Miranda's Destiny - the unexpurgated edition

by Candace Smith

  Miranda walked into the crescent shaped room. Letang sat behind the navigation screen, and Seartock hovered over star charts relaying coordinates. Vallastera was a planet in the Shatung Quadrant. Most of the worlds on the northern edge of the inner worlds were uninhabited, and so far out in the hierarchy that they were rarely visited.

  Miranda paid the men no attention as her eyes fixed on the viewport that made up the entire outside wall of the room. She was hardly aware of her feet moving her forward until she stepped up on the low carpeted platform and rested her fingers against the translucent wall. Seartock and Letang watched her glide across the room with wide eyes and an expression of overwhelming rapture.

  “I wonder if that was the look on my face the first time I entered space?” Letang mused.

  Zulien was delighted at her enthrallment, and he walked up behind her as the officers returned to their tasks. “Zulien, it’s beautiful.” Miranda leaned back against her warrior’s chest.

  “Even after centuries, I am still awed by its magnificence,” he agreed. “How long before we are on planet?” he called back to Letang.

  “We are picking up staticky transmissions from the Quibasta. We have been able to make out the surface preparations are ready, but they are still too distant for us to lock onto their course. I am guessing we will get a better fix by this evening, and I anticipate docking sometime tomorrow morning.”

  Seartock added, “It is pretty far out there, Commander. I have only been to the Shatung Quadrant one time, so we are still working out the exact coordinates. Celestial, turn a little to the left. See the hazy pink disk with the blue center?”

  Miranda nodded.

  “That is where your new home will be,” Seartock informed her.

  “It looks like the eye of the goddess.” Miranda traced the curved galaxy on the pane and smiled.

  Zulien led her to the lounge. By the time they arrived there, Tempest was sitting in Taliquant’s lap, holding court. She was answering questions about what life was like on her primitive planet, and the mates were laughing at her descriptions.

  Tali was holding a breast in each of his big palms. Apparently, it was a compromise, because Tempest only moved his fingers when they began stroking her nipples. Miranda heard her say, “Easy boy, I may never get to cruise in a spaceship again, and I am not spending the entire time locked away in your quarters.”

  Tali smiled and gave her a squeeze as his hands retreated to cupping her mounds. The look of adoration on his face for her wild friend made Miranda happy. The warrior was clearly in love with her.

  She thanked the mates for their welcoming note, and Zulien thanked Ebonisha and Vasilla for making his quarters more presentable. They assured him it was no problem and that they were pleased to do something for the Ancient.

  Two of the junior officers entered the lounge with the Parina following behind them. The men walked over to a couch and the Parina approached Miranda. “You are the Celestial. You are the Commander’s mate. Thought of you fills the warriors with desire and their sacks fill with need,” she said, in a throaty, seductive purr. Her eyes blinked rapidly as her data banks processed information.

  “Zulien, can you get her away from me? She makes me nervous,” Miranda admitted.

  “Who the hell is that?” Tempest asked.

  “That is your mate’s former girlfriend,” Miranda told her.

  “Tali?”

  “I no longer require the Parina’s services, my wild mate.” Taliquant briefly filled Tempest in on the android’s function.

  “She’s a robot?”

  The Parina never approached the women, and Zulien was mystified as to the android’s apparent interest in Miranda. “Why do you speak to my mate?”

  The Parina focused her eyes on him. “While Major Berslan thrust his manly cock into my tight channel and his heavy sack pounded against my crevice in sexual heat, he was inflamed in passion with thoughts of finding the Celestial. While the Commander grips my…”

  “Voice off, dammit,” Zulien squirmed.

  “More info than we needed, red woman,” Tempest squirmed.

  “She cannot help it. Her programming is such that everything she says or does has to have sexual overtones,” Taliquant explained.

  “That still does not tell me why you are approaching my mate,” Zulien responded. “Speak.”

  “After Major Berslan's magnificent, engorged staff exploded its warm fluid deep within my quivering channel, he asked me to scan the ship for the Celestial. I told him her life gave no signal. He rose from the bed, and I watched as his sinewy muscles flexed when he communicated to the Makers that she was decayed.” The Parina looked at Miranda. “You can decay and rebuild?”

  “Leave us,” Zulien ordered. When the Parina walked over to the men on the sofa, Zulien turned to Taliquant. “Have you ever known a Parina to ask questions like that?”

  “No, but I guess if she was processing the cause for Berslan's passion, she may have wanted to know if it was something she could use to seduce him again,” Tali suggested.

  “It never occurred to me he would use her to find Miranda. She must have reported to him that our rumor of her decay was true. Now she thinks that, like her, Miranda can be rebuilt. I hope she does not use my mate in sexual responses to arouse the men.”

  The Parina’s hands were rubbing the swollen bulges in the junior officers’ breeches. Tali chuckled. “It takes a while for them to adjust to having her always ready and willing.”

  The group went back to their discussion with Tempest about her primitive beginnings and what they thought Vallastera would be like. They had done some research and knew what the planet’s basic physical attributes were. It had been uninhabited since the Battles of Chaos because it was so far out and had nothing of unique interest to the hierarchy.

  In the evening, the Quibasta’s communications were clearer, and the three ships journeying to Vallastera were able to align their navigation systems to track to the planet. The Quibasta confirmed that the planet’s surface had been prepared with supplies and shelter for the travelers’ arrival.

  They rendezvoused with the battleship late the next morning. Zulien and Taliquant met the crew of the Quillant on the bridge. They wished the men luck, and even though the ship would maintain orbit within the planet’s quadrant, it was an emotional goodbye.

  “Commander Letang, I turn over the helm to you, sir.” Zulien’s voice cracked a little towards the end, as he glanced around the bridge that had been his world for so many years.

  Letang shook his hand. “Thank you, Admiral. I can only hope to do as good a job as you did.”

  The mates decided to shuttle to the surface with the Celestial’s group, and rejoin their families while they settled in. They knew the warriors would be distracted for a few days while they decided the strategy for best protecting the isolated world.

  The shuttles began delivering the pilgrims to the surface. Miranda was delighted with the golden grass and unique, flowering trees. The temporary housing that had been constructed was comfortable and arranged around natural rocky outcrops.

  Taliquant’s father had the Isotant tow a barge of colorful shallistones that were brought to the surface to be distributed to the new citizens of Vallastera. The next few weeks were busy as they settled in.

  Zulien and Taliquant discussed the courses for the three battleships with their commanders, and had a comfortable, protective arrangement shielding the planet. The Isotant traveled back to Garnella and Minocania to bring back excited researchers who wanted to join the citizenry of Vallastera.

  The tall Garnellians would pace around the settlement, usually in heavy discussion with a Minoc whose antenna would be stroking its chin in concentration as they compared information. There were still frustratingly empty pockets of knowledge that were lost, but many threads of research were connected when the secretive learnings could finally be joined.

  Ballion puffed with pride when he introduced his friends to Miranda, and she never fa
iled to compliment him on his sensitivity and help with her procurement. Secretly, she loved to watch his antenna beat uncontrollably with emotion at her obvious affection, and she had made a game of it.

  It seemed new people arrived daily, shuttling shelters to the surface and joining in the discussions of the true Old Religion. There was a palpable excitement throughout the citizenry.

  Tempest was engrossed with the plant life, and with Terena's help she learned the names of various vegetation and herbs. She slowly began to figure out plants that were comparable to those she had used on her old planet. A collection of herbs was growing in colorful pots, and Miranda was relieved that Tempest had found a herb that seemed to be a cross between valerian root and chamomile, with the same calming affects when brewed. Now, it was a ritual for all the women to be sipping the tea in the evening, and it reminded Miranda how closely her actions were observed and duplicated.

  The Garnellans were thrilled when Miranda asked if they would help build an altar. With Tempest's guidance, the stones were being placed. The Minocs questioned everything, and it seemed for every large, brooding procurer, a little lizard man was by his side. They made odd pairs, and their friendships caused Miranda to smile.

  In the evening, Zulien would stand with her and gaze into space. “You must miss it terribly.”

  Miranda squeezed her warrior’s hand. “I thought I would, but for some reason I am comfortable here. I know most of it is because of you, but it just feels right for me to be here.”

  Miranda was watching the moons, and remembered her vision. They were both crescents tonight, one filling as the other declined. She realized one would darken as the other grew, and knew that when the full moon was joined by the crescent, something was going to happen. Something big.

  “Vesario is enroute. He should be here tomorrow,” Zulien informed her.

  “I wonder what’s going on back there. It must be frustrating for him to work around the politicians.”

  “I think this is something he has been wanting for a long time. He was probably afraid it would not happen before his decay.”

  “I’m sure glad he is on our side,” Miranda said as Zulien pulled her inside their apartment. She gazed up into his dark eyes and rested her fingers on his broad chest. “I feel such a sense of peace, Zulien.”

  “I know. I can feel it too.” He leaned down and met her lips, ending their reflective musings.

  Miranda felt her passion stirring. The strong feelings still amazed her whenever her mate touched her, and she wondered how her heart did not burst with love.

  Zulien lowered her caftan to the floor, and she lay on the bed as he undressed. She studied the strength of his muscles as he approached, and the spasm of welcome from her core scented the pallet. Zulien was already swollen with arousal, and the light from the shallistone by their bed glistened off the drip at the end of his shaft.

  Miranda groaned and began trembling with anticipation of his touch. He lay down beside her, and her hands moved to his sex. One hand circled his cock while the other felt the weight of his sack, gently running fingers over the soft surface.

  Zulien’s mouth found her distended nipple and he sucked greedily at the tightened peak. She shuddered as his teeth scraped across her sensitive nerves.

  He rose over her and she spread her thighs willingly, needing him to fill her. As his shaft plunged into her, she wrapped her legs around his hips and they began a slow, undulating grind into each other. His tempo increased, and Miranda’s grip tightened on his shoulders, slipping occasionally on the sweat of his exertions.

  Her channel squeezed against his moves until they erupted, and her vision was of complete darkness followed by a blinding light. It held no meaning other than to make her anxious and fearful. Whatever it was, it was going to be bad.

  The Magistrate of Battle arrived, and the admirals, their parents and the mates met with him in Zulien’s quarters.

  “The Magistrate of Old Ways has dropped in commissioning. People have stopped going to his temples and are calling him a heretic. They are ignoring his threats of decay over abandoning his preachings. I did not realize how thin an influence he had. It is no wonder he sided with the Magistrate of Commerce to get to the Celestial.”

  “How are things sitting within the hierarchy?” Zibula asked.

  “The Magistrates of Commerce, Building, Law and of course, Old Ways are demanding the Celestial be returned to Laquista, presumably to discredit her. All of them realize their precarious position. If Miranda returns the Old Religion, the Magistrates of Law and Building will be dismissed. She will bring back the true laws instead of his self-motivated decrees, and with her rebuilding the temples the Magistrate of Building will not be able to construct his monstrosities. Who knows what the people will do about the temples he has destroyed, and everything is tied into the Magistrate of Commerce’s taxation and financial support. I think he is afraid he will be assassinated.”

  “What are their plans to convince the hierarchy to order her return?” Zulien was nervous about that much strength determined to obtain his mate.

  “Those are the four Magistrates who have the most to lose. As allies, I have the Magistrate of Well Being, the Divider of Realms, Star Charts and Drafting, and thanks to Tempest, the Magistrate of Growing Things. He raised two levels in commissioning with Tempest's connection to the Ancient.”

  “Cool, I can’t wait to meet him.” Tempest was pleased to finally contribute something of her own, and Tali hugged her as she sat in his lap. The thoughts of tractors and shovels were replaced by beautiful robes and walks with the unknown Magistrate through gardens of flowers she would grow.

  Zulien was pleased. “Our allies are strong, but what about the other three?”

  “They are staying out of it. Whatever their beliefs, they just want to make sure they keep their commissions when the dust settles,” Vesario explained. “The Magistrate of Well Being has drafted an edict that the citizens would be too upset if the Ancient was forcibly brought to Laquista. It is keeping things at a halt, until the Magistrates of the Divider of Realms and Star Charts and Drafting can declare the north inner worlds as its own hierarchy, with Vallastera the capitol.”

  “By the stars! They are trying to split the monarchy?” Zibula was stunned.

  Vaserio nodded. “I think they might succeed, because a lot of the citizenry is behind them. They are tired of the taxation, and the data banks are flooded with requests about the Shatung Quadrant. People are already preparing to move to the northern planets as soon as the decision is made.”

  “What about our allies? They could lose their importance if the people leave their hierarchy,” Zulien stated.

  “They are not worried about it. Ultimately, they hope to see everything brought back to a single government with the Old Religion’s teachings guiding everyone, and if they have to split it up until the other four Magistrates are discredited, they are willing to go that route.” Vesario was pleased. He knew his allies would be protected by the Celestial because of their backing.

  Miranda had begun fidgeting in Zulien’s lap. Her teeth nibbled her lip, and he could tell she was upset. “Miranda, what is wrong, my mate?”

  “If I am following what you’re saying, you’re trying to make me some kind of ruler of the Shatung Quadrant.” Now, she was almost trembling.

  “That is exactly what we are suggesting,” Vesario smiled in triumph. “They will not be able to order you to do anything in your own worlds.”

  “If that’s what happens, can I appoint our allies as part of my hierarchy? I don’t want the responsibility of trying to re-build this civilization you’re organizing. With your guidance, I would like to appoint a governing body that does not require me to be much more than a figurehead.”

  Vesario beamed. “Miranda, that is precisely what I wanted to hear. I promised the allies I would allow you to suggest it, so they would know you were not manipulated into seeking their support. I cannot wait to see the expressions on the faces
of the Magistrate enemies when they find they are left out. The raising of commissioning for our allies when they rule both governments will probably sway the three that are undecided. With their commissions lowered and their importance diminished, it will just be a matter of time before the other four are dissolved.”

  While the men discussed even more stringent protection for the Celestial, Miranda and Tempest wandered outside. Tempest began calling Miranda, ‘your highness’, and it was driving her crazy. “Please stop that. Cripes, I am nervous enough about all this. As soon as all this political junk is settled, I am going to figure out a way to get myself out of this mess.”

  “But, you’re going to be like a queen for a bunch of planets. How cool is that?” Tempest danced around one of the altar stones.

  “It’s not so cool, Tempest. All of these people are going to be depending on my decisions. It’s bad enough having everything I do turned into a ritual.” Miranda was exasperated, and briefly flashed with fondness about her boring life in the cabin. She waved in recognition at a couple of women who had raised their teacups, showing her they were following the new ritual protocol. “Cripes,” Miranda muttered.