Chapter 23: Damage

I knocked on the door to Kima and Shahana's room. Hearing motion but no response, I knocked again and called out, "Kima? Shahana? It is Andy. May I enter?"

"Andy? Yes, please enter. We wondered when you would come for us." came a nervous sounding female voice from inside.

What was that about? Only one way to find out. I opened the door and entered. The room was totally dark except for a little light around the curtains.

"Good morning ladies. Why do you have it so dark in here?"

"We do not think you want to see us. Our bodies are ugly." answered the same voice from before.

"I do not understand. I have seen you before and did not find you unattractive, why would that change now?"

"Before, you were not looking on our bodies as a mate would." replied the other woman. I recognized Kima's voice. "We know why you are here now, Andy."

"And why do you think I am here, Kima?"

"You are here to take us as you would a mate. That is your right. We did not want you to be offended by our bodies."

"Why would I be offended?"

"Andy." came Shahana's voice. "Our previous mates ... no, Goraabo enjoyed causing pain during mating. It caused him great pleasure when the one he was using cried out. The louder the scream, the more satisfaction he took from it."

"What do you mean?"

"He still does not understand, Shahana. We will have to show him. Andy, please remember us as we appeared to you before." She took a trembling breath. "Lights!"

I don't know what I was expecting, but it was not what I saw. Nothing could have prepared me for the sight of her mutilated body. Kima's body, from her breasts to her genitals, was a mass of scars. There were scars from cuts ranging from about an inch to several that ran from each breast to the juncture of her legs. In addition to the cuts, there were dozens of circular scars, obviously from burns, from eraser sized to two and three inches across. Even where her nipples should have been were burn scars. All of the injuries were long healed over, but it was obvious they had been extremely painful when inflicted. The sight of them made me want to kill Goraabo all over again, only very slowly this time. I could not bear to look any more and closed my eyes, trying to shut out the horror of the abuse she had undergone. I failed.

"I knew you would not want me after you saw what Goraabo had done to me. I will not force you to look upon me. If you wish, I will leave so no one will see."

"Kima, you do not understand. It is not..."

"You do not have to try and hide what you feel, Andy. I know my body is hideous and undesirable. Goraabo did not want me to feel pleasure. He did this," she said as she cupped her breasts, "when he found that feeding Taabo excited me. He waited as Taabo sucked and when they were hard, he cut them off and burned them." She closed her eyes and shuddered as she remembered. "But even that did not hurt as bad as when he burned me here." She opened her legs and spread her labia. There was a deep red scar where her clit should have been.

It was too much for me. I held my hand over my mouth and ran to the bathroom, where it felt like I emptied everything I had eaten for the last week. I rinsed my mouth and splashed water on my face. Once I felt in control again, I returned to the women. Kima had put on a robe to hide her disfigurement. I went to her and took her in my arms.

"Andy, you do not have to pity me. If you wish to use my body for your pleasure, that is your right. I know I can not take pleasure from you, but I can give it in many ways. If you..."

She tried to push me away as I kissed her to shut her up. Streaks of yellow and green showed in her pale blue eyes. Her breathing became erratic and her eyes drifted closed. A moan vibrated against my lips. After about a minute, she opened her eyes and pushed me away.

"Andy. What ... what did you do to me? I haven't felt anything like that since ... since..." She began crying and ran from the room. I started to follow, but Shahana put her hand on my shoulder and stopped me.

"What did you do to her, Andy? I have never seen her become emotional like that."

"I don't know, Shahana. I just kissed her to show that I wasn't pitying her, and that I actually care. I hope she isn't offended."

"Offended? No. I think she is frightened by what she is experiencing. I think you brought out feelings she thought she no longer had."

I turned to face her and realized that she was still naked. My eyes naturally drifted over her almost perfect skin, the only blemish being a burn scar on her left breast.

"You have found Taabo's mark." she said with a smile. "It is one that I am proud to bear, for it is a visible reminder of his love for me, and it is all I have left of him."

"I do not understand. How can a mark like that be a mark of love?"

"He gave me this to keep his father from taking me. Goraabo forced Taabo to mark me as his mate. If he hadn't, I would have been another plaything for his father and brothers. It was the only way he could save me, and I will always remember him for giving it to me." She turned towards the bed and took a deep breath. "I am ready for you to take me, Andy. Use me as you wish."

I considered her smooth back and bottom. There were no indications of any type of abuse. She cringed as I lightly ran my fingers along her spine. I stepped back to pick up her robe, which was laying on a nearby chair, and gently placed it across her shoulders. She turned and looked at me with confusion. She was about to speak, so I placed my fingers across her lips.

"Shahana, I cannot take you as a mate." I said sadly as I shook my head. "Although you offer yourself to me, and your body calls to me, your reaction to my touch says you do not want me. At the same time, I feel a wrongness when I touch you, as if you are not meant to be with me, but with another."

"Andy," came Karen's voice in my head, "We're on our way and will be arriving at Kima and Shahana's room in about two minutes."

"I do not understand you, Andy. You were so fierce in the village, and yet you are very gentle now. Any other man would not have cared what I felt and would have taken me anyway."

I helped her into the robe and held her to my chest. "As others have said, I am not like other men."

"But do you not find me desirable? Why do you not want me as a mate?" She seemed on the verge of tears from my rejection.

I figured it was just about time for Karen and Takim to arrive.

"I find you very desirable, Shahana, but Reeree has already provided me with a new mate today and I feel she is the one who says you are for another man."

"Reeree?" snapped Kima as she returned to the room. "Reeree is not real, only the ramblings of a crazy young woman based on the tales of old women. You have been talking to Lita too much."

We couldn't have timed it more perfectly if we had tried.

"You are wrong, mother." said Takim as he entered the room. "Reeree is very real, and I have met her."

Shahana turned around at the sound of his voice and promptly fainted in my arms.

Karen and Emily entered, followed closely by the twins. Emily nodded towards Takim and smiled at me. Jenny came over to check on Shahana.

"TAABO!" cried Kima. "It cannot be! Etala said she saw you die! She said Andy killed you!"

"And so he did, mother. Taabo is dead, killed along with his evil brothers and father. I am TAKIM, son of Kima, and mate to Shahana, if she will still have me." He looked directly at me since Shahana was still in my arms. "And if Andy has claimed her as his own, I challenge his claim!"

"There is no need for challenge, my son, as Andy has not claimed her. He was comforting her after he told her he would not take her as his mate. She is free to rejoin you now that you have returned. But what I don't understand is, HOW have you returned?"

Takim closed his eyes as he recounted his 'memory' of his encounter. "Reeree found me wandering among the dead and told me my work was not finished and I had to return to this world. She healed me and returned me to complete her plans. She would not tell me what she intended for me to do, only that I would know when the the time came."

Shahana stirred and opened her tear-filled eyes. "Taabo? My love, is it really you?"

I helped her to her feet as Takim came to take her from me.

"It is I, but I am no longer Taabo. Taabo died along with his brothers by Andy's thunder. I am Takim, son of Kima, and, I hope, still the mate of Shahana. Will you still have me?"

"Oh yes, Takim. Yes!" She kissed him soundly. "Just as I promised Taabo before, I promise to you, I will have you as my mate for all my days."

"And I will be yours, Shahana, even through death."

I noticed Karen slowly moving towards the door. Her eyes were puffy and her lips quivered. I was about to go to her when Kima quickly walked over and took her hand. After whispering something in her ear, Kima sent her over to Takim and Shahana.

"Takim. Shahana. I am very happy that you are together once again. I had hoped..."

"Karen. I remember you being by my side, holding me, just before Reeree came to me. When I awoke, you were there, still holding my hand. This act demonstrates you have compassion, loyalty, and determination, all of which are desirable qualities in a mate." He held his hand out to her. "Will you come and join us as a mate?"

Shahana looked stunned. Even though she and Karen had discussed the possibility, the reality of Takim's return seemed to have changed things. Karen did not miss the change or the look.

"Takim, as much as I would like to be your mate, I think that for now it is better for me to be a friend to Shahana. She has gone through much since hearing of your death, and now she needs time to celebrate with you your return. She does not need another woman keeping you from her. If you still wish to take me as a mate after one moon, ask me again. Until then, I must decline your offer."

Shahana stared at Karen in disbelief. "You would sacrifice your happiness just to allow me mine?"

"I sacrifice nothing, Shahana, for I will see you and Takim together and share in your happiness. If, after a moon, you still find I am acceptable, ask me again. Until then, allow me to share in the joy of my friends."

Shahana whispered in Takim's ear which caused him to laugh. "Shahana says I will be a fool if I do not ask again as soon as a moon has passed. I tend to agree. I will not be a fool. Be ready, Karen, for in a moon we will come to you, together, to ask again."

Karen stepped in to embrace them and kissed them both. "I will be waiting."

Shahana took Takim by the hand and led him into another room and closed the door. Karen and Johnny said something about fixing something special for dinner and headed out. Jenny and Emily started talking with Kima about the room and decor. I told the ladies I would catch up with them later and headed to the library.

I checked around the room to make sure nobody else was there before closing and locking the doors to the library. I then went to the interface panel.

"Activate voice input mode. Inquiry. Keywords: burns, cell damage, nerve damage, repair, genital..."

"You know you don't have to go through all that, Andy. That's just the way you have to work with the standard interface. That is, when it doesn't have one of my kind inside. You're trying to figure out how to help Kima, aren't you?"

"Thanks Mallie. Yeah, I wanted to see if it is even possible to undo the damage that S.O.B. did to her. I can't imagine the pain she had to have suffered. Just thinking about it makes me wish I could skin him alive. What kind of monster takes pleasure from doing that to another person?"

"There are several examples in your own planet's history. The Marquis de Sade, Vlad the Impaler, Elizabeth Bathory, Caligula, and Gordon Abbott, just to name a few. Did you know that..."

"I really don't want to know about them. I want to find a way to heal Kima. Could I put her into one of those 'R and R' units? Would that fix the scarring?"

"I'm afraid not, Andy. The R and R only speeds the natural healing process. Her damage has already healed naturally."

"What about skin grafts?"

"Skin grafts would help her appearance, but could actually do more damage to her nerves. As far as I know, there isn't anything or anyone on this planet that can help her."

I got the feeling that she was hinting again, but about what? An idea came to me.

"Laarusk, can you hear me?"

"Yes, Andy. I can hear you, but I am in a meeting at the moment. I will contact you once I am free."

I leaned back in my recliner and closed my eyes and thought about all that had happened. Things just seemed to be progressing so fast. I have only been over my funk about losing Kendra a few days and I already have three mates! Was I being unfaithful to Kendra? I twisted my wedding ring. A warmth seemed to spread from it through my body. Oh, Kendra, I miss you so much.

I miss you too Andy. I'll be with you soon, I promise.

I sat bolt upright and looked around. I didn't see anyone else in the room, and I could see the doors were still locked.

"What's wrong Andy?"

"Was there someone else in here a second ago, Mallie? I thought I heard someone talking to me."

"No Andy, you're the only one in here. Besides me, of course."

"Well did you say anything?"

"Not until I asked you what's wrong. Why? What did you hear?"

I noticed my hands had started to shake. "I thought I heard Kendra say something to me. But that's not possible, right?"

"I didn't detect any sounds or any new life-signs within the compound. Maybe it was a dream."

I twisted my ring again. "Maybe you're right. I could have dozed off. It just seemed so real, like she was right here beside me."

"You really care for her, don't you?"

"Yeah, I sure do."

"But it's not just her. You care for all of them. And it's not just the women either. Takim and Keedo too. Even that child you saved at Anton's camp."

"I care about everyone, Mallie. Even you."

"Just not as much as your fleshies, right?" she said with a giggle.

"Maybe some day I'll be able to convince you."

"I doubt it."

"You're such a brat. I should paddle you."

"I'd like to see you try."

Our little byplay was interrupted when Laarusk returned my 'call'.

"Hello Andy. Hate to interrupt you lovebirds but I only have a few minutes before I have to go back in. What can I do for you?"

"Dang it Laarusk, I should paddle you too! Lovebirds indeed." I said with a huff. "Listen, I was wondering if there was any way your team could repair Kima's disfigurement. She..."

"If you are referring to Takim's mother, there is nothing we can do for her."

"What? Why not? You helped with Takim."