Marcael stepped in front of her, his fingers holding her upper arms. The pants, vest and boots were not a perfect fit but would do until he could have some made for him. The black leather material looked even more striking against his pale skin and Brennae had to force her eyes from his muscular frame.
“What I saw at the oasis kept drawing me in no matter how hard I tried to stay away. You have nothing to be embarrassed about.”
She leaned in to press her lips against his. The soft kiss only lasted for a few seconds before Marcael drew away. “The others are waiting and I think we should go.”
Smoothing her dress down she sighed, “You’re right. I should be at work by now too.” She grabbed his hand and pulled him out the door. “We are in the medical dome, and the council domes are not very far. It will only take a few minutes to walk there.” Just as she got to the path, she heard the clicking of claws on the road. Turning her head, she saw them coming. All of the pet sacath she usually gave good-morning treats out to had found her, and she didn’t have any treats. “Brace yourself.” She warned Marcael just as they were swarmed.
Giving her attention to Cebat first, and then Tabec it was when she was giving hugs to Lady that she realized something. Marcael wasn’t on the edge of the group of sacath backing away. He was actively petting the ones that were closest to him!
“That is Lady. She is my Uncle Knollig and Aunt Mairi’s pet. Well in reality, both Chloe and Celeste grew up with her too, but she was originally given to my aunt and uncle. She is Cebat and Tabec’s daughter.” She smiled, “The male you are petting is Titan. He is my Uncle Knaleg and Aunt Cat’s. Their twins are still in school and won’t be out for a few hours, or you wouldn’t be seeing him.”
When the sacath realized she didn’t have any treats they all started yowling in protest. “Stop!” Brennae yelled in a stern voice, “Go to Iesti.” When she ordered the pets away, they always pouted but were too well trained not to comply with an order. Laughing over the thought of Iesti seeing this pack of sacath coming for him Brennae turned to Marcael. Her laughter sputtered out and died at the intense look on his face. “What?” She suddenly felt like she had been left with the most dangerous animal on Terraneu. She checked to make sure there wasn’t something wrong with her appearance. Finding everything in order and not having any idea what Marcael was staring at she fidgeted with her hair.
“It is nothing Brennae.” Marcael assured her. “You can point me to the council dome if you need to be somewhere.”
Giving him a mock-shocked look Brennae gasped, “I couldn’t possibly fail in my duty to see you safely to the doors of the council meeting.” Seeing that they were close Brennae took the time to offer as they walked along, “They will be able to tell you which dome is to be your personal living quarters. If you need to find me, or want a tour of Terraneu, I live in R1-NW5. The system is easy to figure out.”
“I will find you Brennae. A tour of Terraneu sounds nice.”
Before she could say anything more, she realized that they had arrived. “Here we are.” Pressing her hand to the console the doors opened and she waved Marcael inside. “I’ll see you later.”
Hurrying along the path back toward the sorrem holding Brennae shook her head. How could she be looking forward to seeing him again for the tour, when she just left him five seconds ago? Smiling at her own whimsy, she walked faster for the sorrem holding to help Iesti with what she was sure was a pack of ‘treat’ crazy sacath.
Chapter Seventeen
When the door opened, Marcael could hear voices.
“Kniam. We discussed this and you said—”
He heard Kniam speak over his mate, “I want to know what his intentions are towards our daughter.”
“Brennae is a grown woman, and her choices are hers to make!” Amber stated emphatically, “She will not appreciate your interference.”
Kniam didn’t back down, “I am her father and I want to know—”
“It is none of our business unless she asks for advice. What you have to relay at this meeting has nothing to do with Brennae. Don’t embarrass her by harassing him.”
Clearing his throat loudly Marcael felt the eyes of every person swing to him. Then the talking in the room stopped. He was motioned forward by Kniam who sat in the center of a table surrounded by the other members of both councils. The women all had smiles on their faces, but the males...did not.
“This meeting is to bring you Marcael and the female council members up to speed on what we have learned from Brennae about Terra...what the women here know as Earth.” He paused, “We will leave it to you to inform your men on what is discussed.”
Marcael raised an eyebrow in surprise. He had not expected them to let him be in charge of his men. He figured they would want to absorb them into their community as fast as possible.
“Kneus is going to head this meeting since he is the most knowledgeable about the content.” Kniam nodded to Kneus who took a cylindrical pointing device and started a holographic presentation.
“What we know from what the STARR unit told Brennae is that over twenty years ago, during our off world mission to Antilles to destroy our cloning facilities...and your mission from the Elyon to find us...Knuan left behind a ‘randomizer’ on the port pad to Terra.”
Marcael groaned loudly. He had a bad feeling about where this was heading.
Kneus looked at him sympathetically, and then clicked his device until the topographic image of Antilles came up with the location of the port pad marked on it. “What we learned from Marcael’s technical expert Mallex is that this ‘randomizer’ was solar powered so it would continually dial waiting for a signal. Which we all know would be every six months. Once it got an answer...” Kneus looked to Marcael to finish his thought.
“Once it got an answer it would go through the portal to the port pad on Terra.” He corrected himself, “Sorry, Earth. Once it was established there, it would go through launch protocols. Did the STARR unit know what the payload was?” Marcael asked.
Kneus nodded, “She said to tell you it was a CEMPS.”
“Well that might not be so bad then.” Marcael almost sighed with relief, “How badly would an EMP field hurt Earth?” He looked around and what he saw was not reassuring.
“I’m not an expert, but I don’t think it would be a good thing.” Amber supplied.
“Wait a second. What does CEMPS stand for and EMP for that matter?” Jen asked.
“The EMP stands for Electro Magnetic Pulse. It kills anything with electronic components.” Kneus informed her.
Marcael knew what the CEMPS was so answered, “CEMPS stands for Cloaked- Electro Magnetic Pulse- Satellite.”
“The port pad would have been guarded by whichever military or scientific entity found it. I know that the government I was working for was close to the port pad when Kneus and I came through. They might have control of it.” Cat reassured everyone, “Even if this randomizer landed on the port pad on Earth, it doesn’t mean that it would have been able to release the CEMPS.”
Marcael looked around sadly, “I am sorry to have to say this Cat but the randomizer would have been cloaked beyond your people’s capacity to detect. Launching the CEMPS would not have been a problem.”
“Okay.” Jen tried to gain some perspective, “Just because this CEMPS thing went up doesn’t mean it could have done that much damage. Surely it would have run out of power or been destroyed before anything truly bad happened.”
Kneus let Marcael off the hook when he answered for him, “Again according to Mallex if the randomizer was solar, so to was the CEMPS.” He looked to Marcael who just nodded. “Since it is ‘cloaked’ that means it can go in and out of visibility as it is powering up. Earth technology would not have been able to find it to destroy it. It would just keep going around in orbit, firing its EMP at peak power as it was programmed to do.”
“Oh my god!” Gwen gasped and looked at the other women. “Almost everything on Earth when we left had something ele
ctronic on it! Everything!”
Amber was in a state of shock, “Transportation, power grids, money—”
“The military.” Cat added. All of the women shuddered at the thought of what an EMP would do to the militarized nations.
“You knew this had happened since Brennae got back and you didn’t say anything?” Amber turned her questioning gaze to her mate.
“It has only been a few days and there isn’t anything we could do until the port pad is active again.” Kniam answered.
“That is three days from now!” Mairi blurted out.
“That is the real reason for the off world mission to Antilles isn’t it?” Jen asked her mate. “To get a base set up around the port pad to Earth?”
“Yes.” Thian muttered, “It was decided to have as few people know about it beforehand as possible.”
“Decided by whom?” Gwen bit out, “The male council? I thought our input was just as important.”
“It is...” Kneus went to explain.
“Enough!” Kniam stood up and used his gavel on the table to get everyone’s attention. “We value the female council’s opinion on all matters of Terraneu. We knew that the information about Earth would possibly be hard to bear for the women and wanted to have all of the facts before we discuss matters as a group.” He sat back down, “Marcael just woke up and we needed his input.” He nodded to Kneus to continue.
“This is a representation of what we think might have happened over the last twenty plus years.” Kneus resumed the presentation. It showed the visual of the portal, the CEMP being launched. It zoomed out to a satellite vision of Earth, and then everything on the planet started to change. The lights went out zone by zone. The fires started and burned. “We know that the nuclear power plants, if not shut down, would have had melt downs—”
“Okay.” Amber rubbed her eyes, “Please stop.” Taking a deep breath she asked, “What exactly are we voting on today? What is the immediate decision we are facing?”
Kniam smiled sadly at his mate, “Kneus and Knalech have been working with Mallex to create a probe. We will send it through the portal in three days and get as many readings back as we can. IF the planet is still able to sustain life, we have to decide on what measures we are going to take to intervene. If any.”
“What do you mean if any?” Gwen gasped, “Of course we are going to help.”
“The reason for coming to Terraneu was for a new start Gwen.” Cat jumped in, “As sad as the fate of Earth, it is not our responsibility to fix what is happening there. That is even if we can. Any damage done was over twenty years ago and we don’t know if anything we do will matter.”
“We might be able to find the CEMPS and destroy it, if we can even get onto the planet without radiating ourselves. That is what the probe will inform us.” Kneus hurried to add.
Everyone was suddenly talking over each other in small groups. Marcael let his mind absorb as much as he could take in. Not having any sun and enough water for a few days was making him sluggish, but it suddenly hit him. The reason the council was letting him have command of his own men.
“That is where my men and I come in.” Marcael whispered. He might have shouted for the quiet that settled over the room.
“What Marcael?” Mairi had been watching him, “What did you say?” She asked kindly.
“I said that this is where my men and I would come in.” Marcael was watching Kniam and knew that the male council members had already thought of this.
“What is he talking about?” Amber looked from him to the male council members, finally landing on her mate when no one else would make eye contact.
“You see my swee—” Kniam began.
“Don’t you ‘sweet Amber’ me!” She held up her hands. “What does he mean?”
“It means that my men and I have no ties to Terraneu yet. We are familiar with the technology that was sent through and we are trained in combat and survival.” Marcael sat up taller in his chair. “We are the reasonable choice to send on a mission to Earth.”
All of the women instantly started yelling at his words but it was Amber that jumped up, “That is not true! You have given your lives and happiness to keep us safe long enough. You and your men deserve some peace. Besides, you haven’t even healed from the change and couldn’t possibly go to Earth in three days.” She shook her head as if it was decided, “You are welcome here. The male council cannot just make a random decision like that. There is a voting process and volunteers are taken, it isn’t demanded that any one person or group—” Marcael almost smiled at her impassioned words and how her hands were flying around as she talked. Now he knew where Brennae got that trait. That she was fighting for his men warmed his heart.
“It is okay.” Marcael tried to forestall what looked to be a major fight brewing, “I understand the decision. It is what I would do if I were in your place. If Earth was as bound by technology as you stated, then there will be a need for a team that is highly trained in tactics.” Standing up he looked to Kniam. “May I have all the intelligence on this mission to prepare if it becomes necessary? I need to gather my men and give them a choice.” He knew his men well and they would choose to go to Earth and from the sad nod he got from Kniam, he knew it too.
“You are staying in R5-SE2, I can have—”
“He is staying in R1-NW4 and if anyone says one word about it...” Amber was close to losing her composure. Therefore, it was not a surprise when no one contradicted her. “I can take you to your dome.” She walked around the table and the other women followed suit.
Chapter Eighteen
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.
Marcael: A Terraneu Novel, Book Five Page 10