Image by Harun Sheikh from Pixabay

Kuen walked into the house and was greeted by the scent of fresh spice cookies. He smiled as he saw the three older children happily chewing on the cookie and fruit that Fiera had given them for a snack. Gael was mangling her cookie and had a small bowl of fruit on her tray for after she finished destroying the sweet in her mouth.

Fiera came down the stairs. “What are you doing in from the fields so early?” she asked him.

“Gaspare told me to come check on you. He said he was worried about how you’d be doing after talking to Iacchus Santorini,” Kuen said.

“More likely you were worried, and he sent you in to check on me just to calm you down,” Fiera said with a laugh. “I’m fine. He even let me talk to Callie.”

Kuen stared at her. “He was feeling generous.”

“I had some credits left pending when you got me out of there,” Fiera said. “They posted but since I wasn’t there to claim them, they were sitting in my account. He took a twenty five percent fee to transfer them towards Cal’s debt.”

“Did he tell you how many credits you had?” Kuen asked.

“No, and I wasn’t going to push too hard because I didn’t want him penalizing Callie for my stubbornness,” Fiera said. “On the plus side, even if it’s only a few hundred credits, it still puts her a little closer to buying herself free.”

“True,” Kuen said. “You said he let you talk to her?”

“He did. She’s not happy but she is healthy and doing a fairly good job at being a Pleasure Seeker. She’s better at avoiding trouble than I ever was,” Fiera said, rubbing the back of her head with a rueful grin. “Then again, Cal was always better at avoiding trouble than the rest of us Roughlings.”

“I’m glad you were able to talk to her,” Kuen said. “How are the bratlings behaving?”

“Other than putting Nafi’s doll into time out they’re behaving themselves,” Fiera said. “I figured a snack wouldn’t hurt them any and they’ll be properly stuffed after lunch so I can hopefully get them down for a nap without too much fuss.”

“Do you want me to take over in the house then? It would let you get some time out in the fields. I know you enjoy it when you can get outside,” Kuen said. “We’ve been rather unfairly asking you to spend more time in the house with the children instead of the equal rotation we started after the twins were born.”

“Do you mind? I’d like to see how the crops are coming in,” Fiera said. “I know you three are telling me they’re fine after last year’s catastrophe but –.”

“It isn’t the same as seeing it for yourself,” Kuen said. He grinned. “Go on then. Don’t forget your hat.”

Fiera punched him lightly on the arm before laughing as she grabbed her tool belt and hat. She waved to the children and struck out for the fields. “Where’s mama going?” Laoise asked, noticing Fiera leaving.

“She’s gone out to the fields. It’s my turn to take care of you,” Kuen said. He hung up his tool belt and hat. “Now, finish your snack and we’ll play one of your favorite games.”

“What game?” Pascal asked.

“Crawl on daddy?” Nafisa asked with a big grin on her face.

“Excellent guess, Nafi,” Kuen said. The older children squealed in delight. Kuen’s massive height made him the children’s favorite when it came to climbing on top of him and crawling under him. After everyone finished their snack, he cleaned them up and took them outside to the fenced in play yard. He secured the gate and put Gael in her special playpen before obliging the other three by getting down on the ground.

He wrestled with them, sneaking a few lessons in self-defense into their play. He and Fiera both agreed the children should learn how to protect themselves as soon as possible. Gaspare and Phelix weren’t as thrilled with the idea but so long as it was framed as play, they tended to ignore it. When he thoroughly wore them out, he took them in and ran them all through a quick bath.

He settled them all into the indoor play area with their books and put Gael down for her nap. Then he got to work fixing a more substantial meal for the whole family. He grinned to himself. It had taken him a long time to learn how to cook, but now that he knew how he rather enjoyed it. He would never be as good as Fiera or Alena, but he could still put together a decent meal when he needed to.

Kuen chuckled softly. Gaspare was a far better cook than he was. He was also a much better farmer than Kuen was. Gaspare, who had feared he’d never fit into this new life they found themselves in, was the one adapting the best. It helped that he was able to be more himself here than he’d ever been in the Core. Phelix supported him and the two complimented each other so well. No woman Gaspare had ever been required to entertain as a possible marriage partner had ever understood him at the level that Phelix did.

Kuen checked his pots and made sure nothing was burning. He had to focus and not let his mind wander. Or he’d burn lunch. He was notorious for that one and the others still poked fun at him for all the scorched meals he produced early on. Once the hard part was over, the rest was just a matter of chopping vegetables for a salad. He kept an eye on his fingers. The knives they had were sharp and it was easy to cut yourself if you weren’t paying attention. He’d done that more than once too, much to Fiera and Gaspare’s amusement.

Once lunch was ready, he got the children set up at the table and rang the bell for the meal. The other three adults arrived a few minutes later. “We were already on our way in,” Phelix said. “Gaspare saw you bring the littles inside and we knew you wouldn’t be long in fixing lunch.”

“Where’s Gael?” Gaspare asked.

“Already down for her nap. She was falling asleep in her swing. I’ll feed her when she wakes up,” Kuen said. “I didn’t think we needed her being cranky and setting off the other three.”

The others ate quickly and went back to the fields, Fiera kissing Kuen on her way out the door. Kuen noticed she wasn’t wearing her hat. “Where did you leave your hat?” he asked.

She stopped. “In the far fields. I’ll grab it when I get back out there,” she said with a rueful laugh.

“Don’t lose this one,” Kuen teased. Fiera laughed and headed out the door.

Kuen made sure the children finished as much of their meal as they wanted and then tucked them all into bed. Wrestling with him had worn them out and they were dozing before he even finished covering them up.

Kuen loved the moments of quiet he got when everyone else was out of the house and the children were asleep. It gave him time to breathe without having to be worried about anyone or anything. He used the time to do some much needed cleaning and a few repairs Fiera couldn’t do because she wasn’t tall enough. Kuen made a mental note to talk to the other two about going back to the cycle they’d started after the twins were born so Fiera could get more time in the fields. It really made more sense to share the responsibility rather than leave it all on her with the children.

Kuen sighed and put his tools up. He smiled. He hadn’t realized how much he’d love the simpler life of a farmer and father compared to the complex life of a businessman until he’d started living it. This was far more pleasant than he’d imagined it would be. It was hard work, but he enjoyed it. It kept him physically active.

Classes could still be taken through the comm, so when he felt himself growing stale, he would enroll in one of the many useful lessons offered and keep his mind active that way. He’d already gotten his level three botany certification – as had Fiera – and was hoping to get his level two certification in mechanics once the classes became available again in the next cycle.

This was a good life and he enjoyed it. Like Fiera he worried his mother would return and cause problems for them. The fear was worse now that they had the twins. What would she do to them? Michi Nakano was not a patient woman. Why had she waited so long?

Kuen shook his head. It was no good speculating on what that woman was going to do. It only built stress and that was the last thing he wanted right now. He heard Gael start fussing and went to retrieve her before she woke the others. He changed her diaper and took her downstairs. He gave her some fruit leather to mangle while he fixed her lunch. He fed her and cleaned her up, then played with her for a while.

Once the other three came toddling down the stairs to join them he set them all up with the educational toys Keoni had made for them and secured the gate to the play area in the house. He went into the kitchen and started work on the evening meal. “Okay, what should we have for dinner?” he called to the children.

“Noodles,” Pascal said immediately.

“We had noodles last night. We need something else,” Kuen said.

“Stew,” Laoise said. “I like vegetables.”

“All right. I can put together a stew and let it simmer until they come in. What about biscuits? Should we have biscuits with the stew?” Kuen asked.

“Yay biscuits! With honey,” Nafisa said.

“And jam,” Pascal added.

“Jam,” Gael echoed.

Kuen laughed. “I think we still have some of that berry jam your grandma gave us. I know we have honey. Fury is a wonder when it comes to trading for it. All right, so stew and biscuits with jam and honey. I can do that.”

“Yay!” The children’s exuberance made Kuen laugh again.

“You four play your games. I’ll fix our dinner, and when the others get back, we’ll eat,” Kuen said. It didn’t take him long and soon the stew was simmering and the biscuits were baking.

He washed his hands and then stepped over the low barrier that kept the children in their designated area. “Daddy help please?” Nafisa asked, holding up her puzzle. She was almost done with it.

“What do you think needs to be done next, Nafi?” Kuen asked, sitting down beside her.

“Um, blue goes here?” Nafisa asked, pointing.

“Is that what you think?” Kuen asked.

“I don’t know,” Nafisa said. “Green could go here.”

“Look at the colors, Nafi. There’s a pattern. Do you see it?” Kuen asked.

“Green, red, orange, blue, green, red, orange, blue,” Nafisa said, touching each color. “Blue goes here because this piece is orange.” She slid the blue piece into place and the puzzle chimed at her. She giggled.

“Very good, Nafi,” Kuen said.

Another chime went off. Laoise held up her puzzle with a big grin. “There’s a pattern,” she said with a giggle.

“Well done, Lao,” Kuen said.

Pascal’s puzzle chimed next. “Patterns are fun,” he said, holding up his.

Gael gurgled happily as she continued putting shapes into the ball Keoni had made for her. Each shape lit up when she got it right. Once the shapes were all inside, a small panel slid open and all the blocks fell out so Gael could start over again. “Okay, move on to your next puzzle. See how far you can get before I call the other three in for dinner,” Kuen said.

“Okay,” Nafisa said. The children got to work on their next puzzles. Kuen took the finished ones and put them up on the shelves with the children’s names on them to show off to the others when they got in.

It was two hours later when Kuen rang the dinner bell. He got the children washed up and in their special seats just as the other three walked in. “It smells wonderful in here, Kuen,” Fiera said, looking much happier than she’d been earlier.

“I thought a stew and some biscuits were in order,” Kuen said. He grinned. “So did the bratlings.”

“Honey and jam?” Fiera asked, noticing the two containers on the table.

“I had help deciding what was for dinner,” Kuen said. “There were some very specific requests made so I put them both out. Go wash up and let’s eat.”

Fiera laughed and headed up the stairs, followed by Gaspare and Phelix who were both grinning as well. When they came back down Kuen doled out the food to the children, proving he remembered which wanted jam and which wanted honey. The children happily ate while the adults devoured their food.

“How’d it go?” Gaspare asked.

Kuen pointed to the shelves. “They’re getting smarter.”

“They each finished one of Keo’s puzzles? That’s great,” Fiera said.

“They started work on the second one in their sets. They’re not finding them quite as easy,” Kuen said. “But they’re determined to find the pattern and figure it out.”

“Pattern recognition is one of the first things we were taught,” Fiera said. “It was from boring games on the pad though. These are interactive so they’re much better for the littles.”

“Keo needs to market his puzzles,” Phelix said. “I know he doesn’t think they’re very good, but they really are brilliant.”

“It helps that we have clever littles,” Gaspare said.

“True, but any child can be smart if they learn,” Phelix said. “He can create some simpler ones too. Look at the games he’s made for Gael.”

“She loves her shape ball,” Kuen said. “I don’t think she put that one down the entire time the others worked on their puzzles.”

“I usually have her try one of the others,” Fiera said. “Of course, she throws a tantrum when I do that.”

“It’s why I left her to the shape ball,” Kuen said. “I wanted to focus on fixing food and cleaning the kitchen. I couldn’t do that if she was fussing over not having her favorite toy.”

Fiera chuckled. “You’re smarter than me on that one.”

“Different parenting styles is all. All four of us have our own ways of doing things, and the children should get to experience it all,” Kuen said. “Which is why I want us to go back to cycling like we used to. Fiera needs a break from the children.”

“I’ll take tomorrow then,” Phelix said. “I’m starting to ache on my left side, and I need a day out of the fields. Or at least half a day. Gaspare can take over in the afternoon if you think I should work in the fields part of the day.”

“Flicks, you can take the whole day out of the fields,” Fiera said. Gaspare and Kuen nodded their agreement. “We don’t want you hurting yourself.”

“I don’t get the pain nearly as often as I did, but it’s bad enough I do want the day off,” Phelix said.

“That’s not a problem, Flicks,” Kuen said.

“Thanks,” Phelix said.

“Unca Flicks is watching us tomorrow?” Nafisa asked.

“Yes, but don’t think that means you get to misbehave,” Fiera said.

“We like Unca Flicks,” Laoise said.

“He tells us stories,” Nafisa said.

“Daddy tells good stories,” Pascal agreed.

Phelix grinned. “My early training in keeping us out of trouble is paying off, Fury,” he said.

Fiera groaned. “At least it’s going to something useful, not like it did when we were littles.”

“I take it you two got into trouble a lot?” Gaspare asked.

“No, we stayed out of it because I could talk us out of any trouble she got us into,” Phelix said with a laugh. “Well, most of it. We still had our fair share of punishments for our mischief. Especially when it came down to her getting into fights. I couldn’t exactly talk us out of that one.”

“You did that one time,” Fiera said.

“Which time was that?” Phelix asked.

“When that slimy drek thought it would be fun to pursue me beyond what I was willing to allow,” Fiera said. She looked at her children. “If someone tries to touch you and you don’t want them to, you have every right to tell them no. If they don’t back off, punch them. That’s what I did. Your Uncle Flicks talked me out of trouble on that one.”

“Just don’t punch them in front of the people in military uniforms,” Gaspare said.

“Only in private,” Fiera agreed.

“What do we do if we’re around the mil’tary?” Laoise asked.

“Scream,” Kuen suggested. “Loud and long. It’ll scare your attacker and bring the people with authority over. Then you tell them the person tried to hurt you. Let them try to talk their way out of trouble.”

“Okay,” Nafisa said.

“What are we teaching our children?” Gaspare asked, shaking his head.

“How to protect themselves,” Fiera said. “Same as we were taught.” Phelix nodded. “You’re never too young to learn you have a right to bodily autonomy, Gaspare. So many people teach their littles that they have to submit to being touched by people just because it’s ‘polite.’ I don’t hold to that. Neither did my parents. If a little says ‘no’ people need to respect them, same as they do if an adult says no.”

“I always hated seeing the unhappy faces on littles before, when they’d get passed from one adult to another and poked and prodded by family members,” Gaspare said. “Starfire, I hated it when it was done to me when I was younger.”

“It’s why we established early on that our siblings have to ask before they touch,” Phelix said. “It was ingrained in us when we were young. We’re enforcing that rule.”

“That’s a good rule,” Kuen said. “I don’t think I ever ran into that problem. Then again, I don’t remember much of my early years and after five I was at the Academy. There certainly wasn’t any of that going on with me.”

“No, I don’t imagine there was,” Fiera said softly.

“I don’t regret my upbringing, other than it never prepared me to be a good husband or father to our own little ones,” Kuen said, smiling fondly at his daughters. He laughed. “Nafi, you have honey all the way into your hair.”

“I like honey,” she said.

“Time for a bath, I think,” Kuen said.

“Okay,” Nafisa said. “Honey is sticky.”

“Yes, it is,” Fiera said, giggling. “Lao, you’re as bad as your sister.”

“Once you’re done, we’ll take our two up. It seems Pascal has jam in his ear. How did you get it there?” Gaspare asked, looking at his son.

“Dropped my biscuit,” Pascal said.

“You dropped it on your ear?” Phelix asked.

“Yes,” Pascal said with the calm logic of a child.

“Okay then,” Gaspare said, shaking his head.

Kuen and Fiera laughed as they carried their girls upstairs. A bath and a story later, the twins were dozing in their room. Kuen went down and helped Fiera clean up after dinner. Neither of them was particularly interested in going up to bed just yet so they sat down to watch a holo together. They were joined by Phelix and Gaspare.

“I still want to know how he dropped a biscuit in his ear,” Phelix said, shaking his head.

“He probably lost his grip on it and smooshed it onto his face to keep from losing it,” Fiera said. “It just happened to land on his ear when he did that. I’ve seen Keo and Thea’s littles do that a time or two.”

“Makes sense,” Gaspare said.

“What are we watching?” Phelix asked.

“Something ma told me about. It’s an old favorite of hers about two lovers separated by warring families and how they finally find a way to be together in the end, in spite of their families not wanting that to happen,” Fiera said. “It’s supposed to be terribly tragic, wonderfully full of grand fights, and sappy enough to make me cry. Or so ma insists.”

“Okay, if it’s going to make Fury cry, I have to watch it,” Gaspare said.

“It’ll make you cry, I bet,” Phelix teased.

“Oh, there’s no question there,” Gaspare said with no shame. “I have a weak spot for stories like this.”

“Then hush and let’s watch,” Kuen said with a laugh. He realized he was laughing a lot more these days than he’d ever done before. It felt good, and a chance to unwind and relax with his family was well worth the pain he’d been through before.

The show was just as tragic and sappy as Fiera had suggested it would be. He ended up getting a soggy shoulder by the time it was done as she buried her face into it more than once. Phelix was providing the same courtesy for Gaspare, though there was more than one occasion where the red-haired young man had to wipe his eyes. Kuen would admit to needing to wipe his own eyes a time or two as the acting was very well done and the story a gripping one.

After the holo finished, they all headed upstairs. Fiera did her check on the children and then followed Kuen into their bedroom. They curled up together and went to sleep. The next morning Kuen woke up with an odd sense something was wrong. Fiera was sleeping beside him, the children were stirring, and the sky was clear – what he could see of it out the window – so he wasn’t sure what it was that was giving him the feeling that something was off.

Gaspare was waiting for him in the hall. “Are your hackles up too?” Gaspare asked.

“Yes,” Kuen said.

“I checked the grid. Nothing is out of place, the cameras didn’t even go off last night except for the usual nocturnal visitors we get, and the children are fine,” Gaspare said.

“You’ve still got that sense that I do, like we did back when we were on deployment and just knew something was going to happen,” Kuen said. Gaspare nodded. “Are we being paranoid because of that holo last night? Or because we know Fiera is worried about Michi Nakano striking out at us?”

“Possibly, but I don’t think so,” Gaspare said. “Do you want me to offer to stay to help Flicks today?”

“He’d probably take that badly, but he’s your husband. What do you think?” Kuen asked.

Gaspare made a face. “You’re right. He takes his independence very seriously.”

“Then I wouldn’t make that suggestion,” Kuen said.

“Okay. I’m going to go grab my two. Do you want to start breakfast or take on your two?” Gaspare asked.

“I’ll start breakfast. Fiera is stirring so she can get the girls up,” Kuen said. Gaspare nodded and trotted down the hall towards his children’s rooms. Kuen went downstairs to the kitchen.

He pulled out the scanner and checked all the food supplies. They were all fine, though he did pull out a few rotten apples and tossed them into the compost bin. He made a classic scramble and toast with coffee for the adults and juice for the children.

“I wasn’t expecting you to be down here so early,” Fiera said, coming down with both girls clinging to her hands. “What’s got you moving so soon?”

“I had a nightmare,” Kuen said. “I decided it was just easier to get up and do something useful rather than focus in on it.”

“Yeah, I know that one,” Fiera said. “Any coffee?”

Kuen chuckled. “Come get your bean water.”

“Hey, you run on this stuff as much as I do,” Fiera said, pouring four mugs just as the other two men came down with their children.

Phelix tucked Pascal into his chair while Gaspare fastened Gael into hers. They took their coffee and sat down as Kuen brought the food over to the table. “Flicks, you’re still on child duty today,” Gaspare said. “Fury, we got the far fields yesterday. We should probably focus on the greenhouse and closer fields today.”

“I’ll take the greenhouse this morning if you and Kuen want to start in on the fields. I can join you once all the plants are watered and checked,” Fiera said.

“Sounds good,” Kuen said.

“Are you okay, Gaspare?” Phelix asked. “You’re pale and you keep sneaking looks out the window.”

“Nightmare,” Gaspare said. “It still has me on edge.”

“Okay, you two are lying,” Fiera said, glaring at Gaspare and Kuen. “Either that or this is the worst case of synchronized dreaming I’ve ever heard of.”

Kuen exchanged looks with Gaspare. “We’ve got the same feeling we used to have when we were on deployment,” he said. “When things looked like they would be easy or peaceful, and they turned out anything but.”

“It woke me up,” Gaspare said. “It’s a feeling both of us learned to listen to a long time ago and it has us paranoid.”

“Do you want me to work the fields and one of you can mind the littles?” Phelix asked.

“No. You need the rest,” Gaspare said. “I’m not having you injure yourself just because we’re paranoid.”

“It’s why we’re working the closer fields today,” Kuen said. “That way we’ll be able to get here fast if something does go wrong.”

“We don’t know that it will,” Gaspare said. “We’re just making contingency plans.”

“Okay, that makes more sense than the two of you having nightmares,” Fiera said. They looked at her. “What, you don’t think Flicks and I understand that feeling? Please remember who it was who kept those beasts from destroying our crops the second year when the two of you didn’t think anything was wrong.”

Kuen grimaced. “She’s got a point, Gaspare. They’ve had these gut feelings too. We’ll keep an eye on things from the fields and Flicks can mind the littles.”

“Sounds fair to me,” Phelix said.

“I’m fine with that,” Fiera said.

“Then let’s finish eating and head out,” Gaspare said.

They finished eating, grabbed their tools, and headed out. Fiera peeled off and went to the greenhouse while the two men went to the fields. Kuen focused on the plants in front of him, making sure he pulled the weeds and not the young crops. Gaspare was in another part of the area doing the same thing. A short while later Fiera joined them.

They worked steadily through the morning. It wasn’t until Kuen realized his water bottle was empty that he noticed the location of the suns. “Fury, Gaspare, something’s wrong,” he called. The other two paused in their work. “Look up. Flicks should have called us in for lunch by now.”

Fiera looked up; Gaspare looked down towards the house. “Skathi,” he spat and took off running.

Kuen looked down. A spot of red was laying on the ground near where the children usually played. He stood and followed Gaspare down, Fiera hard on his heels. They reached Gaspare in time to hear Phelix groan. Kuen saw a familiar blast pattern on the ground.

“Stun grenade,” Kuen said.

“Kuen, where are the girls?” Fiera asked, looking into the children’s play area.

Gael and Pascal were in the play area, both unconscious, but Nafisa and Laoise were missing. “Check the house,” Kuen said, though he knew Phelix wouldn’t have left the girls alone inside.

Fiera ran for the front door. Kuen went into the play area and checked the two children. They were alive, but he was concerned. Stun grenades were factored for adults. The energy contained could have done some serious damage to the little ones. They needed Neven and Teigue. He looked around, looking for any sign of his daughters when something out of place caught his attention.

He walked over and bent down. A spray of delicate f lowers, preserved at the peak of their beauty, lay against Laoise’s doll. Kuen’s hands clenched. He knew the meaning of the flowers. Hadn’t his mother done this very thing with the help of Lakshmi many times while he was on Bouarus? He pounded his fist into the dirt.

“Kuen, they’re not inside,” Fiera said, running out.

“She took them, Fury,” Kuen said, standing and holding out the blossoms. “Michi Nakano took our daughters.”

“No,” Fiera moaned, taking the flowers and dropping to her knees.

“Gaspare, is Flicks awake?” Kuen asked.

“No,” Gaspare said, his voice cracking. “I can’t rouse him.”

“Go call Alena. Tell her we need Neven and Teigue out here. Let her know it’s an emergency, and that the littles have been hurt,” Kuen said, fighting to keep his composure.

“They’re hurt?” Gaspare asked.

“Gael and Pascal got caught in the blast from the stun grenade. I don’t know about Nafi and Lao, since my mother seems to have struck us when we were vulnerable and taken them,” Kuen said.

Gaspare scrambled to his feet and ran for the house. Kuen heard him pleading with Alena to send her two medic sons out to their farm. “Alena, Flicks and the littles are hurt. We need Teigue and Neven,” Gaspare’s voice carried through the open window.

“I’ll have them out there within the hour,” Alena said. “I’ve got a skimmer I’m usin’ for the day. Breathe, Gaspare. It’ll be okay.”

“No, it won’t,” Gaspare said. “Nafi and Lao have been kidnapped.”

“What?” Alena shrieked. She swore in Arpathi and Kwarron. “I’m sendin’ Keo out too. Think I should send Thea?”

“Not right now. Kuen and Fury aren’t ready for it, and I don’t think Flicks will be ready for her for a few days either,” Gaspare said.

“Right,” Alena said.

Gaspare came out. “They’re on their way.”

Fiera stood up. “I’m going to kill her,” she said through gritted teeth.

“You can’t,” Gaspare said. “Especially if she doesn’t have the girls with her on Bouarus. You won’t find them if she’s dead, Fury. I know Kuen’s thinking the same thing as you are. Both of you need to take a step back and wait until we can confirm where the twins are.”

“How do we do that when we have no agents to help us?” Kuen demanded.

“You might not have agents left, but I do,” Gaspare said. “I might have been disowned but I am still my father’s son. Let me connect with my network and we’ll have answers as soon as there are any.”

“Fifteen weeks, Gaspare,” Kuen said. “You’re asking us to wait fifteen weeks at a bare minimum for news about our twins.”

“Maybe not. The Devas can’t all be working for Michi Nakano. She’s likely to have had to resort to bribing them to leave their usual employment to come after the girls. That will lead to disturbances she can’t cover up. Let me do my job, Kuen. I’m the intel officer in this. I’ve always been that,” Gaspare said. “I will have answers for you as quickly as I can.” He sat with Phelix’s head in his lap, stroking his hair. “Just give me a little time before I start. I want to make sure Flicks and the littles are okay before I get to work.”

Kuen wrapped his arms around Fiera. She pressed her face against him and cried. This was how her brothers found them. Neven and Teigue immediately got to work. Neven gave Phelix a shot and left him to recover. Teigue went straight to Gael while, once Phelix was dealt with, Neven went to Pascal. “You didn’t move them?” Neven asked.

“We didn’t think it was a good idea,” Kuen said. “We weren’t sure what kind of injuries they had so we didn’t want to make them worse by accident.”

“Good thing you didn’t move Pascal,” Neven said. “He’s got a cracked spine. Nothin’ a regenerator won’t fix. Teigue? How’s the baby?”

“Surprisingly not as bad as I was expectin’,” Teigue said. “She’s got a little internal bruisin’ but no bleedin’, no broken bones, and while I’m sure her brain got bounced around a bit, I don’t see any damage on the scans. She’s probably dealin’ with the aftereffects of the stun like the other two.”

Keoni came over to Kuen and Fiera. “How did they get in?”

“We don’t know,” Fiera said. “We were in the fields. Flicks was minding the littles. We noticed the time – well, Kuen did – and then Gaspare saw Flicks on the ground. We came down and found Flicks and the littles unconscious and our girls missing.”

“Over the fence, probably didn’t even try the gate,” Phelix said with a groan. “I had the grid closest to the house switched off because we were expecting a delivery today. We were playing and the comm went off. Thought it was Nickel. I went in to answer and it was someone calling for a person I didn’t know. I came out and saw two women trying to make off with the girls. I yelled and that’s when one dropped the stun grenade.”

“Who did they ask for?” Keoni asked.

“Fiera Molohaney,” Phelix said.

“Flicks, that was my name on Bouarus,” Fiera said.

Phelix groaned. “I think you told me that once. I should’ve known.”

“What did the person who called look like?” Kuen asked.

“Like a doll,” Phelix said. “Too perfect to be real.”

“Black hair, dark eyes, an unhealthy love of blood red lipstick?” Kuen asked.

“Yeah, and she was wearing something fancy, but I don’t know enough about fashion to tell you if it was a suit or a dress,” Phelix said.

“Excuse me a moment,” Kuen said. He went inside and checked the log of calls. One code he knew by heart even now appeared. “May all the stars consume your flesh, you festering ketch.” He walked outside. “It was her. I recognize the Nakano estate’s number.”

“She waited until Flicks watched the children because he’s the only one who wouldn’t recognize her,” Fury said. “Or the planetary prefix for Bouarus.”

Phelix winced. “No, I didn’t recognize it. I don’t know the Core planetary codes.”

“Not your fault, Flicks,” Kuen said. “She’s very good at manipulating people. Fiera and I still have to go to Bouarus, or wherever she ends up sending the girls, so we can retrieve them.”

“They won’t let you off world,” Teigue said.

“What do you mean?” Fiera asked.

“You didn’t hear? The Assembly passed a new law about four months ago,” Teigue said. “No one can leave their homeworld unless they have CAF approval. It doesn’t matter if yer a terminally ill little or an epidemiologist lookin’ t’help with a plague on Aruistrides. Only Core Worlders can travel freely. Colony born don’t get t’go anywhere without special permission, and no Rezouac is gettin’ off world ‘cause of da and his crimes.”

“More like because Michi Nakano doesn’t want us going after our girls,” Fiera said. “She’s trapped us here so she can steal our girls and is getting away with it.”

Gael woke up with a shriek. Teigue gave her some medicine and her crying subsided. “Poor wee one was in a lot of pain,” Teigue said. “I gave her somethin’ that’ll help. I’ll leave more of the pain killer with you so you can help with the headaches she’s goin’ t’have fer a while. Fury, not everythin’ revolves around you and Michi Nakano.”

“You don’t understand, Teigue,” Kuen said. “Michi Nakano owns the Assembly. She is the one who got the law passed and then sent her Devas to Sorus. It takes fifteen weeks to travel from Bouarus to Sorus, so if she had the Devas at hand the law being passed four months ago is no coincidence. She sent them as soon as everything was in place. The CAF might be operating under the thought that they’re preventing the Rezouac family from traveling because of Eire, but it’s actually because of Fury and me. Michi Nakano knows we’ll kill her to get out girls back and she isn’t going to give us that opportunity.”

“It seems kind of self-centered, thinkin’ a law was passed just t’stop you from goin’ after yer girls,” Teigue said. “That’s all I’m sayin’.”

“Teigue, you don’t understand Core politics,” Keoni said. “Thea’s been talkin’ t’some of the CAF officers. They’re blamin’ this law on Michi Nakano too, and they’re sayin’ there’s more to it than just keepin’ the Colonists on their worlds. If Fury and Kuen – who know Michi Nakano better than anyone out here – say she did it to get at them, then I’d believe them.”

“Teigue, I saw the wreck that Fury was when they brought her home after she was rescued after bein’ tortured by that Michi Nakano,” Neven said. “I believe them if they say she’s doin’ this t’make it so they can’t rescue their girls.”

“I wasn’t here t’see what shape she was in,” Teigue said.

“Fury, can I show him yer medical scans from that time?” Neven asked.

“Go for it. Show him how bad off I was,” Fiera said. “And that was after having a Core medic put me back together again. Most of my scars aren’t from the war, Teigue. They’re from what that woman did to me. You know I started bleeding bad after the twins were born. It was because of the mangled mess Michi Nakano made of my insides.”

Teigue sucked air through his teeth. “It was that bad, Fury?” he asked.

“I was dying when my boys carried me out of her house. She’d had me for eight months. She was doing it to get back at da. You think she wouldn’t kidnap our girls to get back at me for stealing her son, and at Kuen for abandoning her and siding with the Colonies?” Fiera asked. She shook her head. “She wasn’t going to leave that alone and she didn’t. She hit us right where she knew she could hurt us.”

“Pascal will be okay now,” Neven said, pulling off the regenerator. “He’ll have a headache too when he wakes up so give him some of the pain killer Teigue’s leaving. The littles might be lethargic fer the rest of the day. Don’t worry. That’s normal.”

Keoni checked every inch of their security system. “It wouldn’t have done you any good t’turn it on even if you’d wanted it active,” he said, crouching next to a panel. “Wire’s been cut.” He grabbed some more wire out of the skimmer and fixed it. “There. Now yer system will turn on again.”

“Thanks, Keo,” Kuen said.

“Let me know when you need us to send Thea this way. I’ll get a skimmer and bring her myself,” Keoni said.

“We will,” Kuen said. Teigue and Neven joined Keoni, and the three young men left. “I’m going to make a call.”

“Can you help Flicks into the house?” Gaspare asked. “I need Fury’s help to get the littles inside.”

“Okay,” Kuen said. He grabbed Phelix and half carried him inside. He settled him on the couch before sitting in front of the comm. Kuen contacted the woman he’d known as Mouse. “Lt. Coltrin, is it true that anyone with the name Rezouac is on the instant deny list for travel?”

Lt. Coltrin looked grim. “Yes, Kuen. Because of the crimes of Eire Rezouac, the whole family is suspect.”

“Could it be possible the order came from Michi Nakano instead?” Kuen asked.

Lt. Coltrin gave him a shocked look. “The High Command doesn’t take orders from a civilian, Kuen. Only from the Assembly.”

“Yes, they do. At least one of the High Admirals is in the employ of my mother. I know that for a certainty,” Kuen said. “Lt. Coltrin, that law was passed and four months later my daughters are kidnapped by my mother’s agents. I don’t think it’s coincidence that Colonists can’t leave their worlds, or that those with the name Rezouac can’t leave Sorus.”

“Wait, what? When did that happen?” Lt. Coltrin asked.

“Just now. Two of the Devas attacked Phelix Rezouac and kidnapped my daughters, injuring his two children in the process,” Kuen said.

Lt. Coltrin tapped something furiously into a tablet. “I’ve sent something to a few friends I have. They’ll get the word spread through the rest of the renegades in the CAF. I can’t promise anything, but we’ll be your eyes and ears to the best of our abilities. If we find them, we’ll bring them home for you.”

“Thank you, Lt. Coltrin,” Kuen said.

“There’s more of us now than ever before, Kuen,” Lt. Coltrin said. “Darkling, Lt. Forbes, me, we’re finding them and recruiting them to our cause. We lose a few here and there but we’re still causing problems for the High Command in our own way.” She paused. “That’s actually a good idea. I’ll reach out to Darkling. He hates High Admiral Leone, the one who replaced High Admiral Benoit. He’ll help us if only to put one over on the man.”

“High Admiral Benoit isn’t head of Intel anymore?” Kuen asked.

“No,” Lt. Coltrin said. “Personal issues started wearing down on him so much that Seaton and a couple of the others brought his sanity into question. He was forced to retire four years ago. I’ll see what Darkling can dig up. He can still find information no one else can, Kuen. I’ll get back to you as soon as I hear something.”

“Thank you, Lt. Coltrin,” Kuen said. She nodded and the comm went silent.

“Do you really think the CAF is going to help us find Lao and Nafi?” Fiera asked from where she stood just out of sight of the comm. Gaspare was on the couch with Phelix. They were cuddling their children. Kuen felt a flash of pain followed by rage.

“I remember Ensign Daniel Drake,” Kuen said, struggling to get his emotions under control. “That’s who Darkling is. He got himself into trouble sneaking into places he didn’t belong, and it was either military service or death. He chose the military. He wanted into Intelligence, and I got him transferred over. I don’t know what his rank now. When I first met Mouse, she was an ensign. Now she’s a lieutenant, so I’d imagine Drake has also gone up in rank.”

“Kuen, I’m going outside to break rocks,” Fiera said.

“I’ll come watch you,” he said.

“I’d appreciate it,” Fiera said.

“You two take turns,” Gaspare said. “Kuen, you’re just as angry as she is.”

“Fine,” Kuen said. The two headed outside, leaving the men to console their childre