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“That continues to explain things. You are a mystery, Reem.”

“Gee. Thanks. This isn’t creepy at all.” She glanced at him.

He shrugged and opened the restoration unit. It wasn’t just for repairs. The cushions were deliberately arranged to support her arms and legs, and it looked comfortable.

“In you go.” He helped her get settled. “Hydration and repair systems will be connected via injection. You will be sedated before that begins.”

“Okay. So, a few weeks?”

“Three to be precise.”

“Okay. Here we go.” She leaned her head back, and the unit closed around her. The light was soft, she heard the hiss of gas, and she was under.

* * * *

S age asked, “Is she really part Hmrain?”

Ra put some food on a plate and carried it for Harwin. “The designers have touched her genes. Who is in her genome is lost to the ages. She doesn’t have a mark... yet.”

Harwin blinked. “She’s getting a mark?”

“Her other nature is being pulled forward to strengthen her. A mark is likely.” He smiled and helped her to a low table, setting her second plate in front of her.

“Why do you keep trying to feed me?”

He shrugged. “She’s not the only one with a new mark.”

She stared at him and then slowly looked down at her bare abdomen. She was wearing her belt high, so she pried it back and looked down at her belly, seeing the small mark that was definitely new.

Harwin looked at him, and then she burst into tears. Ra came around and soothed her. “I thought you would be happy.”

“I am. I just want Kris to share this with me. She hasn’t been answering her coms this week.”

He rubbed her back. “I am sure they are just on a trade mission.”

Kris’s voice sounded, “Or maybe Essan was grabby, and we had to wait until he took the edge off.”

Harwin shrieked and ran over to her friend. Kris was taller than she had been and sporting serpentine scales across her cheekbones.

Harwin grabbed her and spun her around. They were both laughing, and Harwin said, “Well, at least you are being conservative with fabric.”

“And you are being weighed down with gold. What’s your point?” Kris was beaming.

“That is a lot of trouble in those two bodies.” Yorness grinned. “Looking good, Harwin. Archaeology suits you.”

Harwin grinned. “I feel I should say something about polishing old relics, but I can feel him right behind me.”

Kris covered her mouth and hissed softly.

A scaly Hmrain walked in behind her and slid his hand around her waist under the fabric panel. Kris sighed. “Harwin, this is Essan.”

“The living statue with his hand on my ass is Ra. Ra, Kris.”

Kris grinned. “Essan, this is Harwin. I am guessing you know Ra.”

Essan chuckled. “I do indeed. Greetings, Ancient Ra.”

They clasped forearms, and Harwin laughed at the very masculine display.

Yorness chuckled. “Your station is very congested right now, Lord Ra.”

“Is it?”

“Well, in addition to Zell’s warship and Essan’s ship, there is a third armoured cruiser at the station.”

Ra chuckled, and Harwin felt it. “Oh, good. He’s here.”

Harwin asked, “Who?”

“Wenvari. He has finally left his greenhouse, and it is because of his companion, Reem.”

Essan smiled. “Is he coming down?”

“No. He has to run his world now that his comptroller is being repaired. He will be busy for a few weeks.”

“What happened to his comptroller?”

“She’s in a repair unit. She has genes touched by the designers and wing scars on her back.”

Essan’s eyes widened. “You are joking.”

“I am not. They also dumped additional nanites on her at one of the experimental stations.”

“How badly was she injured?” Essan asked politely.

“If she were just human, she would have been very dead. I will show you a recording of the memory projection but not when we have a meal waiting.”

Zell and Sage were talking with the primal humans. Den and Addy were standing close, and they spoke of the large quantity of humans on Aten, with plans for more to come.

Harwin looked at the three Hmrain in the space and snorted. She returned to the table and sat, continuing her meal.

Kris came over with a plate. “You are eating like the plate owes you money.”

“I am eating this so that Ra won’t find something that he thinks I will like more. I am about to have an increase in girth.”

“From eating?”

“Well, not from swallowing.”

“Ohmygod, you’re pregnant!”

“Don’t pray in this temple. He’s always listening.”

Kris covered her mouth, looking at Ra. He was looking back and grinning.

Harwin chuckled. “He’s being polite because we have Hmrain guests, but I am confident that he’s wanting to investigate the new mark as soon as he can.”

“Uh-huh. So, tell me about this other Terran.”

“Oh, Reem. Yeah, she has quite the story.” Harwin told her what they had learned while she finished both plates.

Ra was watching, and when he looked at the plates, he started for the buffet.

Harwin watched, and when he picked up a plate, she clapped her hands, and the plate fell into two pieces. Ra whirled and raised his brows. “What was that, Harwin?”

“I am full, and I know you aren’t hungry.” She smirked.

“You were confident you wouldn’t miss?”

“Of course not. I didn’t.” She put her hand on her belly. “You didn’t.”

He paused and grinned, moving toward her with speed, catching her up and heading for their quarters.

* * * *

K ris looked at Essan . “Don’t you even think about it. You already did your version of the same thing when we got to the station.”

Essan chuckled and kept a hand on her back. “You are right. I did.”

Yorness smiled. “So, there will be a Hmrain baby boom soon?”

“Eleven to thirteen months, depending on the father,” Kris muttered.

Essan kissed her temple. “I will be with you every step of the way.”

“Yeesh, talk about exhausting.”

Yorness said, “Now, Nana Kris, you are just a little grumpy because you were caught by surprise.”

“Surprise, expecting it, doesn’t matter. He likes me reckless or shy.”

Essan laughed and stroked his hand down her back. “You aren’t wrong.”

“Found some new scales?”

He hissed softly, “Yes, and I will greet them properly as soon as our hosts return and show us where our guestroom is.”

She chuckled. “If you get desperate, we can always go and defile the shuttle.”

His soft hissing against her neck made her consider the shuttle option. The flicking of his forked tongue had caught her focus.

He paused. “It seems my brother wishes to speak to me.”

He abandoned her and went to talk to Zell. Kris looked to Yorness. “Was he always that much of a twit?”

“No, Nana, I am pretty sure that it’s a recent development. I don’t know how he was with my ancestor, but there are no records of him playing tag with her.”

Sage wandered over and sat with them. “Well, it looks like we have lost our playmates.”

Kris chuckled. “Do you mean Harwin or Zell?”

Sage wrinkled her nose. “No comment.”

Yorness laughed.

They got some more snacks, the primal Terrans gathered around, they made a pillow fort, and had a pre-sleepover chat.

Kris sat up after Sage mentioned a similar sleepover on Bailey’s ship surrounded by Earth trees. The other ladies sat up, and Kris asked, “What kind of trees?”

“Uh, cacao and coffee. I think she had some tea bushes. Bailey believes that some of our traditions need to be restarted on other worlds.”

Kris asked, “Where is she now?”

“Um, probably under Symo? His ship was heading home.” She smiled. “We are going to test the plants we got in Zell’s system.”

Kris paused, “Is Zell’s ship a transport or—”

“Warship.”

“Dang.”

Sage said, “You are really getting into the whole bossy consort thing, huh?”

“It has its moments. What about you?”

“I got companion training, so I can pour a steady cup of tea in a hurricane.”

Kris frowned. “But you are a consort.”

“Yup. Paperwork is filed and everything.”

Jasmine asked, “What is the difference?”

Sage snorted. “Foreplay and aftercare. A companion contract is mostly about being an outlet, not a partner.”

Kris nodded. “That sounds like it sucks.”

“Minimal sucking.”

They giggled, and Jasmine stopped, looking up at the stone ceiling. “Do you think she’s okay?”

Kris looked up. “Reem? If she’s in one of Ra’s rebuild units, she’s fine. He can bring the dead back with one of those things.”

Jasmine ran her hand over her hair. “I think that has already happened once. How many times can she come back and still be herself?”

The ladies went quiet, and their gazes moved up to the level where Reem was in a pod somewhere.

Kris took her hand and held it. “She’ll be fine. She flew a shuttle with no training, and we would have considered her clinically dead, but I was reminded of the images of people who had gotten shot or had bolts or nails in their brains, but they were up and talking.”

Jasmine nodded. “If anyone has to do things weird, it’s Reem.”

Yorness took her hand. “Tell us about her.”

Kris saw Jasmine look at the women around her, and she started to tell them all about her cousin. Zell and Essan came close, and they listened to the story of a woman who had faced death time and again, and when she rose from the ashes, she pulled others with her.