Read Knacayn: A Terraneu Novel (Book Seven) Online
Authors: Stormy McKnight
Tags: #Literature & Fiction, #Erotica, #Humorous, #Paranormal, #Science Fiction, #Romantic Erotica
Knacayn: A Terraneu Novel (Book Seven)
Knacayn
A Terraneu Novel (Book
Seven)
By
Stormy McKnight
Copyright
pending, Stormy McKnight
Cover
Art by Brandi Doanne McCann
Published
by Stormy McKnight
http://www.stormymcknight.com/
Knacayn is the seventh book in The Terraneu series. I would advise that
the books be read in order, to enhance the experience. However, I do try to
write them as stand-alone as possible.
Knacayn is a work of fiction. The characters,
events, and dialogue found within the story are of the author’s imagination and
are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons,
either living or deceased, is completely coincidental.
No part of this book may be reproduced or shared in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including but not limited to digital copying,
file sharing, audio recording, email and printing without the permission in
writing
from
the author
.
How did all of the electronics on Earth manage to get wiped out? Causing
what the survivors dubbed “The End.”
Well,
that is a long story and takes us across the Universe and into what has to be
one of the longest running family feuds in history.
Thousands of years ago, the human population of Earth reached a
pinnacle
in technology, art,
culture,
and medicine. Along with this new age
of plenty, there were factions that felt they were not receiving a fair portion
of the wealth. To stem off violence, the reigning King married the daughter of
a neighboring Warlord. They had five sons, all darkly handsome and accomplished
in their own way.
Kniam
and
Knuan
were the firstborn.
Kniam
was born 3 minutes and 20 seconds before
his brother
and, therefore,
trained to
replace his father as King.
Knuan
, as the
second
born was trained to help
Kniam
and if the worst should happen, he would
be King.
The third in line was
Knollig
. His
temperament led him into the Diplomatic Corp.
The
fourth
was Knaleg. His tactical mind and physical energy
was
best placed in the Military Corp.
Kneus
was their fifth and last son. His
brilliant mind earned him a place in the Halls of Science.
What none of them could foresee was the madness that would claim their
mother. Elyon was driven to horrible heights in her attempts to kill her
husband and sons…all except for
Knuan
. He
would replace the husband she despised and they would rule together.
In a bid to save his family, the King sent his four sons into the far
reaches of space. Using the technology available, he would join his sons
on
a new world and start over. Only he never
got the opportunity. In her rage at her inability to get to her sons, the Queen
unleashed
a biological weapon which
decimated the human population. Her last request of Knuan was to find his
brothers and destroy them.
Kniam, Knollig, Knaleg and Kneus along with those trusted warriors,
craftsman,
and workers all landed on the new
planet they named Terraneu. They tried to reach Earth with the port pad device
that had been sent
with them,
but they
were not successful. The port pad on Earth was not responding. They were only
able to reach a planet they named
Antilles
,
and over the years became allies with the native insectoid lifeforms.
To add to their burden, the males of Terraneu had no females to help
populate the new planet. All they had been supplied with
were
emergency cloning eggs, and those had been
stripped of all DNA. The only way to survive was to clone themselves and when
the cloning eggs were gone, they would perish also. To increase longevity, they
started altering their DNA to use the suns of Terraneu to replenish their
cells. This worked so well over thousands of years the males didn’t even
remember there had been females. The fact they had genetically manipulated
themselves to forget
Earth
and everything
that came before didn’t hurt either. Until they came to the last of their
cloning eggs.
The males who made the decisions presided over a council. This council
knew they were
on
the brink of extinction
but were at a loss over how to avoid the inevitable. Over the years, they had
tried to reach other worlds. Any creature they came across, a DNA sample was
taken for cloning compatibility. Nothing was ever found to be a match. They
found things like
sacath
,
gnowlers,
and
sorrem
.
Sacath
were large
cat-like
animals they domesticated for pets.
Gnowlers
were herbivores and entirely docile,
these animals grazed on the grass
around
their
community.
Sorrem
were a pack animal they
used for transportation.
Into this dire situation dropped Amber Anderson. The males of Terraneu
had given up hope thousands of years before that life on Earth had survived.
They were wrong. Human life had not only survived, it had thrived once again.
Amber was on vacation in what her people called Scotland. What the males of
Terraneu would have called Hedal. She slipped on an icy path and after sliding
down a hill…landed on the port pad the males of Terraneu had tried in vain to
reactivate. The blood on her hands was some kind of genetic “on” button. The
portal activated and Amber was swept to the last dialed location. The port
pad
the males of Terraneu had placed on
Antilles
for
safe
keeping
. (After they had reverse engineered a copy to dial Antilles.)
Landing on
Antilles
and then
wandering into an Antillean hunting trap, Amber was bartered to the males of
Terraneu as a primate of sorts. Since she was wearing an animal hoodie, large
furry
coat,
and boots, it was an easy
mistake to make. She fought Kniam over being “tested” and passed out when the
air was knocked out of her by accident. The male of Terraneu put her into one
of their medical devices to collect a DNA sample. The unit would not do the
autopsy he requested, thinking her deceased. Hitting the auto diagnostic
button, Kniam unknowingly set the new path for Terraneu.
Flash forward and you have more women on Terraneu. Flash forward again
and you have children. Now, the males of Terraneu had forgotten all about
Earth. Including their father, mother and
Kniam’s
twin, Knuan. It wasn’t until Knaleg and his mate, during an away mission to
Antilles,
that they came face to face with
other humanoids. Violent minded humanoids. Little did they know the fate of
Terraneu was going to be tested again and the fate of Earth was in the balance
as well.
Knuan had found the port pad to Earth and left a little something to go
through the next time it was activated. The satellite he sent through the
portal to Earth had a CEMPS payload. Which stood for Cloaked Electromagnetic
Pulse Satellite. This device would cloak itself, launch into a geosynchronous
orbit. When it was at peak power it would
uncloak
and fire a magnetic pulse killing anything with electronic components
susceptible to the pulse. On
Earth,
that
meant almost everything. Automobiles, computers, and machinery were all made
inoperable. It wouldn’t have been so devastating if the satellite didn’t cloak
and repeat the process over and over again. There was no finding it to destroy
it and by the time it was finished, there was nothing of modern Earth left.
“The End” had happened and the planet was in chaos.
Now, this is where we pick up the story. The people of Terraneu found out
about the plight of Earth and were doing their best to erase some of the
damage. Since Earth only has one sun and the people of Terraneu need two, the
decision was made. There would be no missions longer than six months. At every
active portal period, a team was sent to bring additional equipment to, or
remove equipment from Earth. It was during the last mission before leaving
Earth humans to evolve as they would, a son of Terraneu was taken prisoner. His
six-month stay on Earth was not optimal. Upon returning to Terraneu, he was
forced to spend another six months isolated on their beach getaway of
Hu’lani
in order to recover from the ordeal.
The males of Terraneu have a very strong sense of honor. Life for them
was black and white for so long it is ingrained in their genetics. Therefore,
the Rebel faction that helped get
Knadyn
to the portal in time to save him was deserving of assistance. The Government
faction which held and tortured
him
was
not to be rewarded. However, the fighting on Earth would never end if they
helped the Rebel’s and isolated the Government. Additionally, not all of the
Government survivors were to blame for their leadership. It was decided all
survivors of Earth would get help. The only thing the councils, male and
female, of Terraneu
requested,
was the
current leadership of the Government would step down. They would not be allowed
to sit on the newly formed Earth Council. This was accepted and agreed upon
with only a few dissenters.
Kniam, Amber, Knollig, Mairi, Kneus, Gwen,
Marcael
,
Brennae
, Knacayn and
others from Terraneu are currently on Earth building a new community. The
elderly and infirm of both the Rebel and Government camps have been given the
“change”. Their bodies have been altered to use the single sun of Earth for
cell regeneration. They will live for approximately one hundred and twenty
years and will not have to consume food. The only thing they require besides
sunlight is mineralized water. Their bodies are young and healthy again. A
perfect genetic version of themselves if you will.
In three months, the new community will start taking the other members of
both the Rebel and Government camps.
Makenzie Kincaid rolled over on the cot she had been assigned and slowly
looked over the female dorm of the Rebel camp. Her heart jumped with excitement
at the thought of going to the new combined Earth camp today. It wasn’t the
meeting she attended every week that made her anxious to get on the road. It
was the male who would be at the meeting, that had her jumping out of bed and
hurrying through her morning routine. There wasn’t a lot of primping you could
do when your hair was an inch long, your clothes consisted of old military
fatigues and water was rationed like it was the most precious commodity on
Earth. Which it was. It all came down to the simple fact. She was looking
forward to seeing Knacayn. He was one of the males from Terraneu. A humanoid
race that was helping them
build
a camp
for the Rebel, Government and other survivors who had agreed to live together.
Three months ago, her faction of survivors known as the
Rebels
had helped some strangers find and
rescue one of
Terraneu’s
own from the
Government faction. The government survivors were led by a man named Renee
Rousard
. He wasn’t completely intolerable. It
was his son Jeromy who was a nasty bastard you wanted to avoid. When she had
convinced the Rebel leadership to help, she had never dreamed it would lead to
where they were today.
In helping rescue Knadyn, they had earned the respect of his father,
mother, aunts and uncles. This was no small thing since they made up half of
the male council of Terraneu and almost all of the female council. When it came
to a vote to help the remaining survivors of Earth or leave them to their own
evolutionary path…the community of Terraneu had voted to help.
So…here she was, hurrying to get on the road to the new community they
were helping to build at the site of an ancient port pad. Not that the last three
months had been all smooth sailing. There were some
males
from the Rebel faction she was ashamed to admit were unruly,
along with a majority of the males from the Government side. She had learned
from Knacayn that the males from Terraneu had a strong honor system. Therefore,
dealing with the males from Earth had been a challenge for them. Luckily, they
had Steve Howard to help as liaison to the Government faction and she was the
liaison for the Rebels. She heard all the complaints the men of her community
had and relayed them to the Terraneu leadership. Knacayn was the representative
at those meetings. She figured he must have drawn the short
straw
since
nobody in their right mind would volunteer to listen to the odd complaints her
community had.
“Kenzie are you ready?” Hearing Stephanie call her from outside Kenzie
opened the door. Her friend was sitting in a modified Jeep in front of her
dorm. “It’s about time. I’ve been waiting forever. A few more minutes and I
would have started honking!”
Kenzie didn’t take offense. She knew Steph and one of the males of
Terraneu were dating. “Could your impatience have anything to do with a certain
male?” she teased.
Raising her
eyebrow,
Steph ignored
her question and teased back, “As if you are not as excited to see Knacayn. I
know you told me you weren’t interested in a male from Terraneu Kenzie, but I
see the way you act around him.”
Kenzie grimaced and joined her friend in the vehicle. She was hoping the
others of their community hadn’t noticed anything amiss. She was a member of
the leadership and was held to a higher standard. “You know I am going to the
meetings out of a sense of duty. It takes a whole new level of patience to deal
with the way some of the males are acting in the new community. Sometimes I
wonder why Knacayn doesn’t just throw our two factions out the door.”
Steph hit the accelerator and they took off down the road. “They have
agreed to help, so nothing will make them back down.” Her friend drove with one
eye on the road and one eye on her. “
Mallex
asked me to go with him to Terraneu.”
“Steph…that is…” Kenzie struggled for something to say. She had been best
friends with Steph as long as she could remember. “Are you thinking about
accepting? I mean it has only been three months…” Her voice trailed off when
she saw the crestfallen look on her friend’s face. Steph wanted her to be
excited, not the voice of reason.
“I know it is fast Kenzie.” Steph swerved to avoid a
pothole
and then looked back to her. “I care
for him deeply. I know you don’t believe in love at first
sight
or love at all for that matter.”
Kenzie raised her hand and went to protest but Steph jumped in, “No,
don’t deny it. We both know that is how you are and it’s okay Kenzie. I
understand how hard it has been for you to work your way up in the leadership.
You have sacrificed a lot to make your goals a reality.” Her friend turned
imploring eyes to hers. “You have to believe me when I say Mallex is the best
thing to ever happened to me.” Laughing softly, she added, “Besides having you
for a best friend.”
“Aren’t you worried he has someone else waiting for him on Terraneu? If
the women from
Knacayn’s
family are any
indication the women on their planet must be very good looking.” Kenzie hated herself
for saying the words, but it was a real possibility.
Steph just shrugged and snorted, “Honestly Kenzie. Didn’t you learn
anything at all from the briefing they gave us, not to mention all the time you
have been spending with Knacayn?” Swerving to avoid another pothole her friend
hardly paused in her speech. “Their men are totally open. They don’t believe in
subterfuge, playing games, or dishonesty. If I wanted to know how Mallex feels,
or if he has a girlfriend, a partner…or mate as they call them, all I would
have to do was to ask! He wouldn’t lie.”
Kenzie was worried for her friend. She knew it was wrong to place Earth
values on the males of Terraneu but she couldn’t help herself. The women of
Terraneu were so perfect, how could any of their men possibly be attracted to
sore ridden, twig figures like her and Steph?
“Did you ask Mallex exactly how he feels? And what this decision would
mean for both of you?” Kenzie was sure her friend would say “no” and was
shocked to hear the opposite.
“Yes. After our first encounters around the compound. He seemed
interested so I broke down and asked him outright.” Steph laughed happily and
continued, “He is attracted to me…sores and all. We began seeing each other as
a couple, and now things are taking an even more serious turn with me going to
Terraneu. I will have to wait to have the change on Terraneu in order to live
there.”
Kenzie knew “the change” was on everyone’s minds. It was the plan the
councils of Terraneu had come up with to keep the factions from fighting over
limited supplies and food. They were going to change the population to use the
Earth’s sun for
energy
like they had done
to themselves over thousands of years on Terraneu. Instead of consuming food,
they would be like solar panels. Their cells would absorb the
sun's
energy and use it to maintain a healthy
body. They would still need mineralized water, but their new stomachs would
absorb the moisture like a sponge. The upside is they would live for a very
long time. Their genetics “reset” to a perfect version of its code. There
wasn’t a downside as far as she could see, although the females from Terraneu
had stressed not to try to eat anything...ever. Their new bodies would
violently reject any solid food.
“If you had gone through the change on Earth and then wanted to go to
Terraneu with Mallex, is that even possible?” Kenzie asked her friend. The only
thing she knew for certain was the single sun of Earth was not enough for
anyone from Terraneu. If they stayed longer than six months between portal activity,
it would be deadly. Some of them were already feeling the impact of the single
sun, and it was only three months into their stay.
“From what Mallex explained, I could wait for another active portal time
to go with him. If I have any doubts I can stay here and have the change done
for Earth’s one sun. If after being apart, in six months I wanted to be with
him, I could have the change done again. This time for the two suns of
Terraneu
. The only thing he warned me about was
the fact it seemed to cause a reaction in the hair follicles. In other words,
you end up with stark white hair. Not blond…but snow white.” Steph laughed
again, “He seemed very worried it would upset me to have white hair.” She ran
her fingers over her scarred and patchy scalp. “I assured him any color hair
would be better than no hair at all, but since I am going in three months, and
only having the change done once, it won’t matter.”
“I wondered what had happened that none of the other males had white
hair. Only Mallex and the scary one…Marcael.” Kenzie had traveled with Marcael
three months ago to bring Jeromy and Renee Rousard to a council meeting. How
Marcael could not say anything and say so much at the same time was astounding.
With one raised eyebrow or purse of his lips, he managed to get his point
across just fine.
“Honestly Kenzie…what do you and Knacayn talk about?”
Kenzie blushed, “We talk about the males and integrating them into the
community. We talk about the issues that might come up. The things I’m supposed
to be talking with him about.” She added defensively.
“On your lunch dates after the meetings you are supposed to talk about
personal things. Not more work crap!” Steph swerved again and teased, “It’s no
wonder you are still single. All work and no play!”
Kenzie just shook off the teasing. She knew Steph was just trying to
lighten her suddenly dark mood. Had she been wasting time with Knacayn talking
about the community? It wasn’t as if they didn’t talk about some personal
things, it just seemed their conversations always drifted back to work
problems. Mainly due to her she realized. She always steered their talks back
to work. She was sabotaging herself on purpose. Getting close to Knacayn was a
dangerous path for her. She wasn’t like Steph. She had no plans to ever go to
Terraneu. Her life was here on Earth. As a respected member of the Rebel
leadership,
she was making a difference in
lives here. A fact she was extremely proud of.
While she had been thinking Steph continued, “Besides, I think the white
hair and dark eyebrows just
make
Mallex
more handsome. With his beautiful purple-blue eyes and those long eyelashes.
Not to mention his patience, his honor, his work ethic. How he makes me laugh
and when he kisses me. Whew.” Steph did an exaggerated fanning motion in front
of her face and increased their speed.
“I wondered when you were going to get around to talking about his hot
body.” Kenzie waited for it…and Steph didn’t disappoint her.
“What do you mean his ‘hot body’?” Steph swerved to avoid another pothole
and Kenzie had to grab the handle on the ceiling to steady herself this time.
“Why have you been looking at
Mallex’s
body?”
Kenzie just gave her an exasperated look, “Honestly Steph? You know I
haven’t been checking out Mallex! I was just teasing.”
Her friend sighed and looked away guiltily. “I’m sorry Kenzie. It’s just
that even with no food and sores, scabs and scars all over…you are very pretty.
I feel like if you wanted him, maybe Mallex would prefer you.”
Kenzie was stunned. She was just like all the other females of their
community. In her
opinion,
she wasn’t
overly tall, at about five foot seven. She was stick thin, had no hair and as
Steph had pointed out she was covered in sores,
scabs,
and scars. Her face was just as gaunt which made her brown eyes huge in her
face.
“I didn’t know you felt that way Steph. It’s like you
said,
though. The males of Terraneu don’t
believe in lies or games. If Mallex said he was interested in you, then he
wouldn’t prefer me. You are just scared because this whole situation is so
new.”
Steph smiled and her face resumed its happy glow. “You’re right Kenzie.
It’s hard not to be insecure when dealing with such good looking men and
equally gorgeous women.”
Before Kenzie could reply, they had made it to the security
checkpoint
for entrance into the compound. Not
seeing anyone standing around didn’t surprise her. The guards would be wearing
the armor that kept them cloaked. Sure enough, there was a shimmer next to the
driver’s side door and a figure appeared. When the guard reached for the
headgear and pushed a button, Kenzie wasn’t surprised to see Mallex standing
there.
“Steph.” Kenzie bit her smile back and turned her head away. The way
Mallex had said her friends name was almost indecent.
Steph was
afraid this man was interested in someone else? She would
die of shock if Steph wasn’t on the portal to Terraneu in three months.
Laughing
at
her own
thoughts,
she almost jumped when another figure
materialized at her side of the vehicle.
“Ms. Kincaid.” The guard at her door had taken down his helmet and she
didn’t recognize him. “You are here for the meeting. Knacayn and Steve Howard
are expecting you. You may proceed.”
“You can call me
Kenzie,
” she
assured the nervous male. Turning to see Mallex and Steph deep in conversation
she cleared her throat. “Uh. Steph we are cleared to continue.”
Looking over at Kenzie as if she had just appeared out of nowhere, Steph
sighed. “Okay.” Clearing her throat, she smiled at Mallex. “Thank you…for
clearing us.”
Kenzie just bit back another laugh at the obvious reluctance Steph was
showing in driving away.
“Perhaps Stephanie could stay here and when you return this direction,
she could travel back with you then.” Mallex suggested and Steph looked so
happy Kenzie felt a moment of envy. Then she shook it off. Steph deserved to be
happy and it wasn’t her friends fault she was a coward and had tamped down any
feelings she may felt
growing
for
Knacayn. In her
defense,
she wasn’t sure
her
feeling
were even hers anymore. She
was attracted to him physically. Who wouldn’t be? He was tall, well over six
foot like the
others
in his family. He
had black hair, smoking purple eyes, a thickly muscled body, full kissable
lips. Aside from his
appearance,
she
liked his sense of duty, work
ethic
,
diplomacy in dealing with her men, his sense of fairness…with a sigh she
admitted she liked
everything
about
him. It was a shame really he couldn’t stay on Earth.