Authors: Aana Celestya
“Oh hell!” Joanne cried, gripped by panic. The security drones were flying round them like buzzards and more shudders ran through the travel orb.
The ship couldn’t last much longer under this bombardment and soon it would all be over. She kicked herself for running away. She didn’t want to die but she couldn’t have let Tamas force her to do what he wanted to her. It didn’t matter now though. She was doomed and nothing was going to save her.
All of a sudden a golden streak appeared on the monitor. She jumped to her feet when she realised it was Pero. The little sylph was surrounded by a fiery power and was shooting out bolts of energy at the security drones, incinerating them as he went along.
He twisted round and flew toward the travel orb and shot out a net of golden light from his hands that enveloped the vessel. It shuddered again and turning his back to them Pero started to pull the orb back towards Prism Star’s central sphere.
Joanne sat back down, unsure whether to laugh and cry. Now that she was facing the prospect of seeing Tamas again, she wondered whether being destroyed by the security drones would have been preferable.
Chapter
5
: Love On The Savannah
“I don’t understand!” Tamas moaned. “Why would she run away like that? I was going to give her the time of her life!”
“I’m not sure she sees it that way,” Pero replied dryly. “It might have helped if you’d gained her consent.”
“She wants me!” Tamas retorted. “It’s obvious! Why would she run away?”
“Well, when she wakes up, you can ask her,” Pero said, “though I have a feeling you won’t like the answer.”
“Oh shut up!” huffed Tamas stomping over to the drinks cabinet. It had been an hour since Joanne had nearly been destroyed in her escape attempt, and Tamas was still reeling with shock. He couldn’t believe that he’d almost lost her, and just the thought of it shook him to the core.
Joanne herself had been near hysterical when she got back into the central hub and Pero had given her a shot of sedative spray to calm her down. She was now back in her quarters sleeping off her ordeal.
He poured himself a large goblet of wine and knocked it back in one swallow, letting the alcohol soothe him. It didn’t work. “And you Circe!” he thundered, “How could you allow her to get off Prism Star in the first place?”
“I apologise profusely, my prince,” the AI said in a flat voice. “There must have been a glitch in the mainframe that activated the travel orb. I have corrected the error now.”
“That doesn’t help matters!” Tamas fumed. “Joanne could have died!”
“As I say, I am sorry. It was an unfortunate oversight,” Circe replied emotionlessly.
“Oh, get out!” Tamas snapped.
The AI bowed and slipped out of existence. Pero gave him a sympathetic look. “You’ve really fallen for her, haven’t you?”
“She’s all I ever think about,” Tamas said glumly. “I really wanted to make her happy. She was so beautiful and care free at the festivities, I really thought she wanted me.”
“She still might, but you’re going about it in the wrong way,” Pero said.
“You have to remember that she was snatched from her planet and brought here to a place that she can only begin to comprehend and told that she is destined to be the love mate of an intergalactic prince. It was a lot of information to process, and trying to rush things only made her panic.”
“But I want her!” Tamas whined.
“She wants me too, if I could only convince her. You do know Kordo is absolutely loving all this, don’t you? If I’m not careful, he may try and claim her for his own. If she doesn’t officially accept me as her love mate he is well within his rights to take her off me, and I couldn’t bear that.”
“Then you must try a different approach,” replied Pero.
Tamas scowled at him. “Like what? Isn’t my personality and body enough for her?”
“It’s clear that Joanne is as stubborn as you and doesn’t like to be rushed into things. You need to take your time, convince her you are what she needs.
More importantly, listen to what she has to say and value her. Take it slowly and you might just win her round.”
“But I want her now!”
“The more you try and force her the more she’ll resist, I’m afraid,” Pero said plainly. “It’s your choice.”
“Very well,” grumbled Tamas, “but how am I supposed to go about all this? What do I say to her?”
“You’ll figure something out,” the sylph replied, smiling at him.
* * *
After Joanne had awoken and bathed herself in the golden light, she dressed in the summery lemon coloured dress and black pumps she’d been provided and was escorted by Pero to a large chamber with a portal that connected to one of the multi-coloured tubes.
Tamas was waiting for them, now dressed in his familiar blue outfit. He looked edgy and kept his eyes fixed on the floor.
“Ah, here we all are,” Pero said in a cheerful voice. “A little worse for wear after last night’s excursions but let’s not dwell on that.”
His words settled on an awkward silence, and after a while Tamas glanced up at Joanne. “Hello,” he said in a subdued voice.
“Hi,” Joanne said coldly, wary of what might happen next. She had realised last night that she was utterly at the mercy of this man and was completely trapped.
“Now, now, no need for strained relations,” Pero went on. “I think Tamas has something to say to you, Joanne.”
Joanne arched an eyebrow and waited. Looking down at his clasped hands, Tamas cleared his throat.
“I want to apologise for last night,” he said with great difficultly. “I behaved badly. Things got out of hand, and I promise it won’t ever happen again.”
Despite her better judgement, the girl was impressed by what sounded like a sincere apology. By rights, she should give him hell for what happened and for the fact that she almost died as a result of his savage actions, but he looked so miserable and downcast she didn’t have the heart to be merciless.
“Okay, thanks,” she said in a neutral voice. “We were both a little out of it last night. Apology accepted.”
Tamas looked up at her and a glimmer of his cocky boyishness returned to his eyes. “That’s brilliant. We’re friends again.”
“I wouldn’t go that far,” Joanne said warningly. “You just better keep your hands, and everything else, to yourself from now on.”
Tamas flinched at her words and scowled. He opened his mouth to say something but Pero beat him to it. “Now that harmony is returned, Tamas also has something else he wants to say, he has a proposition.”
Joanne gave them both a dubious look. “What proposition?” she asked, on high alert again.
When Tamas didn’t say anything else, Pero nudged him. “Go on.”
Tamas bit his lip. “As I told you before Prism Star travels from universe to universe. We will be shortly leaving this solar system and may not return for several thousands years.”
“That’s a shame,” Joanne drawled. “Don’t forget to text.”
“Just listen for a minute, will you? We will be leaving in roughly three weeks by Earth reckoning and in that time I want to convince you that you are my true love mate.
I want us to spend time together and you can get to know me. It’ll be perfectly above board and I won’t make any moves on you. I just want you to get to see the real me. After the three weeks are up you are free to either return to Earth or stay here on Prism Star. What do you say?”
“Three weeks, huh?” Joanne said. “I’m not sure I could do that without killing you.”
“Alternately you may stay in your quarters for the remaining three weeks and then return before we teleport out of this universe. In that time you will not see Tamas ever again,” Pero cut in when Tamas started to go red.
Joanne thought about it. She should stay in her quarters and get away when she could, but there was something about Tamas’ offer that was too tempting to resist and she wasn’t sure she was ready to break all contact with him.
Her heart thudded in her chest and she had to work up her courage before she made her decision.
“Okay,” she said. “I’ll spend three weeks with you Tamas. But you promise I can go back to Earth afterwards?”
“You have my word,” Tamas said, a wide grin spreading across his face. “I’m so pleased Joanne! You won’t regret this!”
“I already am,” Joanne said drolly.
* * *
The vast savannah spread out beneath her feet like a carpet of purple and gold. The sky above was a lustrous cerise and warm lavender scented breeze caressed her face.
In the distance, a white spiral tower rose up with majestic grandeur, framed by the golden light of the midday sun. Stood at the entrance of the portal, Joanne drank in the beauty of the scenery, lost for words.
Next to her, Tamas beamed with pleasure. “You like it?” he asked hopefully.
“I love it,” Joanne said with genuine feeling. “This is the most amazing place I’ve ever since in my life.”
“Pero said that you would like the Gilded Savannah,” Tamas said happily. “This is my favourite sub-world aboard Prism Star. I come here when I want peace and quiet.”
Joanne nodded and looked back at the scenery again. After she had agreed to spend the next three weeks with the prince, they had entered the portal and travelled down the multi-coloured tube in some kind of silver chariot to the pyramid connected to the end of the tube.
Tamas had explained that each of the pyramids that were connected to the central sphere were self-contained biome worlds created for the use and pleasure of the Raadians.
The tubes themselves that linked the pyramids together were also habitable, and Joanne had seen vast jungles, mountains, oceans, alongside picturesque villages and towns inside the tube they had travelled down to reach the savannah.
It was this amazing journey and its equally amazing destination that made her realise how utterly fantastic Prism Star truly was.
“The technology that created all this,” she began, waving an expansive hand around it, “it’s beyond comprehension. It’s god-like. I can barely take it in. The Raadians are as advanced as you claim. I’m sorry I was so down on you.”
“Don’t be, I was being an arrogant jerk,” Tamas replied.
“I was so desperate to impress you I couldn’t help but boast about Prism Star. As a matter of fact, the Raadians aren’t solely responsible for all this.”
“Oh? Who helped you?”
“After we went into hiding, my people were ravaged by a deadly plague,” Tamas said.
“Our scientists could find no cure and we were close to extinction. Then, a race called the Pleiadians found out about our distress and offered us the technology to upgrade our minds and bodies.
The super advanced AI and nanotechnology made us into what we are today, beings that never get sick or age. That was over two hundred years ago. I was just a child and my parents died from the plague before we could implement the technology the Pleiadians provided for us.”
Tamas trailed off and gazed out at the savannah. Joanne’s heart went out to him. “You’re an orphan, just like me,” she said thoughtfully, “and you’re . . . over two hundred years old?”
“We never age or die and our bodies can be repaired and recycled if they suffer damage,” Tamas explained. “You could be like us if you decide to stay.”
Joanne tried to comprehend the significance of all this. “I’m not sure I want to be immortal,” she said at length. “I might get really bored not having anything to struggle against.”
“That’s just your stubborn streak talking,” Tamas replied. “I’m stubborn too. Always have been always will be.”
“I think it must be an orphan thing,” Joanne replied. “I lost my parents when I was three. They died in a car accident. Since then, I’ve always relied on myself. I learnt a long time ago you can’t trust anyone fully. They always let you down, even if they don’t mean it.”
“I won’t let you down,” Tamas said firmly. “If you stayed there would be plenty of things to focus on. You could explore the universes with me and map them, search for new stars and worlds. It could be so wonderful.”
Joanne looked at him, unable to deny she was tempted. “I can’t decide now,” she said. “I need to think about it.”
Tamas nodded. In the distance a sleek, jaguar like creature with glittering silver skin ran across the plain. Joanne stared at it in wonder.
“So beautiful,” she gasped. “What is it?”
“A solan cat,” Tamas said. “They are native here. Don’t worry, they’re not dangerous.”
“They’re so magnificent,” Joanne said with feeling. “So free. I’d love to just run across these plains the way it does.”
“You can do so,” Tamas replied brightly.
“What?”
“We can do anything here, remember?” he said. “Even transform into solan cats.”
As Joanne stared at him his body shimmered and he suddenly turned into an identical copy of the animal out on the savannah.
“You see?” the cat said using Tamas’ voice. “Merely concentrate on changing your shape and the nano-crobes in the air will do the rest.”
Joanne frowned, dubious at his assertion, but she did as he instructed. She pictured herself turning into a solan cat. Nothing happened for a few moments then with a lurch she felt her whole body change. She went down on all fours and suddenly found she had large, silver furred paws.
“Whoa! This is incredible!” she gasped. “I can’t believe it!”
Tamas padded over to her and rubbed her nose with his. “That tower over there, it’s my residence here. I’ll race you to it, if you think you can keep up with me.”
“Keep up with you? I’ll leave you behind in the dust!” Joanne yelled, overcome with joy.