“I guess the Forest Walls are kinda hard on electronics,” mused Edward.
“Exceptionally aggressive,” agreed Tazo with a toothy grin. “But with proper, if not excessive shielding, one can recover from their effects. Besides, I prefer trees any day.”
Edward smiled back at Tazo as their little group started threading their way through the fresh trees. The rain added a familiar glow that made Edward even more comfortable. Gavin was nimble of foot, but conscientious enough to stay close to group and choose paths that were easy for everyone.
Tazo’s comlink chirped and he slapped it, “Tazo speaking, threading our way to an exit.”
“The 1212th is inbound. In your LZ in ninety seconds. How hot is the landing?”
“Small Forest Wall neutered part of the problem, unclear of the outer perimeter. Heavy assets were spotted earlier, unclear if they were affected by the EMP or not.”
“Understood. How is the group doing?”
“Bruised but not bloodied.”
“Who stoked the Forest Wall?”
“Young lord Gavin. Lady Dawn has us a wormhole for the exit. That is our current goal. Stand by… we have starburst. Repeat we have a visual on the 1212th.”
Edward and the group looked overhead as fifty streaks far overhead converged on their area. The crack of the sonic booms was quickly overwhelmed by the firing of the retrorockets on the insertion capsules.
“And that, ladies and gentlemen,” began Edward with no small amount of pride, “is what a fifteen g insertion looks like. Never could pull that off…”
“It helps to have two hearts and a cardiovascular system that clamps to prevent blood loss to the brain,” offered Tazo matter-of-factly.
A sudden eruption of gunfire in the distance answered the hanging question if there were any other hostile forces left. The only remaining question was if there would be any left by the time they made it to the edge of the woods.
Gavin and Edward peeked their heads out of the foliage at what they hoped would be an easy fifty meters to the portal. They saw the portal and saw Llewellyn standing just outside of it visiting blue death on a series of grav tanks that had foolishly made their presence known in the distance. He stopped and waved at them and beckoned them over as the world around them exploded once again with greenery and life. Not the work of a teenager, but rather the work of a battle-hardened adult who took pride in his work. The new wave of trees burst high overhead and, at last, silenced the guns in the distance.
Edward smiled at his older brother as they got close, “You could have launched your Forest Wall earlier you know.”
Llewellyn just shook his head and smiled, “Didn’t want to risk damaging the electronics of the Shukurae landing. Would have been bad if their retrorockets had failed to fire because of me.”
“I hadn’t thought of that. Yes, yes it was good to wait.”
“I see you have quite a crew here. I’d suggest you all cross over on the portal until they’ve had a chance to mop up.”
“Edward,” interrupted Zoë. “I think I’d like to stay, there in the highlands. I’ve had enough of this rock and I can always study under Ivy.”
Edward smiled, “Are you sure? You can always change your mind, of course.”
“Nope, I’m staying. And you are too. Think they can arrange a wedding by Monday?”
“Friday next would be lovely,” interjected Llewellyn. “There is the big fall dance and people from all around will be coming down to visit. It would be a wonderful to have a wedding at such an event.”
Zoë smiled, “I’ve waited this long, I can wait another week. What about you, Tatiana?”
“I’m going with you two! The Highlands it is!”
“Well, the concert hall is trashed and I’m pretty sure the insurance underwriters will be hiding under their desks if I come by to talk about a new concert venue, so I think this may be an excellent time for a break,” offered Gillian. “So long as you two are sure…”
Tatiana and Zoë held hands and just smiled, “We’re sure.”
“So, are you and Trevor going to give them away at the wedding?” asked Llewellyn.
“We’d be delighted!”
“What of Ethan! Can he make it there too?” asked Zoë.
“We can close this wormhole so people can’t sneak through, but keep it stable. That way, a few days from now we should be able to move people back and forth safely and easily,” replied Llewellyn. “Call in, tell them you are going, and let’s get back home. Trees or no trees, this place is still weird.”
Tazo nodded and cued his comlink, no response. He grumbled and discarded it before producing a second copper cylinder as before and carefully extracted and assembled a new comlink. “And I thought Kadu was excessive when she recommended I carry three of these,” Tazo fired back with a toothy grin before finally cueing the new device. No response. “Wow,” remarked Tazo with even wider eyes than normal. “It does appear that Lord Llewellyn’s Forest Wall was more than even the shielding could deal with.” Tazo discarded the fried comlink and instead produced a small signal flare that he launched high overhead. “The green flare will signify our safe egress. Shall we away then?”
Llewellyn grinned and then offered to help the group up through the portal. It was floating a meter in the air after all. After helping the youngsters, Llewellyn helped Zoë up to the ledge. “Hey, you smell good! When is the child due?”
Zoë looked at Llewellyn in shock and confusion, “You are weird, you know that, don’t you?”
Llewellyn looked confused, “Did I say something I shouldn’t have?”
“Um, I only found out about her ten minutes ago,” offered Edward. “And yes, you are weird. Very.”
Llewellyn shrugged and smiled, “Eh, social situations were never my strong suit…” Llewellyn playfully poked Edward in the ribs as he glanced over to Zoë, “You do know what causes that, right?”
“Shut up, Llewellyn. Thank you for coming to our aid, but please, just shut up.”
Llewellyn just grinned, proud of himself, as he helped the others through the portal and back to the Highlands of Afon.
45
Edward sat on a picnic blanket with his back to a long tall birch tree. Llewellyn’s family was playing in the distance while Zoë and Tatiana just reclined on the blanket next to him. Down by the river, Gillian and Trevor walked together playfully tossing things at the fish. On the opposite side of the river, Edward could easily make out Rebecca and Lucas playing with the flowers. It was a cool but still bright Fall day and there seemed to be few cares left in the world.
Suddenly Edward noticed Llewellyn was standing behind him, “Do you always sneak up on people?”
Llewellyn seemed taken aback, “I’m sorry, I thought I made enough noise approaching so as not to be considered malicious.”
“You probably did make enough noise, I just get kinda extra mellow here,” replied Edward. “Sorry about that, what’s up?”
“Have you heard about the guys back in the unit?”
Edward nodded, “Jake is alive. I heard that. Going to be in the hospital for a while. Alex and Meeka both came out okay. Trevor mentioned all that type stuff. Anything new?”
“Well, the Shukurae officially closed book on your last assignment. Lost a fortune on that one!”
“All the damage to the ships?”
“The ships and a whole lot of other things,” he laughed. “At least their side bet came out even.”
“A bet?” frowned Edward.
“Yep, Takru bet that you would fall for Tatiana. Toch bet that you’d fall for Zoë. They both won.”
Zoë rolled over and grinned at Llewellyn, “So, while the whole assignment was going to hell, they set up a side bet over us?”
“Exactly. There were two young, unattached, and talented girls. Tatiana was the over the top singer that soaked up the limelight. While Zoë was the university bound reserved one; she had already made herself known as she delayed her full scholarship so she
could help her little brother. Two extremes in personality, surely at least one of the two would click.”
Edward looked sternly at Llewellyn, “Was this was just part of your evil plot to get me to settle down?”
“Eh, no… it was Kadu’s ‘evil plot.’ Penn and I just thought it was good fun! Speaking of which, Kadu and her daughter should be here in about ten minutes. Would you like to go complain to her in person?”
Edward laughed, “No, I’m looking forward to meeting her daughter… Kadu must have been the best big sister ever! After all, look at who I ended up with!”
Introduction to the races and cultures:
There are four major races in this family of stories: Human, Taik, Shukurae and Gelkin.
Human: It is assumed the reader is well familiar with the human race. Their home world is located in the Orion-Cygnus minor arm of the Milky Way and has subsequently spread far and wide, often managing to colonize worlds others had left as “too harsh.” The rapid expansion of human planets and colonies has helped accelerate the decline of the Gelkin Empire. Humans are universally revered for their creativity and tenacity alike. The human realms are politically fractured and home to thousands of languages and cultures.
Taik: Taiks are a felinoid race who have spread across thousands of planets and colonies with the planet “Afon” being their home world. Physically, they walk upright and average a height of 1.80m (5’11”) and 80kg (176lbs) for the males, while the females average quite close at 1.75m (5’9”) and 70kg (154lbs). They have tails ranging from 80cm to 110cm (31-43”). There are four major super-political units: Kulpgurie Republic, Altshea Confederation, Draeka Empire, and a fourth, fairly small group, commonly just called the Highlanders.
Kulpgurie Republic: this realm is a large expansive culture with a strong central government. They are socially progressive and tend to have more joint colonies with other races than the other Taik governments. They are a driven, active, motivated people who are always eager to expand their knowledge and understanding. Historically they consider themselves the protectors of the Highlands, a thought that amuses most Highlanders.
Altshea Confederation: this realm consists of thousands of different cantons and colonies. Each one operating independent of the rest, but sharing a common base set of laws, open trade and free movement amongst all the constituents. Local realms may be democratic, theocratic, feudal, socialist, free market, or any possible combination so long as the basic laws are honored. Some are male dominated societies, others are dominated by females. Others yet are gender neutral in governance. The cultural identity of the various inhabitants is that of “Altshea” first, and local secondary. As a result, it is quite normal for people to be born in one canton, but choose to live and work in another realm.
Draeka Empire: this realm is a closed militaristic society that has chosen to make themselves equal at all levels, most of this by genetic engineering of their own people. There is very little difference between people’s physical builds and there is also very little outward difference in their gender. Their genetic tinkering combined with the nature of their society make them prone to paranoia and emotional instability. It is unclear what their genetic alterations have done to their lifespan as most people die from “accidents.” Their Empire is very small and has been self-limited due to internal conflict and total suspicion of all outsiders. They are the smallest of the three colonizing Taik governments, and their total expanse is smaller than some Altshea cantons. They have had several border wars on the home world of Afon with the Highland regions. Their most recent war with the Highlands being almost 500 years earlier and resulted in a humiliating defeat.
The Highlands of Afon: the Highlanders are unique compared to most of the rest of the Taik on almost all levels. Physically, they are universally shorter: the males average 1.75m (5’9”) while the females, shorter yet at 1.55m (5’1”). They also tend to support longer tails than the other Taik. While most Taik realms average a near even male-to-female ratio, the Highlanders are once again unique with an average of only one male to every four females. As a result, most families are polygamous with between three and five adult females being the norm. Almost all politics are matriarchal with policing and other functions left to the males. The Lady Mayor speaks for the town as a whole and while there do exist “barons,” this is a military title given to the male leadership of the militia as there is no standing army. The head of any family is the First Mother and she is expected to run the family business. The Second Mother’s position is almost exclusively to raise and educate the children of the household. Third and Fourth Mothers usually support the First Mother in the family business. Twins are rare and always female in the Highlands, and are considered good luck. It is most common that both twins would marry into the same house and are afforded the same position as a pair. Thus one may have two Third Mothers, or even two First Mothers. The family name is referred to as the “House” name and comes from either the First Mother’s line, or a mutually agreed upon name. Males tend to have a second name, a “Clan” name, that is used only among themselves. An unmarried, but adult male will usually only use his Clan name rather than his old House name. Highlanders tend to a simple life, low on overt technology, choosing instead to rely on an ancient system referred to simply as Live Steel for their protection as well as the aid of the Guardians left by the Ancients. Much is still not understood about Live Steel, even less about the Guardians and the Ancients…
Shukurae: Shukurae are a mighty people with a confused past. They stand on average 2.75m (9’) with 3.00m (9’10”) tall being not too uncommon. They have tough leathery skin, pale iridescent eyes, a plethora of narrow triangular shark-like teeth, minor horns on their heads and great tusks jutting from their face. The only overt difference between males and females is the length of their torso, a feature that is easily lost under clothing. They speak in a deep baritone chord, two tones at once being either a major fourth or fifth apart. They were a warrior-slave race for over a thousand years to the Gelkin and have lost most of their cultural identity. Two hundred years after the start of their rebellion against the Gelkin, they are mostly a free race. A race whose home world and culture is lost to the past, they have a unique relationship with the Taiks of the Highlands of Afon. It was the Highlanders who first helped them in their rebellion, and they still have a close military bond with their diminutive furry friends. It is not uncommon for Highland Taiks, off looking for adventure and to explore the galaxy, to serve alongside the Shukurae.
Gelkin: The Gelkin are a short, squat race who are roughly ursine (bear-like) in appearance. Averaging only 1.60m (5’3”), they are shorter than most other races. A point that didn’t use to bother them when they held a tight grip on long arms of the galaxy. They are a feudal society with no appreciable gender bias. With the major source of muscle, the Shukurae, now long since gone from their control, their empire is in rapid decline. Nowhere is this more true than the edge of the frontier with the human worlds.
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