by Chris Reher
“I hope you will,” Cyann said. “Although the peace of this place is glorious.”
“And so much color!” he said. “There are vines over there of such red as you’ve never seen. I have some of them in my room.”
“Speaking of red,” she laughed when Tik toddled into the arbor. Her flat shape was dressed in a sumptuous wrap in brilliant shades of red fitted with a stiff hood to protect her translucent skin from Delphi’s sun. The long-toed feet were also still bare and her mouth was smudged with berry juice. She climbed up on the bench to sit beside Kiran who handed her a corner of his robe to wipe her face. Cyann noticed a tight-fitting suit under her clothes, likely some sort of external support to keep her upright in this gravity. “You look very pretty, Tik.”
Tik’s edges flashed green with pleasure.
“She seems to be doing well,” Jovan said. “You were able to adjust her to life here on Delphi, I see.”
Kiran nodded. “A Tughan’s prerogative, I think,” he said with a glance at Moghen. “Although it is not my intent to enter into the GenMod business.”
“With one exception,” Moghen said. He turned to Cyann. “Shan Kiran has agreed to work with our geneticists on the issues we face with our dwindling population.”
“How so?”
“We know that choice of mate, libido and reproductive cycles aren’t the problem. But Kiran may have some thoughts similar to what made your birth possible, Cyann.”
“You’re talking about Delphians,” Jovan said. “Our people balk at cutting their hair, never mind having their DNA rearranged.”
“I’m not so sure,” the Shantir replied. “We already have inquiries from some of our childless Shantirs here to meet this Tughan Wai. If we increase the family size of even a fraction of our population, our future is safe.”
Kiran nudged Tik with his elbow. “Tughan isn’t done saving Delphi.”
She gurgled something in reply that was probably not meant to be understood by the others.
“Only the Shantirs know that Kiran has returned?” Cyann asked.
“Lord Phera knows, along with a few others on Kiran’s side of the clan. Some Air Command agents and officers know what you brought back from the Badlands. We assured them that he remains in seclusion, unable to communicate.” He paused a moment. “It may be necessary to inform them that we’ve had to terminate the Tughan, for everyone’s safety. They don’t have the authority to demand access to him, but we don’t believe they will stop trying to reach him. Neither, I’m afraid, will the Union’s enemies.”
“So you’ll stay here, then,” Cyann said to Kiran.
“It’s safe here,” Kiran said after some thought. “But I can’t hide forever.” He looked down at his little companion. “Tik’s been my only family for years. My other little sister. I survived because of her. But she is lonely and misses her people. Someday I may try to find them for her. Perhaps they will have found their home.”
“We’ll keep an eye out,” Cyann promised.
“Yes! I heard. Tychon told me you were going to travel. Tell me more.”
Jovan smiled. “Cy signed up to join the specialist team on the next outbound I’m navigating. Big research vessel. She’s going to run the exobiology lab.”
“We have a huge cabin to ourselves. They treat their spanners well,” Cyann added. “We’ll be gone two years but we’ll be in range fairly often. I’ll send message packets. You make sure to answer them.”
“I will. What did Uncle Anders have to say about that?”
“He blustered a while, complaining about losing his crew. But I think he and Tychon are planning a few trips into the Badlands by themselves. Something they’ve been planning to do since Anders got his stripes.”
Kiran nodded. “I hope someone is willing to lend them a ship. So when are you leaving?”
“Before Winter. I want to spend some time with you, if you’d like.”
“I’d love!”
She winked at Jovan. “And finish basic flight school. You never know when you might be stuck on an asteroid without a pilot.”
* * * * *
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Dear Reader:
I hope you enjoyed Delphi Promised. If you did, please take a moment to leave a review to help others find this book, too. Or leave a comment on Twitter @Chris_Reher
My web site includes some additional information as well as links discussing the technology and scientific inspiration used in this story.
Click here if you would like to be notified about new releases.
Most recent new release: Metamorph
A crew of deep-space prospectors is hired by two aliens on a mission to find a long-lost migrant ship. What they find instead are monstrous secrets on a hostile planet that lead them into peril in the place they call home.
Targon Tales: Sethran Kada
Quantum Tangle, Sethran 1
This is Sethran’s own adventure where he meets a peculiar alien entity who takes him on a quest to save her very dangerous people from both rebel and Commonwealth interest. Seth previously appeared in The Catalyst and Rebel Alliances.
Terminus Shift, Sethran 2
Seth is back, this time tracking a group of rebels. But before he can seize them, the rebels are captured by a powerful rival faction and spirited away. Seth manages to re-capture one of the rebels, a subspace navigator named Ciela, and soon realizes that her crew's origin and purpose are far more pivotal than anyone could have suspected.
Entropy’s End, Sethran 3
Seth pursues a Dyad who has infiltrated a key research complex where he discovers that far more than a single planet is at stake. Failure to halt the inexorable subspace peril will mean the end of interstellar travel and the end of their Commonwealth.
Targon Tales: Nova’s Story:
Sky Hunter, a prequel, taking place before The Catalyst
Air Command pilot Nova Whiteside is assigned to a remote outpost to guard the construction of a new sky tether against rebel sabotage. The difference between the well-ordered Union air fields and this dusty garrison is made painfully clear when she runs afoul a brutal commander of ground troops. When she uncovers the treacherous and illicit schemes taking place, it seems that local riots are the least of their troubles.
The Catalyst, Book 1
Lieutenant Nova Whiteside, on an apparently routine, finds herself the target of an assassination attempt. Her escape leaves her with no option but to rely on Seth, a former lover, for help.
In trying to find who is threatening her life, they discover a plot to destroy a distant planet - a world inhabited by creatures that are the key to Nova's survival - and a conspiracy that threatens the stability of the Union Commonwealth.
Only Human, Book 2
Captain Nova Whiteside is teamed up with Tychon, a straight-laced Vanguard commander. In their pursuit of a ruthless rebel leader to recover a dangerous, living weapon, the line between their personal lives and their mission quickly begins to blur.
Rebel Alliances, Book 3
Captain Nova Whiteside receives new technology designed to change the dynamics of the Commonwealth wars. Enemy factions conspire and so Nova finds herself aboard a rebel ship where her value as hostage isn't nearly as great as her value as a defector.
Also suspected of collaboration, her Delphian Vanguard partner Tychon sets out to track her down. He discovers a puzzling piece of Nova's past when a motley alliance of strangers comes to his aid and their search leads him deep into rebel territory.
Delphi Promised, Book 4
An immense asteroid field is on its way to deliver a torrent of pathogens into this galactic sector, guaranteeing the destruction of any civilization in its path. Cyann, astrobiologist and Human-Delphian hybrid, is eager to join the research expedition dispatched to investigate. She is not prepared when they are stranded among an alien species whose motivations are enigmatic at best.
Also by Chris Reher:
Flight To Exile
In the distant future and on a
distant planet, brother-warriors Galen and Chor are sent to a nearby moon to rescue a woman whose mental abilities, still untrained and untried, must stand in the way of an advancing enemy. The simple assignment turns into a battle for their own survival and their freedom when the truths they discover force them to oppose the will of their ruthless and cruel leader.
Check out all Targon Tales titles at chrisreher.com
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter 12 – Epilogue
