Blinking it away, Hankura stepped back to get a better look at his father. It was almost like looking into a mirror, except his father had brown eyes and the fine lines around his eyes and mouth made him look a little older. Trevin, on the other hand, resembled both his mother and father and looked like a brother to both Hankura and Ludren.
"It's good to be home." Hankura grinned happily.
Then he turned to his brother and sister. "Capra, Trevin--believe me, I'm as nervous as you are. We have missed so many of the things brothers and sisters should share in their lives. For now, I'd like to try to be friends . . .."
Trevin looked at him for a moment and slowly smiled, extending his hand to him. He still had mixed feelings, but he had no wish to hurt this man who was his brother. "We will try."
Capra sidled up to Hankura shyly. Putting her hand lightly on his shoulder, she stood on her toes and kissed his cheek. "Welcome home, brother." You aren't so frightening after all.
Hankura grinned. "You've nothing to fear from me, little sister. I'm just a man."
"You look like a fine one to me." Capra chuckled. Maybe it'll be okay.
He just smiled and turned finally to Chelle who was feeling a little left out and bewildered. You, my love, are never forgotten. He draped an arm around her shoulders and drew her close.
"Everyone . . . I want you to meet my wife, Chelle. As I'm sure you've sensed, Mother, we're psi-mates."
"Yes." Natar's smile was warm and sincere as she took Chelle's hands in hers. “I'm so pleased that you and Hankura share the Serene Perception.”
"Thank you," Chelle murmured.
"I thought that was only a myth . . . before," Hankura remarked, aware his wife did not really understand.
"It's not a myth," Natar spoke reverently. "Call it what you like; a path of insight such as you two share is the Serene Perception. It was first written in the ancient Wholaskan Circle of Life Chronicles and later by our forefather Narcaza."
"And to honor that belief, Mother, Chelle and I have decided to pledge according to the Pattern of Insight and pay our respects at Narcaza Circle after we have been processed. You must know that I love her very much, and as you come to know her better, you will, too."
"I'm sure we will," Ludren said. Taking Chelle's hand in his, he kissed her cheek lightly. Your eyes are even bluer in person--very lovely indeed.
Natar nodded in agreement. Then, addressing Hankura, she said, "Your dome is ready. I'm sure you'd like to relax and show your wife our complex. But, will you join us later for dinner?"
"Yes, thank you," said Hankura, "for both offers."
But, Hankura. They all have such nice clothes, and this is all I have to wear. They'll think I'm crude.
"I'm sorry, I forgot." His smile was apologetic. "Mother, Capra--could one of you lend Chelle something suitable to wear for dinner? There was no place to purchase any formal clothing in Farringay, and no opportunity to go anywhere else to look for some. We plan to buy some for Chelle in Salla as soon as possible."
"I can loan her something," Capra answered quickly. "She's only a little taller than me and about the same size. Mother's clothes would never fit. Sorry, Mother. You're shorter than we are---and a bit plumper."
"Sad, but true." Natar sighed with a short laugh.
"I'll have a droid tram unload the ship for you, and a hovercraft is waiting to take you to your dome if you like," Ludren told them.
"The droid can unload the ship," Hankura said, "But Chelle and I want to walk the grounds before we go to the dome."
"Walk the grounds?" Trevin said almost distastefully.
"Yes," Chelle grinned. "I did a lot of it on Earth. I want to know the land and the little creatures around here."
Just then, she saw a white gresar monkey no bigger than a chipmunk. It climbed down a red trunk conifer and scurried to its den under a golden flowered bush. "Oh, that's precious! He's so cute!" Chelle murmured in delight. "Are they friendly?"
"Only from a distance," Trevin told her. "They can be pretty fierce little things when they're cornered."
"Not only them," Hankura added enigmatically. "Come on, Chelle. You'll love the pond where the ropans swim. Then, I'll show you the yarrel fields. The flowers are beautiful as well as profitable."
"This is beautiful," Chelle said softly. "Almost like autumn would have been in the mountains. Remember, I told you?"
"I remember." They started walking toward the pond, each with an arm around the other.
"I'll be damned!" they heard Trevin murmur after them as they walked up the gentle slope. "They really are going to walk."
"Do you like it?" Hankura asked expectantly.
Chelle gazed slowly around the richly furnished dwelling. It was one of four domes that made up the family complex, a far cry from the simple shack she called home on Earth. Hankura's home was decorated in shades of autumn and black and white. There were five spacious rooms and a comcell for interstellar communications. Most Aledans used personal tablets for communications on Aledus
"It's nice, to say the least. I guess it never sank in that we would live in a place like this. Do all Aledans live like this? Or are there slums in the cities like in Farringay?"
"No slums, love. Here the standard of living is much higher than on Earth. No more stealing to survive. A comfortable dwelling and enough food to eat are the least of our problems," he told her.
"Where do we prepare food?"
"It's almost like the ship. Only our processor here gives us a much better selection of food," he explained. "It programs the same way, though. There are also service droid terminals in every room that control both the droids and autocarts."
"What is there for me to do?" She gave him an uncertain look.
"Well, there's holovision broadcasts or discs, audio cubes, and holo-computer games," he told her. "Father has an extensive library from his days as a cultural instructor in Salla. There is still a lot for you to learn, and a lot you'll want to learn."
"Yes, and it looks like I'll have plenty of time to do it, too," she said. "When will we go to Salla?"
"Not for a couple days," Hankura mused aloud. "Because we're unconditioned psions, we'll have to be 'evaluated' and get identification patches before we can travel the city freely.
"After we're classified and duly labeled, you'll have to be printed--fingers, voice, retinal--for credit and identification purposes. Then, I can show you the city and take you to the fashion houses."
"You make it sound like such an ordeal," she said with a sigh.
"I'm afraid the evaluation will be for both of us." Hankura frowned.
She shrugged. "Do we have a choice?"
"No," he muttered, shaking his head.
"Then let's not worry until we have to." She put her arms around him and moved against him playfully. "Now, how about that bath you promised me days ago? Is it really a small pool?"
"It is," he assured her. "Come on, I'll show you."
He led her to the bedchamber and to the left. Inside the bathroom, Hankura opened a large, opaque door, then reached inside to set the temperature and fill the two-meter oval sunken tub with warm water.
"Oh, that looks good to me, Hank. We could almost swim in it." Chelle murmured in delight.
"I used to try." Hankura grinned. "It's deep enough for a child to swim in, but I think I've grown a little too much."
"Pushing two meters, I'd say so."
"Not quite two, so there's still room for us to share the bath." He reached for the slide on her coverall and unzipped it.
"And a little body language?" Chelle smiled.
"I'll get you a wrap to wear until Capra sends something."
"Why bother? You didn't find clothing necessary on the ship."
"Ah, love, but we're not on the ship. I'm afraid it's customary to wear clothes, however brief in some cases, here on Aledus."
Chelle nodded and watched the water frothing as it ran into the tub. Then her mind drifted back to the meeting with Hankura's fam
ily. "What did Natar mean by the Serene Perception?"
"That we're psionic mind mates It's a religious term coined by the Path of Insight cult that was founded by Malkan in the Aledan first century. Mother's family is descended from the people of the original cult, and she believes in many of the old doctrines."
"But you are skeptical about most of them."
"Less than I was. The kind of psionic bonds that we share are extremely rare, yet here we are---psi-mates. Father's library has micro-discs of Arall's Path of Insight and on of Narcaza's Patterns of Insight. They explain the theories quite well.
"However, as far science can determine, a good deal of it has to do with hormones and brainwave patterns. We match up better than 98 percent genetically as well as psionically."
"Which means we're stuck with each other," Chelle teased.
"Basically." Hankura cast her a tolerant smile.
"Okay. So, tell me about this Path of Insight stuff."
Hankura moved closer and slid his arm around her. "The Prophet Arall expressed many of the same concepts that were incorporated in many of the religions of old Earth and combined them with concepts expressed by the Wholaskans who shared many of the same ideas about understanding, compassion, and love in daily life.
"However, the theory of Serene Perception came directly from the Wholaskan's Circle of Life Chronicles. It says that the Mother of Life has linked all entities in the Circle of Life, and each soul follows its destiny from birth to body death. At death, it becomes a free soul that may or may not inhabit another body. Theoretically, each soul has a mate that complements and harmonizes with it."
"But with humanity now sprinkled over seven sectors of the Galaxy, they may be separated by light years. What about Serene Perception?"
"That's Malkan's term for psychic recognition of one's soul mate," he replied. "He believed in the Wholaskan's philosophy that the Mother of Life has begun gifting humans with the ability to see with their minds. A power they revere in all species.
"Malkan got it into his head that it made him a superior being. He gathered up several thousand people including many who shared a measure of this ability at various levels and came to found the Aledan Colony in Salla. He became a priest-deity to them, mainly through his superior psionic power. In reality, he became a religious fanatic. Though his followers began to suspect, they didn't realize that he was insane until it was too late.
"Malkan was so strong that he could control or destroy a human mind with barely a thought. Those he couldn't control, he weeded out for execution with his thought police. He even had children killed who threatened to mature with power to rival his own.
"By the fourth generation, the Normal population outnumbered psions four to one because psi is a genetically recessive trait. Malkan liked it that way because he could control them with less mental effort.
"During all this time, his son Arall had been living among the Wholaskans on Velran as his father had before him. There, he studied the true Wholaskan doctrines. He was appalled when he returned to Aledus and found how his father had twisted their beliefs to suit his own needs.
"He was forced to flee the palace after a bitter clash with his father. Then he started a rebellion that resulted in the bloodiest psi-war that mankind has ever known. Arall ended it the only way he knew by killing his father in a battle that nearly killed him as well. Legends say Arall was helped by the Wholaskans, but they never admitted it. Even though it was over a thousand years ago, the war pulled the psions from power and all but destroyed the Path of Insight religion.
"Then Normals came to power in a dark age, persecuting psions in sordid witch hunts. Many were cold-bloodedly murdered or tortured to death. Normals feared and despised anyone who held psionic power. Not until the Prophet Narcaza returned from the Wholaskans did Normals begin to understand. Narcaza negotiated peace between the two factions assuring the Normals that psi could be controlled and used to human advantage. Only they took his methods and twisted them into the present methods of psi-conditioning used to this day. It's hardly any better than torture." Hankura finished bitterly.
He paused as the control panel signaled that their bath was ready. "Shall we?" He gestured for her to enter first.
He slid into the water beside her and lay back till it was nearly up to his chin. The water was comfortably warm and would stay that way for as long as they cared to enjoy it.
"Mmmmm! This is wonderful." Chelle sighed as her body was buoyed by the water.
"Your mother was conditioned, wasn't she?" Chelle perceived. "I understand why your mother sent you away from here."
"Yes." His mouth tightened into a grimly as he nodded. "That part made sense, but I don't agree with what they did. They should have taken me to another world to live, where we could have all lived together. I never knew why they didn't, and it hurt. I was just a child. I wanted to live with them, not be sent half way across the Galaxy alone."
"At least you were trained compassionately." Chelle tried inwardly to soothe his lingering feelings of bitterness.
"I do understand," he murmured, but the pain never quite left his eyes.
"Let it go," Chelle whispered and put her arms around him. There were no words in what he felt from her as she fell silent. Raw tenderness filled his mind. He experienced her love in its purest form, as pure as the human mind could comprehend; and there was no describing the warm pleasure it brought him.
The pain receded. He enfolded her naked, warm and wet in his arms and held her close. I-you-we-love . . . Such joy . . . And we soar in the fountain . . . He moved to kiss her. Her soft, moist lips parted and clung to his; the closeness of her body made him ache with need. He caressed her, and he sensed her answering need as intense waves of pleasure washed through her. She pressed closer, quivering against him, and he knew she was ready for him to fill her. He held back until her need shouted itself in his mind, and he could wait no longer.
Water splashed gently as he held her above him to complete the union. He thrust slowly into her, savoring the sweet torment of every stroke. Sensual ecstasy took them soaring high in the fountain of their erotic fantasy, and they reveled in the magic of their psionic coupling as well.
It seemed an eternity that the imaginary water carried them upward in its spray, taking them higher as they reached mentally for sexual climax. Hankura groaned in release as she shuddered convulsively against him. He throbbed warmly inside her as the orgasm seemed to go on and on.
Chelle moaned and finally collapsed against him, breathing in quick shallow gasps.
Still, inside her, Hankura closed his eyes and smiled serenely. . . .so beautiful, Che-elle . . .. Oh, lovely woman, what you do to me inside!
She raised her eyes to his with a smile, and he smoothed her tangled, wet hair away from her face then cupped his hand against her cheek. I can't bear to feel you hurting. I just wanted to make you forget your worries.
You do. He grinned. Sometimes, far too much, I think. Then his expression grew somber, and he hugged her fiercely. My darling Che-elle, I wish it could all be so easy. I hope our stay here will not be what I fear . . .. I hope you'll forgive me if it is . . ..
CHAPTER SEVEN
Natar sat down to think for a moment before she began pressing the keypad of the food processor in her kitchen to set up the program for the evening meal. She chose foods that Hankura had liked best as a child: presh, trelp, keesa and marinated ropan.
There was little else for her to do so she decided to entertain herself for the next few hours. Trevin and Capra were both off in Salla, and Ludren was out in the fields checking the crops and the equipment for the upcoming yarrel harvest. Maybe she'd view the new holo-disc Ludren had brought from Salla a few days ago.
Natar gave a toss of her hair and turned from the processor, strolling lazily into the main living chamber of their home. Opening a small compartment on the side of the holocube, she took out the disc and dropped it into the three-centimeter slot on top of the cube. Then she sat down on a p
lush gray lounger to watch the Marcellian opera.
She stared absently into the cube, not really seeing or hearing the grand 3-D production before her, thinking back to Hankura's arrival. He had changed so much more than she had expected.
Of course, she had seen his image on the com screen over the years; she had watched him grow from a dark, slender boy to a tall, strong man that way. But it had been twenty years since she had touched his mind.
This time, it was just the briefest meeting of their thoughts, but she had sensed his apprehension at her touch. Knowing Hankura was uneasy with that intimacy now hurt. They were so close when he was a child. That is until she was forced by circumstances to tell Hankura he was being sent to Velran to be educated. The Psi Institute gave them three days to turn Hankura over to them or send him off world.
Mother of Life, she could never give her own son to them! Natar grimaced with a choked cry at the memory of her own stay there . . ..
They put her in such a tiny room with only an air cushioned pallet, a sanitary closet, one dim light, and no windows. She spent twenty days and nights locked in that cell alone, never seeing another human face or hearing a human voice.
The prescribed stay for a ten-year-old was five days---if he/she conformed. Natar had not. In her desperate loneliness, she reached out telepathically to touch another mind. The keeper's sensors betrayed her telepathy, and she was immediately locked into a neurochamber. The tiny booth opened from the wall and sucked her inside for two minutes of the most excruciating agony she had ever known. Pain ripped through her body via the network of her own nerve cells---stabbing, burning, tearing---seemingly from every fiber of her body until she was screaming in agony at the top of her lungs.
After she was finally allowed to collapse in a heap on her pallet, Natar's punishment for her indiscretion also included five more days alone in that tiny cell, staring at four empty walls. Following each of her four 'regressions,' Natar promised herself she wouldn't reach out again, but she was fast reaching the end of her emotional endurance.
The Aledan PSION: The Aledan Series Book 1 Page 7