Marcael: A Terraneu Novel, Book Five (12 page)

Brennae laughed at the sight that met her eyes when she got to the sorrem
holding. Iesti had been cornered by the sacath who were desperately trying to
find the treats they wanted. Walking to the cabinet that held the items, she
gave a whistle and all the sacath looked her way.

“Here they are you big babies!” She shook the bag of treats and instantly
all five of her families’ sacath, and the others from the community made a line
in front of her. As she gave out the treats, she made sure to give each sacath
a big hug and scratch behind the ears.

“All done.” She said, putting away the bag and showing them her empty
hands. That was the signal for them to leave. With backward glances to make
sure she wasn’t giving out any extra treats, the sacath left the dome.

“Brennae—” Iesti began with a stern look.

“I know...and I’m sorry.” Brennae couldn’t help the laughter that erupted
at the look on his face, “I was showing Marcael to the council dome or I would
have been here sooner.”

“Yes, I heard about this morning.” Iesti smiled, “Strange thing the doors
to the medical dome getting locked like that. It must have been a malfunction
or something.”

Brennae silently cursed the telepathic Terraneu male grape vine and just
shrugged her shoulders, “I agree, that is strange. So what is on the agenda
today? Is there anything you need me to do?”

“Would you check on that sorrem with the sore leg for me?” Iesti
responded, turning to point to the one in the first stall on the right.

“Okay, I’m on it.” Brennae grabbed he medical bag and got to work on the
sorrem.

A short while later she heard a familiar voice, “Strange thing the
medical dome getting locked like that.” Turning she found her brothers leaning
in the doorway.

“I’m going to take a walk with my brothers Iesti, I’ll be right back.”
Brennae headed for the doorway.

“You don’t have to hurry Brennae, everything is under control here.” Her
friend assured her, “Unless you really feel like mucking out the sorrem
stalls.”

He knew she hated that task so she laughed, “Oh, I’m going to hurry right
back to help with that!” Grabbing her brothers by the arms, she hurried to the
walking path.

“Okay. Let’s hear what you have to say.” She sighed. Having over
protective brothers was a pain sometimes.

“Marcael—”

“Brennae—”

“You go first—”

“You go first—”

Lifting an eyebrow Brennae waited for her brothers to figure out who was
going to talk first.

Knadyn won their silent argument and turned her to face him, “Marcael is
not the right man for you little sister.”

Knacayn turned her from Knadyn to face him, “Yeah sis, he is a hardened
soldier. You couldn’t possibly be happy with him.”

Knadyn turned her from Knacayn to face him. “You want someone like
Iesti—”

Knacayn put his hand on her shoulder to turn her and she started
laughing, “Enough.” Holding up her hands and stepping back so she faced both
brothers. “I love both of you, but enough.” They had not expected that
response, usually when they tried to give her advice it turned into a shouting
match. She just didn’t have the same reaction this time, which even she found
odd. “I appreciate that you are looking out for me, I really do—”

“Here comes the ‘but’...” Knadyn sighed.

“
But
...I have dated every eligible male on Terraneu and not one of
them makes me feel half of the things that Marcael does. Even when I was hiding
from our mad uncle I felt happy and safe with him.”

“Okay, but—” her brother wasn’t giving up.

“I deserve a chance at happiness with him, and
he
deserves the
peace I know I can give him.” Brennae insisted.

“Yes. But sometimes things change—” Knadyn was giving her a sad look.

“What are you talking about?” Brennae was instantly weary.

“Sometimes circumstances beyond our control—” Knacayn had the identical
sad look.

“What do you know that I don’t?” Brennae fought down the panic that was
building. “What is going on?”

“We can’t say.” Knadyn insisted.

“I have covered for you so many times, for so many things!” Brennae was
truly worried now, “Please tell me what is going on.”

Her brothers looked at each other and finally Knacayn said, “She is going
to find out soon enough.”

“Brennae.” Knadyn grabbed her hand, “The STAR unit told you that a
randomizer was left on Antilles. The CEMP payload it carried would have been
unleashed on Earth over twenty years ago.”

Knacayn took over, “It is theorized that the CEMP would have destroyed
all Earth technology. Father is sending a probe through to Earth in a few days
and if there is a chance of sustained life...a team will be sent through for
reconnaissance.” He looked at her expectantly.

“Marcael and his men.” She gasped in air, “That is who the council is
trying to send. If Earth technology is destroyed the planet would be in
chaos...the mission would be very dangerous.” Tears began to well up in her
eyes, “That is why you are warning me away from Marcael?” Brennae turned from
her brothers, where would Marcael be. She started running to the council dome.

“They are finished with their meeting.” Her brother tried to reason with
her.

“He is being shown to his living quarters. R1-NW4.” Knacayn called out to
her just as she made it to the corner of the walkway.

Turning in the direction of R1, she ignored the looks the other members
of the community were giving her. She had to find Marcael. Just then, she saw
her mother standing with him at the door to his quarters. They both looked up
when she reached them.

Gasping in air she held up her hand for a second, holding the stitch in
her side she realized she might want to exercise more. When she was able to
talk she asked, “Is it true?” Her eyes were locked on Marcael, but it was her
mother that spoke first.

“Brennae I will leave you to show Marcael his quarters and tour of
Terraneu.” Her mother gave her a hug and Brennae absently responded. Her eyes
never left Marcael.

“Is it true?” She asked softly.

“Shall we go inside?” He sighed and waved her into his dome. Her mother
must have shown him the entrance console because he put his hand to the
controls and locked the door behind them.

“You are going on the mission if the planet sustains life aren’t you?”
She moved toward the chaise couch and sat before her knees gave out.

“Yes. I have not talked with my men, but I know they will agree to go.”
She felt the chaise give a little under his weight as he sat next to her.
“Regardless of my men’s decision, I will go with the team that is assembled.”

She didn’t bother to ask why it had to be him. She already knew the
answer. It was what he did. He sacrificed and gave of himself to keep everyone
else safe. She didn’t know if it was training or genetic but Marcael wouldn’t
be happy if he wasn’t serving a greater purpose. She didn’t think he could stop
that part of himself.

Looking into his face she sighed, “Well then that settles that.”

Marcael looked at her wearily, “What does it settle?”

Brennae just scooted over and leaned into him, “We have three days to
make some memories.” She grabbed his hand and pulled him up. “I remember you
saying that we would finish what we started in the medical unit on the Elyon.”
Suddenly shy and a little more than a bit uncertain of herself she said, “First
things first though, let’s take a tour of Terraneu.”

Marcael hurried to keep up with Brennae as she moved along the paths.
“All of the domes are made in the shape of a hexagon with twelve foot walls. We
try to keep industrial domes isolated to their own rings, and the same with the
living domes.” She was walking along a path that led past a group of four
walled domes and she pointed them out. “Those are the original Square of four.
The technology, porting, caging, and medical dome for this part of Terraneu are
located there.” She waved around them, “The rest of the domes were built out in
‘rings’ around this spot.” She laughed, “That is until the women came here.
Then they had to build New Haven to the south and McPhersonville to the north.
Those are family communities with each couple or family allocated their own
square of four domes, it allows for more living space than a single dome.”

She had announced that they would head to the east where the park and
swimming pond were located. He kept track of the directions so that he could
make it around Terraneu on his own. From his living quarters, the park was
straight ahead then across the northbound main street. Taking a right there was
another group of domes and the eastbound main street. Once they were heading
east, it was about a twenty-minute walk to the park. When Marcael saw all the
greenery, trees, flowers, benches and lamps he had to stop Brennae for a second
so he could take it all in. It had been a long time since he had been able to
stop and enjoy a sight like this.

Pointing to an area of the grass that had a design drawn on it he asked,
“What is written on the grass? I do not understand the purpose.”

Brennae looked to where he had pointed and smiled, “That is the football
pitch or in some cultures on Earth it was called a field. Either way it is
where the teams practice and play football...or soccer.”

As they watched, some players arrived on the grass and began to warm up.
To his amazement, they dropped about six balls on the ground and started
kicking them around to each other. He was impressed with their abilities and
remarked on it to Brennae.

“With determination and practice you could be that good.” She grabbed his
hand and pulled him along, “You can give it a try another time. I want to show
you the swimming pond.”

He was not sure what could compare to the things he had already seen.
Then he saw the beginning of the swimming pond and his mouth fell open again.
What he had pictured as a simple pool of water in the ground was completely
wrong. This was a major engineering feat. From what he could see there were
waterfalls and some type of river running in front of him.

“This is the main entrance, but there are others if you are coming from
different parts of Terraneu. To the left of us is the moderate swimming area,
behind that is the beginning area and to the right taking up the whole of that
side is the advanced swim area.” She turned him toward the advanced swimming
area. There were grassy patches placed around with chairs for sitting and he
noticed that there were quite a few people enjoying the water. Brennae smiled
and waved at her friends she saw, but they did not stop to talk as she pulled
him along.

“Why is there a river of water running between the pools?” Marcael asked.

“It takes you from one swimming area to another.” Brennae answered, “You
can see your friends and family in different areas by using the river.” She was
walking past a waterfall so had to speak up, “Also if you get bored just
swimming around in one pool, the river can take you around the whole swimming
pond.”

“What is that thing inside that waterfall’s rock face?” Brennae had been
walking toward a gate when Marcael noticed a strange glass like, bubble shaped
addition to the inside of the waterfall. He could not see inside of it and was
curious as to its purpose. When she did not answer right away, he drew his eyes
from the waterfall to her face. Her eyes had turned a bright purple and he
caught his breath.

“It is something my uncle put into the plans for this part of the park.
There are more of them in strategic places, but only in the adult side of the
swimming pond. It is off limits for children.”

The way she said ‘adult’ and that, it was off limits for children made
him more curious. “So it is used for...?” he prompted.

Brennae laughed, “Well to understand why my uncle thought of this you
have to understand that for the longest time my parents couldn’t keep their
hands off each other. Not that they are much better now but back then they were
constantly interrupting meetings and events with their...
attraction to each
other
.” She laughed softly, “So the council threatened to invent a ‘sex
bubble’ to keep them from public displays of affection.” Turning to put her arm
around his waist as they took in the area she sighed, “My uncle took the threat
of making the sex bubbles and turned it into part of the design of the swimming
pond. Since the people of Terraneu are highly sexual and do not have any
reservations about showing it, the bubbles were a good idea. You can’t see into
them, they are sound proof and totally private.”

Marcael could not help asking, “Have you ever been inside this sex
bubble?” He tensed waiting for her answer.

“I will take the fifth on that.” She started to walk away when he stopped
her.

“What is the fifth?” She had not answered the question and his
imagination was getting the best of him.

“It is something I learned from my mother. Where she was from on Earth if
you didn’t want to incriminate yourself you took the ‘fifth’, it was a law that
you couldn’t be forced to make yourself look guilty.” She had moved against his
side again so he held her close and sighed.

“I will take your answer of the ‘fifth’ and leave it at that. I should
not have asked, because if you tell me ‘yes’ I would have to get the name of
the male with you in that bubble so I could find him.”

She moved to look into his face, “What would you do if you ‘found’ him?”
Her voice was filled with humor but he could see her eyes were serious.

“I would not be
talking
to him. He should not have touched—” he
did not get to finish his thought.

“Marcael!” Brennae was truly stunned, “We are an open society. We are
allowed as many sexual partners as we want. You cannot be angry with every
person who ever kissed me or touched me. You wouldn’t have any friends—” this
time he interrupted her.

“There has been that many?” He could not hide the outrage in his voice.

Brennae dropped her arm from around his waist and gave him a stern look. “Okay
let’s get one thing straight right up front. I will not ask about the women and
robots
you have had sexual relations with in
thousands of years
...and
you will not ask me about the males in mine. We both know I have done far less
than you have anyway.” She held out her hand, “Deal?”

Grumbling to himself, he took her hand, “Deal.” Though he vowed to find
every male she might have kissed...he knew from his time in the medical dome
that Brennae was relatively untouched. The activities that led up to the point
he had reached, is what he did not want any other male to have experienced with
her. He knew he was being irrational, and he would work on that. With a sigh of
resignation, he realized there was nothing he could do. The rules said no
fighting over a female. Suddenly his spirits picked up and he got a wicked
smile on his face. The rules say no
fighting
. They did not say anything
about
intimidation
. Marcael had thousands of years of practice with the
art of intimidation, he even considered himself something of a master at it!