Free Marcael: A Terraneu Novel, Book Five by Stormy McKnight Page B

computers and medical units around Terraneu. Some people just do roving
duties since they don’t have an affinity for any one position.”
    Marcael held up his hand and she paused, “How big is Terraneu?”
    “I’m not sure exactly how many rings are currently being used. You see
Terraneu is the original community based around the original fathers Square of
Four domes. The subsequent generations built out from there in rings. Depending
on the need, residential and the industrial domes can be turned on or off, or
entire rings can be dormant. Since there are new communities called New Haven
and McPhersonville where families live, the number of operational rings
varies.”
    She smiled at Marcael and elaborated, “I have a dome in Terraneu close to
the sorrem holding where I work. It is the same dome my mother lived in when
she first came to Terraneu.”
    Marcael stopped her and sat up straight, “When she first came to
Terraneu?”
    “My mom is from Earth, or as you would call it Terra.” Brennae explained.
    “Terra? All of the people of Terra were killed by Elyon’s madness.”
Marcael had gone a new shade of white.
    “Not all the people of Terra died Marcael. Some must have survived and
started over with their lives. Earth is just getting to a new age of
technology, but there are over seven billion people living on Earth now.”
    “Seven billion?” Marcael had gone from white to a weird shade of green.
“How can there be so many?” Shaking his head slowly he whispered, “Explain how
your mother came to be on Terraneu please.” He sank back into his seat and
Brennae worried he might be sick or something.
    “Okay. It goes like this,” Brennae had heard the story so many times she
laughed, “My mom had gone on a trip during a time in their suns rotation when
it was cold where she was vacationing. She was out walking, slipped down a
hill, and landed on a port pad. The portal took her to Antilles where she was
caught in an Antillean trap. Since my father and the Antillean leader, Zerxix
have negotiated trade agreements with each other, they kept her thinking my
father’s people might be interested.”
    “They traded humanoid life? Like slavers?” Marcael sounded offended.
    “No. They trade some animals, like the sacath, for sugar cane we have on
Terraneu. They are insectoid so the only thing that they want is the plant,
nothing else matters to them. Zerxix has the strongest colony because of his
affiliation with Terraneu, so it works well for both of us. They also keep an
eye on the port pad to Earth.” Brennae laughed at this part of the story coming
up, “Anyway, my mother was wearing an ugly fur covering and hat so the
Antilleans and my father, thought she was a sickly primate or something. It was
back on Terraneu when my father went to take her out of the cage that my mother
hit him in a sensitive spot.” She cast a knowing look at Marcael’s groin then
back up. He winced and laughed with her at that part of the story.
    “So when my father went down to his knees, my mother ran for it. She
didn’t get very far though. My father caught her and she was knocked out but he
thought she was dead. He put her in their medical unit to perform an autopsy,
it refused because she wasn’t dead, and he got frustrated and set it to do a diagnostic
instead. Well the medical unit recognized my mother’s DNA, even primitive as it
was and fixed her. Chaos ensued and when the smoke cleared, they ended up
mated. Happily ever after she is fond of saying.”
    “What is mated?” Marcael asked her when she paused.
    “Mates are a couple who have chosen to stay together in a monogamous
partnership. Since women were only introduced into the community after my
mother arrived and they found a way to bring more from Earth...or Terra as you
would call it...rules were put into place to try and keep everything as equal
and peaceful as possible. One of those rules is that once you chose mate status
you can’t reverse it. Some of