Chapter 39

The gas had cleared by the time they arrived.

Jada opened the airlock. Zeke checked that Marko was indeed unconscious. Raul turned up with the gurney and helped Zeke get Marko on it. They made sure he was well strapped down.

“Raul, take him to the infirmary and run the Auto-Doc over him. I’ll go fix up his cell. Sofia, would you like to fill the girls in on their duties? I will have to give them the use of Hercules until I get their Z4 back.”

“What’s a Z4?” Jada asked.

Sofia grinned, “You will love it. It is so easy to fly, even I have little trouble manoeuvring the little beasty. Raul calls our Z4, Inca.”

“Wait!” said Paula. “Are you still going to employ us after what Dad did?”

“Are you going to do the job I contracted you to do?”

“Hell, yes!” Jada replied excitedly, while Paula nodded and grinned, gripping her sister’s arm.

Zeke replied in a business-like manner, “Then let’s get to work. Raul and Sofia have a delivery to make. The sooner you two are up to speed, the sooner they can get going. I’ll sort out the cell and then inspect your ship. I believe it is a standard LFTR model like the Condesa and Louisa.”

Jana nodded and added, “Yes, but it has an extra pod near engineering. Dad had to install it when he started taking us girls out with him and Mum. He bitched and whinged, but the regulators insisted that Mariah had to be upgraded to accommodate a family.”

“Good to know. Oh, Raul, you may need to check to see if the regulators will accept the Z4 as your second pod. If possible, it would be better if Sofia and your son could get to it if anything goes wrong. Baby capsules are easy to install. You may wish to find a second engineer when she gets closer to her time.”

Zeke looked at the four stupefied faces. “What?”

Sofia had tears running down her face. Raul hugged her and said sadly, “Boss, my Sofia cannot have babies. Sofia was the only survivor of the accident that killed her parents and the twin’s mother. She was badly wounded down here.”

Raul placed his hand on Sofia’s tummy under her belly button. He stiffened and then looked up at Zeke in wonderment.

Zeke smiled softly, “Um, I may not have mentioned all of the side effects of my gift, did I?”

Sofia placed her hand over Raul’s. Moments later, her whole demure changed. Her body seemed to glow brightly as she smiled.

Zeke chuckled, “Yep, he is going to be a right handful. Hey, Sofia, you may wish to contact Dusty to recommend the right doctor for you to see.” He emphasised the word ‘right’.

“Oh! Yes, I understand. How do you know it will be a he. It is still tiny and has no form?”

“Sofia!” Zeke admonished softly. He then wiggled his eyebrows at her.

“Okay, you three, what is going on here? Sofia is glowing like a supernova. And she can’t have babies. She was a mess for a long time after the accident. Dad had to hire a nurse to look after her for a year before she could travel with us again.”

Zeke looked at the twins. He silently placed a spell on them but didn’t activate it. “I will tell you, but to do so, I must put a spell on you both. You will not be able to talk about what I say about magic or indicate that you know anyone with magical abilities.”

Jada looked at her sister. They both nodded at each other. It was Paula who said, “We are twins. We know some of our abilities are considered common for us. But since Queen Lee posted her website, we began to suspect we had a reason for the rest.”

“I became really scared that Dad would work it out. We think he has some Physic abilities because of how he manipulates people. Somehow, I could suppress our glow to hide it from him.”

“It has been growing since more magical people have come to Armstrong Station. I think magical people naturally seek out others like them. Our glow is a way to identify us.”

“We have to get angry to disobey, Daddy. Jada is better at it than I am. In recent years, we have been getting better at repulsing him, but the trauma I suffered not long after our mother died makes it harder for me.”

Jada added, “She can handle dark places, as long as they don’t smell like sewerage. It seems to work the other way too. Even so, I fix those types of leaks, so Paula isn’t stressed. Dad knows if he mentions the punishment, Paula will obey him to avoid it.”

“What a bastard,” Zeke responded.

He looked critically at the twins. “Can I touch you both? One at a time is best.”

They nodded in agreement and separated. They didn’t flinch when he touched their cheeks. He touched Paula first. After a few moments, she smiled, sighed, and then relaxed.

Jada remained more stoic until Zeke gave out one of his soft, sexy chuckles. It had affected her on the phone, but in person, it devastated her. Her wall of distrust towards men cracked enough to let him in. Zeke wasn’t surprised when she projected that Raul was one of the few, she had let in.

He was surprised when he discovered Rod Taylor was the second.