fearsome bed and made her sit on its edge. Simdow and Vadef settled on either side of her, and Miv knelt at her feet. They patted and petted her, making soft exclamations of reassurance all the while.

  The harsh and scarred features of Miv were gentled by the anguish on his expression. “Don’t be afraid of us, please. We are your protectors, caregivers, and guides. We cannot hurt you or allow anyone else to do so.”

  Katherine blinked tears back, startled by the overt concern on the man’s face. He looked tormented by her fears, nakedly pained by her terror. Could he really be sincere about not harming her? Did he understand that having to lie in sin with him and his clanmates would destroy her very soul?

  Vadef’s quiet voice sounded choked as he said, “We only wish to get to know you. Talk to us, Katherine. Tell us about your work at the convent.”

  She turned to the sweet-faced Imdiko, shocked even more by his invitation to speak. They weren’t going to rape her right away? They weren’t eager to claim the spoils of their conquest?

  Then why was she here in their bedroom?

  She swallowed, hardly believing they weren’t taking their rightful prize. “You want to know – about my faith?”

  Simdow smiled at her, though she thought she saw worry in his strange cat-slitted purple eyes. “We want to know everything about you. How you think, what you believe, what you’ve been told about us – all of it.”

  Vadef added, “First, tell us about your life as a person of faith. I’ve done some research into your religion. You believe in one great deity who sent three holy messengers to your people. Is that true?”

  Katherine stared at them. They watched her intently, as if believing her words would be the most important they’d ever heard. This was part of what she’d visualized in wanting to meet with her race’s enemy. Yes, there had been the less than noble fantasies of having strong arms wrapped around her, but she had wanted to teach the Kalquorians her faith. To discover they were indeed another beautiful creation of her God. That they were all from the some font of love.

  Katherine drew a shuddering breath. “God sent us Jesus, Mohammed, and Moses. They came to save us from ourselves and to lead us in love. Do you have anything similar?”

  Vadef nodded. “Most of our people follow the philosophies of enlightened men whose words are gathered in the Book of Life. Some believe there is a higher consciousness that began us. Many invoke the spirits of their ancestors in hopes they can intercede or guide us. It varies according to the person.”

  Katherine bit her lip. It was important to find common ground in their beliefs rather than the disparities. She needed to discover how God had revealed himself to the Kalquorians so that she could learn from them as well as teach.

  She told the men, “It is similar for us, though there are hard and fast rules laid down by the Church that we are supposed to accept on faith. We are not encouraged so much to think for ourselves, though we have free will.”

  Vadef shifted, moving so he faced her a little more, making himself comfortable. They were like colleagues now, discussing the tenets of what they’d been taught. Katherine felt herself relaxing in the atmosphere of gentle debate.

  The Imdiko’s tone held no judgment. “I have heard that questioning the religious leaders on Earth is viewed as heresy. I must admit, I’m not capable of following others’ views that conflict with mine.”

  Katherine warmed to hear he doubted some of what he’d been told. She had her own issues in that realm. “You don’t get in trouble for that with your religious leaders?”

  Simdow joined in. “On the contrary. We are encouraged by temple priests to listen to our own inner voices. It is said that each individual holds a piece of truth’s puzzle, no matter how badly it seems to fit at the moment.”

  He gave Vadef a nod. “Now that she is calmer and we can enjoy our conversation, can you check into what we discussed earlier?”

  The Imdiko smiled. “Of course.” He told Katherine, “Please keep talking. I can work and listen at the same time.”

  He rose and went to the desk, where he brought up a vid filled with strange, alien characters. He tapped commands into it, but glanced at the rest of them. “Go ahead. I want to know if Katherine is in full agreement with what her superiors tell her or if she has ever seen conflict as I have.”

  Katherine thought how nice it must be to be able to follow their heart without the risk of censure … or worse.

  Still, it was hard to say out loud what had to be kept from those who led her people. With effort, she admitted to the men, “In my heart, I find myself at odds with my Church sometimes.”

  Miv moved his long legs so he sat cross-legged before her on the floor. “In what way?”

  Katherine appreciated that he kept from looming over her. The man was big and intimidating. Having him look up at her instead of the other way around kept fear at bay. She had the feeling he did it on purpose.

  All three seemed determined to not frighten her. Maybe they weren’t going to hurt her after all, just as they’d said.

  Gaining strength from their continued intellectual interest and seeming lack of sexual depravity, Katherine told them, “To me, there tends to be a lot of emphasis on punishment for misdeeds, even small ones. I have great difficulty with that sometimes. My soul says God is loving and that he only wants good for us all, like a father for his children. I think he understands when we make a mistake, because we are not perfect.”

  Simdow grinned. “I like your God, Katherine. He is nothing like what I’ve heard from our information about your society. The way you describe him sounds wonderful.”

  Katherine nodded enthusiastically. “He is. When I think of him, I feel such warmth and goodness inside. I think he made us all, including Kalquorians. That makes you as divine a creation as any man on Earth.”

  Simdow’s eyes widened. “Thank you. That is quite the gift, to see the good in others right away. I hope we never prove you wrong on that.”

  His smile seemed sincere. Katherine realized anew that the clan leader was a very handsome man, especially with that kind look in his eyes. Vadef and Miv possessed attractive features too, though she had to search a little harder for tenderness in the feral Nobek’s face. Still, even for his somewhat brutish appearance, Katherine got a sense of protectiveness from the scarred Miv.

  She still worried they might end up hurting her. Yet they were listening to the message she’d wanted to bring to their kind years earlier in hopes of heading off the war that now raged. They even seemed interested. They didn’t make her think of savage animals at all; certainly not like the Church and government had portrayed them.

  Perhaps God did see fit to answer my prayers. Maybe in some small way I can make a difference in the conflict between our people. They don’t seem evil. Not in the least.

  Katherine even thought them rather endearing with their clumsy but tender treatment of her.

  * * * *

  Simdow was relieved to see Katherine settling down. She relaxed with them, not s
eeing them as imminent rapists any longer. Her face was too thin and shadowed, but as her tension eased enough to let her manage a smile, she became the remarkably lovely creature in the vid still Vadef had sent him.

  His Imdiko abruptly turned away from the computer. Vadef gave Katherine an apologetic look. “Matara, I must beg your pardon for being rude. However, I have sensitive information to share with my clanmates that requires me to speak our language.”

  “Is it about the children?” she asked. She tensed next to Simdow.

  Simdow warmed to hear her concern for the little ones. Her interactions with the younglings down on the colony had made his mind up as to the rightness of clanning her. She was already a mother in soul if not body. He knew for a fact he wanted her for the childbearer of his clan’s children.

  Vadef shook his head at her. “No, nothing about your little ones. If there was any concern to do with them, I would do my best to include you in the conversation. It was obvious how much they mean to you and you to them.”

  Katherine relaxed again. “Oh. Thank you for considering my feelings. They are my life, in all honesty.”

  Vadef’s sweet face warmed. “I could tell. I know you probably don’t believe me, but your opinion means quite a lot to us.”

  Simdow was quick to agree. “We don’t wish you to feel as if you are not uppermost in our thoughts.”

  Katherine gave him a skeptical look, but she said nothing. She might have calmed down, but she was still wary of them.

  Simdow wanted to know what Vadef had discovered. In Kalquorian he asked, “What is your report, my Imdiko?”

  “I have submitted our concerns to Dr. Degorsk. He has sent a response saying he understands our reluctance in dealing too forcefully with our Matara, especially given Miv’s past experience. Since he is unfamiliar with our lifebringer and her history, however, he doesn’t have a clear answer as to how to handle our situation. He needs more information.”

  “Which we don’t really have,” Simdow sighed.

  Vadef nodded. “He knows. He asks that we get back to him when we learn more about her.”