Heavenly Survivor: Survivors of Teralis

by L P Peace

  ‘You don’t like a vegetable!’ Charlotte covered her mouth with her hand in a mock expression of horror. ‘This is so unlike you, Elise.’

  Elise giggled, which had been Charlotte’s intent. ‘And here’s me with this sweet pie they brought from the village! I guess I’ll just have to eat it all up by myself!’

  Elise was swaying in her seat with laughter, her little face brightened, right up until Charlotte mentioned dessert. ‘No, Mommy! No! Please. Look!’ She started shovelling pieces of tabin into her mouth. ‘I’ll eat it all up!’ she said, small pieces of tabin being launched back onto the plate.

  Charlotte got the slices out and put them on one plate, sitting down in front of Charlotte with a fork. Using exaggerated movements, she scooped up the largest piece of pie she could and moved it towards her mouth.

  Elise lost it. She laughed so hard everything ended up back on her plate. ‘Mommy! I got tabin up my nose!’

  Laughing, Charlotte stood and took the lunch plate, replacing it with a smaller plate onto which she deposited some of the pie. ‘You don’t have to eat it this time, baby,’ she said. ‘But next time, you’re getting double tabin.’

  ‘What? No! No fair!’

  ‘That way, I don’t have to eat mine!’ Charlotte made a face at her daughter and scraped the rest of the plate into the trash.

  See? I don’t need a man. Elise and I are just fine!

  When they were finished, Charlotte told Elise to write in her diary while she visited the bathroom. Washing her hands, she looked in the mirror. She’d lost weight on Teralis—weight she seemed unable to put back on now with the alterations Kallis had made to her. Her cheeks were hollower, and it was easier to see the shadows under her eyes when she was tired, like now.

  On the upside, she finally had a flatter stomach than ever before. And there were muscles there! She lifted her top and tensed her stomach muscles, seeing their faint outline against her skin. She’d never had that before either, and she wasn’t even working on it. She just had it!

  She heard a noise in the main room and sighed. Exiting the bathroom, she found Kerr, sat on the sofa with Elise while she chatted to him about the picture she was drawing in the diary in which she was meant to be writing.

  ‘Elise! You’re not supposed to draw in that,’ Charlotte snapped. She immediately regretted it. The sudden presence of Kerr, who Elise must have let in against everything she’d been taught, irritated her.

  ‘Sorry, Mommy,’ she whispered. She shut the diary, her head hanging.

  ‘No, I’m sorry, baby. Come here,’ she said, squatting to hold her daughter when she crossed the space.

  Over Elise’s shoulder, Charlotte glared at Kerr. ‘How can I help you?’ she said the words as evenly as possible so that Elise wouldn’t notice she was angry. Not at Elise, though her lapse of judgement in opening the door and letting in a strange man wasn’t helping. But she was angry at Kerr. What was he doing back here?

  ‘My apologies,’ he said, sitting back in that confident, casual way he had. ‘I had to see you.’

  ‘After three days?’ she raised her brows.

  Kerr nodded. ‘My apologies for that also. I have a surprise for you, and it took a few days to set up.’

  ‘Present!’ Elise asked, turning to look at the devil.

  ‘A present,’ he smiled, turning to Charlotte. ‘For both of you.’

  ‘Well, thank you. But I can’t possibly accept it.’

  ‘You don’t know what it is,’ Kerr responded. He grinned. ‘It’s something you really want. I promise.’

  Elise was practically vibrating in her arms with excitement. ‘Please, Mommy, please,’ she said breathlessly.

  ‘Fine,’ she said, hoping it wasn’t too big and that Kerr didn’t think it came with obligations.

  ‘Great,’ Kerr stood. ‘We need to pack you up then.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘I got you a house,’ he smiled at her. ‘In the village of Aida. It’s a log cabin. I’ve spent the last few days making sure it was ready for you.’

  He got her a house!

  A house!

  ‘I don’t…’ Stunned, Charlotte looked down at Elise, who was staring at Kerr with round eyes.

  ‘Where are we going?’ Elise said. Her voice had gone small again, fearful. She looked at Charlotte. ‘Mommy?’ Elise looked at her mother.

  It was a change. Elise was frightened of the change.

  Kerr’s face fell. ‘It’s a village,’ he said. ‘There are trees and a waterfall nearby, and young you can play with.’

  ‘Other kids?’ Elise said, turning back to Kerr.

  Across the room, he squatted on his haunches. ‘Other young, yes. There’s a school there, and the young all play together. I witnessed lots of laughing and running.’

  Charlotte watched Elise’s face.

  A house… A home where Elise could be safe, settled. Where she could make friends and find the stability that had been stolen from them when their ship was captured.

  Charlotte didn’t know what the house looked like, or where it was. But she wanted that house more than she wanted anything except Elise. She wanted to put down new roots and find a place in this new world.

  But if Elise wasn’t ready, she wouldn’t push her.

  ‘Okay… Well, maybe in a few months—’

  ‘No,’ Elise’s voice was still small. ‘I wanna go.’ There was still fear, apprehension in her eyes when they met Charlotte’s. ‘Can I still sleep with you, Mommy?’ she whispered so Kerr couldn’t hear her.

  Charlotte held her daughter close, feeling tears prick her eyes. ‘Of course you can, baby,’ she promised. ‘Mommy needs you there too.’

  That hadn’t gone the way Kerr planned.

  But it was done. Several hours later, with the afternoon giving way to evening, Kerr landed a shuttle on the pad outside of Aida.

  Beside him, Elise was sat on Charlotte’s lap and watched the ship descend into the well of tall trees.

  When the ship hit the ground, she yelped.

  ‘Hey, baby. What’s wrong?’

  ‘Scary,’ Elise whispered.

  ‘What? Out there? I think it’s pretty.’

  Elise shook her head. ‘Scary.’

  Kerr switched off the engine and turned to her. ‘Elise, I will be with you through the entire walk,’ he promised. ‘So will your mother.’

  Elise looked around. ‘Is the man here?’

  ‘What man?’ Charlotte asked. She felt she had an idea.

  ‘The scary man with the white hair.’

  Kallis.

  ‘No, Elise. He’s not here. He’s never going to be here. We’re safe on Tessa.’

  Despite Charlotte’s words, Elise did not look convinced.

  Kerr led them through the ship, grabbing their bags and throwing them over one shoulder. They exited the ship.

  ‘Elise.’ Kerr picked her up and swung her into his arms until she looked down at him. ‘You have fifty thousand strong Protectorate males looking after you, another fifty thousand males of other races who have joined our ranks, and more besides. You are the safest female in any system.’ Kerr flashed a white-toothed grin at her. ‘And you have me. And I’m never going to let harm come to you, or your mother.’ His last words were spoken with a strangely gentle ferocity. Charlotte looked at Elise’s face, checking to see if she was afraid. Instead, her daughter was smiling down at the devil, a look of devotion on her face. When Charlotte looked at Kerr, the same look was reflected back.

  Fuck! They already have such a bond!

  ‘It’s scary!’ Elise’s eyes flicked to the surrounding trees.

  ‘It is beautiful,’ Kerr said. ‘like you.’ His finger touched her nose, and Elise giggled. ‘A little dark now, that’s all. I’ll take you out tomorrow and show you the forest. I’ll even take you and your mother to the waterfall. How about that?’

  ‘Waterfall?’ Elise looked at Charlotte. There was a look of apprehension and more than a little confusion there.
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br />   ‘There are stepped pools of water. They’re safe. The other children of the village play there sometimes. There’s a waterfall. The water’s warm, so you can see steam rising from it when it’s chillier.’

  ‘A waterfall isn’t exactly what I’d call safe,’ Charlotte said.

  ‘We don’t need to go anywhere near the waterfall,’ Kerr assured her. ‘But we can go swimming.’

  ‘Swimming!’ That was a word Elise knew well. Elise was a water baby, cutting through the water with a skill far beyond her age. ‘Can we, Mommy?’

  Elise’s face brightened, and an eager smile curved her lips. ‘Of course, baby.’

  The walk through the forest was short. When they emerged, the sun was kissing the horizon on a hill that looked out over the village. Behind that, the forest surrounded them on all sides. The village was a small piece of civilization in the wilderness, and Charlotte fell in love with it on sight. It was like nowhere she’d ever lived before.

  ‘This way,’ Kerr said, reaching out for her hand.

  There was a field of crops growing between them and the village. ‘What are they growing?’

  ‘Here, mostly tabin, which is a root vegetable, and Kaikus. The roots of the plants intertwine, making each healthier and stronger. The smell also keeps insects away, so the rest of the crops are planted around them.’ Kerr pointed off in the distance where Charlotte could see different leaf shapes sprouting. ‘Edo and Nellus. Kerr pointed to the red grass ahead of them. ‘Sweet tai.’ Apparently, tabin and sweet tai combine to make a nice tea.’

  ‘Did you find out all of this just for us?’

  ‘Yes.’ Kerr smirked.

  He led the way across the fields. ‘I had some help from someone to get furniture for your new home. A couple of beds to sleep in, seating, and some crockery and pans. Sarah also stocked the pantry. But I thought we could fu… I thought I should let you furnish your home.’

  I thought we could furnish the home together. That's what he was going to say.

  Charlotte barely knew the man, and he was inviting himself into their lives! Worse, Elise seemed to be thrilled about it.

  When they came to the village, Charlotte had a good look around at the houses. No, not houses, log cabins. Like the wood of the trees, the log cabins were purple, only here the purple was silvering with age.

  Kerr led the way into the square of red grass, around which several houses were arranged. Dead centre of the square, a street narrowed off. There was a store a few houses down and what looked like some kind of town hall at the end. Kerr guided them down the square to the end of the street.

  ‘These houses were built for new refugees. Do you know what this place was originally?’

  ‘It was a secret colony for slaves?’

  ‘Alethia bought slaves and brought them here, where they’d be safe. They built these houses for new residents. A few lived here,’ he pointed to a cabin right at the end of the street, ‘but only for a few weeks. As soon as temporary housing came available in Teyrin, they moved there instead.’

  ‘Do I have any neighbours?’ Charlotte asked. She looked around. So far, she hadn’t seen anyone.

  ‘Everyone has gone to Alyk today. They’ll be back shortly.’

  ‘Alyk?’

  ‘Another village. They have a mine there, and the Protectorate are setting up mining bots. The villagers have gone to see. It means they won’t have to work in the mines anymore.’

  ‘How will they earn money to buy anything?’ Charlotte asked. Money had been a constant worry to her since she arrived.

  ‘Credits aren’t something they have to worry about just yet.’ Kerr waved it off like it hadn’t been one of the primary concerns of Charlotte’s life since she was younger than Elise!

  There was a small front yard, with red grass, either side of a small path. Elise looked down at it and then at her mother, an amused grimace on her face. ‘Weird!’ She giggled.

  ‘Totally weird,’ Charlotte agreed, smiling back. She let Elise see her relaxed and joking, in the hope Elise would relax too.

  Kerr carried her up the path and the three steps to a veranda. There wasn’t a fence to it. Charlotte had always imagined owning a house with a veranda, a fence around it, and a porch swing. She wondered how good Kerr was with his hands and if he’d be able to hang one, but when she looked at the way he was dressed in his finely tailored uniform, she doubted he’d ever done a days work in his life.

  ‘Charlotte?’

  Looking at the alien and her daughter, Charlotte realised they were waiting on the top of the veranda for her to join them. She took the three steps up and moved to their side.

  Kerr opened the door with a flourish that was one hundred per cent all him.

  Of course, the walls, floor, and ceiling were all purple. But so was the wood on the small sofa and the table in front of it.

  Walking inside, Charlotte looked to her left, where the small kitchen was. The cabinets were all purple wood. There was a natural stone worktop going around the three walls with a stone-carved sink. Charlotte walked over to it and felt the polished silver stone beneath her fingers. The worktop had small flecks of some highly reflective mineral in them. It was beautiful, but she imagined when the purple wood silvered, it would be too much.

  There was a kitchen table with four chairs around it. There was a small hole in the wood. It had to have been made either as the table was created, or by one of it’s previous owners. She turned back to the living room. There were no carpets or rugs, no furnishings beyond the sofa and table. There were no blinds in the window or anything to give her any privacy of any sort. She felt like she was in a fishbowl on display.

  Charlotte turned to the only door in the space. She walked through it into a small hall. There were four more doors there. She opened the one to her left and found a small, empty room. There were two more in front of her and another door to her right. She opened them in order, from left to right.

  The second door hid the bathroom. Again, there was a lot of the silver stone in here. It covered the floor and walls. There was a stone bath that seemed to have been carved out of one solid piece. The toilet and sink were carved from another. It looked like an inbuilt lavatory with the cistern built into a large block at the end, which doubled as a shelf that in turn sloped to a small vanity into which the sink had been carved.

  Opening the third door, there was a small bed, made up for Elise, she realised. But there wasn’t much more in there than that. Charlotte turned to the final door and walked through. This was obviously meant for her. There was a huge double bed in it. Larger than two humans would need. Charlotte suspected the extra length was for the benefit of the male standing behind her. He was still, watching her every move. Waiting for her judgement, she realised.

  The bed dominated the room, leaving little room for anything else.

  Turning to Kerr, Charlotte put her hands out for Elise. Elise leaned towards her, and Kerr let her go. Charlotte eased her onto her hip and turned back around.

  ‘What do you think?’

  ‘I really like it,’ Elise said, her eyes wide with enthusiasm.

  ‘Me too.’ Charlotte grinned and looked back at Kerr.

  Lines of tension eased. Charlotte hadn’t noticed them before but watching them disappear made it easy to make out the difference between a tense and relaxed Kerr.

  ‘We’re gonna need more furniture than this, though.’

  ‘Sarah is coming around in the morning to help with that,’ Kerr said, moving farther into the room. ’They make much of their own furniture, but buy off-world as well. Thanesh has started to build up stores for released slaves who settle here in the future.’

  ‘Why would he do that?’ Charlotte asked. She’d been wondering for weeks. What did someone like Thanesh, the head of a powerful military, have to gain by helping free slaves?

  ‘Because Alethia will never stop. The only way he can have a life with her is to take up her cause and see it done.’

  Charlotte sh
ook her head, still struggling to understand. ‘But why?’

  ‘Because we will do anything for our mates,’ Kerr said. His voice was calm as he said it, but it gave the impression of a vow.

  Charlotte felt awareness prickle over her body. She tried to ignore it, to ignore the obvious vow he’d just given her.

  ‘Mommy, can I sleep with you tonight?’ Elise repeated the question she’d asked in Teyrin.

  ‘For as long as you like, baby,’ Charlotte said, pulling her closer and kissing her cheek.

  She looked out of the window. The sun was almost completely set. The cabin was becoming darker, the shadows gathering. The village, abandoned, had a strange quality, not quite eerie, not quite homely.

  ‘Sarah prepared food for you,’ Kerr said quietly, his tone seemed to be in keeping with the feel of the cabin. ‘I will bring it.

  ‘Thank you,’ Charlotte said.

  She watched him go, the scaled red and white devil with the long horns and sexy body. On the beach, surrounded by her friends, it had seemed so easy to accept that she and this male might have a future. Now, here they were, isolated with him. He was still the sexiest male she’d ever seen, but Charlotte couldn’t quite shake the feeling that she had surrendered to this new life with little thought and to this male with almost reckless abandon.

  Morning came from the same pale yellow sun that rose over the facility. Still, somehow, as Charlotte watched it creep over the mountains, it seemed more beautiful here.

  She was still in bed. Elise was snuggled into her side, sleeping. Her breaths were deep and loud, echoing around Elise’s open mouth and filling the room with the soothing sound of her little girl.

  Charlotte tore her eyes away from the lilac blue sky and looked down at the soft cheeks of her daughter. Her lids were closed, eyes searching beneath them. Charlotte laid her hand over her cheek and caressed it with her thumb, willing her daughter to wake.

  A small grunt escaped Elise. She turned, snuggling deeper into her mother’s side.

  ‘Elise,’ Charlotte called.

  The next grunt was more like ‘no’ in grunt form. Charlotte laughed. This child was impossible. She hated going to bed and hated waking up.