Chloë (28 page)

The
first sparring practice Heather had taught her was all about how to fall down
without hurting yourself.  Chloë had been a good student, but not quite
good enough as it was immediately obvious she had dislocated her shoulder on
the landing and subsequent roll.  But Chloë didn’t care, she was on the
back of the gravsled!

Caleigh’s
eyes went wide as she gazed upon her daughter.  They went wider yet as
Chloë invoked her Live Steel short sword in a majestic blue display and
effortlessly cut free the binder on her mother’s arms.  Effortlessly from
Caleigh’s perspective: the pain in Chloë’s shoulder lashed out at her all but
flooring her.  Her mother bade her attention, for something was suddenly
important, but the pain from her shoulder engulfed her mind.

Suddenly
Chloë found herself staring at the nighttime sky as a new wave of a pain rushed
over her.  She watched her blade skittle over the side of the craft with complete
disregard, it was Live Steel, she could bring it back.  The pain on her
face, however, wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.  She tried to regain
her wits as she spat blood from her mouth.  Through a blood soaked eye she
could make out Reinhardt.  Apparently he had floored her with a
well-placed roundhouse and was coming back to finish the job.  Her face
throbbed, her eye burned and the metallic taste of blood rounded out her grim
mood.  Her shoulder, now in an argument with her head as to who could cause
the most pain, was not her friend.  But she had just begun.

“Stupid
girl!  You and that Highland bitch messed up everything!”  bellowed
Reinhardt as he went for the fishing gaff on the wall.

“Say
what you want about me, but don’t insult Heather,” snarled Chloë as she charged
Reinhardt. 

Reinhardt
struck high and clumsily with the hook.  Chloë ducked and slid into
Reinhardt, narrowly missing getting kicked again.  Chloë rolled over and
looked up at Reinhardt.  She was in no condition to grapple, she was in no
real condition to fight at all.  But she knew how to make an exit. 
With a growl that would have been at home on the ancient forests of twenty
million years past, Chloë summoned up what strength she had left and brought
her Live Steel sword along for the ride.

Reinhardt
cried out in pain as Chloë drove her sword through his foot and into the
deck.  She stopped only when the hilt was flush with the top of his foot
and then rolled clear, back toward her mother.  Chloë ignored the barrage
of insults hurled her way as Reinhardt fruitlessly tried to pull the sword out
of his foot.  The blade was wedged fast and Chloë didn’t care, she had
someplace else to be.  She staggered over to central console and grabbed
an emergency floatation device before grabbing her mother and jumping off the
back of the gravsled.

They
hit the water hard and Chloë fought to maintain her breath.  They had gone
over the side at some speed and her dress was ill suited for swimming, but she
didn’t care.  She looked around in the gloom and found her mother had
already activated the floatation device, it inflated at once and its soft
emergency beacon flashed in the night.  Sidestroke!  Chloë laughed to
herself through the pain as she finally had a use for those swimming lessons so
many years ago.  Why sidestroke when there are so many better, faster
strokes?  With one arm lame, she made excellent use of her swimming skills
even if her dress was unobliging.  In a fury of strokes she reached her
mother and the safety of the flotation aid.

She
watched in sinister glee as Reinhardt started to fade into distance, the
gravsled still going and the errant knight was still fighting to free his foot
from the deck.  Chloë thought of a thousand things to say, to yell out at
the source of her frustration.  A thousand unflattering words rolled by in
her head.  A thousand words that would have made Heather blush and
hide.  But no, she said nothing, she just laughed and hugged her mother
tight.

The
sonic boom from a nearby projectile is a disturbing event.  Chloë had
never appreciated that; a fact that she was none too shy to admit.  But
Chloë had been right earlier: it all ended with a single shot.  A single
well placed shot from Raymond, prone on the deck, watching them disappear into
the distance.  Chloë watched Reinhardt slump to the deck and quickly
turned away.  She was glad it was over.  She was glad Reinhardt was
gone, but she didn’t want to dwell on the sight of it all.

Giddy
from pain Chloë called out, “Hi mom!” and her mother tearfully responded doing
her best to cradle her daughter while still holding on safely.  Chloë just
lay in the water and relaxed the best she could.  Far in the distance she
could hear the sounds of Shukurae barking back in forth in their native
tongue.  Help was coming.  She was just tired, tired of
everything.  An errant grab by her mother reminded Chloë that her shoulder
was still in a horrible shape, but she didn’t care.  She didn’t
need
to care…  There were good people watching over her.

Chloë
waved with her good arm to the pilot of the human drop ship that had so
graciously returned her home.  The Highlands.  She stood there with
Raymond, Maria, Heather and the army of thirteen year old girls.  Chloë
beamed at Heather as they started the trek across that every-so-wonderful field
of wildflowers and down to the ancient bridge.  Chloë’s arm was in a
sling, likely to stay that way for a month, but she still wore a broad and
honest smile.  Prince Philip had never recovered from his…
condition,
and thus by default Princess Caleigh was put in caretaker charge of the entire
principality.  The earl was so good at arranging such things…  She
laughed to herself as she
knew
Earl Kevin of the Lakes was presently in
route to visit dear Anna in the hospital.  Chloë’s smiles grew broader yet
as they met up with glowing Gwen and the rest of the children.  The entire
ensemble was soon on their way back to the house. 

There
on the bridge they were met by First Mother, Ivy, sporting a somewhat stern
face, “So, Chloë, you have returned to call our house,
home?
”

“Yes,
ma’am,” smiled Chloë as she bobbed politely.

“You
realize of course, that the pair of you are grounded for a month…  Next
time there is trouble you wait for Father to show up.”

Chloë
laughed, “Yes, ma’am.  And I’m pretty sure you don’t have to worry about
us making a lie of that.”  Chloë just grinned as she closed and hugged Ivy
tight with her one good arm.  Ivy all but glowed as she returned the warm
embrace.

“Um,
First Mother?” began Heather softly.

“This
is not negotiable Heather,” lectured Ivy looking up from Chloë.

“No,
Mom.  Not that.  Is it okay if I go back to practicing on the piano
with you?”

“Of
course,” grinned Ivy.  “I’d be delighted.  Zoë and I both, for that
matter.  Anything else?”

“Um,
can Raymond stay for dinner?” Heather grinned.

“Going
to have to pass the month somehow!” teased Chloë.

Heather
just beamed, her fur under control for a change.

Ivy
and Maria grinned at each other as they laughed in unison, “About time!”

There are four major races in this family of
stories: Human, Taik, Shukurae and Gelkin.

Human:
 It is assumed the reader is well familiar
with the human race. Their home world is located in the
Orion-Cygnus
minor arm of the Milky Way and has subsequently spread far and wide, often
managing to colonize worlds others had left as “too harsh.”  The rapid
expansion of human planets and colonies has helped accelerate the decline of
the Gelkin Empire.  Humans are universally revered for their creativity
and tenacity alike.  The human realms are politically fractured and home
to thousands of languages and cultures.

Taik:
Taiks are a felinoid race who have
spread across thousands of planets and colonies with the planet “Afon” being
their home world. Physically, they walk upright and average a height of 1.80m
(5’11”) and 80kg (176lbs) for the males, while the females average quite close
at 1.75m (5’9”) and 70kg (154lbs).  They have tails ranging from 80cm to
110cm (31-43”).  There are four major super-political units: Kulpgurie
Republic, Altshea Confederation, Draeka Empire, and a fourth, fairly small
group, commonly just called the Highlanders.

Kulpgurie Republic:
this realm is a large
expansive culture with a strong central government.  They are socially
progressive and tend to have more joint colonies with other races than the
other Taik governments.  They are a driven, active, motivated people who
are always eager to expand their knowledge and understanding.  Historically
they consider themselves the protectors of the Highlands, a thought that amuses
most Highlanders.

Altshea Confederation:
this realm consists of
thousands of different cantons and colonies.  Each one operating
independent of the rest, but sharing a common base set of laws, open trade and
free movement amongst all the constituents.  Local realms may be
democratic, theocratic, feudal, socialist, free market, or any possible
combination so long as the basic laws are honored.  Some are male
dominated societies, others are dominated by females.  Others yet are
gender neutral in governance.  The cultural identity of the various
inhabitants is that of “Altshea” first, and local secondary.  As a result,
it is quite normal for people to be born in one canton, but choose to live and
work in another realm.

Draeka Empire:
this realm is a closed
militaristic society that has chosen to make themselves equal at all levels,
most of this by genetic engineering of their own people.  There is very
little difference between people’s physical builds and there is also very
little outward difference in their gender.  Their genetic tinkering
combined with the nature of their society make them prone to paranoia and
emotional instability.  It is unclear what their genetic alterations have
done to their lifespan as most people die from “accidents.”  Their Empire
is very small and has been self-limited due to internal conflict and total
suspicion of
all
outsiders.  They are the smallest of the three
colonizing Taik governments, and their total expanse is smaller than some
Altshea cantons.  They have had several border wars on the home world of
Afon with the Highland regions.  Their most recent war with the Highlands
being almost 500 years earlier and resulted in a humiliating defeat.

The Highlands of Afon:
the Highlanders are
unique compared to most of the rest of the Taik on almost all levels. 
Physically, they are universally shorter: the males average 1.75m (5’9”) while
the females, shorter yet at 1.55m (5’1”).  They also tend to support
longer tails than the other Taik. While most Taik realms average a near even
male-to-female ratio, the Highlanders are once again unique with an average of
only one male to every four females.  As a result, most families are
polygamous with between three and five adult females being the norm. 
Almost all politics are matriarchal with policing and other functions left to
the males.  The Lady Mayor speaks for the town as a whole and while there
do exist “barons,” this is a military title given to the male leadership of the
militia as there is no standing army.  The head of any family is the First
Mother and she is expected to run the family business.  The Second
Mother’s position is almost exclusively to raise and educate the children of
the household.  Third and Fourth Mothers usually support the First Mother
in the family business.  Twins are rare and always female in the
Highlands, and are considered good luck.  It is most common that both
twins would marry into the same house and are afforded the same position as a
pair. Thus one may have two Third Mothers, or even two First Mothers.  The
family name is referred to as the “House” name and comes from either the First
Mother’s line, or a mutually agreed upon name.  Males tend to have a
second name, a “Clan” name, that is used only among themselves. An unmarried,
but adult male will usually only use his Clan name rather than his old House
name.  Highlanders tend to a simple life, low on overt technology,
choosing instead to rely on an ancient system referred to simply as Live Steel
for their protection as well as the aid of the Guardians left by the
Ancients.  Much is still not understood about Live Steel, even less about
the Guardians and the Ancients…

Shukurae:
Shukurae are a mighty people with a
confused past.  They stand on average 2.75m (9’) with 3.00m (9’10”) tall
being not too uncommon.  They have tough leathery skin, pale iridescent
eyes, a plethora of narrow triangular shark-like teeth, minor horns on their
heads and great tusks jutting from their face.  The only overt difference
between males and females is the length of their torso, a feature that is
easily lost under clothing.  They speak in a deep baritone chord, two
tones at once being either a major fourth or fifth apart.  They were a
warrior-slave race for over a thousand years to the Gelkin and have lost most
of their cultural identity.  Two hundred years after the start of their
rebellion against the Gelkin, they are mostly a free race.  A race whose
home world and culture is lost to the past, they have a unique relationship
with the Taiks of the Highlands of Afon.  It was the Highlanders who first
helped them in their rebellion, and they still have a close military bond with
their diminutive furry friends.  It is not uncommon for Highland Taiks,
off looking for adventure and to explore the galaxy, to serve alongside the
Shukurae.

Gelkin:
The Gelkin are a short, squat race who
are roughly ursine (bear-like) in appearance.  Averaging only 1.60m
(5’3”), they are shorter than most other races. A point that didn’t use to
bother them when they held a tight grip on long arms of the galaxy.  They
are a feudal society with no appreciable gender bias.  With the major
source of muscle, the Shukurae, now long since gone from their control, their
empire is in rapid decline.  Nowhere is this more true than the edge of
the frontier with the human worlds.