Knollig: A Terraneu Novel ( Book 2) (7 page)

Knollig just nodded, his mega watt smile proving how
pleased he was at the idea of having children. “Yes my sweet Mairi, that is
fair. I would wait a hundred years for offspring if it would make you happy.” He
flexed his abs, and suddenly Mairi found herself in Knollig’s arms. He was
kissing her, and all thoughts about babies flew from her mind. Unless the act
of making them counted, she and Knollig were going to be practicing for when he
had the procedure reversed. From the look of passion burning in his eyes, they
were going to be practicing a lot!

Five Months Later

Time flies on Terraneu when you are having fun. After the night of the
intervention, Mairi and Knollig were as inseparable as Kniam and Amber. It was
only a matter of time before they too had moved into New Haven, declaring to
everyone their status as mates. Mairi had decorated her interior space with
greenery, since that was her favorite color, with a few splashes of red since
that was Knollig’s. He especially liked the Hu’lani flowers as they reminded
him of her hair. Their space was a square of four domes, just like the rest of
the units in New Haven. In the center of their private courtyard Mairi had
created a mini-county garden space for Knollig to relax. He had a lot of
pressure on him to get New Haven up and ready, since it was a month to go now
until the port pad would be active again. They were close to the hundred units
that would make up New Haven. They had about fifty more than they needed, but
still Knollig worked the men to achieve more.

Mairi moved around her living space, fluffing pillows and making sure the
sectional couch had been put back into place. She and Knollig had made use of a
holographic fireplace on the wall.
 
He
was very inventive when it came to making love in the spaces of their dome.

She had a class with Amber and didn’t want to be late, Knollig was at a
Council meeting and would be returning to New Haven to work. If she made it
back in time, she might just surprise him. She had torn one of her dresses, and
she had an idea for the strips that involved Knollig and the posts of their
bed!

With a bounce in her step she hustled out of her dome onto her personal
balcony. There were men milling about in the walkways heading to the work sites
deeper into New Haven. Since she had chosen a home site right next to Amber and
Kniam, they were at the beginning of the residences. There was a common walkway
between properties, then personal fences and more landscaping before the
balconies. She met Amber in the common walkway and they headed toward the
industrial area for their scheduled class.

 
“How’s it
going this morning?” Mairi asked Amber. This was code between the two women,
Mairi was really asking if Amber had any luck in her attempts to get pregnant.

Amber and Kniam had requested and been approved by
the Council to attempt a pregnancy a few months ago. With the medical changes
to their bodies, Amber and Mairi had irregular cycles. Amber experienced the
cramps, the bloating, the crazy swings in hormones and mood. Then she had
evened out, and she could hardly tell there was a menstrual cycle. So it wasn’t
a surprise that she didn’t know if she was early or late. Mairi had been lucky.
She had a very light period, every three to four weeks that lasted for a couple
of days. She wasn’t bothered by any strange hormonal swings either. Maybe it
was the amount of healing she had required due to the cancer but she wasn’t
going to complain!

“Nothing.” Amber huffed dejectedly, “On Earth there would be symptoms I
could watch for. I don’t know what to look for here on Terraneu.”

“I just know that you will get pregnant soon Amber. Try not to worry.”
Mairi rubbed her friend on the shoulder, “With all of the men having “the
procedure” we don’t know how long it will take once it’s reversed to get
pregnant.”

The “procedure” was done in the medical unit so that the males of
Terraneu couldn’t inadvertently get a woman with child. That way the Earth
females coming to live here would know that any sexual encounter with the males
would not result in a pregnancy. To have the procedure reversed had to be
requested and approved by the majority of the Council. That way no male could
secretly have it reversed. Also, as long as their life cycles were, the
population was going to have to be highly monitored and regulated. Whether they
liked it or not, it was just something they had to learn to live with.

“I know that to expect to get pregnant right away isn’t rational. I just
want to have a baby with Kniam so badly.” Amber tried to laugh it off, “With
eight hundred years to live I shouldn’t be worrying about months!”

“You are entitled to your feelings,” Mairi tried to make Amber feel
better. “If only the medical unit had been programmed to monitor women’s
health!”

They were so caught up in their conversation, and used to having males
milling around. Amber and Mairi were totally unprepared for the kidnapping. One
minute they were walking along the path, the next they both had covers over
their faces and were being taken into the wilds of Terraneu. It had all
happened in the space of thirty seconds.

Mairi could hear the muffled screams of Amber, over her own shouts of
panic. She didn’t realize her friend had such a colorful vocabulary. Amber was
yelling insults that would make a sailor blush!

Mairi was terrified that she was going to fall of the Sorrem. She knew
that was what she was lying across. They had a distinct gait, and were the only
things on Terraneu that could move this fast and pack a person at the same
time. After what felt like forever, the Sorrem slowed and finally came to a
stop. Mairi could hear water in the distance, and the earthy smells were much
stronger here. She knew they had to be deep in an area similar to the oasis
Knollig had taken her to a few times. She was roughly pulled from the poor
animal and on unsteady legs she wobbled a little as she was pulled forward. She
couldn’t see through the hood and walking fast wasn’t happening. She could
still hear Amber cursing away, and it gave her some relief to know she wasn’t
alone in this nightmare.

With a yank her hood was taken off. Some of her hair went with it and she
gave an involuntary yelp at the sudden pain. Then she saw stars when she was
backhanded across the face.

“Stupid Earth female…don’t make another sound.” A rough male voice
snarled at her.

Mairi tasted copper in her mouth, she had a cut lip and cheek from the
impact of the male’s hand. She knew it was going to leave a hand shaped bruise.
She blinked hard to clear her vision, and frantically searched the makeshift
camp for Amber. She spotted her across the way, with her hood off and her eyes
flashing around, she gave a sigh.

“I want that one bound and gagged!” Another male had joined the two that
had grabbed them from camp, his finger pointing at Amber. Mairi hadn’t seen him
because he had been out of her line of vision. This must be the leader since
the two that were holding her and Amber listened to him instantly. She
struggled, but wasn’t a match for the man trying to gag her.

“Don’t you dare…!” Amber kicked and clawed, “I will cut off
your…mmmpphh...” The man had stuffed Amber’s mouth and tied a strip across her
face viciously. Mairi could see from where she stood the tears of pain pool in
her friend’s eyes. He proceeded to tie her hands and feet together so she was
completely helpless.

“Please, does it have to be so tight?” Mairi pleaded.

An angry glare swung her way, “I am so sick of you females. First that
one, and now you.” He stalked up to her and grabbed her face. Turning it this
way and that as if to inspect her to catalog her defects. Her cheek throbbed
from where she had been hit before.

He must have found her faulty because he sneered with disgust, “I just
don’t see what the other males are so worked up for. There isn’t anything that
I find of interest in you.” His gaze moved over her body, and she shuddered.
With a twist of his hand, he pushed her down. Her neck twisted, and she hit her
hip and hands hard on the ground. Only by sheer will did she keep from crying out.
She curled into a ball, making herself seem as small as possible.

Amber was across the way, kicking and flailing, mumbling against her gag.
She was sure these men didn’t want to know what she was saying.

“Tor’el did you ensure that you weren’t followed?” The leader asked.

“Yes Darst! We got rid of the Sacath’s just like you said.” At his words
Amber stilled, and then got really loud behind the gag. Tears streamed down her
cheeks. Mairi had grown attached to the two pets, and tears pooled in her eyes
too.

The leader Darst laughed and bent over Amber, his finger rubbing at the
wetness on her face, “What is the matter little female? Did those two stupid
Sacath’s mean something to you? That is what happens when you make them so
domesticated they trust everyone!” He laughed harder for a moment and then
turned back to his men.

“El’aru I want you to scout ahead and make sure there isn’t anyone, or
anything out there.” The male nearest to Amber moved off, and Mairi scooted a
bit closer to her, keeping her eye on Darst and Tor’el. They seemed more intent
on tormenting Amber than paying attention to what she was doing.

She had a pretty good idea what was going on. Amber had talked about the
time a group of males had tried to use her to kill Kniam. They were going to
give her a hallucinogen and claim that females were unstable and dangerous. It
was their hope that the males would vote to harvest Amber’s eggs, strip them of
her DNA and use them to continue with their cloning. Then they wouldn’t need
females to survive. The plan had been thwarted by her faithful pet, and she had
gone everywhere with Cebat ever since. Tabec had been given to Amber as a gift
from Kniam that same day in fact. It wasn’t until the move to New Haven and one
of the brothers meeting her at the boundary between the two living sites that
Amber had stopped bringing them everywhere. Not that they were ever to far from
her side.

So these men were the banished ones. The male that had attacked Amber in
her living quarters was given the death penalty, and Kniam had seen to his
punishment. These three had not been seen or heard from since that plot had
failed. It would seem they had a new plan and she really didn’t want to know
what it meant for Amber and herself. She figured it wasn’t going to be pleasant.

She looked around to see if there was anything she could use as a weapon.
Her eyes fell on a stack of firewood a few feet away. She ever so slowly
started scooting that direction. Fortunately the men kept their attention on
Amber, ignoring her.

When she got close enough she inched her fingers along the ground, until
she was able to reach out for a sizeable log. Her heart beat faster in her fear
that their kidnappers would look over and see what she was doing. Keeping a
wary eye on them, she pulled the branch toward herself. When she could get a
good hold on it, she wrapped her hand around it and jumped to her feet as fast
as she could.

Running at full speed she took a swing at the leader, hitting him hard
across the back of his head.

“What…!” The other male gave a startled exclamation as Darst collapsed to
the ground, he turned to see what was going on. Mairi swung again, and he got a
face full of Terraneu wood. He went down next to his friend.

Dropping the log Mairi didn’t waste time to see if the men were going to
stay down. She found a sharp knife strapped to the leader’s thigh and quickly
cut Amber loose.

“Mairi, that was brilliant!” Amber rubbed her poor mouth.

“Which way should we go?” Mairi asked, dancing on the spot. The
adrenaline was coursing through her system, and she felt the need to run. She
just couldn’t figure out which direction to go!

“Let’s try this way.” Amber grabbed up the branch, “You keep the knife!”
Then they tore off into the surrounding jungle.

~*~*~*

Mairi had taken the lead with the knife, and was hacking and slashing at
foliage that was in their way. She jumped at every sound. Even though she knew
there had to be wildlife on Terraneu, she didn’t want to run into any of it.

After coming across a clear spot, Mairi turned back to say, “Amber, I
think we may have come this way. It looks like this path was cleared.” She then
turned back to keep hacking bushes.

“Uh. Mairi… don’t…move…!” Amber whispered.

Now…when someone tells you not to move you have two choices. Close your
eyes, and pray that whatever it is you are holding still for gets removed. Or
you jump around like a crazy person, screaming and flailing. Mairi went with
choice number two. She was instantly whirling around screaming, and spinning
her arms like a windmill…”What? What is it?”

Amber sighed, “Never mind. It flew off when you went into that spinning
jump. I’m sure it wasn’t poisonous anyway.”

“What? What wasn’t poisonous?” Mairi shrieked.

“It was just a little spider…” she held up her hands to show about six
inches. “Stop yelling…we don’t know who could be following us.” Amber hissed.

“Oh…shit!” Mairi slapped her hand against her own mouth.

It was too late! They both heard the rustling coming toward them. Was it
their kidnappers? The blood stilled in Mairi’s chest! Knollig would not have a
very good chance of finding them without the pets. So whoever or
whatever
was coming, it wasn’t a good thing!

 
Looking at each other, they dove
behind the nearest tree.

The members of the community were in a frenzy. The
two females had been snatched right off the path of New Haven. Knollig had been
in a Council meeting with his brothers and the others, froze in horror when the
news was relayed to them.

“How is that even possible? Cebat and Tabec would
never let anyone get away with physically touching Amber?” Knollig asked
incredulously.

Knollig waited impatiently as Kniam had gone through
the telepathic link, asking every male to search for the pets. They were the
best hope in tracking the missing females. It came back to him that the Sacath
were found just outside New Haven on the path out of town. The male best known
for his healing ability with animals was rushed to Cebat and Tabec. His
diagnosis was some type of poison, and he began to administer first aid. He kept
muttering that it was a strong dose, and he wasn’t sure if he could help.

Knollig spoke to the Sorrem stable master, “
We
need every Sorrem ready to leave. Get them here as fast as possible!”
He
knew they had enough trained Sorrem for the Council members, with extras that
some men of the community could use. There was one man that he knew would not
be left behind, “
Fortem, I know you are a good friend to Mairi. If you want
to come along in the search…”

“I am already here.” Fortem’s voice rang with
purpose.

Kniam gave all the males duties to occupy them, and
to keep them out of the way. Since it seemed to make poor Iesti nervous.
Knollig was trying to reassure him that any effort he made was better than
none. “Do your best, we know you will save them if you can.”

Knollig paced one way around the animals, as Kniam
paced the other. Knaleg just stood to the side, flexing and releasing his
fists. Knollig thought his mind was going to snap from the worry. When there
was a slight mewling from Cebat on the ground. Iesti made a happy chuckling
sound. “We need some water, quickly!” He had spoken in mind as well as out
loud, and before anyone could move there were males with water running from
every direction.

Knollig just watched as the Sacath drank water and
shook off the effects of the poison. The poor female Sacath hadn’t responded to
treatment, Iesti was shaking his head, “I can’t get her to come around.”
 

They didn’t have time to wait for her. Kniam had
come to the same conclusion. He bent down and gave Cebat a big hug and told
him, “Cebat…Mommy! Find her.” Cebat crouched low to the ground on his belly,
bumping against the female and putting his nose to hers. He whined trying to
prod her into waking up. “Cebat…” Kniam tried again. “Now…find Mommy!” With a
low whimper at the female lying prone on the ground, Cebat put his nose to the
air, turned this way and that…then took off along the path.

It was a good thing the Sorrems were ready and lined
up, because in a cloud of dust they were chasing after Cebat.

He led them into the forest, past the Oasis, and
deeper still. When he suddenly stopped and crouched low growling softly.
Knollig and the others all pulled up. Kniam reached out and felt the only mind
that wasn’t part of their group nearby. He let his anger roll out, and with a
cry of pain a man fell out of the trees a short distance away. Kniam instantly
froze him in place so he couldn’t warn any others.

Cebat pounced, his huge body pinning the man to the
ground, his fangs a breath from ripping out his throat.

“Cebat, hold.” Kniam stormed over and bent to look
the man deep in the eyes. “I gave you a chance with banishment, however small
it was. You threw that away when you kidnapped the females from New Haven. I
will give you one chance to answer… where are they?”

El’aru just laughed,
“I won’t tell you anything.
The death of that female disease you have let come to Terraneu will be my
legacy.”

Knollig couldn’t believe the insanity the banished
were displaying. He couldn’t even imagine the terror his mate was going through
if the others were like this one.

“You are insane if you think we won’t find the
females. We will just use Cebat to find them.” Then Kniam spoke in mind to all
the males of the community,
“This male is one of the banished, Cebat has led
us to him, which means he has my mates scent on him. She is not with him, and
has been handed off to who knows what fate along with Mairi. He refuses to
answer any questions, and is acting insane in his rambling.”

“
We are to vote on your crimes and punishment.”
Kniam
straightened rage burning in his eyes.
I am bound by honor to abstain from
the vote due to personal reasons. What sentence does the Council proclaim?

Knollig hated saying every word, but he had to.
I
am bound by honor to abstain from the vote due to personal reasons.

Knaleg was next,
I am close to both female
victims, but my conscience is clear. I vote guilty of kidnapping and other
offenses against one or more females. Also guilty in the poisoning of a
domesticated creature with the intent to kill. Sentence is death, to be carried
out immediately.

Thain’s voice rang in mind,
I vote guilty of
kidnapping and other offenses against one or more females. Also guilty in the
poisoning of a domesticated creature with the intent to kill. Sentence is
death, to be carried out immediately.

Ailech’s voice rang in mind,
I vote guilty of
kidnapping and other offenses against one or more females. Also guilty in the
poisoning of a domesticated creature with the intent to kill. Sentence is
death, to be carried out immediately.

Asteen’s was last,
I vote guilty of kidnapping
and other offenses against one or more females. Also guilty in the poisoning of
a domesticated creature with the intent to kill. Sentence is death, to be
carried out immediately.

It is recorded that you El’aru are found guilty
and death is to be your punishment, carried out immediately.
Kniam’s voice
rang in his head and Knollig felt no sympathy for the man on the ground. What
kind of person would prey upon the little Earth females? The men who had
kidnapped Amber and Mairi had to have some kind of defect to be able to do
these deeds.

Knollig waited for his brother, Kniam didn’t
hesitate, “Cebat this one is yours!” the males all mounted their Sorrems. The
mind freeze had been released, and Cebat made short work of ending El’aru.

“Find Mommy, Cebat…go!” The Sacath made off into the
forest again, with the males at his heels.

A surprisingly short time later they slowed when
Cebat did, dismounting from their Sorrems. The men made their way in the
direction Cebat was leading. They all inched forward, carefully entering the
clearing.

There were two males in the makeshift camp but no
Amber or Mairi. Knollig looked at the others and they all had the same confused
expression. Kniam ordered Cebat to “stay” and then worked his way to the prone
figures on the ground. Knollig and the other men followed.

“What happened to that one, Darst wasn’t it?”
Knollig asked. The male had been hit with something on the head, and he wasn’t
moving anywhere anytime soon. He used his foot to flip the man over to his
back. Ok, he needed to change that to never. The male was definitely dead. He
raised a questioning eyebrow at Kniam. “What about that other one?”

“Dead also. His face is smashed in.” Kniam growled
in frustration, “Now I wish Cebat hadn’t gotten El’aru…”

“Where are Amber and Mairi?” Knaleg asked from their
side. “If they did this to the males, then they had to have run off…”

All of the men regrouped in the middle of the
clearing, they were getting ready to send Cebat out looking again. Suddenly
they heard a female shriek.

“That was Mairi…” Knollig was running in the
direction he heard the sound, his brothers with him.

Kniam yelled on the run, “Cebat, find your mommy!”
As soon as he had given the word, the Sacath charged ahead of them.

Thian shouted, “We will follow with the Sorrem!”

~*~*~*

Mairi was terrified. There was a wild beast coming,
she could hear it thrashing in the brush around them. Her heart was pounding so
hard in her chest she was close to hyperventilating. She held tight to Amber’s
hand, the knife in her other. If it came to it, she would use it to defend
herself and her friend. Something large was snuffing the ground where she and
Amber had just been standing. Then it moved around the tree. Mairi braced
herself to strike with the knife…

Amber let out a shocked gasp, “Cebat?!” Her voice
came out in a whisper. She dropped down on the ground and wrapped her arms
around her pet. Her body was shaking with relief. “Cebat…” She looked up, her
eyes huge pools of blue-green…”Tabec…” her head swung this way and
that…”Tabec…” she yelled louder.

“Amber…?” Kniam had shouted her name.

“Mairi…?” Knollig was yelling at the same time.

They both ran from around the tree. Mairi saw
Knollig and threw herself into his arms.

 
“Mairi where
are you hurt? I heard your scream…” Knollig held her out from him to examine
her for damage. His jaw clenched when he saw that she had cuts on her face and
mouth. A red handprint marred one pale cheek. Tears streaked through the dirt
on her face to give evidence to her pain.

“If those males were not already dead, I would kill
them again!” Knollig ground out between gritted teeth.

“I screamed because of a spider, not because I was
hurt…” Mairi leaned into Knollig for his warmth. Now that the threat was over,
she was feeling a bit shaky. “We had escaped and were trying to find our way
out of the jungle. I hit those two men over the head with a log. It was the
only way to stop them from tormenting Amber, and get us out of there.” Mairi
explained.

Then she realized that he had said if they weren’t
“already dead.”

“They were sentenced and punished then?” Mairi asked
suddenly, her body shaking. “That is good to know! They were out of their
minds, I don’t think any female would have been safe with them roaming the
planet. Your cloning technique wasn’t flawless if it created those men.”

Knollig looked at her with a puzzled expression on
his face. “I am really not that bloodthirsty Knollig. I know how hard it must
be to find someone guilty of something, then punish him or her accordingly. I
am just glad I don’t have to do it. Even to someone like those males that
kidnapped us.”

Knollig just held Mairi close, “You are safe from
them Mairi. They will never hurt you again.” Then he added for the males,
Mairi
doesn’t know that the males were dead when we got there and I don’t want her to
find out. She thinks we punished them, and I wish it had been us. Let her have
peace of mind.

Mairi gasped and looked at him, “How did you find us
so fast? We have been walking around forever?”

Knollig just held her close, “The camp is only a few
dozen feet away. You must have been going in circles. It was Cebat that led us
to the camp, then to you and Amber in the jungle.”

Mairi was beaming, “Cebat and Tabec are okay?” She
was happy at the thought that the men had lied about harming the pets. She
stilled when he had to shake his head.

“Only Cebat, I’m sorry. Tabec didn’t respond to the
treatment.” Knollig knew that Kniam was also explaining to Amber because her
agonized cry sounded through the jungle.