The Farradae --Alien Blood

In my upcoming release Alien Blood my couple Gema and Kellac find out the wilderness planet they have been on actually has a settlement. A ship called the Farradae made an emergency landing there about two hundred years ago. Mixed ancestry colonists--Terrans and the humanoid Zh Cle' from the Zh Cle' Reservation Worlds carved a settlement out on the isolated planet.


And it is lovely. White sand beaches, clear aqua green water. Graceful homes made for beauty as well as practicality.

 Lorl is one of the secondary characters in Alien Blood. She is from Toph, a high tech world with a PureGen Constitution. Only Lab perfected humans can be citizens. Lorl has rarely even interacted with normal humans of Terran descent, let alone the alien humanoid Zh Cle' (pronounced zhuh clay').

Here is a tiny snippet from Lorl's point of view.


Lorl sat on the periphery of the city square, her son on her lap. A cool ocean breeze wafted their faces, hot in the afternoon sun. Lorl gave Ulric another sip from the mug of fruit tea, which he gulped down in appreciation. This was so much better than the camp at the dark lake. Even being around people with shiny hard wing covers and tails with hidden barbs wasn't making her hyperventilate like the swarms of biting insects and that awful rotting smell that came from the marshy land around that lake.

The forest beyond the city was odd. It scared her. She didn't like wilderness, especially alien wilderness. She kept her gaze on the village, beach and sea beyond.

Her country men had lied--they had lied about the planet being free of inhabitants, and they had claimed the planet was a Seeded world, with flora and fauna similar to Terra. The northern continent was Seeded, it seemed. But this area was alien. Overly large trees, neon bright flowers, eerie animal calls. She'd heard people actually lived in that bizarre forest. It was hard to believe.

 

She hugged Ulric a little closer. What those first families must have experienced, alone in that wild strange forest, trying to keep their little ones safe.

Lorl needed to keep her little ones safe. She had stood before the Grandmother's Circle this morning, and asked for refuge, for herself, Ulric and the two children still asleep in stasis tubes. Her homeworld was devastated by war, she had no funds for travel to a safe place. That left New Prague, with its domes, mining and poisonous spores. Kellac said she could probably find work in the mining district. It didn't sound like a nice place to be a single mother, though. She was hesitant to accept Kellac's view of New Prague because he came from its wealthiest family. She'd be just another mining contract worker.


The Grandmother's had offered her a position as a cook in the communal meal room, with a snug little house. She might also teach mathematics to their older youth. Rivier would speak to her about that. She'd have all the necessities, plus this lovely location. It was her best option.


She shied away from thoughts about Rivier. With his brilliant green eyes and  bright red gold hair he was far more attractive than she expected any Zh Cle' to be. But what did she know about Zh Cle'?  The tales she'd been told on her homeworld didn't resemble this community at all.


 Kellac, Gema and Dooley would be surprised when they learned she was staying. But her little family would be safe here. Safety was more important than Pure Genetics. She was beginning to wonder if Pure Genetics had any real meaning at all.


They would live in that little white house with the arches and patio overlooking the sea. Her son would play in the sand and learn to sail those Farradae solar boats. Someday perhaps Toph would be at peace again and she could attempt to find her parents and sisters.


Considering the situation and the ugliness she'd allowed in her life, her future was better than she deserved.  If any grace of life was being bestowed on her--as the Grandmothers claimed-- it was due to the innocent children in her care.