Colonel Seeders' Mail Order Bride, Hank

8 Hank

Hank:

"Hank, I think I've found the perfect woman for you." Hank's telecommunication device displayed the Trachtarian words on the screen for him.

"I just sent the form. How can you... Are you trying to set me up with one of the women you have been bedding? I am not looking for a whore," Hank said.

"Wow, no need for name calling. And no, they are not up for grabs. I kind of like all those weird and wonderful-"

"Do you have a point to all this?" Hank asked before his friend could start talking about his sexual escapades.

"Yes. This woman needs help and so do you. She's perfect. No chance of any attachments or stuff that you do not want. I can't go into her background just yet and you know I would never keep that from you if I didn't feel it would put her in danger. I'm sure she will tell you everything when she's ready. Give me a chance to discuss everything with her and then I'll send you as much information as I can. I'm not going to lie to you. She will probably have to remain indoors for a while. She got hurt. But... I'm sending over a bed that will help both her and Hawk. I need to know if you will be up for this. There might be people looking for her."

"So you're sending me a criminal?"

"Hell no. She's not guilty of anything but defending herself. Unfortunately it caught the attention of my father and other people. Look can we discuss this in private. I don't know who I can and can't trust around here. You know how it goes."

Hank knew exactly what he meant. It had taken Sebastian years to achieve his rank as Colonel and should have been general by now, but they refused to listen to his complaints about his father. Politics. Hank refused to acknowledge the governing body of the intergalactic government. He had enough to deal with on his own planet.

"How bad is he?" Hank asked.

"Sector seven has nothing on what he's been doing to these women. In the last week he's killed almost a dozen women. I'm more convinced than ever that Simmons has a hold on him. You have to see his eyes, Hank. Each time he cuts into one of them they glow red. That Vampire is living his fantasies through Dad. I have to find a way to stop him or it will come down to killing my father. He's going to overstep and do something really bad."

"And killing women is not bad enough?"

"At the moment he's cutting them and letting them bleed out. If he starts drinking their blood... Hank, I can't let it get that far. I need help here. I know you can't do anything without leads, so please help by taking in this woman. That's all I'm asking."

They spoke about Hank's work for a while and then ended the call.

Hawk stumbled down the stairs and Hank jumped up to help him. His skin glowed red and his skin burnt Hank's hands. He could hardly speak to ask for water. Hank carried him back to bed and then ran to get ice and water. He filled the bath with cold water and ice and then laid Hawk in the water to break his fever.

All the doctors he had taken Hawk to could not give him any clues why he got the fevers, even after telling them about his mother, about his life and everything about Hank's own background. None of them ever dealt with anything like his case, because no one had ever mated with a human before. They told him he would grow out of it. One doctor gave him some gel that smelled like feces. Others told him that he should keep the place as cold as possible, where a few told him to keep the place dry and warm. None of it helped except for the cold baths and smelly gel.

His com pinged non-stop until he pulled his earpiece from his pocket and shouted, "I'm busy with my son," and then threw it out the door.

Hawk shivered so much that the water splashed over the side of the bath, drenching Hank's clothes, but he still managed to say, "Thirsty."

Hank poured water straight from the tap over the bath, grateful for the sensors that picked up the cup held under the tap, so that he could still hold onto Hawk. His feet slipped a few times on the wet, white and blue tiles, so he pulled the hand towel from the railing and kneeled on it.

Forty minutes later, Hawk finally sat up and washed the sweat from his face. The ice had melted away. He drained the bath and helped Hawk strip down, before wrapping a towel around him, picked him up and carried him to his room.

Hank kneeled next to Hawk's bed, rubbing him dry and said, "One day we will find a way to put a stop to these fevers."

"First we need to find out what causes it. You said so yourself. Maybe my new mother will know."

"She is not your new mother. I'm not going to keep repeating that. She's going to be here to look after you when I go on my trips and that is it," Hank said.

"You're going to marry her, so that makes her my mother. You can call her what you want to. I'm still going to introduce her as my mother. Unless she turns out to be... not so nice. I've read some books that Sebastian sent me. It has step-mothers that are witches. If she's like them I'm going to lead her into the forest and ditch her the first chance I get."

"You were the one that insisted on having someone here with you. But if she is a witch, we can both ditch her. I made it clear that I want a childminder not a greedy witch. I might as well have married one of the waitresses at Graviola's."

"Oh, you will have to buy her a ring. Unless you want to marry that porcupine in the jewelery store. She likes you too."

"I have no idea what a pork-thing is, but if you mean that female with the red hair and rings in her face, then you are looking for a pounding. I would probably end up with lead poisoning after kissing her. She's more Sebastian's type. No, I would rather take the wicked witch over her. Or that flat chested man-woman from the restaurant."

Hawk's laughter infected Hank and he could not hold back his own chuckles. He couldn't remember the last time the two of them sat and laughed together. He'd already missed out so much of Hawk's life since his business took off.

"I have to make a chip for 'your new mother'," he said when their laughter died down. "You want to help select the languages to add?"

"Mine has all seventy five. Why not do the same for hers? We can have private conversations around those women that want a piece of you."

"They want a piece of our fortune and nothing else. The day I meet a woman that will treat you like her own son, accept us the way we are and love us for who we are and not what she can gain from us, that's the day I will marry for real. If she agrees to never leave. They always leave so I will never marry for real."

"And what if my new mother is like that?" Hawk asked.

Right then Hank's com pinged again.

When they checked the message from Sebastian, they both sat and stared at the woman in his 3D display.

"Well, shit," Hank said, using the cuss words that he'd heard many times from Sebastian.

"Uh, Dad? I have a feeling that my new mother will definitely stick around. Unless you send her away."

***

This chapter might change at a later stage when I do a serious edit.