Gather The Children (Chronicles of the Maca Book 2) (19 page)

“I am nay thinking of myself. What of Mina, or for that matter, young James? Did ye wish to see them harmed?” His voice grew louder.

Lorenz had been listening to their exchange in wonder, but now he protested. “Y'all leave her alone. Ah wouldn't hurt Mina or James. Ah'd wait till he growed up.”

MacDonald looked at Lorenz, his voice harsh. “Laddie, be still a wee bit longer.” He swung his gaze back to his wife. “Ye may as well speak in English as I believe he has kenned every word ye have said.”

Anna closed her eyes and moaned. Then she blinked them open, her face hard. “I did not vant him to be like his father and murder his own.”

“He already has his fither's abilities. Ye canna stop him from using his mind.” MacDonald half shouted. “I can, however, teach him to use it correctly.”

“I vill not have du talking in your minds in my house. It vill be outside.” Anna was not shouting but her voice was as hard as her face.

MacDonald took a deep breath. “Thank ye, my love.” He turned his attention back to Lorenz. “And so, ye have tried walking in your mither's mind. Can ye tell me what happened when ye did?”

Lorenz wasn't sure where this was leading except to be a reason to tell him to leave. His mother hadn't relaxed her grip on his hand. It was like she was afraid he would run if she did. His looking at either face wasn't telling him much except that both were in a contentious mood. He was in a world of shit and it looked like it didn't matter whether he told the truth or lied. He decided to try truth. “It was like she slammed a door, and I ran straight into it.”

MacDonald gave one of his tight smiles. “And what happened when ye tried to walk in my mind?”

“Sometimes nothin', sometimes I'd see things, and other times it was like just grey clouds.”

MacDonald's eyes widened. “Ye surprise me, laddie. I shall pay more attention to what ye are doing. Now, one more thing, just why did ye run after yesterday and calling yereself a bear cub, or twas it something ye planned all along?”

Once more, Lorenz tried looking at both faces, but MacDonald's was still hard and Mama was not smiling. “Dunno,” he muttered. Why didn't MacDonald just knock him down or tell him to get? What were all the questions for? And how did he tell him that?”

“I dinna believe ye,” said MacDonald. “They may be wrong, or they may be devious, but ye have reasons for what ye do.”

Lorenz looked straight at him and decided to hell with it. He might as well get the whole thing over with. “Ah can't tell y'all with Mama standin' right there.”

“Then show me in your mind.”

Lorenz brought up the scene and glared at MacDonald. “I wasn't waitin' for that to happen. I'd thought y'all was different. It was all a lie.” Bitterness laced through Lorenz's words.

MacDonald stepped back as though hit. “Ye Gods, laddie. Ye have it all wrong. Did this nay happen when ye did something for a man to be proud of?”

“Yeah, that's what made it so dirty.”

MacDonald shook his head. “Anna, please tell Lorenz what language ye think in.”

Anna unfolded her lips which had been pursed in disapproval and answered, “Deutsch.”

“Aye, yere mither thinks in German because twas her first language. Once she has formed her thoughts, she must put the words into English. So tis with me. Whilst my language tis very similar to English, my customs differ. First I think of the customs of my land and then use the customs of this land.”

“That ain't making any sense. Y'all had your hand on me. Are y'all tellin' me they do things like that in Scotland?”

“And when did I say I twas from Scotland?”

“Well, y'all didn't, but Martin said folks there talk like y'all.”

MacDonald's half-smile was back. “Laddie, if there tis anyone from Scotland near me, I keep my mouth shut, or run in the opposite direction. Should they ere hear me speak, they would ken I twas nay born there and they would ask questions.”

“That don't change nothin'.”

“Laddie, in my land, we dinna use the word adoption. We use the word, claiming. Because of my position, ere I could claim ye as part of my House, I would need to go before the Guardians of the Realm and request their permission. If the Guardians and their Counselors agree, then permission tis granted, and ye would become part of my House with all the rights of someone from the House of Don, but first, ye must go through the Claiming Rite.”

“On a given date, we would both appear before the Guardians, and we would both be nude neath our capes. We would then stand before the Guardians, remove our capes and the ceremony would begin. I would put my hand on ye and claim yere seed for my House, and ye would put yere hand on me and claim my seed as yere own. Tis very moving.”

Anna gasped. Lorenz shook his head in disbelief. “People are watchin?”

“Aye, but the Guardians of the Realm nay rule here so we must abide by this land's laws. To change yere name to mine and give ye the rights of inheritance, we must go before a Judge and have him say that ye are Lorenz MacDonald, but when I think of ye as my own, I think in my own way. As long as we live here, I must go by yere laws as mine have nay legality.”

“Where y'all from?” Lorenz half whispered the question. He had seen enough in MacDonald's mind to know that wherever the land, it was frightening; somehow more frightening than watching a man slow skin another.

MacDonald straightened and gave a bow. “I am Llewellyn, Maca of Don, from the planet Thalia. We, that tis my world, were overrun by forces from the planet of yere biological fither. That however tis a very long tale, far longer than the one I told last night, and there were a few discrepancies in the telling.”

“Is that why y'all told that story? Hell, y'all don't think ah'm goin' to believe people fly?” He swung his free hand upward.

A huge smile lit MacDonald's face. “We more than fly, laddie. We go betwixt stars. Yere mither has seen the
Golden One
that I came in, and she can attest to its existence.”

Anna nodded her head when Lorenz glanced at her. “I don't believe it.”

“Then ye need to go with me and see what I am speaking about. Ye can touch it, and ye twill be able to see and hear. Tis a far better way to learn. Do ye agree, my counselor?”

Anna's face had relaxed, but she was not in total agreement. In German, she said, “It puts you at risk.”

MacDonald smiled at her. “Ye might as well speak in English,” he reminded her. “Nay, I dinna believe the laddie twill betray me.” He looked at Lorenz and said, “Ye twill nay betray me when ye find fault only with the flying and nay the two hearts.”

The flush and denial vanished from Lorenz's face and he considered. Did MacDonald know? Had Mama told him, and if so why? Had MacDonald known he was a freak all this time? In desperation he looked at his mother. Why wasn't she saying something, or did she feel there was nothing to say?

The smile on MacDonald's face wasn't exactly a leer, but his eyes narrowed as he reached up and loosened the buttons of his shirt and underwear, exposing the broad, hairless chest.

“Listen, if ye dare.”

This was a different challenge, and an unexpected one. He had not wanted to be that close to the man, but curiosity overrode his reluctance and he stepped nearer, sucked his breath in, removed his hat, and laid his ear against the chest. It was unmistakable: two hearts were beating inside.

His world spun and he forgot his fear, and leaned against MacDonald. Years of being called a freak, or the people in camp making a cross at the sight of him weakened his resolve. This man knew, he could understand and help him, and no one, no man, he knew could take MacDonald down.

He knew from the words that had been said, it couldn't be, but he had to ask. He looked up at the man and choked out, partially in desperation, hoping it would be true, “Are you my pa?”

“Nay, laddie. He tis a Justine by the name of Toma. He took the name Thomas Lawrence in this land. His kin did nay ken where he journeyed, and after my mither destroyed their planet and killed most of the Justines, they needed him back to replenish their shrunken gene pool.” Laughter edged his words. “For all their genius, cloning, duplicating a perfect Justine tis nay possible, and they are even slower than Thalians to reproduce.”

Lorenz felt his world swaying. MacDonald was running his hand up and down Lorenz's back and he was smiling gently. Lorenz could feel the tension building inside, the nerves in his right thigh twitching, and sensations he could not understand scraping at his mind.

“'Tis all right, laddie. Ye twill ken in time.” He ruffled Lorenz's hair and took the hat from Lorenz's hand and placed it on Lorenz's head. “Now tis time we stilled the lowing of that cow and feed the stock whilst yere mither makes us a fine breakfast.” He smiled in his satisfied way. “And put that damned belt back on and get the buckets. I'll attend to yere beastie.”

Lorenz pulled in a lungful of air as the crises had passed, and blurted out, “Uh,” he began tentatively, “y'all forgot about that weapon up on my saddle, and I, well, I took this too.” He dug out a small pocket knife and held it out.

MacDonald looked down at the knife and chuckled. “Dinna tell me ye twere about to attack me with that. Keep it. Ye may need it sometime.” He turned, took Dandy's reins, and headed towards the barn.

Anna leaned over and kissed Lorenz's cheek. “Come, there's vork to do.”

It was a fine morning for riding and they covered the distance to the nearby foothills in less than two hours. It took another thirty minutes or so to ride up into the flat area back against one of the rocky up thrusts. Lorenz was surprised to find the ground almost barren of grass, chaparral, or trees. They left the horses in the shade of the one remaining tree. The rock rose in the form of a small mountain. MacDonald stopped at the side a huge boulder. At either side of the boulder, mountain laurel fought to survive and small trees struggled for a foothold in the rock. Mostly it looked like the vegetation had lost.

MacDonald braced his back against the boulder, set his legs, and pushed. His face began to flush, but gradually the boulder moved, scattering small rocks and dust in its wake as the opening to a wide cavern spewed out musty air.

“Now we hoof it,” he announced.

The interior was cooler and the earth smell hung in the air. Several feet into the cave, MacDonald moved a rock from a ledge and extracted an implement. Lorenz couldn't see what it was until suddenly a beam of light flowed out from the front of it.

“What the hell is that?”

“Tis a small lowe for seeing our way. It works like a torch.”

This was something new to puzzle on. It was no torch he had ever seen. There was no lit smoking end and no smell of oil or wood. Lorenz considered asking for the thing in MacDonald's fist, and thought the better of it. He was in awe of the thing. They walked down a wide, sloping ramp that looked like it had been gouged out to create a tunnel large enough to for two trains to pass through, but where had the debris gone? There were no huge piles of dirt outside and yet, this could be no natural thing. The earth and air seemed to close around him, and he stifled an urge to turn and run. He wouldn't let this man think him a coward.

They kept walking downward, drawing ever closer to some dim light. They finally hit level ground and entered an immense chamber filled with golden light. MacDonald pointed at the huge golden shape. “There she tis, the craft that brought me from the current Justine home to this world. What do ye think?”

Lorenz was speechless, his grey eyes were large and he almost forgot to breathe. Like MacDonald, this thing, this machine was totally alien at first sight. It also glowed in the darkness with an intensity that belied its underground existence. MacDonald threw his arm around Lorenz's shoulders and walked him closer the machine.

“Mama's seen this thing and been in it?”

“Aye.”

“She's one gutsy woman.”

“She tis a magnificent woman,” he agreed. “Ere we enter, I shall tell ye a bit more of my tale.” His voice, low and rumbling, filled the space left in the cavern. “The story I told two nights ago twas mainly true, but embellished for the wee one. There twas nay love affair betwixt a warrior Princess and a warrior Prince. My people twere threatened by the Justines and their Kreppie allies. We massed an attack against them. We thought it would be a surprise, but they twere waiting for us in their
Golden One
s. We had over five hundred crafts. They twere nay as large as this craft, but they twere sufficient to carry almost a million of our people. Too many Thalians died that day, and my mither and elder (ye twould say uncle) twere captured.”

“The Justines used their medics to wither my elder's right arm and take his seed. Twas a huge tragedy as he and his counselor had nay wee ones yet, and the current Maca of Don, though eld, had insisted on being with the fleet and his ship disintegrated under the Justine attack My elder fither (grandfither to ye) and his counselor, my elder mither (grandmither) went down with him That meant that the new Maca must come from my mither or my elder, her brither.”

“Since the House of Don tis a warrior class and fought the Justines bitterly, the Justines decided to remove my mither to a place of exile where she could nay ever mingle with Thalians again. They kenned that she twas a far more dangerous opponent than her brither.” Lorenz felt dizzy. Some quality of the man's voice seemed to scrape at every nerve ending in his body.

“The Justines fear the sexuality of the Thalians, so they used eight Kreppies as her guards and their eldest Justine to oversee Mither at a compound on a far asteroid. In their wisdom they felt this would contain Mither.” A low chuckle came for the huge throat. “It did nay.”

“In his loneliness, the Justine began to show Mither the workings of the
Golden One
on the Justine premise that an inferior race could nay learn to pilot it. Whilst he taught her, he twas nigh her. The Justines's fear of our sexual abilities tis correct. Eld as he twas, the Justine found himself in bed with Mither. Somehow she convinced him how much better it would be if he twere young once more. He took the draught that all Justines take to repair the ravages of age.” MacDonald looked at Lorenz and smiled. “If I am nay wrong, tis something that ye and I shall be able to do, but I digress.”

“The Justine was indeed young again, but since he twas pass the age of safe rejuvenation, it weakened him physically and mentally. Whilst on the
Golden One
, away from the prying eyes of the Kreppies, Mither bedded him. When he collapsed on her in his completion, she snapped his neck.”

“She killed him?” Lorenz was awed.

“Oh, aye, that she did. She then started the
Golden One
and destroyed the asteroid and all that twas on it. Her plan twas simple; practice until she had total control over the craft, and then destroy the last of the Justines. Twas whilst she learned to maneuver the
Golden One
that it became apparent that she twas pregnant.”

“To shorten, this tale, I twill condense the rest. She managed to continue learning and to birth me. She also evaded the Kreppie ships around Thalia and left me and a crystal with a trusted friend. 'Tell my brither to use his head when ye give him my wee one,' were her instructions. She then flew the
Golden One
into the Justine home world, destroying all that dwelt there and herself, as there twas nay a second craft as in last night's tale.”

“For awhile this eased the restrictions on our world and that of our allies, the Brendons, and gave Mither's friend the opportunity to give me and the crystal to my elder and his counselor. My elder did use his head. He claimed I twas child of one our relatives reduced to poverty due to the occupation. Twas our misfortune that the Justines were able to regroup by calling in all the Justines from the other planets they administered and occupied a large asteroid that had served as a gathering place for the Justine League to meet with the other worlds without the inferior beings coming to their now gone world. Their rule over Thalia and Brendon grew harsher as they employed the Kreppies as their enforcers of Justine dictums. They deemed this necessary after a Justine died in the mines of Thalia's Ayran.”

“My elder, Lamar and his counselor Beatrice, Lass of Betron, provided a safe haven of love and learning. When I reached the age of twenty I did nay have my full height, but I twas nearing the age for the first bedding. This could nay be arranged without revealing my heritage. Like the young here, I twas ready to rebel against authority and did so by challenging for a bedding in the arena.” A swift smile came over his face. “I challenged the daughter of the Guardian of the Realm and won.”

“Y'all fought a woman?”

“Aye, that tis our way, however, the Justines had instituted the rule of the Sisterhood which tis meant to castrate the males of Thalia. They truly fear us. Beauty, the lass I fought insisted I be scanned for drugs. They discovered my two hearts. I did nay even get to bed her.” Bitterness laced through his voice. “And they sent me to the new Justine world to remain under their keep. I twas nay allowed to mingle with Thalians again, nay have I seen my elder since.” Granite lines etched his face as his voice hardened.

“How did y'all get away?”

“When I neared fifty-five, Ricca kenned that I too could walk in minds and communicate without speaking. The Justines nay believe this possible in a mutant. That tis what they call someone born of two different species, and twill call ye the same.”

“To give them credit, they had continued my education and Ricca taught me to use my mind correctly, or I might have killed their Kreppie attendants. Thalians reach their maturity between thirty and thirty-five, although we continue to build muscle mass until we are about one hundred or more.”

Lorenz's face was a study of disbelief and yet, he knew this was a true telling, but he couldn't imagine anyone larger than the man standing beside him.

“There had nay been a birthing in the Justine remnants since they lost their planet. They decided that they needed another, younger Justine. They launched a search party for Toma, yere biological fither. The searchers consisted of one adult Justine, six Kreppies, and they included me. Instinct told me this twas but a ploy to remove me to some far planet where I would nay be a testament to how wrong their biological science tis. Since I should nay exist, there nay ere could be a child from my beddings. They twere so certain of their own scientific beliefs that they did nay even test my seed. Ere we wed, I had told yere mither, there would be nay wee ones.” The thought of Mina brought a smile to his face.

“They just left y'all here?”

“Nay. When this planet appeared on the viewers, Ricca, the Justine, did a search for an area that may possess people of like physical appearance. Scotland and Ireland have more red-heads than elsewhere so Ricca took me as a servant and left the
Golden One
behind the dark of the moon.”

“The Justine was my sole teacher on the journey, but it came in spurts. I twas about sixty-four years of age when we first went to Ireland. It twas in the year of 1842 for this planet's reckoning and there twas a great hunger in the land. Ricca foolishly went into the countryside, taking me along. A mob bent on securing food came at us. He and I had discovered our minds could nay penetrate into the minds of some of this land's people. He could nay control the mob. Ricca stood there as a superior being, pointing his finger at the oncoming men, sending out his mental command to halt. They killed him.”

“What did y'all do?

MacDonald glanced down, a look of mild surprise on his face at the question. “I lifted my heels and ran. Do I look like a fool?”

Lorenz forgot that he was several feet underground, standing by a machine that couldn't exist, listening to a life story beyond belief, and smiled, his grey eyes sparkling.

“No, sir, y'all don't.”

MacDonald smiled at Lorenz. “Tis now time to enter the craft. Have ye figured out how we twill do that?”

Lorenz shook his head, a head that was swimming with a tale more bizarre than any he could ever imagine, but there was one thing he had to know. “How many people died?”

“When? Where?”

“When your maw-mother blew up the other place.”

“Oh, there twas about one million Justines living there. As I said, they are an eld race, and their births few.” He smiled with a certain satisfaction. “Do ye have any more questions ere we go into the craft?”

Lorenz shook his head no. He did have more questions, like how did MacDonald get this machine and get rid of the Kreppies, but wasn't sure how to ask. At least his breathing was steady and he hadn't panicked.

“This tis how we open it,” and MacDonald laid his hand on the side of the golden metal. What appeared to be seamless now rolled back. A huge bay area opened as a wide ramp settled to the ground.

“Can I do that?”

“Nay, it does nay ken ye, but we twill change that in time.” He led the way up the ramp. Once they were inside, he leaned over and touched a panel. The entire area lighted and the ramp rolled up and the panel slid shut. Lorenz whirled and faced where the opening had been, panic clawing at his throat and guts. He swallowed it down, forcing his breathing to remain even. Behind him the big man chuckled.

“Now we are safe even though someone should discover the cave opening.”

MacDonald pointed to two smaller golden crafts and another piece of machinery that Lorenz could figure no earthly use for, but it was imposing in its height and girth. “There are the machines I used to create this haven. The smallest one can be used to take us out the opening of the cave and up into the atmosphere. There ye may look down on this earth. Neither of them, however have enough power to carry us back to my world. For that we would need this one, but I canna navigate the stars.”

Wonderment filled Lorenz's eyesasas he looked at him. “Y'all would take me up sometime, to see what it's like?”

MacDonald's smile widened. “Oh, aye, that I twill.” He led the way toward one of the walls. “We twill take the lift up to the captain's center, and I twill show ye a bit more of the craft, let ye listen to the history of my universe, and then I twill take a decent cleansing.”

Lorenz followed in silence. At least he hadn't threatened to make him bath again. His curiosity and sense of wonder increased at every step. The place was cool with air coming from somewhere, and the golden walls and light blue walkways seemed to glow. He sensed no danger, but this place was unlike anything that he had words to describe. “It's big,” was totally inadequate. The panic increased when the small room they entered slid a door shut behind them. He felt trapped. Was this some sort of cage? MacDonald was not concerned. He pushed a panel that Lorenz had missed seeing, and an almost inaudible hum filled his brain.

“We are going up to the top floor. This craft tis as high as a three or four story home. The lower tis for storage, the middle contains the medical and horticulture areas, the latter means vegetation for cleansing the air we are breathing, and the mechanical means of supplying the air, food, and energy to sustain the craft and life. The upper floor tis for the guidance system of the craft and contains the quarters for the crew.” MacDonald touched one finger to the panel again, and the door slid open.

“How does it do that?”

“Tis run by an energy current. Yere world tis just now beginning to learn its ways, and the energy tis called electricity.” MacDonald was moving with ease, a powerful body moving around the strange craft with complete confidence in his abilities. He swept his arm outward, pointing directly in front of where they entered. “There, at the front, ye can see what tis their type of desk and chair. That tis the commander's chair, and tis where ye can look outward and see all about. The screens set as 'windows' show information on your surroundings and yere capabilities. Ye can set course to where ye go and issue commands to take out any obstacle, if ye ken the math.”