Generations of Teelan Box Set

by G. E. Stills

  La’lani lay there with thoughts racing through her mind. Is she all right? Were there any complications? Will Aaron and I be good parents?

  “SuRay is fine. There were no complications. Just a normal birth. Be calm, La’lani. I will monitor you along with Forty-five. You need to get some rest,” Mark’s voice was soothing in her mind. “Shelly and I will make certain you and Aaron are good parents.”

  “Take these,” Forty-five said when he returned. “They will help you sleep.”

  She sat up and took the pills, washing them down with the glass of water the robot offered. “Aaron?” she asked.

  “He’s fine,” Forty-five answered. “I gave him some sleeping pills too.”

  Soon her eyes grew heavy and she drifted into slumber.

  ***

  It was still hard for her to believe a month and a half had passed. Then again she felt fine. SuRay was growing by leap and bounds. “Mother’s milk and great care,” Mark reminded her. “I told you that Shelly and I would make certain you were good parents.”

  She shoved her plate to the center of the table. Again the meal had consisted of high calorie food that produced large amounts of milk in her swollen breasts just as Forty-five and Mark insisted. She fed SuRay under Forty-five’s watchful eyes earlier.

  She glanced to the side at Aaron and slid across the padded bench to rub her hip against his. It was so nice having him sitting beside her once more. As if reading her thoughts and honoring her desires, he placed his arm around her shoulders.

  “It’s been a month and half, remember what we discussed earlier?” she asked.

  “Are you certain, sweetie? SuRay is still pretty small.”

  “Su-ray and I have bonded as only a mother and her baby can. Being away from her will be difficult. I won’t try to minimize that fact. At the same time I feel our job is important. I’m confident Forty-five will take excellent care of her when we’re not there. I frequently tell myself that life does not stop because we have a child now. Besides I’m anxious to get started on my new career.”

  Taking his hand, she led him into the living room. “Forty-five examined me today. He says it is fine for me to resume normal activities. She changed course and guided him toward the bedroom. “That means that not only can we leave here, we can…engage in other actions.”

  Hours later the ship computer woke her. “La’lani,” it announced, “You have a message waiting.”

  Climbing from bed, she pulled on a pair of barely there shorts and padded to the control room. She was just peeling off the printed message when Aaron joined her.

  “You know you shouldn’t walk around here with no top, sweetie.”

  “Why? Don’t you like seeing me this way anymore,” she teased, while knowing better.

  “It’s not that.”

  “Forty-five has seen all of me before. Besides he’s a robot. If I put on a top, then I just have to take it off to feed SuRay.” For a moment she pictured their daughter. Her thatch of plum colored hair with grey streaks in it was growing fast. Her blue skin was a lighter shade than her own. Most of all she loved SuRay’s ice-blue eyes.

  She winced slightly when Aaron playfully swatted her butt. Then she shivered when he slipped her hair to the side and kissed the nape of her neck. Finally, he settled his chin on her shoulder and looked over it at the paper she held. Together they read the note.

  To: Emma II

  From: Houston Control.

  We have discovered a new planet in quadrant 042673. For now we have named it Z-98. Long distance scans suggest it has an atmosphere conducive to life. We would like one of our explorer teams to study the planet from orbit and if promising, take a closer look from the surface.

  You have indicated the Emma II is ready to proceed. You are the nearest exploration ship to the planet. Please advise if you will accept this assignment and message control the earliest you could get underway. If you decline please inform us so that we may contact another explorer ship. The coordinates for planet Z-98 are in the attached data file.

  Waiting for response.

  Houston Control.

  “Who told them we were ready?” he asked. His hands slipped around and came to rest on her lower belly under the waistband of her shorts. Slowly he smoothed them across her stomach and played with her piercing. That seemed to be one of his favorite things to do these days and he knew full well just how distracting to her it was.

  “Uh…Um.” She cleared her throat and tried to forget his hands. “I sorta sent them a note a few weeks ago.”

  “Now why does that not surprise me?”

  “Aaron stop! You know what that does to me. I need to call my brother and the Erlise to tell them we’re leaving. As for you, go take a shower…a cold one. We have work to do.”

  He slipped his hand from her shorts, kissed her ear and swatted her other butt cheek. “Okay, boss,” he chuckled and walked away.

  She continued to look out the observation window not seeing anything. Her thoughts were far away.

  “Mark.”

  “Yes?”

  “Contact my brother.”

  Her conversation with Me’kon and Sherella was brief and tearful. When she broke the connection she had Mark contact the signals officer on board the Eilise.

  “This is Co-captain La’lani of the PD Emma II. Please inform your captain we will be leaving soon on bearing 450 to take us out of the system.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” the officer answered.

  Breaking that connection, she took a seat and began entering course settings. “Computer, I have input settings. Confirm they are correct.”

  “They are correct,” the ship’s computer voice answered seconds later.

  She flipped switches activating and engaging the silent engines. “Hold course and notify me or Captain Aaron if deviation is needed.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” the ship answered.

  Relaxing back in the comfortable chair, she sighed in relief and gazed out the view screen in front of her. The vision of Youkana disappeared as the ship turned. Minutes later Youkana’s moon raced across the screen and the star pattern slowly shifted as the Emma gained velocity. It felt good to be in transit.

  “Didn’t waste any time getting underway did you? A little anxious to get started are you?” Aaron asked from behind her.

  Swiveling her chair, she saw that his hair was still damp. He was wearing shorts and a t-shirt. “No sense in delaying further,” she said.

  Aaron took a seat beside her. “We’re on our way, beautiful, I hope you’ll like your new job.”

  “I will.”

  Forty-five entered the room with SuRay in his arms. “It’s time again.”

  Reaching up, she took the girl from him and placed SuRay to her breast. While the baby suckled, she and Aaron continued their conversation.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Putting the observation glasses to his eyes, Aaron scanned the vast open meadow in front of him. The grasses that covered it were yellow and orange. Planet Z-98 had proven to have a breathable atmosphere. From orbit they had studied it intensively. To their delight they had discovered signs of intelligent life.

  He adjusted the focus and zeroed in on the rolling hills beyond. On the other side of them was what appeared to be a settlement, their ultimate goal. It was several kilometers from this spot where they had landed. The ALC was locked and secured behind them, out of sight in a stand of trees. They planned to hike the distance separating them.

  Lowering the glasses he looked at the woman standing beside him. In his eyes she was the most beautiful woman in the universe even wearing her drab tan environmental suit. For the occasion she had braided her hair into a long ponytail. It was draped to the side of her backpack.

  “Your wife and the mother of your beautiful child,” Shelly reminded him unnecessarily.

  “I
hope they didn’t spot us descending and get alarmed,” La’lani said. She shifted her backpack into a more comfortable position and took the glasses from him when he offered. She viewed the settlement while he talked. On one hip she wore a holstered pistol and on the other a sheathed knife.

  “I don’t think so. From the looks of that village, the inhabitants here look to be pretty primitive.”

  “I agree,” she replied moments later, lowering the glasses and handing them back.

  “Nervous about your first time exploring, sweetie?”

  “Let’s just say that if these suits weren’t climate controlled I’d be sweating buckets.”

  “You’re going to do fine.”

  “As we discussed, I’ll take the lead and you follow,” she said.

  “I still don’t like the idea of you being in front,” he groused.

  “Don’t worry I’ll be fine. I have better vision and I’m female and therefore appear less aggressive. You just watch my back.”

  “That won’t be hard.”

  “Back, not backside, Aaron, hon.”

  “Just teasing. I’ll explore your backside in depth when we’re up on the ship and safe.”

  “Promise?” she asked, flashing him a smile and stepped into the lead.

  “Promise,” he answered over their implanted communicators.

  She increased the distance until she was several hundred yards in the lead before he stepped off to follow. “Can you hear me?”

  “Loud and clear,” she answered.

  Crossing the meadow, they entered the rolling hills. He didn’t like it at all when her head dipped from sight below the hillcrest that separated them. “Are you alright?”

  “Hon, I’m fine. Don’t panic.’

  “I still don’t like this.”

  “It’s so sweet of you to worry about me, but you know I can take care of myself. I’m a better shot, have sharper vision and can move faster. I took you captive didn’t I?” she chuckled. “If the natives are less than friendly, I like the thought of my white knight coming to my rescue with bolts of lightning flying from his fingers.”

  “White Knight? Don’t tell me, something else you learned from Rayne?”

  “Yup.”

  “Testing,” Shelly said, “Mark are you hearing me?”

  “I am. The operation was a success. We can also use the communicators of our humans.

  Excellent.”

  La’lani’s head vanished below another hillcrest. “Don’t get too far ahead of me.”

  “Honey, I’m fine. Don’t worry so much.”

  A couple of hours later they reached the settlement. To their disappointment, it appeared to be abandoned. While he hid in covering bushes, she explored it further, giving him reports as she did.

  “It’s vacant. In fact from the evidence I’m seeing, it has probably been that way for a long time.”

  “What evidence are you seeing that brings you to that conclusion La’lani?” Shelly asked.

  “The huts seem to be in a state of disrepair. No furniture of any kind or sleeping mats. I’ve been into several and the only things I’ve found are a few broken shards of pottery. It appears there once was a central fire pit, but it hasn’t been used for a long time.”

  “I’m coming to join you.”

  “Do you think that’s wise?” Shelly asked.

  “Wise or not, I can’t see her and I’m joining her. That’s final. I don’t want to hear arguments from any of you.”

  “I recognize that tone of voice, hon. I won’t argue. I’m in the central clearing of the village.”

  A few minutes later he joined her.

  “So what now?”

  “We can either look around in this area further or return to the ALC and find a different location.”

  “My vote is for a different location,” she said.

  “I agree.”

  They retraced their steps and took off. The stand of trees they landed in overlooked a swath of rolling plains composed of chest high, bright orange grasses. Again she took the lead with him following behind. The area was also further south and as the day progressed the heat increased. He was thankful for his climate controlled suit and he was certain she was too.

  “Anything?” he asked.

  “I don’t see anything so far, but from in the air we did spot those areas where the grass looked to be trampled.”

  “I don’t need to remind you, but I will anyway. Keep a sharp lookout.”

  “Oh shit.”

  “What?”

  “Aaron I’ve been shot in the neck with some kind of dart. I don’t see a soul though. I’m feeling very dizzy.”

  “Hold on, sweetie, I’m coming.” He broke into a run.

  A dart bounced from his jumpsuit and then all hell broke loose. Orange colored creatures about five feet tall converged on him from every direction. They were so fast he didn’t even have time to draw his pistol before they were all over him and bore him to the ground. The energy ball in his lower stomach surged to life. As his hands touched the mass of orange bodies covering him they jolted away in smoldering ruins.

  Struggling to his feet, bolts of lightning burst from his fingers. He had to be careful to hit the creatures and not the surrounding grass to prevent setting it on fire. Twice more darts bounced from his suit. The last two of the creatures fled seeming to blend into the grass and vanish. He stood in the center of a circle of trampled grass where the skirmish had taken place. A dozen smoking bodies surrounded him.

  “La’lani,” he screamed.

  Quickly he glanced down at one of the creatures. One of the few that were not burned beyond recognition. It was orange and completely hairless with large eyes and no discernable nose. Two holes centered between the eyes probably took the place of a nose. The creature had thin almost nonexistent lips and two fangs sticking down from the roof of its mouth. The long spindly arms ended in hands which had six digits. Its legs were thin and each creature wore a type of skirt made of grass. Glancing around, he saw that the bodies appeared to be both male and female.

  Racing to the last spot he had seen her in, he searched in vain. She was nowhere to be found. “La’lani,” he screamed again and got no answer.

  “Shelly are you in contact with Mark?”

  “Not right now. He doesn’t answer either, but I will keep trying.”

  He searched around more, but couldn’t find any trace of her.

  “Shelly, Aaron,” Mark’s thought reached them.

  “Mark we haven’t been able to contact La’lani. What’s her condition?”

  “Unconscious. Evidently the dart that hit us was coated with some form of neurotoxin. She is paralyzed, hopefully temporarily. Her heartbeat though strong, is very slow. I was delayed in responding because I had to reroute some neural receptors to her communicator.”

  “Oh God,” Aaron gasped.

  “Where are you Mark?” Shelly asked maintaining her calm while he was going to pieces.

  “Unknown. Her hands and ankles are bound around a pole and we’re being carried. Her eyes are closed so I can’t see. Her limited senses still working, suggest a closeness and I smell earth. My guess is that we are being carried through some type of underground tunnel.”

  “We’re looking for a tunnel entrance. Keep transmitting and Shelly will maintain a bearing on you.”

  “Sending a constant bearing signal as requested, Aaron. I will continue trying to wake La’lani. At the same time I’m monitoring the snippets of conversation passing between our captors in order to learn their language.”

  “Thanks, Mark. Keep us informed.”

  Aaron followed a barely discernable trail of bent grass blades. He divided his time looking at the ground for a tunnel entrance, while remaining alert to further attacks.

  “There,” he said to Shelly,
looking at a crack in the ground. It was a trap door about three feet square and blended so well with the grass it was almost invisible. He holstered his pistol, while keeping his free hand ready to shoot lightning bolts if needed. The door pried up to reveal the tunnel underneath. After removing a flashlight from his pack, he dropped down into the tunnel.

  He squelched the urge to plunge ahead blindly, knowing if he were captured or killed he would be of no use in helping La’lani. Instead he shined the light on the tunnel. The roof was low, causing him to stoop slightly. The tunnel was about three feet wide and the floor slopped down at a gentle angle. The tunnel continued behind him at the same level. Shelly picked up his question before he could even ask.

  “Mark,” she asked. “Can you tell if you are moving down or are you staying at the same level?”

  “Down I think,” Mark answered.

  “We’re coming, Mark. Any luck waking La’lani?” he asked.

  “None yet, but her heartbeat is increasing. That’s a good sign.”

  He headed down the tunnel carefully, following Shelly’s instructions as she monitored Mark’s signal.

  “Turn your light out,” Shelly cautioned. “We’re getting close.”

  He thumbed the switch, plunging them into pitch black. Slowly his eyes acclimated. Ahead he detected a dim glow.

  “She’s waking up,” Mark said.

  “Aaron!” La’lani’s voice shouted in his communicator.

  He sighed in relief. Just hearing her voice sent a warm feeling rushing through him. “I’m near, hon, I’m coming for you.”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  “Try to open your eyes La’lani so we can see our surroundings,” Mark coaxed.

  She concentrated and with great effort her eyelids parted. She couldn’t move her head or any other part of her body.

  “Why can’t I move?” she asked.

  “A neurotoxin in the dart has paralyzed you. Temporary I hope,” Mark answered.