Page 25 of Devin (Warriors of Etlon #5)

Val

V al had never planned a funeral before, and she was glad the others took most of the responsibility for organizing it. It was generally her feet and arms that were put to use, getting things from the replicator and trying to make their “guests” comfortable.

She needed the distraction. Devin had finally stopped pushing her away physically at least. Oh, he was perfectly polite, but emotionally, he was hiding behind a wall as sturdy as his buildings.

She could see him in his city. The bones were there, and more details fleshed out as the hours passed. Walkways grew out of the sides of buildings and water features sprang up from nowhere. It seemed like magic, but she knew that robotic drones followed every careful detail laid out by Devin.

The city had another two weeks before habitation, so a limited number of mates and Mahdfel chose to attend.

Most of the wives that were too pregnant or had newborns chose to stay back at base camp.

Val’s quarters and several others were converted into waiting and staging areas as the shuttles arrived.

Val greeted them, ushering the women to a quiet place to nap, eat or gather, depending on their conditions.

There was plenty of cooing over the various baby bumps.

The doctor arrived and duly began examinations of Jane, Meadow and Humility.

She herself got a quick scan, and by the look of dismissal on the doc’s face, Val inferred that she’d failed her pregnancy test. It was a relief, really. One issue at a time.

Despite having spent only a few hours at the base camp, Val was treated like an old friend. It didn’t take long to figure out why some of the ladies were quick besties.

“Hey, Val!” This was from one industrious wife named Georgia. She’d been an accountant in her old life. “Would you like to join the pool? We’re only playing for replicator credits, but you know, it’s no fun unless you can win something. Replicator credits don’t mean much for you, I guess.”

And that’s when Val discovered that there were only a few Mahdfel on the planet that had unlimited replicator privileges.

Kave had given Jane and Meadow unlimited access and Devin got them as an architect, so it had never occurred to Val that the replicators were keeping track of who ordered what.

All this time, when the wives had been asking her to fetch things, it hadn’t been out of a sense of being helpless, or wanting to make her feel useful.

It was not wanting to use their own credits.

It didn’t bother Val much. Perhaps it hadn’t quite sunk in yet that relatively speaking, she was now one of the richest people on the entire planet. What could it get her besides free drinks and outfits that she wasn’t very clever at choosing?

Val signed up for an outrageous number of boxes on the spread and sent Georgia away happy. The other women were being more cautious with their credits.

“So, what did he say?” one wife asked, offering Meadow a padded chair after she came back from the medical suite.

“Healthy,” Meadow replied.

“And?” All the wives stared at Meadow as if trying to suss out any little clue.

“Green?”

“But when?”

“Sometime in the next three weeks.”

“That’s what he said about Humility.”

“And that’s what he’ll say about Jane.”

“How do you feel about it?”

“I’ve never had a baby, much less an alien baby, so your guess is as good as mine. Seriously.”

“But you’ve got to have some opinion on the matter.”

“Meadow,” Val spoke up. “Can I borrow your expertise for a minute?”

Meadow nodded and stood up. The pair stepped outside.

“What’s up?”

“I was wondering if you needed rescuing?”

Relief flooded Meadow’s face.

“I mean the pool gives them something to do, but it would be so much better if they would just leave me out of it. I mean couldn’t they just start a book club? A book club I could totally do. I was a librarian, you know.”

“I don’t believe there’s anyone in my quarters right now.”

“Yeah, I need a nap. Can you head off Jane before she gets swarmed?”

Val shook her head and took up a hopefully non-obtrusive post outside the med suite. Jane came out shortly.

“Unless you want the third degree from the ladies over there, I’d suggest taking a nap,” Val suggested.

Jane just rolled her eyes and headed toward ops. She motioned for Val to follow along. “I’ve got a lot more stamina than a lot of these guys and a lower bullshit tolerance.”

The sound of the shuttle landing caused Jane to change her direction. By the time they got there, it had settled and Odette and Athen were disembarking. Zenik followed close behind, his eye firmly on Jane. Odette flashed a big smile at Val and Jane.

“Val! So good to see you again. And Jane, I’m so glad I’m past that stage,” she said, staring at Jane’s large belly.

“How’s Junior?” Jane asked, cracking a wry smile.

“It’s a little weird being here without him. Clover’s keeping an eye on him for me, but I still feel like I’m missing a limb. How are things?”

“As well as can be expected,” Jane said.

Athen towered over them, silent and grim. He was much more intimidating than Kave, and taller than Devin.

“I’d like to see the city before the ceremony starts,” Athen announced.

“Right this way,” Jane guided. Zenik silently scooted up close to his wife and put a hand on her back.

“Everything’s good. Doc says he’s as healthy as can be.”

“No matter how much you reassure them, they’ll still worry. Fawn over you like a fanboy if you let them,” Odette said to Val.

“I don’t seem to have that problem with Devin,” Val commented.

“Devin is an odd duck, but trust me, at their core, they’re all a bunch of softies.”

They reached the edge of the city and Athen paused. “It is one thing to see the schematics and plans. Quite another to see it take form.”

“Welcome to your new home,” Jane said, sweeping her arms wide. “And yes, there are outdoor volleyball courts coming, with sand imported from the same beach. There are still plenty of park spaces to relax and eat outside. A couple of pools are in the works.”

“You’ve thought of everything,” Odette said.

“More Meadow than me. I just delivered the suggestions to Devin and he incorporated them into his design.”

“You would like to see our suite… or the lab?” Athen asked.

Odette’s eyes widened. “I have to choose?”

The grin that creeped onto his lips got him a punch in the arm.

Val blinked at the thought. She had no idea where her new apartment would be, or even how long they would be there. Surely there were more buildings and things to come if they planned to grow the city, but once that was done, would they even need an architect at all?

Athen walked into one of the tallest buildings, striding in as if he’d been there before. There was an elevator, and the five of them piled in.

“Once the computer is fully updated and the drones are finished, each lift will be able to take you to any building in the city,” Athen explained.

“Botany lab 1,” Athen ordered.

“Access denied,” the lift responded.

“Access will be granted,” Athen stated to the computer in the wall. “I am Athen of Etlon, Son of Etlon of Etlon.”

“Access denied,” it repeated.

“Why don’t you let me try before you put a hole through the wall,” Jane said. “Botany Lab 1.”

A slight shift indicated that they had begun to move.

“That is intolerable,” Athen complained.

“Like you said, the computer hasn’t been upgraded yet,” Jane reminded him.

“But I am the warlord,” Athen declared.

“Technically, Kave is the warlord.”

“Kave denied me access,” Athen said, putting the pieces together.

“Yes, yes, you can punch him in the face later,” Odette patted her husband on the arm.

Odette stepped out of the lift after the doors opened to a room that looked quite bare, yet very much like a science lab.

“It’s four times the size of the old lab!”

“You will not be working here alone.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Odette investigated the lab.

Val just stood there with her hands crossed, afraid to touch anything.

Even back in high school, she hadn’t spent much time in science class actually using up to date equipment.

Most of it had all been done virtually. It was safer and cheaper than doing real lab work.

“All right, let’s see the bedroom, but if there’s any gold scale lamps, I’m dropping them off the balcony.”

“The furniture from home hasn’t arrived yet,” Athen stated. He had a slight upturn to his mouth. Odette punched him in the chest.

“Do you know what his mother has decorating her house?” Odette turned to ask Val. “Dead Suhlik. It’s everywhere. Gruesome.”

“I’ve never seen a Suhlik for real before,” Val said. Oh there had been plenty of artist renderings and computer simulations, but there were very few humans that had ever seen one of the golden creatures.

“And pray you never do. Most people only see a live Suhlik once. And then they die.”

It was a somber note to step back in the elevator on, but a moment later they were whisked away to a penthouse apartment with a large attached outdoor patio.

“Plenty of space for plants,” Athen stated proudly.

The space was big, the top floor of the tallest building.

The view overlooked the whole city. There was a large staircase that led up to a rooftop patio as well.

There was enough room to grow a whole garden up there if Odette wanted to.

The rest of the apartment was spacious with meeting and gathering spaces.

It was designed for social visits and all the meetings that a warlord and his wife might need to have in the course of operating a city.

The walls were clearly embedded with the latest Mahdfel tech, and not that knock off stuff they’d get on Earth.

With a simple computer request, the colors could change, seats could emerge, vids could play across the full surface of the screen.

She could make a call home almost as easily as if she were on Earth. Except she had no one on Earth to call.