Page 10 of Possessed By the Leonid King

Rupex watched the screen shift from Marcus’ face to his own, then Layla’s, and then both side by side with scrolling letters and numbers dancing across them as the simulator took over.

Rupex gasped and almost dropped his comm when the formulas stopped buzzing across the screen and revealed a final product.

“She’s... she’s beautiful. Could that be—would that be what a daughter of ours would look like?” Rupe asked, his voice faint with awe.

The image on his screen showed a young Queen with fine fur that was pale and silvery, a cross between his golden fur and Layla’s peachy-white skin, he supposed. Her muzzle was small and had a faint uptilt like a human nose, and her eyes were blue, not amber or yellow. Unlike Leonid Queens, she had long hair on the top of her head as well as down the back of the neck, a white-blonde swirl that covered one of her small, oval ears.

He was in love.

That is my daughter.

That is my daughter, all grown up.

“Show me her as a cub,” he demanded.

“I can’t do that. I only had adult images of you and the human to work from. I’ll run some more simulations later and see what I can work up. But you approve?”

“Yes.” One word contained a world of meanings. Yes, we can do this. Yes, I’m going to be a father, I’m going to protect my cub, I’m going to have a cub!

“Want to see what a boy would look like?” Marcus asked and didn’t wait for an answer.

Rupex let out a startled purr as the screen changed.

My son.

The male Leonid-human hybrid on the screen had that same thin, whitish fur and a riotously full tawny mane, a narrower muzzle than normal, and wide blue eyes.

“He’s a handsome specimen. Humans have been known to comfortably gestate three at once, with some assistance at delivery and careful monitoring. Leonid litters of three are the norm, so I expect you’ll have at least two. Still, some singletons occur. Weren’t you and your sister both a litter of one?”

“We were.”

“Rupex, you are monosyllabic, even for you. Cold paws?”

“No. No, I’m preparing the contractual end of the matter, now that the science is in our favor.”

“Plenty of things could go wrong, but I’ll give it a solid 80% success rate,” Marcus said cheerfully. His face reappeared on the screen and Rupex could see that the Leonid’s expression didn’t match his tone. “Another bulletin from Serval-Five. They’re locking down all ports and denying entry to any ships carrying non-Servali citizens. Sound familiar?”

“I’ll be up to the cockpit in five minutes.”

The last time ports closed... they hadn’t reopened for months, in some cases years. It wouldn’t be so bad this time. Right? The vaccines worked against mutations. Right?

Last time he hadn’t had a human onboard, either.

In the cockpit, Rupex changed course slightly.

The automated voice of the Comet Stalker’s navigation system spoke in its friendly artificial tones. “You’ve changed course by 38 points. Former destination: Leonid-One, Bastet Bay Space Port. New destination: Leo Falls Island, port unspecified. Is this correct?”

“Correct.”

“Warning. There is no official docking procedure established and no flight command to report to on Leo Falls Island. Do you wish to proceed?”

“Proceed.”

“Course changed.”

Rupex sank back and watched the black, starry space shift slightly as the Comet Stalker altered its course.

He wasn’t going to risk having Layla and his chance for a family taken by the Fever or the quarantines that came with it. If the ports closed... this time he’d rather be at home. Well, the one place in the galaxy besides the Comet Stalker that still felt like home.

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