Marcael: A Terraneu Novel, Book Five Read online

  “I am done listening to this. Guards!” Her uncle screamed loudly, “Guards!”

  “Take him and do what you will with him.” Star said to Red and Hope. “I will have nothing more to do with him. He is pathetic.” Star went to turn around but her uncle jumped.

  “Star look out!” Brennae shouted a warning to her friend.

  Her uncle had grabbed the STARR and tried to turn her neck the same way Brennae had. She almost smiled at his attempts and was close to feeling sorry for him. Then she glanced over at Marcael again and realized that he was very close to bleeding to death.

  “Star...” she began, “Marcael...”

  Star grabbed her uncle’s arms, and then twisting, spinning and bending she managed to flip Knuan onto his back. She had pulled a blade from its sheath and held it pressed against his chest. “There is not one thing about you that is redeemable.” Before he could say another word, she stabbed him through his heart. “Now this blade has killed two Kings...one with honor and one without.”

  “You...bitch...when I...get...cloned...” her uncle gasped, blood pooling in his mouth.

  “Keep thinking that if it makes you feel better.” Star pulled the blade free and wiped it clean on his shirt.

  Brennae hurried over to Marcael. His breathing was shallow and he had lost a lot of blood. “We need to get him to a medical unit.” Brennae was trying to hold him up but he was very heavy. “Help me.”

  “We can get him to the escape pod, but there is not time to take him to a medical unit first.” Star looked at her sadly, “I am sorry Brennae there is no more time. The cleansing has begun. We have to get you off the Elyon.”

  Between Red, Hope, Star and her they were able to get Marcael free and hurrying through the eerily quiet halls they finally reached an escape pod.

  “Where is this going to take us?” Brennae asked hesitantly.

  “To the location that Marcael always visited these last few months. That is how the King became suspicious. He was always going back to one location, an oasis I believe. He had Marcael’s chambers on audio and video surveillance since he came back with you.”

  “Why did Marcael go back to this oasis so many times?” Brennae asked. Her mind was frantic over his wounds so she was a little slow on noticing what Star was telling her.

  “Can you not think of something that would pull him to visit this oasis when he knew it would be dangerous?” The laughter in Star’s voice finally registered on Brennae. Her eyes flew up to see Star staring pointedly at her.

  “Oh.” She whispered, “That oasis.” Marcael had found the oasis that she had been frequenting months ago and had been spying…on her? She would have to ask him about that.

  Star reached over and gave her a dagger. “Marcael will want this, it is his Un’bah.”

  “Thank you for everything Star.” Brennae hugged her friend, “Are you sure that my uncle won’t be cloned again?”

  “We are in control of the Elyon now. All old protocols are erased and there will be no organics cloned on this ship again.” Star looked over her shoulder then back, “I have one last thing to tell you. The King found two port pads on Antilles. One we know led to you on Terraneu, the other we now know was to Terra. His men could not get the one for Terra to work, but they left a randomizer behind. It was solar powered and would dial until it acquired a signal. Tell Marcael that if dialing was successful a CEMPS was sent through. All aboard the Elyon know what it is and the damage it could cause. We cannot make it to Terra as quickly as you can. If you have any reason to care about what happens there...” Smiling sadly Star said, “You have to go now Brennae. Good-bye.”

  “Good-bye Star.” Brennae hurried into the escape pod.

  “Tell Marcael...well tell him thank you. We gave him a going away present. He will find it in one of the pods. It has been repaired to original working order.” Star laughed at the inside joke and then closed the hatch.

  Brennae strapped in and looked fearfully at Marcael. She was desperately hoping that he hadn’t sacrificed everything in this fight against her uncle.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Marcael was waking up and the first thing he heard was a strange female voice.

  “You have to get some rest Brennae. Sitting here day after day is not going to make him wake up any sooner.”

  “I am fine mother. Stop treating me like a baby.” That response came from Brennae.

  “Don’t talk to your mother that way Brennae. She is just worried about your welfare.” A male voice joined the argument. That was Kniam. He would recognize his voice anywhere.

  He heard a loud sigh then Brennae spoke again, “You’re right dad. I’m sorry mom. I am just worried. Marcael should have woken up by now.”

  “He had very severe injuries Brennae. It is lucky that he has survived the process this far.” That female voice he did not recognize. Exactly how many people were here...wherever here was?

  “It was the most damage I have ever seen a person sustain and still be alive.” This voice was male...one of the Princes — not Princes he reminded himself. He had to stop thinking of them like that. They had chosen to give up that title. He needed to respect their decision. Maybe it was time for him to move forward in his thinking too. “Gwen and I had to do a lot of quick programming to keep up with his treatment.”

  Suddenly there were voices talking over each other. In all the chaos, he heard another voice.

  “Marcael is a fighter. He will survive the change.” It was Colle.

  He struggled to wake up further and open his eyes. “Colle?” His voice sounded raspy and weak to him. “Mallex?”

  “Everyone...quiet!” Brennae shouted to be heard over the others in the room. “I think Marcael is awake, he is trying to say something!”

  An instant cloud of silence went over the room.

  “Marcael, can you hear me?” Brennae’s voice was right next to his ear. “Can you open your eyes?”

  He struggled to open his eyes and winced at the light. Brennae placed something cool against across his face. “Lights to thirty percent.” She called out and he could see the glow behind his covering go down. “Try again Marcael, if it is still too bright I can make it darker.”

  She lifted the covering off his eyes and he opened them again. It was much better this time and he was able to focus after a few seconds. “What happened?” His voice was still hoarse and he started coughing from the effort of talking. She immediately handed him a glass of water.

  “Drink that slowly!” She warned, “You have been unconscious for a few days and need to be careful not to overdue it.”

  He took the water and sipped slowly, the cooling effect was instant. He could feel his parched body absorb the water like a sponge. Looking past Brennae his hand froze halfway to his mouth. The room was completely packed with people!

  “Okay, everyone has the answer to the question of ‘will Marcael survive?’ Now I think it’s best to let him ask some questions of his own with minimal visitors.” The woman who had spoken before about his injuries walked into view. She was a very beautiful brown-haired woman with sparkling brownish-purple eyes. “Everyone except council members, Colle and Mallex out please.” She swept her gaze around the room, “That includes mates and children.”

  “How do you like that? We are still children to them.” Marcael looked past Gwen and saw that it was one of Brennae’s brothers who had spoken.

  “You would think we were still in diapers the way they treat us.” The other brother agreed. He would have to figure out a way to tell them apart.

  “You never wore diapers smart mouth! Now do as your aunt asked.” A small female who had to be Brennae’s mother kissed both men good-bye. She had some of the same features as Brennae and her hair was almost identical.

  “I am glad you are awake Marcael.” One of the brothers bowed at the door and left.

  “Me too. See you around.” This brother yelled as he left the doorway, “Wait up Knadyn!” So that answered the question of which br
other was which. Knacayn had just left.

  Suddenly there was a flurry of activity. There were people yelling out their well wished to him and good-bye to their family members around him. He was glad they were allowing Colle and Mallex to stay, though he could tell his friend was not happy when they kicked out a beautiful redheaded woman named Chloe.

  “You too Brennae, I’m sorry but you need to go too.” Gwen was asking her to leave.

  “No. Let Brennae stay please.” He whispered. “I would like her to remain here.”

  “As you wish Marcael.” The woman named Gwen smiled at him, “Everyone here is a member of either the female council, the male council, or your friend.” She filled his glass with more water and handed it back. “Why don’t we start with introducing ourselves? My name is Gwen. I was a doctor on Earth before coming here. You gave us quite a scare I can tell you.” Gwen had been giving him a basic physical. Running her hands along his scalp and tracking his eyes.

  A male stepped forward, “I am Kneus. Gwen is my mate.” His eyes were warm and intelligent, “We have a son together named Knalech. He is working in the technology dome with some of the items we recovered off the escape pods or he would have been here.”

  Marcael inclined his head, “I would recognize you anywhere Kneus. It is good to see you.”

  Another male stepped forward and before he could speak Marcael laughed, “You are Knaleg.” He looked around for a bear of a woman that would be this male’s mate and could not find one. When the smallest female he had ever seen walked forward and put her hand in Knaleg’s he burst out laughing. “You two are mates...when I warned you on Antilles...” he wanted to bite his tongue. He was insulting the pair, and worse they were both council members. They were in high standing positions in the community. “I am sorry, I meant no insult.”

  The tiny female with pitch-black hair and blue-purple eyes laughed, “There is no insult. Welcome to Terraneu Marcael, you can call me Cat...all of my friends do. Our twins, Knayon and Ella are being watched in our dome you can meet them when you are on your feet again.” She leaned over and kissed his cheek. “Without your help on Antilles we wouldn’t have been able to get away, and our lives would have been very different. We all owe you a debt of gratitude.”

  Another male stepped forward, “Since you know I am Knollig, I will introduce my mate Mairi. Our daughters Chloe and Celeste left with the others.” He pulled the redhead close to his side. This woman had to be the other redheaded female’s mother. If his friend had his sights set on dating one of their daughters, he did not envy him the experience. All four of the heirs were very fit men, and they all appeared protective of the woman. He knew from talking with Brennae that protectiveness translated to their daughters. Just then, his gaze fell on Brennae. Flanked on either side by her parents. Kniam looked just like his father Kynan. Her mother was smiling around the room. Maybe it would not be so bad to have to deal with the family to date the daughter.

  “You know I am Kniam. This is my mate Amber and Brennae is our daughter. Her brothers Knadyn and Knacayn you met before at the oasis.”

  “It’s nice to meet you Marcael. Our daughter has not left your side since we found you in the escape pod. You must have made quite an impression to warrant such devotion.”

  “Mother!” He saw Brennae’s face turn fiery red. “Really?!”

  “What?” Her mother looked him over and he could tell there was more going on. “I was just saying that you watched over him.”

  Hoping to draw the attention away from a topic obviously embarrassing to Brennae, he hurried to say something. “It is nice to meet you… Kniam it is good to see you again.”

  Another male pushed to the front of the group, “I am Thian, and my mate is Jen. Our twins are on an off world assignment to Antilles or they would have been here. They should return before the celebration dance.”

  On it went until he had been introduced to everyone. His friends remained by his side of the bed and it was finally time for some answers. “Where I am is obvious, this is Terraneu. I would like to know what happened.” He asked no one in particular.

  “First let me assure you that Brennae has told us of your conversation on the Elyon. When you left the oasis, we had been angry with you about what you had said regarding our father. We understand now the circumstance’s leading up to his death. Even though we carry no memories of him, we are grateful that you were such a loyal friend.” All of the brothers bowed low to him for a moment and he felt his eyes misting. Thankfully, Kniam continued before he lost his composure completely, “We can let Brennae tell you about what happened on the Elyon.” Brennae had been standing by his side and she leaned to half-sit next to him as she talked.

  “We were talking in your chamber when Knuan found me there. You were tasered and carried off. I didn’t know what happened to you until Star rescued me.” Brennae told him of the STARR units rebelling against Knuan and that his men had been allowed to leave the Elyon only because they had been kind to them all these years. She told him of the STARR units plan to ‘cleanse’ the Elyon of all organics. Star and the others had taken complete control of the ship and her mad uncle was not being cloned again. She had seen him stabbed through the heart. “I believe this is yours.” Brennae said softly and handed him something. To his surprise, it was his Un’bah.

  “Where did you get this?” He looked at the blade with surprise.

  “Star gave it to me.” Brennae smiled at his look of confusion, “Star is the name the dark haired one took.” When he still could not place her Brennae continued, “Tall...perfect body...the one in the medical unit with me when you came back… ”

  She stopped describing the STARR unit when Marcael said, “Yes I know which one you are talking about now.”

  Brennae gave him a knowing look and continued, “Star gave this to me after she stabbed Knuan through the heart with it.”

  “It is my Un’bah dagger. Specially commissioned by your grandfather and gifted to me at the Knighting Ceremony. It is very special, thank you for giving it back.”

  “Of course, it is yours to have.” Brennae held his hand and he realized that his fingers were cold against her warmer ones.

  “What else do I need to know?” Marcael asked, his gaze going around the room.

  His friend Colle answered, “Well Star has quite a sense of humor. She gave you a going away present. We have it in the military training dome. You are going to get a laugh out of it when you see it too.” Marcael got a close look at his friend and was shocked to see that he was already tanning. Instead of the pale, sickly color, he had been on the Elyon. His hair was now a shocking white color, but at least he looked happy and healthy. Marcael had expected on some level to never see Colle or Mallex again.

  “Someone should explain the medical change to him.” Gwen spoke from her position at the computer console.

  Everyone looked around the room at each other. Brennae again took up the explanation, “You know that the Elyon was providing you energy and we had to change that. You wouldn’t survive here otherwise so we altered your genetics to use the two suns of Terraneu for energy. The side effects are similar to what you experienced on the Elyon. You will use the suns for energy and you don’t require food...only a lot of water. Your hair has gone pure white and your eyes will turn some shade of purple. Also, depending on how your body reacts to the change, you should live for about eight hundred years.” She smiled at him, “I think that about covers it.”

  Marcael did not consider himself a vain person. After hearing that his hair had gone pure white, he did have one moment of anxiety about his appearance, and then he got over it. He figured any price to pay was worth being alive, so he had white hair, big deal. He had eight hundred years to get used to it. Suddenly laughing at the nervous tension around the room he asked again, “Is that all?” His eyes locked on Brennae’s face, “You thought I would be angry about having this medical change done on me without my agreement?”

  “I told them you wouldn�
��t care.” Colle slapped his shoulder, “When you get out of medical I have some things to show you! Mallex and I have been having a great time.” Marcael looked over at Mallex and he was smiling and nodding his head. “The others are still in their domes relaxing. They wanted to be here but I talked them out of it.”

  “That was probably for the best Colle, thank you. Tell them I would like to talk with them tomorrow.” Marcael looked to Kniam, “Is there anything else?”

  “Nothing we need to talk about right now.” Kniam hedged and Marcael was instantly on guard.

  “What about Ear—” Thian began but Kniam cut him off.

  “Nothing that can’t wait until tomorrow.” Then he drifted off and Marcael knew the two of them were talking to each other telepathically.

  “I am really tired. Is it okay if I get some rest now?” He looked to Gwen since she seemed to be in charge of the medical dome.

  “Of course.” She hurried over, started checking readings and asked him if he was in any pain.

  “No pain, just really tired.” Marcael sighed. The whole goodnight process started again. Knollig and Mairi left first followed by Knaleg and Cat. Then it was Thian and Jen, Asteen, Ailech and finally Kneus and Gwen. The latter promised to be back to check on him and make sure he did not need anything. Kniam and Amber waited for Brennae when Marcael said, “I would like to ask Brennae something if she could stay for a few minutes.”

  “I don’t know—” Kniam started to protest.

  “Of course.” Amber slipped her arm through her mates and led him out the door. The last he saw of Kniam was his anxious face turning back toward his daughter.

  When the doors closed behind them, Marcael sat up taller in the bed and Brennae hurried to fluff the pillows behind his back. He had to ask her to stop and assure her he was comfortable. He did have one question though. Patting his bed for her to sit he smiled, “So what about Earth are the councils not telling me?”