Hercules 500 Read online

  Because that was what they were told as part of the sign up hype.

  There might be jobs in the main city and the more densely populated and developed areas, but they had settled near the outer edge of the colony and most of the people were self employed.

  Cole solved their/her dilemma.

  Having grown up on a boy’s ranch, he’d been on the lookout for animals that could be domesticated and sold. It hadn’t taken long to discover what the beast most commonly used for protein was or that they were fairly prolific breeders. As soon as they had completed the house for Anika so she could focus on her nesting, they started working on a fence. When they’d fenced in about half of her piece, they headed into the wild to round up a herd.

  Anika managed to occupy herself, at first, with nesting. She, her mother, and her mother’s Hercules500s headed into Capital City to collect the things she’d brought with her for her new home and, while there, they accumulated a handful of ‘must have’ furniture items.

  Primarily mattresses.

  Anika wasn’t so preoccupied that she didn’t notice that they drew attention both heading into the city and out of it, but the heavily armed, massive robots, Yin and Yang, seemed intimidating enough to keep them from getting too interested.

  Belinda had actually spent more time talking Anika out of buying things than talking her into it. Anika was vaguely annoyed about it, but she figured her mother was just trying to watch her finances.

  Until they returned to the ranch and Yin and Yang unloaded her belongings.

  “Now, we can go to my place and get whatever else you need,” Belinda said cheerfully.

  “Aww, Mom! That’s so sweet! But I can get by with what I have.”

  “No. I insist. I’ve been putting back a few things here and there that I thought you should have.”

  Since there was no talking her out of it, Anika went along with it.

  And got the shock of her life.

  Her sweet little mother was a major smuggler!

  The cave system she was so proud of was where she kept her smuggled goods until she could move them.

  “Oh my god! Mom!”

  Belinda chuckled. “Don’t be silly. Come on and have a look.”

  A horrible thought suddenly occurred to Anika. “You don’t …. You don’t know those people that attacked the shuttle, do you?”

  It was Belinda’s turn to look horrified. “How could you even ask me that? How could you think I would have anything to do with any enterprise that harmed people? I started this to help. People here were—are suffering because they can’t get the things they need. The company just robs everyone! And so many people are just … slaves, so deeply in debt they won’t live long enough to dig their way out.

  “So I just happened to bring a lot of extra stuff with me when I came, because I didn’t believe the lying bastards and I wanted to make sure I had plenty of everything. And shortly after I got here I was in the position of having to sell some of the things just to get by.

  “And I found this man that was trading with the natives even though that’s a criminal offense here and we just got together and started a trade system that’s way more fair.”

  “And still dangerous,” Anika said angrily, “even if you don’t associate with anyone like the monsters that attacked us. Besides, you can’t possibly know you don’t have anything to do with them. The captain said they were after the shuttle so they could use it to reach the mother ship and steal the cargo.”

  Belinda looked guilty and unhappy. “It crossed my mind,” she confessed. “All I could do was wonder if my business had taken the only joy out of my life. But I don’t have anything to do with them. Certainly not in the sense that I sent them to do that! Me and Thomas work with people that smuggle stuff onto and off of the ship. If they’d gotten the shuttle and gotten the cargo they would have stolen our contraband along with everything else. I suspect Thomas also skims from the company shipments, but I don’t have anything to do with that either.”

  Anika stared at her. “That’s how you were able to make the arrangements—back on Earth. The black market.”

  Belinda looked proud of herself not guilty. “Yep!”

  Anika rolled her eyes. “You know that Cole’s a cop, right?”

  Belinda shrugged. “Was. He’s way out of his jurisdiction.”

  “But not out of the mindset.”

  Belinda frowned. “Well! It isn’t as if I planned on bringing him into the operation! I trust you completely or I wouldn’t have let you know.”

  Anika shook her head, but she hugged her mother. “I’m sorry I seemed to be judging. It’s just …. You’re important to me, too. And I don’t like the idea of you being in a dangerous situation.”

  Belinda sighed. “That’s a good point, but I try not to take unnecessary risks, and the truth is there’s a lot of people that just wouldn’t survive if we weren’t doing this. They aren’t resourceful enough to figure out how to buck the system.

  Anika was worried. She tried to convince herself that her mother had been doing this for years and hadn’t gotten in trouble and she was no more likely to at this point, but it didn’t really help her feelings.

  Especially when she knew how tenacious Cole could be.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “You should marry me,” Cole said teasingly, “and then all of your secrets would be safe.”

  Anika felt her heart rhythm go haywire.

  The first part of the comment itself, for someone who’d never before managed to interest any man in a commitment, was enough to spark heart palpitations.

  And then there was the suggestion that he knew she had a secret.

  That wasn’t ‘exciting’, though. It was terrifying. And it spawned a flashflood of horrific images, most of which featured her mother being carted off to jail for smuggling.

  There must have been something in her demeanor that alerted Chance and Sebastian to her distress.

  Having left Anika with her mother for ‘safe keeping’, the three men had just returned from days on the ‘trail’ hunting stray beasts and had joined Anika’s bath—already in progress—in her mother’s favorite pool. They abandoned their grooming and moved closer.

  “There is something wrong?” Chance asked, his straight black brows tented above the bridge of his nose.

  It was Cole who responded, shaking his head. “I stuck my foot in my mouth.”

  Sebastian, who’d moved up behind Anika and pulled her against his length, looked him over, frowning. “And this frightened Anika?” he asked, clearly puzzled.

  Anika snickered a little hysterically. “It just means when you say something awkwardly or something you shouldn’t have said.”

  Cole rubbed his neck. “Yeah. It was awkward as hell.”

  Sebastian’s arms tightened briefly and then he stroked the giant mound of Anika’s belly.

  She was self-conscious about it, but his big hands were soothing.

  Besides, it was one of his most endearing traits—his desire to ‘pet’ her. It always soothed her when he held her and lightly stroked her, made her feel loved and protected. “He wants to settle here, with us, and be a part of our family,” Sebastian murmured.

  Jolted by the statement, Anika twisted around enough to look up at Sebastian. Her heart was galloping with happy excitement, though.

  “And you aren’t angry about that?”

  Sebastian lifted his brows, but he smiled faintly. “You are my woman, yes?”

  Anika blushed, but she smiled back at him. “You know I love you.”

  He nodded. “And also Chance.”

  She agreed, turning to smile at Chance.

  “I think,” Sebastian said, nuzzling the side of her face with his, “that you also care for Cole and Chance and I are willing to accept him as a brother—already do. We have fought side by side as brothers and fought one another as brothers. He is welcome here to us for those reasons and more. This is a dangerous world and there is safety in numbers that d
oes not exist for a loner. The three of us can protect you and our holdings far better than any of us could do that alone. The only question is whether he is welcome to you, as well.”

  Anika met Cole’s look then, lifting her brows questioningly.

  Cole shrugged. “I guess that sucked as a proposal.”

  Anika’s lips twitched. “It did.” She hesitated. “I liked the first part, though.”

  Sebastian released her and headed back across the pool to collect his washcloth. After a long pause, Chance followed him, leaving Anika alone with Cole again.

  Cole nodded. “The second part was just plain stupid. I would never do anything to harm you, our children, or your mother. You are as close to a family as I’ve ever had and …. Something I always wanted.”

  Realizing what a struggle it had been for Cole to admit so much, Anika moved closer to him and slipped her arms around his waist. “This …? It isn’t just because of the babies, is it?”

  His face hardened. “I can’t seem to say anything without putting my foot in my mouth.”

  She shook her head, slipping her arms around his waist when she sensed a desire in him to withdraw. “I want you to say it to me.”

  His face reddened, but he put his arms around her. “I love you, Anika. You.” He hesitated. “I wanted to marry you because I’d like to give the children my name.”

  Anika shook her head at him, but she lifted up to match her lips to his. “Convince me.”

  He ‘received’ with enthusiasm that was damned convincing of love and desire.

  For a handful of moments, Anika felt like she was melting. Images of making love where they stood pelted her.

  And then, when Cole pulled away to lift her into his arms, something way less pleasant happened.

  Her belly contracted and her water broke.

  “Oh my god!” Anika gasped, clutching her belly.

  “What?” Cole asked, instantly panicked.

  Anika gritted her teeth until the contraction ended. “I think …. No. I know I’m in labor.”

  Anika’s mother met them at the door when Cole had finally managed to get out of the pool with her. “So? How did it go?”

  “She’s in labor,” Cole said through gritted teeth.

  “Oh shit!” Belinda exclaimed. “Back! The room’s the other way—past the pool.”

  There was such a knot of naked, wet bodies at the doorway since Chance and Sebastian had joined them, it was touch and go for a few minutes as to whether or not they could break the deadlock. Finally, they managed to get turned around, though, and hurried along the passage as quickly as they could manage.

  Anika dug her fingernails into Cole every time she had a new contraction.

  Belinda managed to pass everybody when they got to a little wider spot on the path and took them past the ‘bunk’ room the guys used when they slept at Belinda’s. She’d set up a medical room just beyond it, fully equipped.

  She summoned her Hercs to act as delivery medics.

  Anika wasn’t especially happy about that, but she discovered they were very gentle. Their touches might be mechanical and impersonal, but they were precise and non hurtful. Within a few minutes they had settled her and set up a monitor for her and the babies.

  They announced to the room at large that she was in labor and dilated five fingers, or half way, and that the male’s head was engaged.

  Pleasure instantly flooded Anika, soothing away much of the pain.

  They were coming! She was going to get to see them and hold them!

  She was completely focused on the birthing process after that, tracking her progress as it was announced.

  They controlled much of the pain, but there came a time when it outstripped their efforts. Thankfully, that time was short—relatively short. Her son, Charles, announced his arrival even before he actually arrived.

  Chance took one look at the screaming head poking out of the birth canal and passed out and hit the floor.

  Thankfully, he hit the wall first and just sort of slid down it.

  Sebastian looked a little woozy himself. He staggered around leaning against the wall and finally found a place to sit.

  Which was a good thing since he passed out when the babies umbilical cord was tied off and cut.

  It cleared the way for Cole to hold the infant for a handful of moments before Belinda whisked him away and settled him in an incubator that she had ready.

  Her daughter, Charlotte, was right on Charles’ heels, almost literally.

  Anika was eternally grateful. She felt like she’d surpassed the limit of her pain endurance. And then Charlotte was born and the pain ceased as abruptly as if it was cut.

  She managed to stay awake and alert until she’d held and examined both of the babies and allowed each to breast feed a few minutes. By that time the Hercs had delivered the afterbirth and tided everything up.

  And all she had to do was drift away.

  Her mother tapped her cheek. She opened her eyes with an effort and struggled to keep them from rolling around in her head. “Huh?”

  “Did he ask?”

  “What?”

  “Did you ask?” she addressed the same question to Cole.

  He grinned. “I did.”

  “I’m guessing the grin means she said yes?”

  He frowned. “Uh … I think so.”

  “Think? Annie? Did you accept?”

  “What?”

  Belinda sought patience. “Did you accept Cole’s proposal?”

  “We were discussing it,” she said in a slurred voice.

  “Well, we need that answer!” Belinda said briskly. “Time’s a wasting.”

  “Yes,” Anika managed.

  “Great! Cole, do you take this woman, etc., etc.?”

  “Uh … yeah. What are you doing?”

  “Tying the knot.”

  “Is that legal?” Anika asked.

  “It is if you’re a circuit judge and I am. By the powers vested in me by the Colony Seven Group of Beauterre, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride.”

  He brushed a kiss across her lips, but it was too late. She was beyond knowing or responding. He kissed her forehead and straightened. “She’s out. Will it still count? The name, I mean?”

  “Of course it will! You two tied the knot just before the delivery. I’ve got plenty of witnesses if we need them, but who’s going to challenge it anyway?”

  Cole wasn’t entirely convinced, but he was relieved that she seemed to think so.

  Later, in the kitchen when Belinda was cooking up supper for the group, Cole joined her, leaning against the counter far away enough, he hoped, from things boiling to be used as a weapon. He studied her speculatively as she worked. “Is there anything you aren’t in to Mrs. McNeal?”

  “Ms. And the answer is—I don’t know what you’re implying young man.”

  Cole nodded. “Ok, mother-in-law.”

  She grinned at him.

  “You know I took that job as Marshall, right?”

  “Yeah. They sent me a notice about the new Marshall for the territory.”

  Surprise flickered through him. “So you really are a judge?”

  She frowned. “Of course I am. I wouldn’t just say that. They were looking for judges not long after I got here and I figured it couldn’t hurt, that it might actually be useful, so I headed into Capital City and applied for the job. Been a judge ever since.”

  “Soo … was that before or after you got into smuggling?”

  There was no surprise in her expression when she glanced at him. “Before.”

  Cole shook his head at her and chuckled. “Well, as long as we’re clear on everything ….” He left her to her work and headed back into the caverns to see Anika and the babies, heading to the incubators to look at the babies first. Cole and Sebastian had already taken up positions on either side, though, and he discovered he was having problems getting close enough for a look.

  Until the babies started wailing.r />
  Chance and Sebastian both vacated the delivery room in short order.

  “Hey!” Cole called after them. “You guys are supposed to help with the parenting.”

  “I expect they’ll need to find some programming for that,” Anika said dryly. “I asked Sebastian what his experience was and he told me he took care of Lauren’s baby—which, it transpires—was a Pomeranian.”

  Cole looked disgusted and then shrugged. “Mine is with baby chicks, pigs, and horses.”

  “Well, I guess we’re all going to have to figure this out,” Anika muttered. “For the moment, I think they’ve oxygenated enough. Can you bring me Charlotte? She seems the most distressed.”

  Cole stared at the tiny beings uneasily and finally reached to pick up the one that was squalling loudest. Thankfully, they were bundled tightly and that made it easier to pick one up and carry it to Anika. She smiled at the baby and cuddled it against her chest and then uncovered a breast when she realized it was rooting around for food.

  Cole watched, fascinated.

  Anika was a little disconcerted. “You going to just stand there gawking? Or get poor Charles and try to pacify him till I can swap out?”

  He grinned. “It’s just … so unreal that they can look for food when they’re only a few hours old.”

  Anika laughed. “Thankfully, we still have some instincts. Otherwise, babies born to parents that had no experience might be in more trouble.”

  * * * *

  Anika was impatient to return to their own home. It wasn’t that she begrudged the time her mom spent with the babies. That was very helpful all the way around because she managed to recall her own experience and pass that to everyone in need of instructions—which was all of them.

  She was just anxious to begin her life as a family with her partners.

  Belinda relented after a few weeks, still worried, but knowing that she’d held Anika up as long as she could without causing unnecessary tension.