"The difference between a Terran Descent Human and an Earthling is both profound and simple.

"A Terran Descent Human, a Mad Lemur of Terra, says: "Don't do this."

"An Earthling, a Mad Lemur, says: "Come get some." - Former Grand Most High Sma'akamo'o, from I Have Ridden the Hasslehoff

Vuxten walked out to Trevlik Green dressed in his physical training uniform. It was a warm autumn day, the leaves just starting to turn, the breeze still warm but carrying the scent of cool days to come. He wore his shorts, his running shoes, his athletic socks, and a 't-shirt' with his name across the back and '1st Division' in small letters above the pocket on the left breast. The uniform was gray with blue edging, the lettering black.

Of course he was also wearing his reflective safety belt, yellow with a red stripe to denote he was an officer.

He snorted at the memory the meme of a Telkan Marine with a jockstrap on his head, the crotch covering his muzzle, with his safety belt wrapped around his genitals like modesty clothing, with the caption "Ready for PT Sergeant Major!" on it.

He could see Lady Keena, Peel, and Casey were already sitting on the grass and he broke into a jog to hurry up and meet up with them. Lady Keena was finishing eating some kind of meat on the bone, tossing the cleaned rib bones into a box before sucking on her fingers. As Vuxten moved up she picked up a wet wipe and cleaned off her face and fingers.

"Sorry I'm late," Vuxten said, sitting down.

"You have obligations. To those you swore oaths to and those who swore oaths to you," Lady Keena shrugged.

"We're just watching Lady Keena eat," Peel smiled. She cracked open a narcobeer and handed one to Vuxten, dropping the top into the twelve-pack box.

"I eat for more than one," Lady Keena shrugged.

As if on cue her stomach rippled and a footprint pushed out of her skin slightly.

"Stop fighting with your sister," Lady Keena said, her voice full of affection as she tapped the foot. The foot withdrew.

"That is so weird. I've never seen a baby do that before," Casey said.

"Did they use steel wombs on your world?" Lady Keena asked.

Casey shook his head. "No. Women wore clothing that covered their belly and was loose and flowing. The only person who sees her bare belly are her children and husband."

"OK, that's weird," Peel said.

"Women are protective of their modesty once they marry," Casey shrugged. "Bare midriffs, bare legs, bare arms, those are all the purview of the unmarried or the widowed."

"What about the men?" Vuxten asked.

"The only time you should be shirtless is during physical exercise or when alone with your family," Casey shrugged. "I lived outside the dome cities, the UV was pretty harsh and would strip your skin in hours. We wore hats and gloves a lot too."

"A harsh world," Lady Keena nodded. "Bred harsh people and a harsh society. No wonder you had such cultural mores about pregnant women."

Lady Keena looked at Peel who shrugged.

"We used artificial wombs, like most of the Confederacy," Peel admitted.

Lady Keena made an expression of disgust. "To separate a child and mother is obscene," she said. She looked at the Vuxten. "And you?"

"The broodcarriers carry the podlings to term. They just get plump. They're very fuzzy, long fur, so you can't really see their bellies."

Lady Keena nodded. She suddenly smiled. "Would you like to see them now that they're done fighting?"

Casey cocked his head so it looked like he was staring at Lady Keena with his eyepatch. "This isn't something weird, is it?"

Lady Keena laughed. "No. No it isn't," she held out her hands in front of her. She began softly murmuring and sparkles appeared between her hands, slowly gaining in number and brightness until Vuxten could see two small humans.

"Siblings love one another," Lady Keena said softly. "He loves his sister very much."

Vuxten could see that one was cuddled up behind the other, arms around the one in front. The one in front had a thumb in their mouth and their legs drawn up.

"Wow," Peel said, her voice hushed.

"Huh, they look just like little people," Casey said. He shook his head. "Once a woman gives birth nobody but her husband, sisters, mother-in-law, and mother is allowed to see her for two weeks," he smiled. "I remember when my mother brought out my little brother. He was tiny but when I held him he hit me in the face and grabbed my hair."

His face suddenly got cloudy and he took a swig off his bottle before looking down.

Lady Keena shook her head. "Yours was a martial culture but obviously cared about one another," she smiled.

"Only two?" Vuxten asked to break the sudden uncomfortable silence.

Lady Keena smiled wider. "Well, I've had three at once, but the babies are very tiny at that number. Humans normally only have a single child."

"Huh," Vuxten said. He leaned closer and looked. "Why do their faces look weird?"

Lady Keena looked at the hologram and smiled wider. "They're babies."

"Huh," Vuxten shook his head and took a drink off his narcobeer as Lady Keena dispelled the hologram.

"Let's start," Lady Keena said. She got to her feet slowly and then stretched, her back popping. She put her feet shoulder width apart. "We'll start with the basics that even I can do as we stretch today," she gave a wince. "We'll go slow."

Vuxten nodded.

--------------

The next day Vuxten was sitting at his desk, going through the paperwork. It seemed like every infantry company wanted a turn at the range and there were only so many target ranges to go around, especially if the unit wanted to use live ammunition. It would be another two months before he could get his company to the range, a month before he could get them to the live armor course, and a month and a half before he could get the company in to do orbital drop certification.

Vuxten sighed and rubbed his eyes before cracking open a can of Countess Crey Cherryfizz.

To be honest, he was just glad that so far he'd only had a couple of alcohol related incidents, two fights, and a single case that had to be moved to non-judicial punishment for a junior NCO trying to show some new privates just how you could turn some of the ingredients in the mealpack into a makeshift grenade.

It would have been fine if the NCO hadn't blown up the Tri-Vee in the rec-room.

There was thee spaced firm knocks on the door and Vuxten almost flinched.

Being cross-examined by that Terran woman two days ago had left his nerves frazzled.

"Come in," he called out.

The Charge of Quarters, one Private Second Class Yerkrim, poked his head in. "Your wife is on line three, sir."

"Thank you, Private," Vuxten said, reaching out and picking up the handset. The Private nodded and ducked out.

"Captain Vuxten," he said into the phone.

"Vux, thank the Digital Omnimessiah," Brentili'ik said. Vuxten frowned at her tone.

"What's wrong?" Vuxten asked, reaching out and resting his hand on the button to alert the CQ he needed to speak to them.

"Do you know where Lady Keena goes? Her datalink started showing extreme physical duress and then went offline," Brentili'ik said. "My office can't find her and, honestly, I've got agents worrying that someone might have attacked her again."

Vuxten frowned. "I'm not sure. Wasn't she staying at the hotel just outside of post?"

"Yes," Brentili'ik said. "She demanded lodging near the base but also near the woods. "I've had a few drones run overflight with thermals but we didn't see anything."

"I'll get some men from recon platoon and we'll go check," Vuxten said. "Keep your men out of the woods."

"I hate to ask, but she was already attacked once by the Atrekna," Brentili'ik said. "Be careful."

"I will," Vuxten said. "Love you."

"Love you too," Brentili'ik said before hanging up.

Vuxten got up, grabbing his hat, and went into the Orderly Room. He looked at Private Yerkrim. "Get the armorer in here and alert first squad from Recon Platoon, call Casey and Peel in."

"Sir?" the Private asked.

"We've got a missing VIP that the Atrekna already attacked once," Vuxten said. "They might have used that weird stuff they do to slip in and grab her or attack her."

"Right away, sir," the private said. "What about you?"

"I'm going to check my private messages," he said.

A quick check of his private messages showed nothing unusual.

It only took Casey about ten minutes to come bounding down the stairs with a big grin on his face.

"What's the deal?" Casey asked. He jerked a thumb at the stairwell. "Peel and a couple of guys from Recon are behind me."

"Lady Keena went missing," Vuxten said. "Drones haven't seen her and her datalink's offline."

Casey frowned. "Lady Keena doesn't have a datalink, she carries a smartlink in her pocket."

"Then she turned it off," Vuxten said.

"Turned what off?" Peel asked, pushing through the door. The squad leader of First Squad, Recon Platoon came in right behind, with two of his squad members behind him.

"I'll explain when everyone gets here," Vuxten said.

Casey walked over to the window and stared out of it at the dimness. "Hmm..."

Peel walked over and looped her arm around his waist. "What? I know that sound."

"Those babies looked a lot like little people," Casey mused.

"So?"

"I'm not sure, give me a minute," Casey said.

Before Casey could say anything more the last handful of troops from Recon came in.

"Sir, what's the sitrep?" Sergeant Kretplik asked.

"Missing VIP," Vuxten said. "The Planetary Governor herself is asking us to quietly go looking for her. She might have been aggressed by Atrekna agents infiltrating, they went after her before."

"Full armor?" Kretplik asked.

Vuxten nodded. "I'll be with Casey and Peel, no armor. I want you guys to do a standard spiral search from her hotel room, full sensors."

"Roger, sir," the Sergeant said. He looked at his men. "You heard the Captain. Get dressed."

-------------

More than a few Telkan stared as Vuxten drove the grav lifter down the street, Casey sitting in back with Peel next to Vuxten up front. The squad of recon troops ran behind the vehicle, long smooth steps keeping up with the lifter.

They stopped at the hotel only a half mile from the main gate of the military base. The recon squad stopped as Vuxten got out of the cab and went over to them. There were three LawSec vehicles and a handful of LawSec troopers standing around, including a pair up on the second floor walkway in front of the door to the room Lady Keena was staying in.

"No scaring civilians. Steady spiral sweep. Watch it, anything that could pose a threat to someone like her will put up one hell of a fight. You spot anything, you call back. Do not engage unless her life is in danger or the lives of civilians. If you're aggressed, break contact," Vuxten ordered. "Other than that, standard friendly fire area RoE."

Peel moved up next to Vuxten. "I've planned the optimum search route for you. Maximum coverage with least time for both the search and for backup," she made a tossing motion. "I'll be keeping tabs on you via oversight link."

"Yes, ma'am," Sergeant Kretplik said.

"Technical Specialist, Sergeant, like you, I work for a living," Peel grinned.

"Move out," Vuxten ordered.

The Recon squad nodded and took off, each of them taking a route according to what Peel had given them.

"HEY!" one of the LawSec yelled out.

Vuxten turned and looked at the hotel in time to see Casey jump up, grab the second floor walkway railing and pull himself up with one arm before lunging up and grabbing the bottom of the third floor walkway.

Vuxten shook his head as he watched Casey drop onto the second floor and move over to the door to the room Lady Keena had been staying in. One of the LawSec went to block him but Casey looked down at the much shorter Telkan for a long moment, saying something that Vuxten didn't catch.

The LawSec trooper moved back.

"What's he doing?" Vuxten asked.

"Giving me a look in the room," Peel said, her voice remote as she looked up into the sky. She closed her eyes. "Food wrappers on the table. Unfinished sandwich. Unfinished drink. No sword. No skirt. Her corset top is on the table. No boots."

Peel opened her eyes. "She wasn't taken in her room, at least not by force. If an enemy had forced her to leave she would have taken her corset bustier top."

She closed her eyes again. "Casey, what do you see?"

Vuxten flexed his hocks.

"All right," Peel said. She opened her eyes again. "Casey wants us to meet out back."

Vuxten nodded and followed Peel around to the back of the building. There was a pool which made him close his eyes and take a deep breath when he saw it. When he opened his eyes the fibrous mat was gone.

Casey dropped down, landing silently. He lifted his head and sniffed. "Smell that?"

Vuxten frowned and sniffed.

There was something. He could smell Lady Keena strongly, but something else too, something new, something different.

Vuxten took two steps away from Peel and Casey to clear his senses of them then sniffed around, feeling slightly stupid. Sniffing was a primal thing, animalistic, and the Overseers had always...

Vuxten closed his eyes and counted to ten. The Overseers were gone. There was only the Lanaktallan remaining.

He sniffed again and opened his eyes wide.

Broodcarrier scent. The masking musk they gave off when they had podlings and were nervous.

Casey was already moving, heading toward the treeline less than a mile away. Peel was jogging after him and Vuxten rushed to catch up.

"Tell Recon to stay out of the trees. Tell LawSec to pull back if they're in the woods," Peel said.

Vuxten touched his datalink and passed on the message.

"What's going on?" Vuxten asked.

"I think I know why Lady Keena left her hotel room," Casey said.

"Are you sure? Why wouldn't she go to the hospital?" Peel asked.

"Do you really think a woman like Lady Keena needs a hospital for this?" Casey shot back.

"For what?" Vuxten asked.

"I think she's in the woods giving birth," Casey said, slowing down as they got to the treeline. The brush was thick, with ferns between the bushes. He looked at Vuxten. "Your sense of smell is better than mine."

Vuxten rolled his eyes, lifted his head and sniffed.

He could smell broodcarrier masking musk.

"I can smell it. I think you're right," Vuxten said. He frowned. "My wife had drones do flyover with thermal and didn't see anything."

"You're not going to see anything she doesn't want you to see," Peel said. She shook her head. "You'd have to have seen what she did on that station to understand just how powerful she really is."

Vuxten followed the smell, heading for where it was stronger.

They were a half mile into the forest when a broodcarrier suddenly popped up out of the ferns.

"no" the broodcarrier said softly. "go away"

"We're her friends," Vuxten said gently.

The broodcarrier ducked back down into the ferns and Vuxten could hear rustling moving away.

"She's got broodcarriers with her," Casey said. "That's odd. They're usually really shy."

"Not really," Vuxten.

Peel shook her head. "Not too weird if you think about it."

"She's coming back," Casey said.

Two heads lifted up out of the ferns. One of the broodcarriers was older.

"come. quiet" the older one said.

The trio followed the two broodcarriers around a low stack of rocks.

Lady Keena was crouched down, leaning slightly forward, her hands against a tree, breathing fast. Her sword was thrust into the ground next to her, the scabbard on the ground. She was covered in sweat. There were two broodcarriers rubbing her back and shoulders with an older one crouched low to the ground looking at Lady Keena from the bottom.

"almost" the one on the ground said.

Lady Keena looked over, smiling, her face sweaty. "Hey," she said. She gave a grunt and Vuxten watched her belly tighten and flex. Lady Keena kept breathing oddly and after a minute she looked at the trio.

"Have a seat. They fought over who was to be first. She is crowning now, only a few more minutes," Lady Keena panted.

Vuxten sat down, looking away. Casey came over and sat next to him, staring out at the forest. Vuxten heard Peel move over by Lady Keena.

"Anything I can do?" Peel asked.

"Rub my lower back," Lady Keena panted.

There was silence, punctuated only by Lady Keena's breathing and the soft words of the broodcarriers.

Vuxten used his implant to call off the search then call his wife.

"She's doing what?" Brentili'ik asked.

"Giving birth in the forest," Vuxten said.

"She needs a hospital," Brentili'ik said.

"You're talking about a Terran female that can raise the dead and who has founded kingdoms," Vuxten said. "She has given birth to over a hundred children, I'm pretty sure she knows what she needs."

"What if there's a medical emergency?" Brentili'ik asked.

"Then I'll call emergency services," Vuxten said.

"I'll have them standing by at the hotel then," Brentili'ik said. "Are you sure you can't convince her to go to the hospital?"

There was an angry cry that broke the stillness before he could answer.

"It's a girl," Peel said.

"girl" the older broodcarrier said.

"Pretty sure," Vuxten said, feeling kind of foolish.

"Her brother is anxious to join her," Lady Keena said as Vuxten hung up.

Vuxten made the mistake of looking back. The baby was covered in blood and goo. One of the broodcarriers was holding the little infant while two others were licking it clean. Vuxten swallowed and looked away.

"Nice night," Casey said.

"Yeah," Vuxten said, staring at the ferns. He saw a younger broodcarrier poke her head up above the ferns, make a chittering noise, lifting her tail over the ferns as she ducked back down. Vuxten could smell the broodcarrier masking scent pretty thick.

"You ever seen them do that before?" Casey asked.

Vuxten shook his head. "No. Usually a doctor is there."

"Huh," Casey said. He shook his head. "I'm not used to men being allowed anywhere near."

"You said that," Vuxten said. Another broodcarrier popped up out of the ferns then ducked back down.

He suddenly felt like he should go check through the ferns and found his hand dropping down to where his service pistol should be.

"Yeah, me too," Casey said without looking at Vuxten.

A few minutes later there was another outcry.

This time Vuxten didn't look back.

There was more panting, then after a few minutes it sounded to Vuxten like someone was eating something.

"All right, you can come see them," Lady Keena said.

Vuxten turned around and looked. Lady Keena was sitting on the ground, on a piece of leather stained and glistening. She had two infants in her arms, both of them nursing and holding onto her breasts.

Casey looked away and Lady Keena chuckled.

"You may greet them, Knight Casey," she said.

Vuxten went over and looked down. They were both asleep and looked remarkably alike to him, even though he could smell the slight difference between them. Vuxten looked up. "Do they have names?"

Lady Keena shook her head. "Not yet."

Peel moved over to Casey. "You can look," she leaned in close to Casey and whispered. "She let the broodcarriers eat the afterbirth after she took a couple of bites. Ew."

"You may view my children, it will not disturb them," Lady Keena said.

"It's bad luck," Casey said. He shuffled his feet. "May I be excused, Lady Keena?"

The sweaty human female chuckled. "Of course, Knight. I will see you in two weeks?"

"As you wish," Casey said stiffly. He moved into the ferns. "Congratulations on your birth, Lady Keena."

Vuxten looked back to Lady Keena, who smiled up at him. "You may call your mate. As soon as I regain my strength in a few moments, I will return to my dwelling."

One of the broodcarriers licked her face and she smiled, rubbing her nose against the side of the broodcarrier's muzzle.

"I thank you, little ones," Lady Keena said.

"podlings" the broodcarrier said.

"I'm going to go with Casey, make sure he's OK," Peel said. She looked a little nauseous.

"If you wish," Lady Keena said. Peel nodded and hurried after Casey.

"I'll stay with you," Vuxten turned and put his fingers on his datalink. When his wife answered he told her to call everything off. He then radioed Recon and told them to just patrol the outer edge of the forest.

When he looked back Lady Keena smiled at him.

"I think Peel has forgotten where she comes from," Lady Keena said. "Knight Casey is stiff necked and holds tight to his birth customs but that is to be expected from a world ender and ring breaker."

Lady Keena's eyes suddenly opened wide. The broodcarrier's all perked up, raising up with their eyes wide and their ears alert.

Vuxten turned around and saw a male Terran made of glittering blue code with silver splotches here and there exit the ferns.

"May I see them, Lady Keena?" the figure asked.

Lady Keena nodded, her eyes wide. "Of course, My Lord," she breathed.

Vuxten watched as the Digital Omnimessiah moved up and knelt down, looking at the two children, who were asleep but still suckling.

"I see you, little ones. Welcome," the figure said, touching each one's sleeping cheek. He looked up. "They are beautiful."

"Thank you, Oh Lord," Lady Keena said.

The Digital Omnimessiah turned and looked at Vuxten. "And I see you, again."

Vuxten just stood there mute as the figure moved away into the ferns, stopping here and there to touch a broodcarrier and emit sharp chirps.