~ SASHA ~
There was a pregnant pause—Sasha almost snorted at her own pun—after she'd finished speaking, where the four Board members all stared at her. Then one of them nodded.
She'd expected conversation. Some kind of… she didn't know, negotiation? But instead, the two men who'd sat there barely speaking both rose from their seats and began their farewells to Santa Claus and Sour Puss.
Sasha frowned at them, then looked at Nick.
"They're only here to cast votes in the event of a conflict," he said quietly. "But since you agree to be a part of this, they'll leave the logistics to me, Horace and Nathan."
Nathan. That was Sour Puss's name. She tried to make it stick this time. And Santa Claus was named Horace?
She cleared her throat. "So they just… believe me?"
"I told you, Sasha, we can tell when you're telling the truth. All your indicators are that you mean what you say. I'll admit, I didn't think you were that committed."
Committed to what? She'd told them she'd have Zev's babies and work with them. She'd tried to get them to send the females over to Thana. No one had actually assured her—
"Is she pregnant?" Nathan said flatly, to Nick.
Nick shrugged. "We'll take the test in the morning, it's the most likely time of day to show an accurate result."
Sasha stared at him. "They" wouldn't be doing anything. She would be taking a test it sounded like.
"When is her cycle due?"
Sasha was horrified that the question was directed not at her, but at Nick.
She was almost sick when Nick responded, "Tomorrow. It's another reason to wait until then." She gaped at him.
"I'm not pregnant," she said, then repeated it when the three men still at the table just stared. "I'm not trying to be difficult, I'm just telling you. I think I'd know. And there's nothing. I'm not pregnant. So you're going to have to let me go back to Zev to make that happen."
"We don't have to do anything," Nathan said darkly.
Nick flapped a hand. "Once we're certain and we have the details ironed out, we'll get you back to him, Sasha. Nathan and Horace just need some reassurance and we need to figure out the agreements."
"I just made an agreement. What else is there to figure out?"
"What medications you'll be taking if you aren't pregnant, and which ones you'll take if you are," Horace said gently.
"Medications? I can't take medications if I'm pregnant! It will hurt the baby!"
"Not the ones we give you," Nathan snapped.
Sasha bristled. "I told you I will have his babies—but do no harm, remember?"
Nick put a hand to her arm as she leaned over the table towards Nathan. "Sasha, just listen for a moment. If you're pregnant, your baby is half-Chimeran. And Chimeran offspring have nutritional and hormonal needs that human babies don't. We won't be giving you drugs. We will be… supplementing your body. A Chimeran baby is an even higher drain on the mother's body than a human baby. Chimeran female bodies are designed to fulfill those needs. But yours will need assistance unless you want to get really sick."
Getting sick seemed unavoidable around these people.
Sasha was incredibly uneasy. "I don't know…"
"We'll go through it when it's relevant," Nick said.
"But if you aren't pregnant, you'll be taking… supplements that will aide your body in reaching fertility frequently. And with ideal physiological support," Nathan added.
"I am not taking—"
"You will take what we prescribe or you will be held, bound to a bed, kept in a cell, and forced to take it. We'll bring Zev to the breeding arena for you, is that what you want?" Nathan barked.
Sasha blinked, her heart thrumming in her ears. "No, of course not."
"Then listen and learn, Sasha. This is not a negotiation. We will listen to you when we believe there is something to gain, but we will not waiver from our chosen course. You have proposed changes to our project that we may decide to adopt under certain circumstances. But if you want any hope of seeing other females alive and healthy in Thana, take your fucking supplements."
"How will I know they won't hurt the baby?"
Nathan rolled his eyes as if she were a frustrating child. "Do you really think that as we walk towards the culmination of decades of work, we wish to harm that baby?"
"Maybe not intentionally," she spat. "But I've seen what you're doing to the females, keeping them caged and out of their natural environment. Somehow you've determined that that's good for them? How do I know your judgment isn't equally off on what would be best for my child—in the event that I become pregnant?" she added, intentionally to spite him.
But Nathan's eyes snapped to Nick and he pointed across the table. "You haven't taken her to the Sanctuary yet. You were supposed to do that this afternoon."
"We had a little… delay after the breeding arena. I'll take her in the morning."
"See that you do, I'm sick of listening to this whining about how we treat our females." Nathan turned back to Sasha. "You show strength and intelligence, but you are playing in waters so far over your head, you can't even see the surface. If you want my advice—and trust me, you do—your only chance for surviving this with any kind of pleasant outcome is to stop making assumptions, and start listening and observing. This Board will hear you when your thoughts are relevant, but we will not sit here to be chastised by a woman who has been in Thana for a week and is in the throes of mating hormones. You have demonstrated your ignorance today. I will forgive it this time because it isn't your fault that our helpers ran behind schedule. But you will not bring me this bullshit again after you've seen what we do here, do you understand me?"
Sasha's throat closed. She nodded, but didn't drop his gaze. "If you don't make me harm my baby or anyone else, you'll find me a very hard worker."
"Good. We'll eagerly await news of your tests tomorrow. In the event that you are not pregnant, we will discuss the schedule for your supplements, and the provision of them by the team, and then you'll be allowed to return to Thana. But if you are already carrying Zev's child, we have many tests and levels we need to establish before we can let you return. So prepare yourself for a delay."
"Do you want her tested for human hormones, or Chimeran?" Nick asked quietly, as Sasha's heart rose and fell in a single movement.
Nathan stared at her for a moment, then answered, "Both. Take no risks. We don't know how this is going to go. Do both."
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