It had taken Taulan approximately a week to realize what was happening on his ship. His baby girl, young Lorrasyh, had begun randomly setting fire to supporting structures wherever she traveled. No one could blame him for being distracted, but with warriors goo-fhing off and the ship being randomly set on fire, it was more than the third fleet could take.
Penelope had taken to screaming in a loud, shrill tone every time Lorrasyh set something on fire. When the ship’s AI drenched the child with the sprinkler systems and made her cry, the child’s human mother, Lana, had argued with Penelope. Eventually the family headed down to Kouvai Nihon for good when Penelope began randomly setting off fire extinguishers whenever Lorrasyh was near essential systems.
Whelon finally reached the med bay, the area quiet and nearly empty at this time of morning. He nodded to a couple of healing warriors, Preor who would hopefully be healing masters themselves one day. Some had been up all night tending the few patients left over from the scale pox incident, and Whelon was proud to see they treated the patients with utmost care, even if they themselves were exhausted.
He sat at one of the ship’s terminals and began his inventory of the medicines currently being manufactured. With Dawn’s assistance in growing necessary plants, Grace and Carla had been working nonstop to process the medicines, only slowing over the last few weeks as their pregnancies became obvious. Grace and Carla were only a few months along, but they were taking it easy and he and Primary Healer Yazen were making sure they rested as needed.
All the medicines in the world wouldn’t help the Preor if they compromised the mates or the dragonlets. Whelon felt a fierce satisfaction when he thought about Lana’s babies, even if Lorrasyh was a complete nightmare. The Preor would go on. Every hope they had pinned on the Earth breeding program would be realized.
Just not for me.
Like all Preor, he had hoped he would find a mate, almost certain of the eventuality. Yet, as days turned into months and he watched others find their matches, he realized his hope might be in vain. He didn’t mingle with the humans often enough, and he detested the what the humans called “cattle calls” at Preor Choosing Station Tau. He simply refused to attend them—any of them.
A noisy group of Preor strode down the hall outside the med bay—visible through the windows—all carrying tools and obviously heading for the command deck to make needed repairs. He grinned and shook his head. It was incredible that three young warriors were needed to replace Vende. Two Preor warriors were on the work roster to replace War Master Taulan, and it was a similar story for all the other primary warriors and masters who had discovered their mates on Earth.
The number of warriors necessary to man the integral positions was immaterial. All that mattered was that the ship ran smoothly once more. Whelon looked over his med bay to check everyone was working and waved to Yazen when he caught the male’s gaze. Yazen nodded in response and proceeded to care for his patients. There was a deep silence hiding between every movement and word, a comforting lull that existed in between the soft noises of Preor moving throughout the space. This was what the ship had been like before they arrived on Earth.
Quiet, organized, and peaceful. It was how it should be. A bit of chaos and celebration was great, but every day? Unnecessary.
“You go to the party and then you go home. You don’t live there,” he muttered the human saying.
“What’s that Whelon?” Penelope said cheerfully.
“I was enjoying the silence, Penelope.”
“Well, like it or not, it’s going to get noisy.”
“Why is that?” he asked in exasperation.
“They require your presence at Preor Tower.”
“Why?” He frowned, baffled by the request. “Isn’t Healing Master Chashan present?”
“Yes, but he wants you to assist him. Melissa is almost full term and Jarek is a nightmare. Also, Delany and Ellie might have complications with their births because of their past physical issues.”
Whelon thought that was a very delicate way of putting it. Surprising coming from Penelope since delicacy was not one of her strong suits. Those women had practically had their lives destroyed by medical practices that should have be outlawed. He was angry enough to eat those responsible for the females’ troubles. Or burn them to a crisp with his dragon’s fire. Any healer should know to never to do harm.
“How far along in their gestation are they?”
“Only a few months, but Chashan has learned of the human practice of ‘second opinions’ and requests another Healing Master to review their cases. He doesn’t want any mistakes. Lily is in her first month and doing well but she also has physical difficulties that may worsen as time passes.”
“Hmmm…” Whelon pinched his lip as he fell into deep thought. Blending human and Preor DNA was difficult enough without the women being compromised!
“How are Hannah and Dawn?”
“We don’t know about Dawn yet. She’s been running around with Heart Master Khaza. Vende chases after them both. He seems to have forgotten about me completely.”
Whelon fought to suppress his smile. Penelope sounded as if she pouted. “And Hannah?”
“She’s doing great. She’s never been enhanced or had surgery of any kind. She has a very healthy pregnancy and seeded with Brukr almost immediately.”
“There may still be complications. You only breed your female every other year.” he murmured thoughtfully.
“I’m sure Hannah will appreciate being compared to a farm animal.”
“What? I did not compare her to a herd beast.”
Penelope giggled, a smattering
