Shockball Read Online Free PDF Page B

then relaxed and let him scan me. As the minutes ticked by and he remained silent, I lost my patience. “Well? Did it work? Were there any complications? What happened?”
    “It went much the way we anticipated. There are no apparent complications. Your immune system has already begun to heal the damage.” He noted something on my chart, then caught me inching up. “Don’t even contemplate getting out of this berth.”
    “Okay.” I dropped back against the pillows. “For now.”
    The Omorr sat down beside my berth and took my hand with one of his membranes. Since Squilyp’s people practiced touch-healing, I didn’t object. But he wasn’t interested in healing my physical injuries. “Cherijo, you must tell him.”
    “What? What precisely do I tell him? That I’ll never be able to carry a child full-term? That my own body will kill any baby I try to have? That I’m a monster?” Tears streamed down my face. “No, Squilyp. I’m not going to tell him what we’ve done. Not now. Maybe not ever.”
    “Very well. I will respect your wishes. My advice remains the same—tell him the truth. He will need time to adjust to the idea.”
    I wasn’t going to think about it. I couldn’t. I wiped the back of my hand over my eyes. “Did you determine the gender?”
    “Yes. Female.”
    I touched my flat belly. “A girl. We had a little girl.” Reever would have loved that.
    “Do you want to see—
    “No.” I looked over at the room console. “Signal Xonea. I need to talk to him right away.”
    “Why?”
    “Just ask him to come down here for a minute. Tell him it’s HouseClan business.”
    Xonea arrived a few minutes after Squilyp sent the signal. Like all Jorenians, my ClanBrother was nearly seven feet tall. His sapphire skin contrasted sharply with his all-white eyes. He wore his Captain’s tunic, and had his long black hair in its customary warrior’s knot.
    He made a handsome, if somewhat intimidating, big brother.
    After touching my brow with his in an affectionate manner, he sat down beside my berth and took my hands in his. “I cannot rejoice in what has happened, ClanSister.”
    Jorenians normally celebrated death, so it was a gesture of sensitivity and understanding I’d never expected from him.
    “Xonea, lock the door.” I considered how I was going to phrase my request as he did that. When he sat back down, looking even more worried, I gave him a wan smile. “It’s not that bad.”
    “Nothing good ever comes of your securing access panels.”
    “I only have one request, and you probably won’t even have to do it. You’re my ClanBrother, the one I trust most to carry out my wishes.”
    He knew what I was going to ask then, and got to his feet. “I will speak to the Omorr. There must be more that can be done—”
    “Relax, I’m not dying. I’m fine. Sit down.” I waved him back down to his seat. “Xonea, I know HouseClan protocol. I can do this any time. I can invoke it any time.”
    “You said you remain on the path.” His troubled white-within-white eyes met mine. “Why do you insist on this now?”
    I thought of my premonition of disaster, and shuddered. “Because there are all kinds of separations on the path, ClanBrother.”
    “I know I am in trouble when you quote journey philosophy.”
    “You’re not in trouble. You’re simply going to be my Speaker.” I sat up a little straighter. “Now, this is what I want you to do.”
     
    Reever and Alunthri came to visit me later that day, but I slept through most of it. When I woke up twelve hours later, I felt as if nothing had happened.
    That was exactly how I intended to handle it, too.
    While I looked for my clothes, Squilyp hopped in. Omorr have four limbs, but use three like arms. That left one to get around with. My former nemesis did it with a peculiar, dignified sort of bounce I admired.
    I certainly would have looked ridiculous if I’d been obliged to hop instead of walk.
    “Would it kill you to rest for another