Read Kniam: A Terraneu Novel for Free Online Page B

The next
cloning cycle for general population is scheduled for fifty years from now.”
    So he was twenty-six. She had been bracing for him to say something much
older. It would be just her luck that she was lusting after a geriatric
patient! Instead it was the opposite. He was a younger man! She was a
cougar!   “How can you be the leader and
be so young?” When one eyebrow shot up at being called “young”…Amber laughed,
“Again maybe not the right word…relatively speaking, you must be a lot younger
than some of your people.”
    He rolled onto his side and propped himself on an elbow, placing his head
in his hand. This brought her eyes straight to his bulging bicep, and she had
to swallow hard and force her eyes back to his. They were smoldering purple. He
had caught her staring at his body again, she really had to work on maintaining
eye contact!
    “I am ruler because my genetic line has always been so. It is hard to
explain, but the history tells us that the first years were very chaotic. There
are creatures on this planet that are dangerous, and men were lost to them.
There was disease and in fighting and men were lost to that. My genetic line
was more… aggressive you might say. It was decided that my line
would rule. My brothers and I are “descendents” of the strongest among the
military arm of the survivors. They were allowed to do the mission together,
because as I said they were more aggressive and would not take no for an
answer.” He shifted again, “You have met Kneus and Knollig. Knaleg is forever
away exploring the land around Terraneu, and was just returning for the council
meeting.”
    Kniam continued, “Before you ask, the council was formed to provide
checks and balances. It has been such since the original fathers time.” He
paused as if in thought, his brow furrowed for a second then cleared, “Kneus
wants to know if Earth humans are all covered in that disgust…” Kniam stopped
and cleared his throat, “I mean fur. That strange fur.”
    “What?” Amber was confused for a second and then laughed, “My clothes?
The covering you thought was fur is called clothing on Earth. The temperature
where I was visiting was really cold, so I put on an additional layer of
clothing to protect my skin. Like you wear those vests, pants and boots…on
Earth we have additional clothing we wear depending on the climate.”
    ”I need to know everything about you and where you come from, little
Amber.”
    He had stressed the words “aggressive” and “decided”
and she thought back to when he had called for silence. The others had bowed to
him in…respect? Submission? Just how aggressive was Kniam? She swallowed hard,
maybe instead of excited by him, she should be a little worried and cautious.
    She fought for control of her thoughts, “Everything? That is a lot to
cover. There isn’t much to say about me…but the planet I come from has a long
history. Or at least I used to think so.” He raised an eyebrow, so she sighed,
laying on her side facing Kniam, she just started talking, “My favorite color
is purple, I am a Sagittarius and I love long walks on the beach and
chocolate…” At his questioning look she sighed, “It was an attempt at humor. I
guess I start at the beginning…”
    She talked…shifted to get more comfortable, and talked. Sat up to stretch
her back, and talked. She told him everything from every history, science and
life lesson she could remember. When she got to the part about reproduction,
females and babies he asked a million questions, and she answered them as best
she could. It felt like she had talked for hours, and from how scratchy her
throat felt it probably had been.
    “May I please have some water or something? My mouth is really getting
dry.” She paused in some story she had been telling, and gestured with a hand
against her throat. Kniam jumped gracefully from the table and was walking
around his bed when the doors suddenly opened.
    She swung her gaze