TakeMeHard Read online

  “Do you know how to scan for tracking units?”

  Zoe snorted and she pushed Trin into the unit used for invasive bodies. “Hold still. I designed this machine and it is very sensitive. I don’t want to neuter you.”

  Trin froze and she laughed. “I am kidding. There is no worry about you getting zapped. It isn’t set up to do that kind of surgery. It will look for items broadcasting a signal or static pulses.”

  He stood and waited for her to run the scan.

  Zoe keyed in the requirements and watched the band of light slowly cover her lover from head to toe. The red light at the base of his neck was a bit of a worry. “We have a tracker. So, hold still this will take a moment.”

  The beam localized at the base of his neck and there was a flicker of a pulse before the light changed to blue. Trin’s knees buckled and he blinked up at her. “Did you get it?”

  “I did. Jarix, can you help him stand? We need to run a second check.” Zoe throttled her worry back and waited until Trin was standing before she ran the detection protocol again.

  She sighed with relief that he was clean and without being asked, Leos took Trin’s place in the scanner. His chip was hidden at the base of his spine. The blast knocked him to his knees and then he was given the all clear.

  Jarix’s scan showed two markers and an anomaly.

  Zoe cleared her throat. “Jarix, there are two devices inside you. They are wired together. If I kill one, the other will immediately send out a beacon that even T’shnadar’s shields won’t be able to muffle.”

  He looked at her with calm eyes. “I know you will do what you can, Zoe, but the safety of those on board this ship is paramount.”

  “Good. I think so too.” She did some calibration and waited for a moment. “Trin, Leos, hold him please. This is going to hurt.”

  Jarix took their hands and they held him in place while Zoe worked on her calculations. She struck the key and held her breath. Her emotions were locked down so that her worry would not bleed into Jarix’s.

  The machine didn’t use the previous blast. Two small sonic pulses were generated and they shattered the devices in an instant. Before he could move, she set the detection scan and when it read clear, she sat heavily on the floor.

  “He’s clean. No problems. He might need a bit of flush out with some IV fluids.” From her vantage point on the floor, she could see her men and her heart beat easier knowing that they were safe.

  She tilted her head back and contacted the ship’s computer. “T’shnadar, calibrate the machine to avoid my com implant, please.”

  “Of course, Zoe.”

  Trin gave her a curious glance. “Why would you need to be tested?”

  “I get around. I don’t want to lead anyone to our hiding place, so as long as I go through the scans, we can make sure that everyone else does. No exceptions.”

  She was trembling as Jarix cleared the scanner and she took her place. “T’shnadar, let me know when you are ready.”

  “Calibration complete, Zoe. Commencing scan.”

  Zoe felt the warmth of the light cover her from head to toe. “Communication implant detected. No other implants or devices within your system.”

  Relief shook her. “Thank you, T’shnadar.”

  Breathing heavily, she left the scanner and leaned next to Jarix against one of the medical beds. “I can’t tell you how happy I am that I came up clean.”

  “Why do you have the implant in your head?” Trin drew his fingers across the spot behind her ear where the implant resided.

  “So that I can talk to T’shnadar when I am not inside her and so that I can talk to my mother when I am home.” She smiled brightly and reached over to rub Jarix’s back lightly where two bruises marked where the implants had been.

  Jarix pulled her around to face him and he wrapped his arms around her, burying his face in her hair and inhaling deeply. “This is all the first aid I need.”

  She smiled against his chest and relaxed as Trin and Leos pressed their palms to her back. She chuckled. “Four down, twenty to go. Do you think that they will all come willingly?”

  Trin scowled. “Willing or not, they will come.”

  The assertion and determination ran through their minds and settled in hers. Nothing was going to put their new home in danger, even if they had to kill their own to do it.

  Chapter Seven

  The clones agreed to the scans, though a few were very nervous about the procedure. Three of the men fainted after the tracking device was obliterated and five of those scanned had multiple devices.

  Zoe held little Aliisha while her mother was scanned. No one was surprised that Maasha had multiple scanners in her and Liiro supported her while they were blasted with sonics instead of the focussed electromagnetic pulse.

  The baby looked up at Zoe and she smiled down at the round face, sticking out her tongue and squinting her eyes at the infant. A sudden and sick feeling ran through her. “Maasha, I know you don’t feel so great right now, but did Dorsos ever run gynaecological tests on you once you were shown to be pregnant?”

  Liiro answered for her. “Weekly. Why?”

  “I would like your permission to scan Aliisha. She is the one thing that he would refuse to part with.”

  Maasha looked up with shock in her face. “He wouldn’t.”

  “I don’t know if he did. I just want to make sure.”

  Liiro scowled. “Isn’t this a little over the top? How could he have planted anything in her, she wasn’t even developed yet.”

  “Maasha, when was your last exam?”

  “A week ago.”

  Maasha struggled to her feet. “Scan her. I want her to live free and if he put anything inside my baby, I want it gone.” The rest of her thought went unsaid. If Dorsos had put anything in Maasha’s little girl and if he wasn’t dead, she would kill him.

  “Liiro, if you want to hold her in the scanner, you can.”

  He jerked his head in a quick nod.

  Zoe helped Maasha to her feet and over to one of the medical beds while Liiro stood in the rays with his little girl protectively held in his arms.

  Maasha grew pale when the telltale red light flared in the baby’s abdomen.

  T’shnadar, prepare a healing bed for the baby. I don’t know what the destruction will do to her.

  Of course, Zoe.

  The moment that the beam concentrated on the child, Aliisha started to scream. Zoe lunged forward and snatched the baby, putting her in the gel bed next to her mother’s while the computer turned on the restoration beams.

  Liiro howled, but Leos and Jarix held him back.

  Zoe was busy reading the stats streaming on the displays and she sighed in relief. “She’s fine. She’s fine. She just needs a diaper change.”

  Maasha smiled and wobbled. Trin got her settled in the bed and set the restoration beams to repair the damage that had been done with the sonics. The rupture of cells was a by-product of the treatment and if it was in a non-essential area, it was fine. Maasha had had five small implants and their destruction had left its mark in localized internal bleeding.

  Liiro touched his daughter and she quieted, gurgling happily at his touch before fussing again.

  He changed her diaper with the improvised cloths that T’shnadar had brought out of storage. Once she was clean and dry, she was her normal happy self, sucking her fist while she kicked her legs.

  Maasha sighed as the rays did their work, rebuilding cells layer by layer and removing the clotted blood that could create a danger.

  Zoe? There is another set of trackers on my scanners.

  Where are they?

  In the lav system. They have been passed by the passengers.

  Destroy them and if you can’t, dump the system.

  That will reduce our water supply by a quarter.

  How far are we from our destination?

  Five days if I take the roundabout way.

  Do a complete sweep, destroy all the trackers and then do
a straight line home.

  Of course, Zoe.

  Zoe sighed and watched Maasha’s readings improve.

  Liiro stood next to his mate and rocked their baby as she underwent healing.

  A tear welled in Zoe’s eye as she watched the little family.

  None of the other women were pregnant and six of the men were sterile based on the medical reports generated while they were being scanned for devices. She didn’t want to tell them, but someone was going to have to.

  There might be medical treatments available for them, but it was something that would have to be looked into when they got to their new home. She wasn’t sure that any of them wanted any more medical or genetic intervention.

  Zoe, you need to get some rest. You are unwell.

  She got a little defensive, but if she was as pale as she felt, it was no wonder that T’shnadar was telling her to rest. I feel fine.

  You are too early in your pregnancy to experience this kind of stress. You need to rest. Now, go to bed, or I will tell your mates and everyone within earshot.

  She closed her eyes as the confirmation came from the unlikely source. Yes, T’shnadar.

  Pregnant. She hadn’t figured out which of her men was first, second or third and they constantly rotated. It didn’t matter. She was pregnant and her clone set was expecting.

  Stunned, she left Maasha with an absent pat on her hand and wandered out into the hall, heading toward their quarters.

  Leos was at her side in a moment. “What is going on, Zoe? You simply cut your mind off from us.”

  She could feel Trin and Jarix behind them. She increased her pace and almost ran into their rooms, sitting on the edge of her bed to remove her boots. She knotted the laces and fought tears.

  “I am pregnant and I can’t get my boots off.” The tears started and she sobbed uncontrollably.

  Jarix knelt at her feet and patiently worked at her laces. “Trin told us while you were in the scanner.”

  She looked up at Trin’s concerned face. “Squealer.”

  He laughed. “We were going to figure it out eventually, Zoe. You would start to show soon and we are very aware of any changes in your body.”

  She sniffed. “I just wasn’t expecting it so soon.”

  Trin sat next to her just as Jarix got her first boot off. “It is only three days old. Barely started. And you were in heat when you found us, so don’t forget that you were ready to get pregnant. It is no surprise that it took less than a week.”

  He stroked her hair and she leaned against him. Leos came onto the bed behind her and massaged her shoulders, working his way down her spine.

  Jarix got her boots off and she sighed as he removed her socks. She wiggled her toes in the open air and when Jarix pressed a kiss to her toes, she jumped.

  He smiled at her then licked between her toes, holding her calf tightly when she would have kicked herself free. Zoe struggled between giggles and the searing sensations stirring inside her as he worked her foot.

  It was the oddest combination of silly and sensual and it broke the tension of the morning. When Trin and Leos helped divest her of her ship suit, Jarix continued his licking and caressing up her leg, along her inner thighs until he was lapping at the heart of her.

  Her other men lifted her to ease Jarix’s access and as she twisted in their arms, she could feel the arousal rioting in their minds. Her pregnancy was an incredible turn on and they were letting her know in the most direct way possible.

  The slow strokes of Jarix’s rough tongue had her shaking and giving off a high-pitched whine that culminated in a shriek as she bucked her hips trying to pull him in deeper. Leos and Trin held her in place while Jarix rode out her orgasm until she was limp and whimpering.

  Supported on all sides by her men, they tucked her into bed for a needed nap. She wished that she could be angry about the satisfaction that was rippling through their minds, but her body was sated and she had to admit that it was deserved. With a smile on her lips, she turned to her side and sighed as Leos curled around her.

  From now until she gave birth, they were not leaving her alone and that was the best thought she had caught all day.

  Chapter Eight

  Zoe clenched her jaw in exasperation. “Leos, get out of the captain’s chair. I need to check some of the stats.”

  He grumped, but when he saw her expression, he got out of her chair. “Sorry, Zoe. Was just checking the news feeds. You are fairly well known out there.”

  She blushed and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Sorry to snap. We are getting close to landing and I have to make sure that everything is set up for us.”

  He gave her a quick hug and rubbed her back. “No worries. We will deal with everything as it happens.”

  There was a wealth of subtext in that sentence. She knew he was referring to their whole situation as well as the fights that were breaking out on the ship. T’shnadar was pumping gas into quite a few quarters to keep the occupants subdued. The faster Zoe could get them to the ground so they could work off their tension, the better.

  “Thank you. I hope that it happens as quickly as I can arrange it.”

  The data streamed the moment that she started to work on the system’s assessment. Her planet was ready for habitation, but the dome was standing by for lodgings and supplies, just in case.

  “T’shnadar, I want to do a ship-wide announcement.”

  “Of course, Zoe.”

  “Ladies and gentlemen, we are on our final approach vector to the safe world. In three hours, we will be in the shuttle and heading toward the surface, so please collect all articles of clothing, shoes or snacks you want to bring down with you. Dispensers are waiting for us, but it will be a long flight down. Thank you for your patience and I look forward to exploring this world with you all.”

  She cut off the microphone and sat back. “T’shnadar, cease the sedatives to the more violent men and women. Allow them to come to and we will deal with any residual impulses down on the surface. A dunking in the lake nearby might be just the thing.”

  “Of course, Zoe.”

  With that task taken care of, Zoe gave T’shnadar her final command before they landed. “If anyone heads for the engines, controls or communications, stun them and let me know.”

  “Of course, Zoe.”

  Jarix, Leos and Trin turned to stare at her.

  Trin asked. “You are still suspecting that one of ours will try to communicate with Dorsos?”

  She stared at him with tired eyes. “I am preparing to make us a safe place. I don’t want it wrecked for any of us. We need a few days of time to get the safeguards operational. After that, they can pick where they want to go and I will send them there.”

  “Zoe, you look exhausted. Why don’t you get some rest?” Trin pressed his hand against her shoulder and his concern lapped over her.

  “I will rest when we are planet-side and I am not afraid of getting blown up. This stretch is the most dangerous.” She watched the monitors and focussed on the route that she had only travelled once before.

  He nodded and took the command station closest to hers. Leos and Jarix did the same, one watching internal scans for wandering folks and the other keeping track of communications in the area.

  They sat in silence as the Solar Knife slid through the asteroid field that guarded her world. Once they were in the clear, a knot in Zoe’s chest unravelled. A little closer to home. She just wanted to get a little closer to home.

  Her world came up on the monitors, a blend of blues, greens and browns that took her breath away.

  We are here, Zoe. The shuttles are ready. Call on me if you need anything, I will go to my garage.

  Thank you, T’shnadar. Your assistance and steadfastness is appreciated, as always.

  You are welcome. Tornen is very proud of you, as is your mother.

  The bright smile the formed on her face was genuine.

  “All right, my loves. It is time to leave the warship.” She got to her feet and Tri
n grabbed her arm when she swayed.

  “Easy, you are walking for two now.” Trin smiled and as a unit, they walked down the hall to their quarters.

  She had her wardrobe packed in under three minutes. She had a few gowns that she was bringing with her, if everything went to plan she wouldn’t have to leave the surface for quite some time.

  She slung her bag over her shoulder and blinked when Leos took it from her. He gave her a scowl punctuated by a wink. “No heavy lifting in your condition.”

  Zoe grumped and spoke, “T’shnadar, please send a ship-wide notice that all passengers are to report to the shuttles.”

  “Of course, Zoe.”

  Smiling brightly, she headed for the hallway, wistfully turning to watch the bed that she had shared with her mates being hidden by the closing door.

  Striding through the halls, catching the internal transport and being whisked to the shuttles was a surreal experience. In short order, they were in the shuttles with all blenders accounted for.

  No one tried to stay behind, no one tried to contact the outside world and when they entered the atmosphere, both shuttles were close enough to keep visual confirmation with the other.

  The landing pad covered itself with a glossy shield the moment that they touched down. Zoe smiled as it inflated with breathable atmosphere, the old systems filtering gasses through the tanks and into the impromptu hangar, and they were on their way out of the shuttle and to the base dome.

  Zoe led the way, opened the door and continued on into the kitchen. The internal gardens were coming along well, the display indicated that there were plenty of root vegetables in storage and that the greens T’shnadar had the base preparing were almost ready.

  She returned to the group gathered in the main entertainment area and smiled. “Welcome to the base. You are welcome to everything as long as you are here and if you decide that you wish to live elsewhere, I will have a transport arranged. You are welcome guests and if you choose to stay, you can be the first citizens.”

  Maasha laughed in relief. “We want to stay. This is the first time that we have been among our own kind and despite a few problems there is no place we would rather be.”