Haven 4 AVOW - Sandra R Neeley Page 0,68

Your home will increase by his presence, and all will be well in our world,” Mee'ta said, proudly.

“How will we achieve such a thing?!” Ph’eel asked, clapping her hands giddily.

“Ko'San will pretend to be Lo'San. He will take her off this ship and deposit her with the Consortium.”

“I will not! I will not become second to him! You do not need him in our home!” Ko'San nearly shouted. “I have spent my life being reminded that I am not Lo'San. Finally, I have my own mate, my own children, and now you force me to step back and allow him to rule over all that I have? I refuse!” he insisted with a snarl.

Mee'ta and Ph’eel shared a shocked look and Mee'ta gestured toward Ko'San.

Ph’eel’s manipulative mind sprang into motion and she stepped closer to Ko'San, pressing her body against his and stroking his arm and chest with her long, delicate fingers. “Ko'San, you misunderstand, my love. Lo'San will join our family as a fourth husband. You will become first. You will have the advantage over him and all my husbands. Your simple act will prove your dedication to me, and I will adjust all to make you first among our family. You will determine exactly what the responsibilities and contributions to our household are for all my husbands. They will all bow to you, including Lo'San.”

“And as you have always remained loyal to us, and you’re assisting us in returning your brother to his rightful place in our family, you will now be the preferred son,” Mee'ta said. “You will take the honorary place he once held.”

Ko'San wanted nothing more than to be able to command more respect than Lo'San did. He resented Lo'San for all he’d attained while Ko'San had remained only a third husband to a female that regularly reminded him that he was not Lo'San.

“What do you want me to do?” he asked.

“You will dress in his uniform, order a transport to take you both off to the Consortium’s satellite station, and leave her there,” Mee'ta said.

“You want me to intentionally take Lo’San’s mate to the Consortium’s station? Do you think they won’t realize I’m not Lo'San?”

“It is not the Consortium’s Space Station, it is one of the smaller satellite stations between here and Earth. Surely Lo'San has not been there. They’ve only likely seen him on holovid. They will never know you are not him.”

“Sink Lar will never cooperate,” Ko'San objected, not wanting to put himself willingly into such a precarious position.

“She will not need to. She will be unconscious, drugged beyond any ability to even be aware she is not in her own bed. I will create messages for both Lo'San and for Sink Lar,” Mee'ta said.

“For what?” Ko'San asked, thoroughly confused.

“Lo’San’s will say that after spending time with his family, and after many attempts to provide him with a young one, it is clear to her that she does not belong with him. She has realized she’s made a mistake and is going back to her own people. His will say that after spending time with us, and Ph’eel, he has come to realize just exactly what he’d be giving up by mating outside his own race. Furthermore, Ph’eel can and will provide him with the young ones he so craves, while at the same time giving him daily access to his family.”

“How will you create those messages. You cannot mimic their voices,” Ko'San asked.

“I don’t need to mimic their voices. I merely need to mimic their handwritten words. It will be simple enough to do,” Mee'ta said.

“How?” Ko'San asked.

“We’ve translated several messages they’ve written to one another. It’s a simple matter of creating the message we want and translating it to the language they write in. Then we copy those messages and leave each where its intended recipient can find it,” Mee'ta explained.

“He will never believe it,” Ko'San said.

“He will. I am loading more than half his credits onto her credit band. It will look as though she’s left him and taken half his wealth to keep herself afloat. It will appear to her that he sent her away but did send her with the means to care for herself. It makes the entire situation more believable,” Mee'ta said.

“I’m so excited!” Ph’eel squealed, following Mee’ta to the table to watch as she began to create her messages.

“Why? Because you will now have Lo'San?” Ko'San snapped.

“No, my favored first husband. Because you will finally have the recognition you’ve always deserved. And because with