AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Including us, there are seven,” Noratu told her.
“How can twenty-one people hope to end a war that has been going on for decades?”
Draven’s shoulders squared and his chin came up. Even in the privacy of a shuttle, this controller resented being challenged. “Rebalancing the power of the triads is our only hope. They were an effective deterrent in ages past. We must return to that concept.”
“Which means neutralizing Emperor Jevara,” Noratu pointed out.
She didn’t want to end up over Draven’s lap again. Her bottom was still sore from the caning and the anal insert. Still, she couldn’t help pointing out the obvious. “What’s to keep the Citadel from becoming the tyrannical force we are attempting to curtail?”
“We are,” Draven insisted. “I trust Zevon. However, I trust him more if I am there to back him up.”
That made Flora smile. “How many are on the board?”
“There are six governors and the president,” Noratu answered.
“Are you Zevon’s only ally?”
“For now,” Draven admitted. “The president is allowed to replace governors but only if they have done something egregious. So far, they have been careful to stay just this side of that line.”
“We are starting our approach,” Noratu told them as a planet came into view. “Come up here so you can see better. This is your new home world.” He moved to the back so Draven and Flora could move up.
Altor appeared orange at a distance, but other colors developed as the shuttle neared. Aqua and gray, then reds and golds, but all of the colors appeared in long, narrow bands that seemed to wrap around the entire planet. “Where are the continents and oceans? What is making it look striped?”
“A land mass on Altor is called a tepio,” Draven told her. “The tepios are separated by bodies of water call aquinas. Our geography is very different from Earth.”
Draven magnified the view so she could make out more details. The aquinas ranged in color from pale green to vivid turquoise, while most of the tepios were some shade of orange. There were vast forests and rolling hills, but all the plant life was covered in red or orange leaves, giving the entire planet a subtle glow.
The center tepios were more heavily developed and many had long bridges or causeways that spanned the aquinas. “Is it more temperate near the middle of your planet?”
“There is a longer growing season and the temperatures are more constant,” Noratu explained. “Agriculture is focused there as well as most of our big cities. Much of our manufacturing is automated, so the facilities are built in harsher climates where nothing grows and people prefer not to live.”
“Isn’t that hard on the machines?” She was just making conversation as she drank in the unfamiliar view.
“The buildings are well insulated.”
She glanced at Draven to see if he was mocking her, but his smile was warm, not sardonic. “Where will we live?”
Noratu slipped his hands into the control matrix and zoomed in on a city situated on one of the middle tepios. He gave her a moment to comprehend the general area, then zoomed in even farther. “This is Hanoto. It is the largest city on Tepio D. Most consider it the capital even though the planetary government is headquartered elsewhere.”
“Do any of the tepios have names or are they all simply labeled with letters?”
“Different cultures call them by different names. The alphabetical labels are the universal way of referring to them.”
She just nodded. Draven circled Hanoto, allowing her a few minutes to take it all in before they headed to their final destination. It was cluttered, like any big city, but the office and residential towers were sleek and graceful. It seemed cleaner than most of the big cities on Earth. Trams zipped between buildings and sped off to other areas of the tepio, but there were also individual conveyances. The technology was clearly more advanced than Earth’s, but the basic arrangement was not all that different. People still needed places to live and a way to get wherever they were going.
They headed away from the skyscrapers, but they didn’t go far. The rolling hills surrounding the city were covered with houses. No, the properties were too large and grandiose to be termed houses. These were mansions.
She looked at Noratu, suddenly feeling nervous. “You own one of those?” She motioned toward the mansions.
“His family owns half of the planet,” Draven said casually. “I thought your grandmother told you.”
Her grandmother had mentioned that Noratu was wealthy when they were talking about the bride price, but Flora had been focused on trying to avoid the match, not picturing what life would be like married to a millionaire. Or was it billionaire?
Draven put the shuttle down beside a house that had been constructed entirely of stark white stone. The roofline sloped to a nontraditional angle, making her wonder how the interior spaces worked. The upper level curved into a wide U forming a courtyard in the middle. Overlooking the courtyard was a railed balcony that spanned the entire second level. Not surprisingly, the architecture was unlike anything Flora had ever seen before.
They crossed the courtyard and Noratu scanned open one of the doors. “Welcome home.”
Wariness clouded his golden gaze and his psychic shields intensified. Was he concerned that she would reject his lifestyle? How odd. Her grandmother’s house had been so small that her sisters had to share a bedroom. Even so, they had been grateful to have it.
