Awakened by the Giant Page 11

  She still had no strength in her hands or fingers, so picking up the little branthas was out of the question. But she could at least pet them, so she sat down in the middle of their enclosure and did exactly that.

  By taking off the gloves and presenting her with the frisky, cuddly branthas, Maddy thought Calden was probably just trying to take her mind off the incident that had almost taken place at the enzyme baths. There had been a really scary moment when the big Kindred’s eyes had turned red and he had seemed to get even bigger and more menacing as he prepared to fight the big-mouthed Mentat who kept insisting that she and Calden were “mating” with each other.

  Maddy was fairly certain Calden could have taken him but there was that awful Grack-lor smirking in the corner and if he had joined in, it might not have been such a sure outcome. She’d been glad and relieved when the big Kindred had simply scooped her up and taken her back to his living quarters instead, so they could both get dressed and go to his lab.

  What’s wrong with these jerks anyway? she thought, as she stroked one of the baby branthas gently with her weak right hand. It’s like Calden said—they seem to think women are something to be owned and used and they’re jealous of him—like kids get jealous when one of them has a toy the others want and can’t have.

  She wondered at the differences between them. From what Calden had said, his people—the Kindred—had also had a shortage of females on their home world. But instead of squabbling like spoiled children they had gone out in search of new brides. Why didn’t the Mentats try that instead of being nasty with each other and Calden?

  Well for one thing, it probably doesn’t help that they’re such ugly, scaly bastards with those awful, cawing voices like crows and parrots on steroids, she thought with a shiver. She couldn’t imagine any human women being willing to mate with the Mentats, even if they were sexually compatible—which they thankfully were not.

  Being sexually incompatible didn’t stop you from doing things you probably shouldn’t with Calden, though, whispered the voice of guilt in her head. Maddy felt her cheeks get hot with shame but at the same time, her body burned with the memory of his big hands on her. How was it she could feel so guilty for what she had done and still want to do it again? What was wrong with her?

  One of the branthas—the littlest one—nudged her hand and made a demanding burble like someone trying to talk out of a snorkel. Apparently Maddy had been too caught up in her own thoughts to pay attention to what was important—giving the little creature pets and skritches behind his floppy ears.

  “Oh, sorry,” Maddy told him, smiling. “You know what you look like?” she asked, stroking around the bases of his ears and the back of his neck. “You look like a baby Snuffleupagus. And you’re ridiculously cute—but I guess you know that, don’t you? Hmm, don’t you?”

  She used the soft, soothing voice she naturally fell into when working with animals and the little brantha and his litter mates responded to it just as Earth animals did. Maddy smiled as he made another burbling sound and nudged her hand for more attention. The others crowded around her as well—she was sitting in the middle of their pen, which was enclosed by a fence made of stiff white stuff which looked like cardboard but probably wasn’t. At Maddy’s suggestion, Calden had simulated some balls for the branthas to play with and now she picked one up awkwardly, because her fingers were still so weak, and tossed it to the far side of the enclosure.

  Most of the branthas ran eagerly, chasing the brightly colored object with excited hoots and burbles. But the littlest one stayed, still nudging her hand. In fact, he seemed to sense an opportunity. Now that his litter-mates were preoccupied, he busied himself with climbing into Maddy’s lap and making himself comfortable.

  “Well, just make yourself at home, why don’t you little buddy?” Maddy laughed and stroked the soft little head and neck again.

  The brantha rested his head on her knee and gave a sigh of deep and total contentment that she envied. But then, she often envied animals their uncomplicated lives. She wished she could have the little brantha’s life at the moment—no guilt, no complications, no worries about the future—which she was definitely beginning to have herself. After all, how long could she go on living in a place where most of the residents were hostile towards her? The Mentats all seemed to resent her and only Calden seemed to care for her at all so…

  Her thoughts broke off when her weak but sensitive fingertip found a tiny bump under the brantha’s fur, right at the base of its skull.

  “What’s this, little guy? Some kind of a parasite?”

  She frowned and bent forward, parting the fur with a fingertip to see. Of course there shouldn’t be any parasites. Calden had just grown these little creatures—she assumed from frozen embryos—and the lab was a mostly sterile environment. There couldn’t be any pests or parasites here.

  Sure enough, the lump on the back of the little brantha’s neck wasn’t a parasite—not a tick or a flea burrowing into the skin. But Maddy couldn’t tell what it was. It didn’t seem to be part of the animal’s anatomy. Maybe it was a chip of some kind to monitor the brantha’s vitals or keep track of its location?

  “Here—come here, you guys,” she called to the others in the pack—about five in all—and they all scampered over to her and started begging for attention again, much to the smallest one’s irritation. As Maddy checked the backs of their necks and noted that they did, indeed, all have similar bumps at the base of their skulls, he sat up on Maddy’s knee and bugled his dissatisfaction with the situation angrily. It was almost as though he was trying to claim Maddy as his own, which made her laugh.

  “Take it easy, little guy,” she told him. “Don’t worry—you’re definitely my favorite, little Snuffy.” Which seemed like a good name, considering that he really did look like a miniature version of the giant, hairy Snuffleupagus from Sesame Street.

  “He was always my favorite as well.”

  Calden’s deep voice made her look up and Maddy saw that he was crouching beside the brantha enclosure and looking at the little creatures fondly, though he made no move to try and pet any of them himself.

  “What do you mean ‘was’?” she asked. “I thought you just gestated these embryos earlier this morning? It really is wonderful how you’re able to accelerate their growth by the way,” she added. “We had some artificial gestation tubes aboard the Kennedy that we were going to use with our embryos but they weren’t nearly as fast as yours are.”

  For some reason, Calden was looking uncomfortable.

  “These branthas weren’t grown from embryos that I had in storage,” he said, haltingly. “They were… made from the DNA of the last litter I had been studying.”

  Maddy looked up at him, her eyes wide as this information sank in.

  “You mean they’re clones? You can do that? You can clone things? I mean, we could back on Earth in a very limited capacity but it was usually an expensive and lengthy process and the clones didn’t always survive for very long.”

  “They don’t…” Calden cleared his throat. “They don’t always survive here, either.” He hesitated again. “I would…advise you not to get too attached to them.”

  “Oh no! Are you afraid they’re going to die right away?” Maddy put an arm around Snuffy protectively. “Please say they won’t! Oh Calden, there must be something we can do!”

  “I’m afraid not.” He looked regretful. “You should have several days with them—maybe a standard week at most. But these will almost certainly not live out their natural life span.”

  Maddy felt heartbroken. “Only a week? What is the natural life span of a brantha anyway?”she asked, stroking Snuffy’s fur gently.

  “As far as I can figure, they ought to live at least twenty standard solar years,” he said thoughtfully.

  “About the same as a dog or a cat—maybe little longer,” Maddy murmured to herself. She looked up at him again. “And there’s nothing we can do to help them live longer?”

  He sho
ok his head. “I’m afraid not. From the time I take them out of the nutrient bath to the time of their death, I have only about a standard week to study them. Sometimes a little more or less.”

  “But that’s so sad! It must break your heart!” She remembered the limp brantha corpse she’d seen in his lab the first time she’d been in it. Was Snuffy, still sitting on her knee, the clone of that animal? And how many other clones had there been?

  “It is sad and somewhat painful,” Calden admitted heavily. “But there is nothing I can do about it. I try not to get attached to my specimens but…” His eyes met hers and looked quickly away. “I cannot always help it.”

  “I’m sure you can’t.” Maddy stroked Snuffy again, listening to his contented burbling through his trunk-like nose. She sighed, already feeling blue for the little animal’s eventual fate. “So the nutrient bath is good for growing clones as well as healing things, huh? It must have a really unique chemical composition,” she said, trying to change the topic to something less morose.

  For some reason, Calden looked uncomfortable again.

  “It is…unique to the Mentat station. It was developed here specifically so they could grow biological specimens for study and research purposes.”

  “Well, I’m glad you had it to put me into. Otherwise I probably wouldn’t have survived the crash of the Kennedy,” Maddy remarked.

  Calden’s mouth went tight for a moment, then he seemed to make a pointed effort to relax his features. He took a deep breath and his expression became neutral.

  Poor thing, Maddy thought. He must still be upset about losing the first batch of branthas. What a shame they have such a short life span. I wonder if it’s because they’re clones? She thought about asking him the specifics but he was already upset and she didn’t want to make his pain worse.

  “I guess my guardian angel must have been watching out for me when you found me,” she said instead.

  He frowned. “Guardian angel? What’s that?”

  “Oh, a religious belief from my home world—from Earth,” Maddy explained. “I just feel like God must have been keeping an eye on me—how else would I be the only one who got rescued?” She frowned. “What about you, Calden—do you have any religious beliefs?”

  He shook his head. “My people, the Kindred, worship the Goddess—the Mother of All Life—but I have never been much of a believer.”

  “You worship a goddess, huh?” Maddy gave him an appraising look. “No wonder you’re so protective of women.”

  “We revere all things female.” He nodded gravely. “Though I have never believed in the goddess, I have always believed in the sanctity of female life.” He cleared his throat. “Especially now that I have begun to know you, Madeline. I always knew intellectually that females were special but now I know it here as well.” He pressed one big fist to his heart.

  “Oh, Calden…” Maddy bit her lip, wishing she could hug him or ask him for a hug, as she had at breakfast. But what if he misunderstood her meaning?

  What is your meaning, anyway? whispered the voice of guilt in her head. Do you really just want a hug because you like what he said or are you looking for an excuse to get close to him again?

  Maddy was very much afraid it was the latter and not the former. It was probably better that she was sitting on the floor of the brantha enclosure with Snuffy firmly planted on her knee so she couldn’t grab the big Kindred.

  “I’m glad you’re learning new things from having me around,” she said instead, smiling up at him. “I’m learning from you too.”

  “Oh?” He raised an eyebrow at her. “How so?”

  Maddy looked at him appraisingly.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever met a guy quite like you, Calden. Not just because you’re a different species from me, either—you’re just different. I don’t think I’ve ever met a man who was so innately a gentleman before.”

  “A…gentleman? Do you mean a male who is gentle or—”

  “Not quite—although you certainly are,” Maddy said. “You could break me in half with one hand if you weren’t.” She eyed the big hands in question, resting on the top of the brantha enclosure. “But what I mean by ‘gentleman’ is someone with good manners—someone who treats a woman like a lady—like she’s worthy of respect and care. Does that make more sense?”

  He nodded. “I think so. In that case, I am pleased you find me to be a ‘gentleman.’”

  “You most certainly are.” Maddy smiled at him. Although I haven’t exactly been acting like a lady, she mentally added with a touch of guilt. Not after the way I acted in the steam room with him.

  But even now, despite her guilt, she found herself wanting to do it again—wanting to touch him and feel those big, warm hands on her skin. His topaz eyes seemed to burn into hers and his spicy scent filled her senses. For a moment she wanted him so badly she could scarcely breathe. What was wrong with her? Why did she feel so strongly drawn to the big Kindred?

  At last, as though by mutual consent, they looked away.

  “I have also grown some of the creatures from your home world, using several of the frozen embryos you had aboard your ship for DNA,” Calden said, obviously changing the subject. “Would you be kind enough to come tell me about them?”

  “Oh, sure.” Gently, Maddy dislodged the littlest brantha from her knee. He squeaked and burbled in protest, not wanting to go but she shook her head. “Sorry, Snuffy, I have to go but I promise I’ll be back later to give you more skritches and pets.” She looked up at Calden and held out an arm. “Uh—help me up, will you? My hands are still really weak.”

  “They will be for a while, but I’m pleased with the progress you’ve made,” he told her. “I think from now on you’ll just have to sleep in the gloves and we should see improvement every morning.”

  Ignoring the arm she was offering, he leaned over and lifted her by the waist over the side of the brantha enclosure as easily as though she was a child.

  “Oh!” Maddy exclaimed as he set her gently on her feet. “I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to you just picking me up like that!”

  He frowned. “Would you rather I didn’t?”

  She shook her head shyly.

  “No. Actually, I…kind of like it, I think. I’m just not used to it—that’s all. I’ve never been with a guy who was big enough and strong enough to lift me and carry me all around like you do. Not that we’re, uh, together or anything,” she added quickly, not wanting to give him the wrong impression. “I just mean…well, you know what I mean.”

  “I know.” Calden didn’t seem perturbed by her choice of words, which was good. Maddy didn’t want him thinking that she thought they were in some kind of relationship just because he had rescued her from the remains of her ship and healed her. There did seem to be some kind of attraction between them but there was no point in pursuing it—clearly they could never be together because of their size difference and it wasn’t like she ought to want to be with anyone anyway so soon after Pierce’s death so—

  “…called?”

  “Huh?” Maddy looked up, realizing she had missed his question because her brain had been running in guilty circles.

  “I said, could you please tell me what these specimens are called on your home world?” Calden asked, pointing into a new enclosure near the corner of the large room. In it were a number of fluffy yellow chicks, peeping and cheeping and exploring their new world on shaky legs.

  “Oh, you found the chicken embryos!” Maddy exclaimed. “Aren’t they cute?”

  “Are chickens a domestic animal then? What is their purpose?” Calden asked.

  “Well, they lay eggs and they taste great deep fried.Though I don’t know if I could eat one of these little guys—not after seeing them like this, all cute and fluffy.” She frowned. “Hopefully they’ll live a little longer than the branthas so you can study the complete lifecycle.”

  “Hopefully.” Calden nodded neutrally. “So tell me more…”

  As they talke
d, Calden couldn’t stop the guilty feeling that was growing in his gut.

  Tell her, whispered a little voice in his head. She needs to know she’s a clone! She thinks you only healed her with the nutrient bath—she doesn’t know you grew her a whole new body and awakened her to second life!

  But if he admitted she was a clone, he’d also have to tell Madeline about the self-termination unit implanted in the back of her neck. And that would only upset her.

  No, he decided, better to go to FATHER and get her status as a permanent member of the scientific community here aboard the Mentat station settled first. Once he had FATHER’s permission, he could ask the AI to deactivate the self-termination unit she wore. Only after deactivation could it be safely removed. Otherwise it would be like detonating a bomb inside her body—triggering a blast which could very well blow her entire head off.

  The very thought of that made Calden’s stomach clench like a slick fist and a feeling of possessive protectiveness rose inside him so strongly he could barely breathe.

  Mine, he thought. Mine to cherish, mine to protect. I must get FATHER to deactivate her unit so that I can remove it—I must get it to agree that she can stay here aboard the station with me.

  Of course the Mentats wouldn’t like that—not one bit. But Calden found that he didn’t give a damn. He was beginning to see his colleagues in a whole new light and it wasn’t exactly favorable. He didn’t trust them around Madeline—not even a little.

  He couldn’t help remembering all the stories he had heard—mostly from Grack-lor but from others as well—boasting of the females they had bedded and discarded or even brutalized. Unlike his own people, the Mentats didn’t revere females—they thought of them as a commodity to be owned and bought and sold—a luxury item which was difficult to get due to scarcity but not especially valuable otherwise.