Marcael: A Terraneu Novel, Book Five (2 page)

“We have completed the scans my King. We are not
finding any life signs on this planet.” He spoke softly.

“Scan again.” The gravelly voice snapped out, “I
know they are hiding on this fucking rock somewhere. Tomorrow we send scouting
parties and you will join them. Start with the most habitable regions.”

“Yes my King, as you will.” He bent at the waist and
hit his fist against his chest. It was the salute of the Hedal guard to his
King and he had been doing it for thousands of years. He turned to leave but
the King’s words stopped him.

“Oh, and Marcael...do not fail me this time.”
Marcael looked back into the mad, glowing eyes of his King. “I can smell them
down there. I will have my reunion with my loving family after all of these
years.” The mocking laughter of the King grated on his nerves. “If you manage
to find them, I might even reverse the sexual block you are under as a reward.”

“As you will my King.” He spoke the words because he
knew that it was what Knuan wanted to hear. “By the Gods and Elyon I shall
prove successful.”

“Yes, by the Gods.” Knuan’s eyes lost a bit of their
intensity, “You are excused.”

Marcael turned and left his Kings command chambers.
Turning this way and that down the ships hallway, he found his way to his
quarters. Just as he was reaching for the console to let himself in he heard a
soft, feminine voice.

“Is there anything my Lord Marcael
desires
?”

Turning at his door, he saw a STARR or Sexually
Trained Authentic Recreational Robot. This one was exceptionally pretty, with
dark black hair that flowed to her waist. Her eyes were a mix of blue that
flashed to gold as they shrank to the pupils. Almond shaped and framed with
black eyelashes so thick and long to be un-natural and eyebrows that formed a
perfect arch. Her cheekbones were high, and her nose was pert and turned up at
the end just a little. Her lips looked bee-stung and cherry red. He managed to
keep his eyes on her face, which was saying something since the STARR units
were always unclothed. Knuan declared it a waste of resources to provide them
with clothing when it was their job to be naked. He knew this model well, had
enjoyed her company many times in their years in space. She was tall and lithe,
with small perky breasts and legs that seemed to go forever.

“No thank you. Remember I am just Marcael.” He
turned back to his door. The smell of perfumed skin wafted to his nose, just
before she pressed into his back.

“It is the King’s request that all his commanders be
addressed as Lord.” She pressed her perfect artificial body into his back and
he felt every inch of her heat against him. The STARR’s features were realistic
enough to make you think you were getting the real thing. Only they never said
no, never got a headache, never had a reason they could not be in the mood, and
they did not have a single thought in their heads besides what their
programming told them to do. “Is there anything STARR can do to make my Lord
Marcael change his mind?”

Marcael sighed, “As I said STARR not today.” Gently
taking her arms from around his torso, he moved her away. He had never harmed a
female, real or robotic, and he would not start now. No matter how frustrated
he was, no matter how much he felt that life was spinning madly around him, he
would maintain his control.

Entering his room, he paced madly around like a
caged tiger. His six foot two frame took him quickly from one side of his
quarters to the other. They had found the Princes. He felt it as deeply as
Knuan had that this was the correct planet. Striding over to get some water, he
caught a glimpse of himself in his mirror.

His thick black hair was longer than he usually wore
it, down past his shoulders. He made a note to get it cut. Fingering his face
he grimaced at how pale he was, he figured he was somewhere between pasty white
and sickly white. The men on the Elyon varied in their complexions, but they
were all some form of “pale”. Marcael’s eyes were the cobalt blue they had been
since the genetic change. His cells used the energy the Elyon provided to
regenerate, the aftereffects of which were his eyes turned a deep cobalt blue,
he only consumed water…not food and he could live for a very long time.

His current body was only twenty-three years old
however, since his failure on his last mission and subsequent punishment.
Marcael had been killed for losing two men on an away mission, and then cloned
with no sexual responses. It was supposed to be a form of torture. What Knuan
did not know was that it was not so tortuous. A man loyal to him had been in
charge of his cloning, and he had made it to where Marcael could not function
sexually as the mad King required, however he had modified the procedure so
that Marcael would not feel frustrated the way Knuan wanted him to. He did not
feel anything when the STARR had pressed her perfect body against his.

Making up his mind to go train instead of pacing
aimlessly, he turned and left his chambers. Winding his way through the
corridors, he arrived at the training facility. He hurried inside his eyes
sweeping the room for occupants. He saw that there were three men secretly
loyal to him and two men loyal to Knuan in the room. He just fixed those loyal
to Knuan with an icy glare until they nervously left.

“I feel like training.” He was stripping out of his shirt. It was basic
white, with only a few buttons at the top for closure. “Tomorrow I will assign
groups to search this planet for the Princes.” He had turned to his men. “We
need to train harder for the mission to come. I will accept no excuses for
failure.”

Without waiting for his men to acknowledge his words, he turned to
activate the Combat Aptitude Battle Bot or CABB. They only had one on the Elyon
so his men moved out of the way to make room on the mat. Training weekly with
the CABB was required for all of the men. The CABB was to utilize the deadliest
setting to give them a challenge. Knuan felt that if you were not facing real
death in training you would become weak. If the CABB managed to kill you then
you deserved to die. Your fate hinged on what kind of mood the King was in at
the time if you would be cloned again or not.

Stretching to warm up his muscles Marcael recalled the first time he had
faced a CABB on Hedal. He had been in the King’s palace for months taking
lessons in things he found a waste of time. History, numbers, reading, and
writing. What were these things to a warrior he had wondered at the time. He
wanted to be learning how to defend his King and Kingdom. What was he going to
do, bore his enemies to death with a
History of Terra
? He had asked his
instructor that very thing.

“What good is ignorance young warrior?” His instructor was a gnarly, old
stooped figure. “You think that the muscles you are building on your body,
here.” He had slapped a stick against his back. “And here.” He had used the
stick against his chest. “Are more important than here.” The old man went to
slap it against his head, but instinct caused Marcael to grab it. Worried that
this action would justify punishment he stonily bowed his head and waited for
additional hits of the stick. To his surprise, his instructor had laughed
again.

“Your reflexes and muscles grow more impressive every day young warrior.
The food of Hedal seems to agree with you.” He smiled knowingly, “But I need
you to flex the most important muscle you have...your brain! Learn from our
history...the glories and the mistakes.” The old man had moved to stare into
his eyes and he had become unnerved by the sudden intensity in the cloudy gaze.
“Because
everyone
, even the great Kings of Hedal make mistakes. Our King
has you in these lessons for a reason. Make the most of every opportunity
afforded to you young warrior, or is the Kings faith in you misguided?”

Marcael had bristled at the thought that he might disappoint his King so
had renewed his efforts into mastering
everything
his instructor had put
before him.

His first attempt at fighting a CABB had tested all of his abilities, and
he finally understood what his instructor had been telling him. A CABB had no
AI or Artificial Intelligence. The creators had not been that stupid to give
them the ability to think. They were however, programmed to various levels of
difficulty. His first session with a CABB set at level one had ended in an
embarrassing thirty seconds with him on the mat with a broken arm. Not one to
take a defeat without learning, Marcael had improved with every encounter until
he was training at the highest level. It was not until coming on board the
Elyon that he learned there was a safety setting on all CABBs. Knuan had that
safety turned off and it was a completely new experience when a CABB was able
to kill you.

Forcing himself back to the present fight Marcael cleared his mind of
everything except what he had to do. The only thing that would stop the fight
was if the computer inside the CABB registered taking or giving a fatal blow.
Either way it was a fight to the death. Putting his weapon before him, the CABB
acknowledged the initiation of a fight and raised its weapon.

Five minutes later and the fight was finished. The CABB had received a
fatal blow and returned to slumber mode.

“Five minutes? You are getting slow in your old age, I almost had old
CABB after ten minutes the other day.” His friend Colle laughed heartily
slapping him on the shoulder, “Oh wait. You are only twenty years old, barely a
babe in arms!”

Marcael just shrugged off the teasing. Anyone else would be nursing a
broken bone or two, but Colle was one of the six street urchins the King had
saved from the streets all those years ago. Marcael sighed when he looked at
the one other remaining member of their original “gang”. It was laughable
really that they had thought themselves so tough on the streets of Hedal. Out
of the six the King took to the palace that day, only the two of them were
still alive. Nathius and Brend had died in the battle against the warriors of
Aekaetum. Stefan and Willem had died while trying to infiltrate the Queen’s
guard. Only Colle and he were alive now.

“Do you ever regret that I picked you?” Marcael whispered to his friend.
He was as fair-haired as Marcael was dark. Both had the cobalt blue but
Marcael’s features were chiseled and hard, whereas Colle was much softer.

“Did that CABB hit your head harder than usual?” Colle hissed looking
around at the other two men busy in simulated battle pods. “
The walls have
ears
.” He yelled in Marcael’s mind. Aloud he stated, “I am blessed to have
been picked by
our Queen
to help her son right the terrible wrong done
to him.”

“As am I.” Marcael agreed. “
You are right, with the search starting
for the Princes tomorrow I have been re-living ancient memories.”
If they
spoke in mind for too long someone could report them, or video surveillance
would show them looking off blankly and Knuan would know they had talked in
mind. He was very suspicious of any mind speak and had killed for much less
than that offense.

“Are you going to fight the CABB again as usual or can I have a turn?”
Colle turned away.
“You need to let those memories go Marcael they do no one
any good
.
We chose to follow you and the others died doing their duty,
you dishonor their memory with your regrets...they had none!”

“I will have one more go at the CABB. Then you can train.” Marcael flexed
his neck side-to-side. “
You are right as usual my friend. I will not allow
myself to wallow in those memories again.”

Taking his weapon, he faced off with the CABB and this time it only took
him one minute before giving the fatal blow.

“What do you think Cebat is it safe?” Brennae looked
at the sacath lounging lazily in the grass. When her pet just shook his golden
head and yawned widely she laughed, “Okay. I’ll take that as an all
clear.”
 
She removed her gown and placed
it along the water’s edge. Normally she would be wearing a swimsuit, but today
she had been in a hurry to get out of Terraneu. She only had a thong on
underneath and she wiggled out of that quickly enough. Placing both garments in
a nice grassy patch, she ran for the edge and dove in.

She loved to swim underwater and came up halfway
across the pool. Turning to float on her back, she listened to the roar of the
waterfall and watched the bugs and dust in the light as it filtered through the
trees. She really loved coming to the oasis. It was one of the only times she
was alone. She laughed at the irony of wanting to be alone. Before she had
turned sixteen, Brennae would have sold her right kidney for the boys to notice
her. Now that she was twenty-four, all she wished for was that the men would
notice her for the right reason.

 
At sixteen,
her mother had to have the “talk” ...
with her father
! She had argued
that he was too protective and was smothering his daughter. The celebration to
honor the arrival of woman to Terraneu before her sixteenth birthday had all
been the same. Dancing was allowed with her brothers, cousins, and uncles or
just with all of her friends in a large group. If a male outside of the family
tried to dance with her, he was quickly moved away to find a different partner.
After her sixteenth birthday, everything had changed. Brennae got the freedom
of her own living dome, and her family pretty much left her to have normal
interactions with the males of the community. Of course, they were still
looking out for her. They were just more clandestine in their actions.

For the first few years, her boyfriends would drift
off during a goodnight kiss, or during slow dances. She knew that it meant her
date had crossed some imaginary line and was getting a warning to back off. You
see, all of the males of Terraneu could communicate telepathically with each
other and the men in her family used that ability to “monitor” her dates. The
only way to tell that the males were talking to each other in mind was the
glazed look they got when they focused on the conversation going on in their
heads. It was maddening that her father and brothers also had the added ability
to freeze someone with their mind, which meant her dates just went stiff as a
board.

Eventually though the interference from her male
relatives had died down a little. Her beaus did not drift off or freeze up
during dates or halfway through a kiss goodnight anymore. She had experienced
her share of romantic embraces. The sad part was that she just did not feel a
spark like her parents obviously had. The kisses were nice, but they didn’t
leave her breathless and excited for more. She sighed loudly as she floated
along. Well that is what Brennae got for being related to half of the available
men, and the other half she considered friends.

A chorus of low warning growls from Cebat and Tabec
drew her attention to the bank. She was surprised to see Barrett coming out of
the foliage into the clearing. She had gone out a few times with him but had
stopped dating him when he had pressed for a more permanent relationship. It
was obvious to her that they did not have that certain connection she was
looking for.

 
Ducking her
body quickly under the water she had to hope that he had just gotten here and
had not seen her swimming. Moving slowly she made her way until she was still
covered to her chin by water, but able to stand on the sandy floor of the pool.

“Cebat…Tabec...cease!” She called loud enough for
the sacath to hear her over the waterfall. She watched as Barrett walked a wide
berth around the pets to stop along the water. Everyone knew the sacath
wouldn’t attack unless ordered to, so why was he so nervous she wondered? She
knew that not everyone was comfortable around the large animals and tried not
to make judgments about those that were afraid of them. Brennae had grown up
around different sacath, even choosing to work with the animals in the
community. She knew she could never be interested in a male that was timid
around them. She had told Barrett that she was not mate material for him, and
he had taken her rejection of his proposal about the same as the others had. He
was a male of Terraneu after all, bound by honor and the laws of the community
to respect a female. Even when said female was telling the poor admirer she
wasn’t interested. There were no passionate declarations of undying love.
Barrett offered her no speeches about the fires of hell keeping him away from
her. All she got was a quiet acceptance of her refusal. Brennae almost laughed
at her own whimsy. She really needed to cut back on the romance books she had
been reading. The only males of Terraneu that showed any passion were the ones
related to her! With a start, she realized that Barrett was reaching to pull
off his clothes.

“What are you doing?” She managed to ask just as his
vest came off over his head. When he ignored her and reached for his pants she
yelled, “You had better be wearing a swimsuit under those pants!” To her relief
or disappointment, she was not sure which…he was wearing swim trunks. When he
went to join her in the water she yelled, “Stop!” She was sure that it wasn’t
her voice alone that halted him. The angry growling of the sacath made up his
mind for him. They responded to the anger in her voice and stalked closer to the
banks of the pool, putting themselves closer to protect her if needed.
 
Cebat and Tabec were older and getting very
lazy in their golden years that was true. However, they were still deadly
protective.

Casting a wary eye on the sacath Barrett finally said,
“Why won’t you allow me...or anyone for that matter to get close to you?”

Brennae sighed so much for no impassioned speeches
about undying love. Be careful what you wish for her mother had always warned
her. “It isn’t that I don’t want someone in my life as a mate Barrett. I
already told you we just wouldn’t suit each other.”

“Am I not physically attractive?” He called out to
her his hand reaching for his trunks.

“If you take those down, I will let Cebat and Tabec
snack on what’s inside.” She warned. “I like you as a friend and cannot see you
as a physical partner. It is not that you are not very handsome, because you
are. You have a nice body and any female would be lucky to have you for a mate.
That female is just not going to be me.”

His eyes flashed angrily, “They why did you flirt
with me and flaunt your body in front of me?” He accused desperately.

Brennae choked back her shocked laughter. “I did
nothing to try to gain your attention or make you feel I was flaunting myself.”
She tried to think of a time she might have encouraged him and could not find
one. She had gotten a lot of attention since her figure had “filled out” but
that was years ago and she had adapted her wardrobe to accommodate her new
bosoms. In her humble opinion, her cousins Chloe and Celeste had far nicer
figures. They were tall and lithe where she was short and rounded. “Why not go
for a more attractive match?” Brennae yelled out.

“You are the most attractive female in Terraneu.”
Barrett exclaimed.

“That is not what I meant.” Brennae sighed and thought he must be crazy
to think her the most attractive. Her eyes were huge in her face and the violet
color was not very appealing. Her nose was too small and lips too full. Her
eyelashes were a dark black and didn’t match her hair, which didn’t know if it
wanted to be ash blond, dark blond, or mocha colored so was an annoying mix of
all three. She didn’t even want to think about her huge breasts, hips, and
butt. Trying to get rid of Barrett, she yelled. “I was talking about someone more
compatible as a life partner, not physically attractive.” This was the problem
in a nutshell. The males her age were all about physical attraction, not true
compatibility. No matter how much she tried to get her point of view across
they didn’t understand where she was coming from. Now thanks to Barrett she was
getting cold in the water, and wanted to go home. “You need to move away from
my clothes. I am coming out.” She wasn’t entirely comfortable with him seeing
her naked and warned him, “Turn around.”

Barrett looked at the sacath on the banks their piercing stares fixed on
him and turned his back to her. Brennae quickly moved out of the water, one arm
across her breasts in case he turned back around. Hurriedly grabbing up her
thong she bent over and quickly pulled it up her legs. She had her gown in her
hands when she felt a firm grip on her upper arm.

Startled she covered her breasts with her gown and turned to find Barrett
frozen to the spot. His eyes were wide and terrified in his face.

“Brennae! RUN!” She jumped at her brothers’ panicked shout. What were
they doing here?

“Why would I need to...?” They were running toward her pointing
frantically to look behind her. When she turned to see what was there she ended
her question on a breathless whisper, “run?”

.