Royal Rebel: A Genetic Engineering Space Opera

by Gail Gernat

  “Padr and Max designed most of it. The credit should go to them,” insisted Radhya.

  “Yes but…”

  The door to Geo’s office burst open. D’Bara reeled in, a hoof pick in one hand and a tine from a manure fork in the other.

  “You slut, I told you I’d kill you. Die, die, die!” she shrieked.

  Padr and Max leapt across the room as D’Bara dove towards Radhya, spit flying, eyes wild. The distance prevented their interception, but Geo was close. He stepped between the two women, using his unprotected body as a shield for Radhya. The manure tine ripped into his lungs as the hoof pick tore open his carotid artery. He collapsed to the floor. Padr and Max snatched D’Bara and heaved her from Geo’s bleeding body. Radhya fell down beside the old man.

  She screamed into her wrist comp, “Will, Will I need you, Geo’s study, full medical kit!”

  She held Geo’s spurting neck together with her hands, unable to stem the fountaining blood which forced between her fingers.

  “Let me go,” the old man whispered. “It’s time.”

  “No!” she cried in anguish, her tears falling on the wrinkled black cheek. “No old friend, don’t leave me. I love you, and I need you!”

  Wheezing, he raised a hand and caressed her tear stained face.

  “You’ve been my daughter. Always know how proud I was of you. I always knew I’d die protecting you. I, I....”

  His eyes rolled up, and his last breath rattled out.

  “NO!” Radhya’s howl ascended to heaven.

  Will dashed in with full kit breathless in his run from Sumi’s house.

  “Will, get him back, save him, you have to save him!”

  He fell to his knees and went to work on Geo as Radhya rose and faced D’Bara. The murderess stood proudly in the firm grip of Padr and Max. She had a triumphant sneer on her once beautiful face.

  “I know you Petra,” said Radhya quietly.

  The blonde’s dark eyes widened.

  “You revealed yourself the first day here. I put you at the stable to safeguard you from doing anything foolish until Steph, and I could find a way to return you to the aristocracy and get your property back. I even paid him to try to reinstate you. You repay me by trying to kill me, and by killing my oldest friend.”

  Petra tossed her head. “You took everything I had, you slut. You took my planet; even Noel is supposed to contract to you. I’m just sorry I missed you. It would do me good to see you lying there bleeding.”

  “I took nothing. Everything I have, I worked for, I developed. While you were teasing boys and playing, I was working. Stephan inherited father’s estate, and you inherited mother’s. Geo was all I was ever given from our parents, and now you’ve destroyed him.”

  “I’m glad. It’s so good to hurt you,” Petra hissed.

  “I can’t get him back,” declared Will.

  “Keep trying please!” pleaded Radhya. “Now dear sister, it’s at an end with us.”

  “You wouldn’t dare you spineless wonder,” her sister snarled.

  Radhya walked up to her taller sister. She reached up, grabbed the sneering head and twisted. The neck broke with an audible snap, and the corpse slumped between the bodyguard’s hands.

  “Throw it in the forest for the wolves,” Radhya commanded in a voice of ice.

  She turned to Will and Geo. Will was dripping sweat as he repeatedly tried to bring Geo back.

  “It’s been fifteen minutes,” he gasped.

  She stopped him with her hand.

  “You’re right, by now there’s nothing left to come back.” She looked at him with tears streaming, “But how will I ever live without him.”

  She collapsed across the old man’s bloody chest and sobbed until she was sick. When Max and Padr returned, breathless, Will, sitting on the floor, his arm around Radhya, looked helplessly at them.

  “Harrummph, what’s all this commotion,” Lord Grant and the other members of the selection committee were in the doorway.

  “Milord Grant,” Padr bowed low. “That stable slave attempted to kill R… Lady Kirbyson, and Geo prevented it at the cost of his life.”

  “Well good man, good man. What’s wrong with your Lady?”

  Padr hesitated in answering.

  “Well answer the question boy.”

  “She was very close to the old man. I believe he was her childhood protector.”

  “Ah well, she is distraught. Perhaps adding the status review to that will be too much for her.”

  “Oh no, milord. Lady Kirbyson loves working. It would be the best thing possible for her at this time.”

  “But she is so emotional,” said Lord Kimber with distaste.

  “Excuse me, milord, what you see now is not at all how she was through all this,” Padr explained. “She first tried to save Geo, when he died in her arms; she killed the slave herself, with her bare hands. I shouldn’t wonder that this isn’t a reaction to executing the murdering wench.”

  “Ah,” replied Lord Kimber, “In that case I understand. Some women have great stress at killing things. Why I myself, as a boy of ten, cried like a baby when I killed my first stag. Is it her first kill?”

  “I wouldn’t know milord. I do know Lady Kirbyson doesn’t hunt.”

  Lord Kimber nodded knowingly, and the committee left the room. Radhya was beyond awareness of anyone; her presence in the bond a frozen river of ice.

  “Radhya,” spoke Max softly, “Let us take him.”

  When she did not respond, they lifted her from the body. Max and Will took her to her room.

  “We should put her to bed, but not with all that blood,” said Will.

  The men exchanged puzzled looks.

  “I’ll get Padr,” proposed Max.

  Will nodded and stayed with Radhya while Max fetched Padr.

  Entering the room, Padr took Radhya from Will and carried her into the shower room, tossing out her black and bloody garments as he stripped them from her body. When she was clean, he toweled her dry and lay her in her bed.

  “Now what?” he asked Will.

  “I don’t want to leave her alone like this. She is practically catatonic. We should stay with her,” Will replied.

  “What about Geo?” asked Max.

  “I called Rory. He’s on his way,” Padr informed them.

  The three pulled up chairs and sat around Radhya’s bed. Padr held her hand and tried to reach her with the bond, sending warm and comforting verdant waves to her gelid mind. Golden light and violet shimmer poured solace and support into her. Of Radhya there was no feeling. Padr held her hand tight.

  In the morning, a silent, dry-eyed Radhya escorted the Status Review Venue Selection Committee back to the spaceport, observing the formalities like an automaton.

  Geo was buried that night, all the stars of the Milky Way his funeral candles. Every slave of Radhya’s household was in attendance. Max said a prayer over him to the creator of all while Radhya planted a tree on the head of his grave, a tall sequoia sapling. It would live a thousand years or more.

  Chapter 23

  In the slave’s galley, Max, Padr, Will, Rory, Dave, Stane, Sumi, Kaarl, Amlina, Aninya, and their son Dani met with Radhya. The slaves sat around the table while the lynxcats prowled among them, upset by the tension. Radhya stood with her back to the room, gazing out the window at the new sapling.

  “I don’t like it Padr. She’s completely shut down. All I get is black. Have you felt her in the bond since Geo died?” whispered Max.

  “No, but that was a terrible shock. You have to give her time and space,” Padr whispered back.

  “I think you’re wrong,” cut in Will, “I think she needs to be with us now, not to cut herself off. Remember, she’s spent most of her life like that. It’s how she copes, but she needs to trust us, and she needs our help. There‘s something very dark here.”

  Padr answered, “I still think she needs her space. You can’t crowd people.”

  “We’re not people; we’re her bo
nd mates. Haven’t you felt it getting weaker?” asked Max.

  Padr nodded thoughtfully, “We should go tonight and ask the Chandrans.”

  The other two nodded.

  Radhya turned from the window, cold and distant. Even Kung and Ringha wrestling could not bring a smile to her face.

  “I have to continue the plan. Geo would have wanted that,” she began. “I don’t have confidence anymore I can succeed, but at least I will die trying.”

  “She’s planning suicide,” Will whispered.

  “That’s why she’s shut us out,” Max retorted.

  Radhya continued, “Rory, you are past fifty and most pilots retire before your age. I hate to lose you as my primary pilot, but I need a majordomo more, and other than Geo, you are the only one who keeps up with everything. Will you take over Geo’s position?”

  “Milady I would be most honored. I was going to approach you about retiring after the status review because my reflexes are getting too slow.”

  Radhya nodded at him. “Stane, you are primary pilot now, and I would like you to train young Dani here as co. How old are you Dani?”

  “Milady, I’m thirteen almost fourteen,” he replied with his eyes wide with wonder.

  “Are you willing to train as pilot?”

  “Oh yes, my lady!” he responded eagerly. “I’ve always loved space, and I can’t believe I’m to train for it. It’s... it’s I just don’t know.”

  Dani was grinning from ear to ear. Radhya had a small smile at his delight.

  “Aninya, Kaarl any objections?”

  “No milady,” murmured Kaarl.

  “I thank you, milady. You’ll make Dani very, very valuable and I thank you for that,” Aninya babbled.

  “Just train your new daughter to be as fine a chef as you are and both of your children will be more than common slaves. If I succeed, they will be successful freedmen in time as well.”

  Aninya bowed her head to hide the tears.

  “Dave, how does the security shape up?”

  “Very well milady. I have successfully duplicated Lord Barone’s techniques for training, and I have five slaves in the training right now. All the other plans have been finalized.”

  “Good, Kaarl, prepare all my documents for the proctors to review. Even if they don’t select Pleasant, I need them for the comps.”

  “Yes milady.”

  “Aninya, Amlina, if we get selected I need you to have menus prepared for me to choose from.”

  “Yes milady,” the women responded.

  “Sumi, is Singha due to kit soon? I can’t split myself more once Pleasant is selected, if it is.”

  “She could go into labor at any hour now. I suspect Ringha will bear just at the time scheduled for the review.”

  “Can you keep a close eye on them for me?”

  “Of course milady,” Sumi bowed.

  “Any other business?”

  When there was no reply, Radhya dismissed them. She returned to the window. The selifla sent puzzlement around the bond, but from Radhya there was just blackness, only a frozen silent wall. Will rose and went to her. He put his hands on her shoulders.

  “I know you loved Geo very much, but we love you, and we need you. Won’t you let us help you?”

  Radhya shook him off and turned away with a weary sigh.

  “You don’t understand. Geo was my father, my real father. The Great Lord Kirbyson, my supposed father, contributed only the genes that made me. I was an embarrassment to him. How many Lords have three children, two is a rarity, and three is unheard of. Geo fed my soul, made me grow, learn, and work. He made me a real person, and I owed him so much. I am nothing without him.”

  Walking over Max said, “I heard him say he was proud of you. We all lose our fathers, and he was very old. He died the way he wanted to, protecting you.”

  Radhya’s eyes blazed, “You don’t understand. None of you understands. I was doing this for him. It was all for Geo. You wouldn’t even be here except for him. He picked my co-conspirators for me. He picked you.”

  She dashed from the room, tears streaming from her eyes. Max tried to follow, but Padr restrained him.

  “Let her go. She’s in no mood to hear us.”

  “But I can’t feel her anymore,” Max argued, his voice laced with sorrow.

  Padr looked at him, eyes pained.

  “Come on,” he said, “We’ll see the Chandrans right now.”

  The three bodyguards slipped to the den and through the wall. Arming themselves with tazers, they traveled through the mountain passage to the forest. After a quiet trip, they reached the beach. A short way along, a grizzled grey alien waved to them from the woods. Reaching the Chandran, the three men were enfolded by him.

  “You have great pain?” came the thought. “We felt you from a great distance. Tell me its source.”

  “Geo died,” Will explained, “and Radhya has shut us out. We can’t feel her in the bond.”

  The Chandran released them in its excess of horror and pulled away.

  “Help us, please!” begged Max.

  The alien gathered them again.

  “You must restore the bond. The recreator is the nexus. Once formed it should never be broken. The recreator will die. All will sicken with great pain, but the nexus will die without the bond. Stay here.”

  The father released them and vanished behind the trees as the men milled about in confusion. Shortly, the Chandran returned with two others. One was a beautiful golden color, the other a rusty brown. Gesturing for the men to return home, they followed.

  Although the aliens had great difficulty climbing the hillside, they managed to keep up. At the tunnel, they bent almost double to fit through. They gazed around curiously in the den, touching and examining the furnishings.

  Embracing Will, the brown communicated, “Fetch the recreator here.”

  Will staggered from the den and trotted up the stairs. Radhya was not in lab one or two. Nor was she in the med lab, exercise room, storage room, or the washroom. He took a deep breath and returned to her room. He tapped on the door. When there was no answer, he opened the door and entered. He searched everywhere among the flowers and animals, but she was nowhere. He checked the dressing room and shower suits. Radhya was not there. Puzzled, Will tried to reach her through the bond. There were no feelings from Radhya, only Max and Padr patiently waiting, working to stave off waves of fear.

  Will trotted downstairs checking the second floor, but she was not there. On the first floor, he surveyed the kitchen, parlor, Geo’s den, slave’s quarters, the washrooms, and the dining room which were likewise empty. Rory’s office contained only Rory.

  Returning upstairs he opened Max’s door. Radhya was not there. The next room was Padr’s, and Radhya was curled in a fetal position on the floor. Will entered and shook her. She moaned.

  “I don’t feel very good,” she whispered.

  “It’s the bond. You’ve shut it down, and it’s making you sick,” Will replied.

  He helped her up, but could barely walk. He tried to pick her up, but she refused. She tried to go to the med lab, but Will steered her down the stairs. Trembling and shaking, she stumbled several times descending. Will, half carrying her, brought her downstairs to the den.

  Radhya gasped at the sight of the Chandrans. She staggered and would have fallen but for Max’s steadying hand. Will urged her to lie down on the carpet, which she did with Padr and Max on either side. Will sit at her head, half supporting her body. The Chandrans encircled them, touching them all.

  “You must never close down the bond,” floated the thought. “The bond is your life and your strength. You are no longer four, but one in four bodies. You must keep your strength flowing one to the other. That way it increases and your life increases. You gain many years with the bond. Radhya, recreator, you are the nexus, open your mind and let your bond mates in. They have each other. You are alone; if you do not, you will die.”

  “I can’t!” wailed Radhya.

/>   “You must,” came the thought.

  Radhya relaxed every muscle in her body, slowly, determinedly. She tried to call the electric blue light, but the dark was an impenetrable barrier. She struggled with her mind until sweat was pouring off her. She quit trying and felt herself start to sink into the black, dying.

  “Radhya no. Try Radhya, come on.”

  She heard the voices faintly, from a great distance.

  “We’re losing her. Radhya stay with me, don’t leave me.”

  “Is this what Geo felt?” she wondered.

  “NO!” A loud yell penetrated to her.

  “That’s what I said when Geo died,” she thought.

  She managed to crack her eyes open a little. Padr’s face was next to hers, panic in his eyes, and fear in every line.

  “No, fight Radhya. I love you. Let me go instead of you. I’ve only made a mess of my life. Will and Max need you. Don’t leave us alone.”

  “Padr’s joined completely with the other two,” she thought wonderingly. “The original rebel is part of the group, but he’s wrong. My life is just as ruined as his ever was.”

  She knew their lives depended on her. She performed the mental equivalent of a strip, laying every part of her mind bare to her companions, without the strength to help herself, yet wanting to survive. The emerald arrowed in immediately, cradling her consciousness tenderly. The gold and violet right after, pouring strength and healing into her. The evil black still threatened, rising to conquer her.

  “It’s a volcano!” came the green thought.

  “No,” corrected the violet, “It’s a boil, full of pus and infection.”

  The three colors sharpened into a lancet, piercing the black and red throbbing cancer that threatened Radhya. The pain burst over them, an outrushing tide of pure poison. Her deepest, most painful memories invaded their minds.

  Radhya was a teenager and Geo a younger, more vigorous man. He was striding back and forth in a darkly paneled room. They heard his voice.

  “No! I’m not letting you go.”

  Radhya replied, “I am going. You are not going to stop me.”

  “Radhya, be reasonable, you don’t know the kind of men you are dealing with.”