Princess of Zenina Page 3

  “I apologize for this interruption, Father. I may have made the wrong assumption, but I thought you might need assistance. I assumed your cloth indicated a vow of celibacy.”

  The priest was swiftly adjusting his dress, his face flushed with embarrassment.

  “Everything happened so quickly. The young lady asked to speak with me in private. I thought she might want to confess or discuss some problem that weighed on her mind.” The priest stammered continuing on.

  “When we were inside, she invited me to... I refused most vigorously. Then she glowed like the halos in holy pictures of saints, only all over and she didn’t look saintly. I was still thinking no but I was doing what she said. I couldn’t help myself.”

  The priest’s voice petered out until he was almost sobbing. Turning back to Marina, “I can’t bear to think of what would’ve happened if you hadn’t come! I feel so ashamed!”

  Marina patted his arm gently, “Hush, Father, nothing actually happened!” then she said aloud, “Letinza, I think it would be better if you helped Vlama clean the other cave.”

  The Blue left without comment. Marina explained,

  “Few can resist a Zeninan when they shimmer, your will to resist is overborne by sexual desire. Perfect faith or will power wouldn’t arm you against her attempt. There’s no point in blaming yourself for being tempted. Your faults were naivety and ignorance. If you intend to keep your vows, never be alone with a Zeninan woman. No man should consider himself safe, you are all at risk.”

  “You stopped her and I’m grateful. Once your people know I’m a man of religion and have taken vows of celibacy they’ll respect my cloth as you do.”

  “You delude yourself, most Zeninans would act as Letinza did and see your vows as a challenge. The official religion of Zenina is a fertility cult whose religious attendances involve group sexual participation. While I may consider such excess vulgar, many people participate with open enjoyment. Jesuits have reached the Zeninan Empire before. I know three ex-Jesuits who are Zeninan bed-slaves.”

  Marina paused and gazed as the young priest with sincerity.

  “Please don’t construe my motives as respect for your calling. I’ve adopted the Catholic faith for other reasons. In areas of sexual morality I don’t accept your church’s teachings but I disapprove of anyone being taken against their will. I interfered because it would affect my crew on our journey home to Zenina. So I advise you, there may be safety in numbers. We’ll have time to talk on the journey home,” she advised him.

  Bromarsh had stepped back and watched the return of the Blue, then Marina, followed by a slightly pink faced priest in swift succession. The Blue went to join the older Silver. The priest looked ill at ease. His hair was now untidy and his previously pristine cassock grubby and crumpled. He joined the children, who were practising somersaults with the Silver girl as coach.

  Chapter Five – Birth

  Marina walked towards to the pregnant woman who was shuffling to and fro holding her back, grimacing with the pains that regularly pierced her bloated body.

  “What you’re experiencing is quite normal, Ondiella. Please don’t worry, everything is progressing as expected. I’ll help deliver your baby,” she gently tried to reassure her.

  Ondiella responded with a flood of tears which swiftly deteriorated into total hysteria.

  “I don’t want to have this baby, why didn’t it just die?” She cried hysterically. Marina soothed her, holding her until her sobs lessened.

  “Why is she so upset?” Marina wondered why it was so excessive, “I know she is in pain, but it is not yet excessive, normally pregnant women are eager to get the birth over and hold their baby in their arms.” So Marina searched deep within Ondiella’s mind for an explanation for her distress, what she found was worrying.

  “She was abandoned as a baby. She was brought up in government care, so her childhood was bereft of love. As a result she had little education and a very poor self-image. She worked as a servant but married a farmer’s younger son. They travelled to a recently colonised planet. They settled in and were building up their own farm. They had been briefly happy but within months, the colony was attacked by Kurgians. Her husband and most of the other settlers were killed. Ondiella was raped repeatedly by the Kurgian soldiers, surviving only because they believed her dead.

  The Kurgians left and Markaban forces appeared shortly after, rescuing her with a handful of other survivors. She recuperated and was offered a housekeeping position in Suldi. The ship was attacked by the pirates, who slaughtered the crew and passengers. She has been unlucky to have so many problems in her life. She only survived because Major Bromarsh begged for her life and those of the children and priest.”

  Marina ran her hands over Ondiella’s belly making a picture in her mind of the baby. He was perfectly formed and well connected in the correct position for birth. Ondiella’s contractions were advancing satisfactorily. A brief scan of the baby’s mind showed an intelligent, perhaps a gifted child. The baby was half-Kurgian so it was not her late husband’s child. Marina felt pity for the child, as his mixed race meant he would be despised and distrusted by people through most of the universe.

  Marina knew most planets had some xeno-prejudice. Marina considered it appalling that people were not accepted as they were and for what they could do. The boy could not help being of mixed race. Zeninans, because of their problems of male fertility, had chosen to become a mongrel race rather than die out. The Zeninan race, which had male ancestors from a multitude of alien blood, were largely free of racial prejudice. But a boy might prefer to live where males had equal status with females, which could not be said for the current situation in Zenina.

  As Marina examined the baby, his mind responded to her touch, questioning this new experience. Few Kurgians or Markabans are naturally telepathic so Marina had not expected the child to communicate with her. His thoughts were very basic, without words, but the child was confused by the strange, unsettling experiences before birth. His mother’s distress felt but not understood by the unborn boy, made him unsure whether he should be seeking to escape this comfortable prison of womb to make the struggle into life and new experience. Marina firmly directed the child’s thoughts towards speeding his own delivery. Her welcoming encouragement eased the boy’s primal fears.

  Marina decided she would check the child’s genetic make-up after birth. If the telepathic gene was not recessive in Ondiella, or mutant, it might be worth tracing the male parent for Zeninan breeding purposes. As an apparent rapist, Marina had little qualms whether that prospect might please him. In fact, slavery could be considered justice. Marina was saddened that Ondiella had never experienced maternal love and so might not give her son that most necessary comfort. Having discovered the reasons for Ondiella’s misery and checked the medical condition of the child and mother, Marina set about mentally calming them both. The woman’s blood pressure was rising; her pulse rate was fast and erratic.

  Marina disliked using drugs except in very specific circumstances, preferring to keep the minds and bodies of her patients under her full control. So Marina planted some soothing loving maternal thoughts in Ondiella’s mind, regretting she had not had the opportunity to do it weeks earlier, to avoid the probable rejection of the baby.

  Perhaps with time they would grow to love each other. At last Marina had settled her down, leaving her in the care of Vlama, the older Silver. She fetched one of the medical cases and headed towards Bromarsh. He was watching the children’s clumsier attempts to mimic the young Zeninan. He did not notice Marina until she was beside him and proceeding to inoculate him with a syringe of the blue liquid.

  “How long ago did you lose your arm, Major?” she asked him.

  “I suspect you know the answer already. Or perhaps you find the sweet sounds of your own voice so pleasing, you can’t spare the time, to listen to other people.” He rolled the sleeve of his shirt back down on his good arm and started to turn away.

  “I asked o
ut of professional courtesy, I don’t know the answer although I can find out. We consider it good manners to give latent or non-telepaths mental privacy, except in risk to Imperial security or human life. I retrieved only information necessary to alert the Zeninan fleet of the epidemic. I normally block hearing the thoughts of non-Zeninans, although sometimes they intrude upon me. As to my voice, it is I believe, not too grating. I spoke aloud because most non-telepaths are uncomfortable with sudden telepathic contact. If I’ve been curt, I apologize, but time was important in the healing of the lepers. I’ve been hurrying as we must pack and leave Qu tonight, if we’re to return to Zenina in time. Her Majesty specifically requested the meat for a banquet celebrating her sixtieth Jubilee in three days’ time.”

  Marina was not telling the whole truth. She had scanned for security reasons the minds of those present, because she always preferred to know if someone was about to pull a blaster or stick a knife in her back. So she had picked up the salient points of their lives. It was official, if a secret policy to play down Zeninan intrusion into other’s minds. She was therefore, asking the question because she did not wish to appear to know too much about him, certainly not from vanity about her voice production.

  Bromarsh thought through what she had said and still doubted. He was also processing with considerable astonishment, the information about the speed at which she expected to cover the distance to Zenina from Qu.

  “If what you say is true, how did you know my rank?” he asked.

  “I recognised you.”

  “My face is not that famous and I’d know if we’d met before.”

  “No, we’ve never met, I saw your entry in Zeninan Security some years ago; you’re still recognisable from your images.”

  “I apologize. My behaviour has been rather rude and ungrateful. You’ve helped us and I suppose we’ve put you to a lot of trouble, General.”

  “General? Oh because of my sash, the rank might translate as Field-Marshall. It’s a courtesy title. I prefer informality, so introduce myself by name.”

  She smiled before remarking, “Correctly, I am called Princess Marina. We will leave as soon as the baby has been born. Artificial gravity is not the best conditions for birth. Ondiella’s time is close, so I’ll go and help her now.”

  Marina and Ondiella retired to the smaller cave. Marina returned briefly to collect blankets and another case. Vlama and Letinza had been cleaning the main cave to eradicate any residual infection, so came out towing a machine between them. They dismantled it and loaded it into the sled. Clean clothing was found for the two men who had now awoken, refreshed. Vlama completed the inoculation of the other members of the party. The meal was served to the rest of the group around the camp fire. The adults were offered wine, but the children were provided with a carbonated fruit juice. Bromarsh enjoyed the sliced roasted qumursk he was given and felt replete.

  When Marina had begun to pursue the qumursk, it had been morning. Now the sky was turning purple and cerise as the sun slid behind the horizon. Conversation started fitfully as the two groups gradually began to get to know each other. The little girl was dozing against the shoulder of her brother. A few cries of pain reached them from the cave, but no one went in or emerged. Vlama and Letinza disappeared off with the hover car, returning shortly after with the sled, but without its plethora of containers. They loaded up the luggage the refugees had brought with them.

  The unmistakable cry of a new-born babe sang out. Half an hour passed and Marina emerged into the star light bearing the child swaddled against the night cold in thick luxuriant fur. She handed the baby to the Green. “Chilka, she won’t even look at him. She just turns away, will you wet nurse him for me, untll we get to Hemithea please,” she pleaded.

  Then to everyone, she announced.

  “The child is a boy and healthy, his mother is fine and can travel. We are packing up, so board the hover-car. We will be taking off for Zenina in an hour’s time.”

  Chapter Six - Zeninan Space

  Bromarsh admired the yacht which had sleek stylish lines; it was built for speed and brand spanking new. He knew Zeninan space technology was at the forefront of the field; their ships outran those of all other planets. As a former soldier, he was well aware that the fire power of their ships also was far more effective than that of other planets and their defensive shields stood firm against any other weaponry. Sensible generals did not attempt to attack Zeninan targets. This was not one of the Zeninan Empire’s great battle-ships. It was similar in size and design to one of their courier ships, but built with considerably more comfort in mind. This was a private vessel despite the military uniforms of its crew. The registration papers named Princess Marina as owner, other titles or designations having been deemed unnecessary, the date on the certificate eight days previous.

  The hover-car carrying them floated into the open hold, the doors closed behind it. It settled to rest, everyone disembarked into the ship. A small lift bore them in groups to the upper level. Bromarsh tried to get his bearings as he took in the yacht’s layout. Marina disappeared into what was clearly the bridge. Behind the bridge was a large room which had seating for more than twenty, it was carpeted in dark plum. The walls were a pale shade of oyster and the furnishings in tones of mauve and purple. One wall was blank but it had a glazed appearance as if it performed some entertainment function. A large table with upright seating was positioned to the right. But to the rear left were smaller tables with small recessed computer terminals and comfortable seating was positioned closer to the blank wall.

  Two more Zeninans, a Green and a Blue welcomed the bedraggled group of refugees, who assembled in the main room. Preparations for take-off had already been made, so they were hustled into seats and secured for lift off. However they were mechanically released from their restraints, before they were aware they were off ground. The craft had been so quiet and vibration free, even the change from leaving orbit of Qu was barely noticeable, as internal gravity automatically replaced that of the planet. The only discomfort the refugees experienced was the very warm temperature of the space craft.

  Marina returned from the bridge.

  “The temperature on board ship is identical to Hemithea where we’re headed. We’re increasing the air conditioning to allow you time to adjust. I and my crew will don warmer clothing. My name is Marina, for those of you who didn’t catch it. I am captain of this yacht; should you have any problems, speak to me or to Lieutenant-Colonel Vlama,” she indicated the adult Silver.

  She went on,

  “I’ll introduce my comrades. You may have already met Colonel Letinza,” gesturing towards the first Blue, “Major Adelza, Senior flying instructor of the Zeninan Military Space Academy,” she indicated the second Blue.

  “Major Chilka,” she said pointing towards the first Green, “principal of the Zeninan Imperial Army Catering Institute, to whom I express our thanks for this evening’s meal. May I also introduce Captain Belabeza, also of the Catering Corp and an alien culinary specialist,” indicating the Green who had remained on board. “Last of all, Cadet Kazimira,” indicating the younger Silver, “She is Lieutenant-Colonel Vlama’s great-niece and ward.”

  “The journey to Zenina will take approximately 37 hours and we will land at Hemithea’s main Space-port. Qu time runs about three hours before Hemithean time, so it will mean an early start. I apologize for the cramped conditions but I believe you’d prefer not to spend the night on Qu.”

  A murmur of agreement went round.

  “There are only eight cabins and sixteen of us in total, including the new born, so it is necessary to double up. As you are all exhausted by your experiences I’ll allocate quarters now. Speak to Captain Belabeza if you require a drink or snack before retiring. I’m sure she will oblige you. Please Major Adelza allow Captain Belabeza to share your quarters.” A slight ripple of amusement went through the Zeninans as this confirmed their normal sleeping arrangements. “I’m putting Ondiella in cabin six with Jessina. The bed
separates into two smaller beds. Adelza, please show them the way. I’ll settle you in shortly. Please take advantage of the bathing facilities, there is plenty of water for washing.”

  She turned to speak to the priest.

  “Father Debenden, we’ve put Tippy in cabin seven, could you share with him? I’d greatly appreciate if you could watch over him. I’ve given him a sedative, so he should not stir for six hours. Chilka will have the new baby in her cabin to look after, so she’ll sleep otherwise alone. Kazimira, will you share with Floren, please make yourself responsible for the young people’s entertainment during our trip.”

  The priest demurred at this arrangement, “It is not decent for adolescents of different sexes to sleep together,” Father Debenden insisted.

  “It is preferable for him not to sleep with an adult of either sex, especially not an adult Zeninan.” Marina stated quashing this rebellion.

  Floren was enthusiastic about the arrangement, so no further objections were made.

  “Mr. Clevan, if you’d share with Vlama. Vlama, please inform me as to the success of the regeneration.” Marina ignored Mr. Clevan’s blushes continuing with her arrangements.

  “Mr. Burg will share with Colonel Letinza. I’d like to speak with you first, so please wait a minute, Mr. Burg.”

  Marina finally reached Bromarsh. “Major Bromarsh that leaves you, I trust you don’t object to sharing with me? I prefer not to sleep with women. So please go to cabin eight. It’ll be some time before I finish, bathe or turn into bed.”

  Bromarsh went to his assigned quarters, rather bemused by the arrangement. However he was used to obeying the voice of authority he didn’t question her order, but found it hard to understand Marina’s decision. Bromarsh could see the open doors to eight cabins. Seven of them were apparently complete with shower and toilet facilities. There were also two bathing rooms on either side of the yacht. The cabins were numbered and the eighth cabin at the rear was twice the size of the other cabins and had its own bathing chamber. He had been told that Zeninan ships were more spacious than other vessels. Space crew from other planets laughed at what they considered wasted space, as the obvious result of being designed by women for women. Zeninan technology was so far ahead of other planet’s craft that even with the extra space their ships still out raced them. Even Zeninan soldiers expected a bunk wide enough for two and access to bathing facilities, their ships’ speed advantage remained unaffected. The cramped living conditions of other spacers suggested to Bromarsh that their griping was based on envy.