The Senthien (Descendants of Earth Book 1)
Page 1
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
THE SENTHIEN
Book One of the Descendants of Earth
by Tara Jade Brown
The Senthien
Copyright © 2015 Tara Jade Brown
All rights reserved
Tara Jade Brown asserts the moral rights to be identified as the author of the work.
All characters and events in this publication, other than those clearly in the public domain, are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the author, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
Editor: Sarah Kolb-Williams
Book cover design: Prasanta Nayak
To my Mom and Dad
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Acknowledgements
About the author
Chapter 1
My feet are bare.
I’m standing on a hard, dark surface. Soft orange light casts shadows on rough black walls around me.
And he is here, standing in front of me.
Again.
His body is close to mine.
Too close.
No two individuals in Uni would break the interpersonal space like this.
Yet he does.
And I want it.
I keep looking at him.
Dark hair. Dark eyes. Bronze-colored skin.
I gaze at his lips, feeling the strange need to come even closer, to break the interpersonal space even more.
My heartbeat picks up.
I’m confused.
And then, he does the same thing he always does before I snap out of my Vision. He comes closer, lifts his hand, and places his warm palm on my cheek.
He slowly bends his face toward mine and kisses me.
A strong electric sensation pulses through my body, snapping me out of my Vision and jolting me back into wakefulness.
I opened my eyes to the complete darkness surrounding me. I might as well have kept them closed; it wouldn’t have made any difference. My heart still pounded—an aftereffect of my recurring dream. I placed my palm on my chest, feeling the drumming beneath my rib cage. I swallowed, trying to keep my fast breathing inaudible, hoping it wouldn’t be detected by the AI sensors. I put my arms next to my body, closed my eyes, and with deliberate intent and flawlessly trained willpower, I relaxed all of my muscles, slowly bringing my heartbeat back to normal.
Behind my eyelids, I still saw him. None of my dreams had ever affected my body in the way this one did. And I didn’t understand any of it.
It couldn’t possibly have been the future that I was seeing. He was a Human. And my Descendant ranking gave me no common ground with them.
I will never meet a Human.
I will never meet him.
I sighed silently just as the lights turned on. I pressed my eyelids together, covering them with the heels of my palms. It gave me a moment to get used to the sudden brightness, the unnatural end of dark, the abrupt start of another day.
“It is 81-03.7405. Good morning, Dana. I hope you have had a productive dream. Would you like me to prepare a report recording?” the pleasant female voice of the apartment AI asked.
“No!” I quickly moved my arms and opened my eyes—and then realized that I’d been a little too quick to answer. “Thank you, but… no,” I said in a calmer voice. “I did not have any productive dreams last night.”
There was a small break, and then the AI said, “A report of No Visions will be submitted. Thank you.”
I knew it was a computer, but I couldn’t help but think I heard a hint of disappointment in her voice. I decided not to dwell on it.
I got up swiftly and walked to the E-bathroom, not turning back to the sounds of the bed being folded under the floor behind me. The bathroom door slid to the side as the lights inside turned on at the same time. I waited for a fraction of a second and then stepped into the E-shower.
Thousands of tiny electric shocks pinched spots all over my body, stimulating the muscles underneath. My eyes were closed and my lips pressed tightly together as I waited for the mandatory morning session to finish. Not for the first time, I wished I lived on a planet with stronger gravity.
After seven passes, electric stings were replaced by soft water drops.
I sighed in relief.
The water-shower.
I loved it.
I let the stream of water fall on my cheeks, sliding down my neck, continuing the journey over my body. The water-shower stopped automatically after five passes. I opened my eyes, trying not to be disappointed.
The semitransparent wall in front of me slid open and I walked into a small cabin, each corner one IP distance from the center. The doors behind me closed and warm air started blowing from tiny holes out of four white corner pillars. I closed my eyes as the water drops disappeared from my skin and my heavy hair dried.
I thought of my dream again.
I had seen him so many times I knew all the details of his face by heart. And then, I thought about the kiss. I touched my lips with the tips of my fingers, trying to bring back the feelings. It was amazing—such a simple touch bringing more sensations than anything else I had ever felt.
Who was he?
Does he exist, or is he only a product of my imagination?
The air stopped blowing just as the last drop dried. I opened my eyes and lowered my hand.
The semitransparent matte doors on the other side opened, and I walked into my brightly lit living quarters.
“Clothes,” I ordered to the apartment’s AI, and a drawer containing several different skinsuits opened from the wall. I chose the whitest skinsuit I could find, although I knew it would still be dark compared to Boolean clothing. I dressed quickly.
My skinsuit was simple, with no additional attachments, pockets, or straps. For a short port trip, I wouldn’t need any.
“E-band.”
A small flat drawer next to the wardrobe opened up. On its surface were seven nicely aligned wristband computers sta
nding in their chargers. I picked up the white one, secured it on my left wrist, and swiped the screen to bring it out of standby.
I glanced at the food processor but decided against eating. I strapped up my boots and left the apartment.
“Dora Dana Dasnan. We acknowledge your presence on our premises. The distinguished head of our institute will join you in the library,” said the tall, thin, white-faced woman, welcoming me as I exited the porting chamber. Her slick black hair was wrapped at the back of her neck. Like all Booleans, she had no eyebrows, and her eyes were completely black, with no white inside. This made it very difficult to tell where she was looking.
As always, it made me feel uncomfortable.
My face, however, stayed calm. Relaxing my facial muscles, I responded in a well-trained monotonous tone, “I acknowledge your hospitality.”
“Please, follow me,” she said and moved her arm toward the hallway door.
I made a step forward, careful not to break the IP distance.
“We strongly recommend that our visitors always stay with accompanying personnel and never walk through any of our premises unattended.”
I stopped in front of the doors and looked at her. Then I looked at the plate name on her white skinsuit and said, “TA-645.” I looked back to her black eyes. “I have been on your premises before. I am aware of your regulations.”
Her black eyes stared at me for a few moments.
It seems that responding to an assertive remark wasn’t integrated into her genotype.
“We enforce this on every visit,” she said. “The communication of the regulation is obligatory.”
I inhaled to answer back but then turned toward the door, stopping myself from responding further. Careful, Dora…
“Of course, TA-645. Please, lead me to the library.”
TA-645 turned toward the door too and pressed her palm on the small scanning plate next to it. The door slid open and we stepped into a bright white hallway.
It was high, with sufficient width to take a group of six people without compromising their IP space. On both sides of the corridor were many doors, all of them tightly sealed. The doors were scan-protected, and they all looked alike, with no room number or shield plate next to the door. Just like every time before, no one passed us.
Although I was used to that, it made me feel uneasy, as if the genetically grown technical assistant and I were the only ones in this institute. TA-645 did not talk, but from the corner of my eye I could see her head was strangely twisted in my direction rather than facing the path.
I tried to ignore her.
The whiteness of the hallways was disturbing. It made me lose all sense of what was closer and what was farther away. I closed my eyes to refocus and then opened them again.
After a few turns, we stopped next to a door, and TA-645 pressed her finger on a small panel and left it there for a moment. After a faint clicking sound, she removed her finger. Her identity was confirmed, and the doors slid open.
We entered the library. It was white, with white chairs and white desks, each with four empty holographic screens. Three walls were completely covered in rows of tightly packed chips stored in their slots. It vaguely reminded me of the old libraries I’d seen in the history recap classes, though these images were a lot more colorful than this one here. I was sure all the information on the chips was accessible through the main computer, but the library, it seemed, had to look presentable.
“Dana, please have a seat. Dr. Zamnan Second will be with you shortly. Should you be interested in light informational material, some articles are highlighted in green.” She tapped a finger on an empty white screen next to the door and several chips on the wall to my right lit up green.
“I wish you a productive conversation during your stay at the Boolean Institute,” she said and stepped toward the door. She placed her palm on the scanning screen and the doors slid open.
In that moment, I saw a group of six women passing the corridor. The first one was clearly Boolean, but the rest had beige-colored suits and much darker skin than any of the Descendant races.
Humans?
Their heads were hanging low, as if they couldn’t lift them up. And then, in one short moment, one of them looked sideways and saw me. Her eyes were wide open, her neck and jaw muscles tight. Having had only rare opportunities to observe Human facial expressions, I wasn’t sure what it meant, but my gut feeling told me that she was scared. Very scared.
TA-645 looked back at me with her wide black eyes and then stepped out without saying a word. The door closed, and there was a perfect silence. I exhaled loudly. I needed some kind of a sound to distract me.
I looked around the white room, then reached out, pulled a chair, and sat at the first holo screen. Rather than scrolling through some “light informational material” as TA-645 recommended, I decided to go over the Vision I recently had—the Vision I wanted to share with Dr. Zamnan Second.
Dr. Zamnan stares at the holo screen data in front of him. He turns to TA-002 and says, “This will make our production unyielding. Do we have any reserves?”
“No, distinguished Dr. Zamnan. We already used them.”
“We need to notify the High Priest. The seeding needs to be increased dramatically if we are to obtain the same level of production. Place all our remaining yield into the Mind.”
This Vision was puzzling. I understood that the High Zlathar Priest should know about current genetic experiments, particularly if one of those projects had presented the Booleans with problems or challenges. But what does the Mind have to do with all of this?
The Mind belonged to the Loreans. They engineered it, they maintained it, they improved it, and all of this information was strictly confidential. They had the absolute intellectual property, even over the Zlathars.
So what experiments are the Booleans doing that has to do with the Mind?
The sliding door silently opened and a tall, thin man with long dark hair strapped at the back of his neck walked in. He smiled in the typical Boolean way, his lips spreading only sideways instead of up. I never thought this expression looked happy—or comfortable, for that matter. I stood up to greet him.
“Dora Dana Dasnan. I acknowledge your presence,” he said, his black eyes on me as he walked toward me. He stopped outside the standard IP distance, but for some reason, I felt uncomfortable.
“Dr. Zamnan Second, it is an honor to be at your institute, as always.”
“What can we help you with, Dana?”
“There is a Vision I thought you should be aware of,” I said flatly.
His calm, unemotional face grew even calmer as he relaxed all his facial muscles.
“I am ready to hear your recent Vision.”
I lifted my left forearm and swiped the E-band screen, sending the holo report to the first table screen on the right. The holo projection of my torso appeared above the table, bringing some color to the white surroundings.
Pale oval face, high cheekbones, and long, dark gray hair.
Like all other Senthiens, my eyes were bright green with the whites lightly green as well. The only unusual things about my face were my lips. Senthiens normally had dark, almost purplish, thin lips. But mine were soft, red, and full.
I glanced at Dr. Zamnan from the corner of my eyes and automatically pressed my lips together to make them look thinner.
The monotonous voice of my report recording echoed slightly in the library room until it was finished, and the projection disappeared.
Dr. Zamnan Second still looked at the empty white holo screen.
I kept watching him, but he didn’t move. I realized there was something else that made Booleans so unusual: they never blink. I felt a slight shiver rising up my back, but my face remained calm.
Dr. Zamnan Second slowly turned his head toward me but didn’t say anything.
“Is this information helpful?” I asked.
“At the moment, I do not have the knowledge to confirm your Vision. Our institute
is free of any problematic issues.”
“Are there any experiments currently being conducted that relate to the Mind?”
“The Mind is the property of Loreans. It holds no interest for us. Did all your Visions come to be?”
I remembered the Vision I had this morning—the dream—and after a slight delay, I said, “All the reported Visions have come to pass. But I have not reported a large number of Visions as of yet. I am still developing my skills.”
“Yes. Understandable. You are still young,” he said. “Did you communicate this to anyone in the Zlathar Council?”
“The Zlathar Council received this report, as they normally do, but I have not received any query from them for a holo communication.”
“Of course,” he said, but his face tightened. “There is no reason to.”
He stepped toward the exit, indicating that I should follow him. My visit here, I realized, was coming to an end. As the door slid open, I asked, “Is there a specific reason you have Humans on your premises?”
He looked at me suddenly. “Humans?”
“I saw a group of Humans passing in the corridor while awaiting your arrival.”
“You are mistaken. We do not have Humans anywhere in our institute. These premises are clear of all impurity. You did not see Humans.”
“It was then certainly a mistake,” I said, my voice as flat as I could make it. I stepped in front of him into the corridor and Dr. Zamnan joined me. He turned toward me and spread his lips wide into a typical Boolean smile.
“Thank you for sharing your Vision with us. I regret that this had to be the first inaccurate one. I am confident that you will have many more true future Visions.”
As a new TA approached, he said, “TA-3279 will accompany you to our porting chamber.”
“Thank you for receiving me today. It was a pleasure to communicate with you.”
He bowed slightly in response, and I bowed back. Then he turned around and walked in the opposite direction. Soon all I could see, looking back at him wearing all white, was a black head with a long, thin braid floating through the white hallway.