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answered the king, as he stepped over to his wardrobe to dress.
    GrumIo knew this would normally mean bringing along Duke PietRo LucenTio.  Since he was away at his country holdings while his wife visited her brother, there wasn’t time to get him.  He would not be pleased at the king for putting his wife in danger.  GrumIo hoped this wasn’t the case; his own sister, GremIo, was servant to the princess.
    Just as the king finished dressing, GrumIo brought him a cup of strong koohii.  A few minutes later, a serving girl brought him a full breakfast.  He ate while GrumIo packed.  The king read over his agreement with Regent Malpha.
    The KowLer didn’t have the same lifespan as the HeVanians, so he hadn’t been born when the ship they were currently detaining passed through their system last time.  His father, the previous king, had been a child at the time and didn’t recall the event.  All he knew of it were generic reports of various comings and goings they had reviewed when they took over manning the Gate.  There weren’t many; the HeVanians hadn’t traveled this far away from their world for at least two thousand years prior to the last time.
    He finished eating and was enjoying a second cup of koohii when GrumIo came to tell him all was ready.  If the koohii didn’t keep him awake, he would be able to sleep an additional four hours on the ship.  Somehow, he didn’t think it would be a problem.
    When he boarded the ship, he was happy to be told his sister was already on board and ensconced in her own stateroom.  After giving the pilots their instructions, he went to his own room to rest.  He considered staying awake―for all of two seconds.  He knew if he stayed up, GrumIo and others would feel it their duty to remain awake as well.
    As he was falling asleep, he told himself he was only doing it for the sake of his people.
    ****
    Addie didn ’t want her Ankida to fret.  So when Arjun and Kylan left the bedroom, and Rune started rubbing her back, she pretended to fall asleep.  She would make them tell her what was going on when they came back in a while.  After fifteen minutes, she could no longer stay awake and her pretend sleep became real.
    Pregnant with six babies, she never slept for more than a few hours at a time.  So she was awake by six hundred hours.  They had set the ship to a twenty-four hour day back when they were visiting Earth and decided it was easier on their passengers to keep it that way.  She didn’t say anything while her Ankida helped her to bathe and brought her something to eat.  She waited until she was comfortable in her special gel chair.  She then asked Arjun to take the dogs for a walk, asked Kylan to bring her a movie to watch from the disks in the ship’s store and asked Rune to make her a plate of breakfast foods with one of her special protein shakes.  Once her Ankida were out of the room, she picked up the special communicator she kept with her at all times and called her grandmother and her sister to come over and bring their Ankida with them.
    Arjun was happy when Addie asked him to walk the dogs; it gave him a chance to check on things without upsetting her.  He handed the dogs over to one of the warriors on duty and went to the Bridge.
    Kylan was happy Arjun would be getting a status check so he went straight to the storage room.  He knew just what movies to pick.  He ’d grab more than one so Addie could have a choice.
    Rune was happy Addie was feeling good and taking her forced bed rest so well.  Even with their medical technology, there was only so much they could do to keep her from entering premature labor.  They wanted to give the babies every chance.  Multiple births were fairly rare on HeVan so the medicals were scrambling.  Having Catherine on board ship was a miracle, as far as he was concerned.
    He’d just put the tray, filled with bite-sized breakfast items along with a protein shake in a cold cup, down on the table near Addie’s