Seers of Verde: The Legend Fulfilled: Book One (9 page)

9

Lar Vonn awoke from the most realistic and disturbing dream he had ever experienced. He had been fitful all night, tossing and turning on his cot, getting up to pace around his living quarters. Something was making him ill at ease.

The security chief checked with the guards around his encampment’s perimeter so many times even they were growing irritable with him. He even signaled the other nine camps. Nothing. All was well.

Lar usually welcomed sleep. For the past few months, his beloved Taryl Bryann had communicated with him through his dreams. He would wake in the mornings and relive the vivid images she had etched in his subconscious. He could describe in great detail what the colonists on the other side were doing.

The others were faring well under Uri Navrakov’s guidance. Shelters were erected to blend in with the landscape. Uri had established an excellent defensive scheme.

This night, Lar was getting flashes of pain. He would wake up in a cold sweat, the dark room spun, not unlike the feeling he got after swigging too many Siriusian ales. Finally unable to stand it any longer, Lar rose, slipped on his clothes and headed outside for fresh air.

Signaling the guards that all was well, he took his time navigating through the rock-strewn path. Verde Grande’s two moons both shone brightly, illuminating the countryside. Making his way past the various camp enclosures, he heard machinery grinding and hissing. Only one other person would be awake at this hour — Wald Bergmann.

The geologist was busy reforming the metal sheets that had been cut off his digging and carving machines. He had built a form in which twenty knives could be poured and formed at once.

“I see I’m not the only one who can’t sleep this evening,” Lar said as he walked into Wald’s work area. The other man almost dropped the form containing the hot liquid metal.

“Lar, what in the gods’ names are you doing up at this hour?” the geologist snapped while catching the form. Wald had recognized his voice and had not bothered looking up. When he did look at Lar, he almost dropped the form again. “What happened? Are you ill?” concern showing in his voice.

Lar looked puzzled, then shrugged. “I did not clean up before going out. I’ve had a restless night. I can’t seem to get to sleep.” He frowned.

“You look like you have been in a fight,” Wald said, looking at the other man’s disheveled hair and bloodshot eyes. Seeing Lar in this state alarmed Wald. It was usually Lar who had calming words for the excitable geologist.

Now the security chief was bothered by something. He stared in front of him with a vacant expression. Wald studied his companion for a bit and decided not to press him for information. “Well if you’re going to stand there, why not lend a hand or is that below the dignity of an elite security forcer? I could use a break. Might be enjoyable to watch someone else work for once.”

Lar seemed to snap out of his stupor a bit and walked over to where Wald was working. The geologist explained the procedure while pouring and cooling off a mold. After several clumsy attempts while handling the mold, Lar soon settled into a rhythm, much slower than Wald’s pace, but the workmanship improved with every attempt.

“Do you stay up this late every night, Wald? It seems you are always working on some sort of project or another.”

The geologist nodded. “I only require maybe four hours a night. But I also slip away for two hours during midday. Too much work to do. Too much on my mind.”

The two men had not started out as friends, but each one had grown to respect the other. “Ah, I understand having too much on your mind.” Lar paused, and then continued slowly, “My dreams have been strange tonight, almost painful. Not the usual at all. I’m worried.”

Wald was surprised at Lar’s candor. “Usually your dreams are very, ah, precise. Not so tonight? Perhaps Taryl is preoccupied or dreaming herself.”

Lar nodded. He had considered many scenarios and none had pleasant outcomes. “It is difficult not being able to be there, to see for myself what is happening with her,” he said. “I may not be able to stand another night of this.”

Wald was silent for a moment, rose, and started to shuffle through his tools, looking for something. “Here it is,” he said holding up a large flask. “There might be enough of this elixir to take the chill off the night for both of us.”

Lar accepted the offer, took a drink and handed the flask back to Wald. The two men sat in silence, passing the drink back and forth and watched the sun rise over the mountain.

¶ ¶ ¶

A large crowd gathered outside the bioshelter. The people were quiet. Only the occasional murmured prayer could be heard. As much as Uri and Franca tried to keep news of Taryl’s delivery quiet, word somehow had gotten out that the beloved Seer was in labor. The scene inside the shelter was noisy and hectic. Taryl had been in labor for eight hours now, and there seemed to be little progress.

The petite woman’s red hair was soaked with sweat and her cheeks were flushed from the contractions. Franca hovered nearby, monitoring Taryl with handheld med scanners. She was worried. The baby and mother both seemed to be doing well at the moment, but that could change in a blink.

The med tech was frightened at the possibility of delivering the baby via C-section. Franca had assisted at several such procedures, but had only done one herself. She had the necessary equipment, but her confidence was shaky. During a pause in the contractions, Franca looked toward the door.

“Is Uri still there?” Ilysa scuttled over and nodded, seeing the broad back of Franca’s mate. “Tell him I need him.” Uri entered, looking worried. This situation was out of his control. He felt helpless.

“We may need blood for a transfusion,” Franca said, glancing at him. “Can you find volunteers?” Uri straightened up and nodded. “We have a whole camp of volunteers outside the door— hundreds,” he said.

“Good,” Franca said. “Gather all the other med techs and aides and start collecting blood. Ilysa, you can help, too. Most should be compatible, but do the quick test anyway. She is not progressing well. I may have to operate.”

Taryl rose halfway out of the birthing bed and groaned with another contraction, gritting her teeth and then collapsed back down. Uri’s face drained of its color. Ilysa took him by the arm and led him outside to begin their blood drawing. The contractions kept coming, and Taryl weakened with every body-racking spasm. Franca monitored her for another hour, and then made her decision.

“Do we have enough blood drawn?” she asked, when Ilysa re-entered the shelter.

“Yes, Franca. We have fifty bags drawn already, and hundreds more people are in line to give.”

“Tell the other aides to keep drawing and tell my med tech team I need their help. We can’t wait any longer.”

¶ ¶ ¶

Uri paced outside the bioshelter for what seemed to be countless hours. He had heard prayers from all the known Earth and Siriusian religions and some that were unfamiliar to him. Almost all the colonists from the camp were gathered, waiting.

The door to the shelter opened and a tired and haggard-looking Franca stepped outside. “Mother and daughter are well,” she announced, breaking into a smile. “Both are resting.”

The gathered colonists slowly stood. Many beamed from ear to ear as if they were proud uncles and aunts. Others wept with joy. Singing broke out in many languages.

Verde Grande’s first baby had been born — a red-haired girl.

10

Kasan Inabritt’s loneliness gripped his soul. The young man had to accept the fact he may be stuck on Verde Grande for the rest of his life. He could not believe his bad luck. The Tanlians had forced the colonists to split up and then brazenly attacked both groups.

To his surprise, the colonists not only had repelled the attackers but apparently had exterminated them. Kasan wondered if this had happened before. What would the other Tanlians do? Did they know what had happened here?

He feared he would die a failure, the first Syndicate spy to successfully infiltrate a CAIN colony world but unable to reveal his location. Kasan had signed on as agro tech, an expert in agronomy and horticulture. He had attended the best universities and claimed to be the only living descendant of a prominent Earth agrist family.

The Syndicate had patiently waited for years to get one of their own on a CAIN colony seeder expedition. However, the ship’s destination had been a closely guarded secret. Alliance colonists volunteered to go wherever the governing council decided to send them.

Kasan remembered he had been warned it could be years before he would be contacted or had the opportunity to communicate with someone from the Syndicate. He expected to be rescued by a stealth deep spacer.

For now, the agro tech busied himself with the duties he was expected to perform. He completed soil tests to determine what crop would grow best in which location. Kasan helped construct the greenhouse and was in charge of rows and rows of young plants that would be the parent lines of generations of food crops for the planet.

Kasan enjoyed this work, spending hours tending to the plants. During these busy times he even put his prime mission in the back of his mind. Almost against his will, the young agro tech found himself enamored with biologist Nira Engstrom. The two had worked together to identify and categorize Verdian plants.

Nira had been with the first group from the
Colonia Nueve
to land on the planet. Her reports of the wildlife and native plants had been fascinating. Kasan had attracted Nira’s attention by his avid curiosity concerning the wild grasses and fruit trees.

The biologist also had made the awful discovery of the hundreds of carcasses left by a Tanlian hunting party. Even Kasan was disgusted by the waste and offered a sympathetic ear when Nira broke down while retelling the story.

Kasan and Nira spent more and more time together: midday and evening meals, walks at night through the wild fruit orchards, sitting on grassy hillsides, gazing at Verde Grande’s two moons and talking about the future of this fertile planet. They had not slept together, but their evening farewell hugs grew longer and good-night kisses also grew more passionate. If he had to be stranded, spending the time with Nira would make it tolerable.

¶ ¶ ¶

Ismala N’pofu and Masat Ebber studied XR-309 from the ship’s imager. The planet appeared to be a viable candidate for a colony settlement. Fully Earth bioformed, it looked lush and green. Water was plentiful.

“The planet seems to be deserted,” Masat said, looking at Ismala. “There are no defensive satellites. We are detecting no communications on any wavelength, Tanlian or Earther. The Brak’s Revenge is not answering our hails.”

“We are too far away to pick up person-to-person chatter,” Ismala answered. “It looks like we can safely orbit the planet and examine it from close range. “I’m sure your men are anxious to hunt.”

Masat nodded and gave the order to orbit the planet. Even if they found no humans, he was looking forward to relaxing under a shade tree, maybe even doing some hunting himself. Less than an hour later, the Tanlian trophy ship was orbiting the planet. As Masat was preparing to take a scout flyer to the surface, he saw Ismala waving to get his attention.

“Captain, I have a favor,” she said flashing one of those beautiful smiles that captivated him.

Masat gestured for her to continue. He gave her a puzzled look.

“I have a specific-wave signal I would like broadcast to the planet. You have my word it is of no danger. In fact, it may make our job of finding the colonists easier, if they are there.” Ismala said, answering his unspoken question.

Masat looked at the Earther woman for a moment, and some of his old doubts about non-Tanlians flashed through his mind. “Have you been hiding something from me?” he asked, not bothering to mask his suspicion. “Do you have information about the colonists?”

“I have not intentionally misled you, Captain,” she said, her expression serious. “If the colonists are there, one of them may be sympathetic to the Syndicate. We need to be orbiting to receive the signal.”

“A Syndicate spy among CAIN colonists,” Masat said flashing an approving grin. “So that is why the Tanlian Council insisted I take on passengers.”

Ismala answered with a smile. “We shall know shortly, Captain, if our sympathizer is down there.”

¶ ¶ ¶

“Oh, Kasan, she’s such a beautiful girl,” Nira gushed. This was the first time the biologist had seen Taryl’s two-week-old baby. “You should see her red hair, just like her mother’s.”

Kasan smiled at Nira’s enthusiasm. He was about the only colonist who didn’t seem interested in the infant. The agro tech would just shrug and say he was nervous around babies and try to change the subject.

“Tomorrow you are going with me to see her. Maybe you can even hold the baby,” she teased, knowing he was uncomfortable around children.

A second in Kasan’s implanted earpiece startled him. A moment later, he heard three short clicks, one click, followed by five long clicks. It was the signal he had been waiting for. The signal he had almost forgotten about.

Nira laughed at Kasan, misinterpreting his expression. “Don’t worry. We probably won’t even get close to the baby.”

Kasan took a deep breath to get himself under control. He had to get his transmitter to send a reply. It was his duty. A pang of guilt swept over him as he looked at the trusting woman beside him. What would happen to her?

Sweeping all thoughts aside, Kasan cut their walk short. “I have to get back to the greenhouse. I forgot to enter some important data. It may take me a few hours. I’m sorry, Nira.”

Nira pretended to pout. “Data? Can’t you do that tomorrow? Is data more important than this?” She kissed him.

“The agrists need it first thing in the morning,” he said. “It must have slipped my mind while I was thinking of you.” The lie oozed out so sincerely it even surprised him.

“Oh, you just know the right things to say,” Nira cooed, blinking innocently. Surprised by his intense expression, she let him go. Kasan gave her a good-night peck on the cheek and hurried away. Curious, she stared after him, wondering what data could be so important.