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The Keeper

By

Diane Merlin

Raised in a monastic environment from the age of five, Taren dedicated his life to academic pursuits and honing his body for self-defense. Brilliant, ripped and clueless, Taren is the hope of his world. 

An awesome pilot, Ami Starnes can’t get her short-range probe to pull out of the rogue comet Keptec’s gravitational pull. Crashing on Barrus, her luck changes for the better when a calloused hand pulls her free from the wreckage. And so it begins:  a high-energy love affair woven amongst a tapestry of destruction, military takeover, and an intergalactic quest.

Strap down for an emotional, action packed ride with Taren and Ami as they work to save a planet, fight an evil war lord and discover for themselves that love is the only real treasure in the universe.

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EXCERPTS

The Keeper

By

Diane Merlin

Prologue

The ship was as ready as it could possibly get. Tuvold Riaghladair was an inspired leader, a talented pilot and a lousy mechanic. No one knew that better than he did. He prayed to the Maker of all that he’d make it back to Confederation air space.

“Is all prepared?” his mate asked.

Tuvold turned to look at her. Charisse. His life. Curly black hair that emphasized the paleness of her skin framed the delicate beauty of her face. “Yes, sweetheart. I was just coming to tell you goodbye.” He pulled her gently to his side, and together they walked back to the small cottage that was their home. A far cry from his palace residence on Shrike. Assuming he ever saw the Shrike Empire again?

By unspoken agreement, they walked to their son’s sleep pallet. The handsome boy slept peacefully, clutching the wooden sword Tuvold had carved for him. He wore his father’s face, but his mother’s coloring. And his quick mind was the best of both parents.

“I hate to leave,” Tuvold whispered against her ear.

“I know,” her voice broke.

“If there were any other way, I would never leave you. I’m just afraid my ship might not make it. I would gladly die for you, but I’m not brave enough to watch you die because of my ineptness.” He was a warrior, hardened from a life of intense training, yet he was gentle with her. “You are my life.”

“I know. Taren and I will be fine.” She turned and rested her cheek against his chest, wrapping her arms around his waist. “I’ve lived here all my life. There is no danger to us.”

Tuvold closed his eyes and willed himself not to cry in front of her. He knew danger was near, and he knew if he weren’t swift enough, his precious wife would be lost to him. Barrus was a primitive planet. Medicine here was little more than shaking rattles and chanting. Charisse would die if he didn’t get help for her soon. Daily she grew worse, though she refused to admit it.

“I’ve cut and stacked a large supply of peat for you. If you’re frugal, it should last quite a while. I’ve paid the butcher for meat to last six months, and the garden is planted so you should have vegetables.”

She smiled up at him. “You are such a good man, husband. You take care of your family even when we are capable of taking care of ourselves.”

He grunted. “Yeah. Well, you’re delicate, and our son is not yet four years old.”

Warming to her favorite subject, Charisse was quick to point out Taren’s good points. “Already he can trap and skin camur.”

That bold statement put a grin on his father’s face. “Yeah. He can. Of course, you can’t tell what you’ve got when he gets through hacking at the poor beast.”

“Never you mind. He gets better each time. He’s a very smart boy.”

“You’ll get no argument from me there.” They stood quietly, watching their son sleep. He was the most perfect expression of their love. Tuvold pulled Charisse against his body and laid his cheek against her hair. “Oh, beloved, I will miss you so.”

“And I you.”

“Don’t let my son forget me.”

She smiled against his chest. “Not likely. You’re all he talks about.”

Walking to the partitioned corner of the room that was their sleeping space, Tuvold brought out a cloth-wrapped object. Carefully he removed the cover to reveal an intricately carved box. He opened the lid, and Charisse gasped when she saw the medallion resting inside.

“If the Maker allows, I will be back. Nothing short of death could keep me from you. But on the outside chance that I don’t return, it is important that you keep this for Taren. I haven’t spoken much of my life before I came to Barrus, but our son has a birthright that will be secure as long as he has this medallion.”

She placed her fingertips against his lips. “No. Don’t say such. You will return.”

“If I survive, yes I will.”

“That is all I care about. I love you.”

“And I love you. But I can’t leave until you promise. This must be kept for our son.”

“Then I promise.” Silent tears coursed down her cheeks.

Tuvold wiped them away with his thumb. “Now don’t cry. I didn’t mean to upset you. You know I like to be prepared for any eventuality.”

“I know.” Her lips curved up. “It’s one of the many things that endear you to me.”

“Now kiss your husband goodbye.” Their kiss was filled with love and promise. “Come, walk me to the ship.”

Charisse watched as Tuvold entered his spacecraft then raised the ramp and closed the hatch. She didn’t know if he could see her from inside, so she smiled and waved and held her tears at bay until he lifted off and disappeared into the evening sky. Then she crumpled to the ground and cried out with the pain of her breaking heart, for she knew she’d never see her husband again. She’d be dead before he could return. Lately, the pain in her chest was much worse, and whenever she coughed, blood tinged the mucus she brought forth.

A small hand gently stroked her hair. “Don’t worry, mommy. I’ll take care of you.”

Clutching her son to her, she kissed him and rocked back and forth, singing their favorite song, “Bye-bye babe I’m going, far away I’m rowing, down to town to play around and won’t be back till morning.” Taren returned her caress and joined his sweet voice to hers.

Ami always covered her own ass. She’d learned that lesson from her big brother, Flynn, and it always held her in good stead. But sometimes being self-sufficient sucked. Like when you had to get up an hour early to do your own pre-flight check, even though the Oracle’s tech crew would do it for you.

“Hey, Starnes, a little early, aren’t you?” The on-duty maintenance tech greeted her with a wave of his greasy hand.

“Yeah. You know me. I’m a glutton for work.” The petite redhead was a bundle of energy.

“No. You just don’t trust me to do my job.” He stuck his head back into the engine weld he was working on.

“Nothing personal.” She yelled to be heard over the clanging noise he was making.

“Yeah, I know. You’re a pain in the butt to all the tech crew.” Speaking of butts, he peeked out to catch a glimpse of her backside as she headed for her ride.

Directing a rude gesture toward her shipmate, Ami boarded the two-man probe, Currie. She lost herself in dials, buttons and read-outs until the hatch opened, and a middle-aged man joined her. “So, Professor Clements, what’s it to be today?” she inquired.

“Cosmic observation, Miss Starnes.” His balding hair was parted just over his ear, the strands combed over in a vain attempt to cover his shiny head. “We’re going to get in as close as possible to the comet that’s entering the next solar system. It will pass near planet 9746-D, the fourth in the system. It appears to be on a rather elliptical orbit which brings it back through this system about every three hundred years, standard.”

“Um. Interesting.” Ami’s fingers flew over the keypad on the console.

“The planet has an oxygen/nitrogen atmosphere and supports a variety of life forms, including humanoid. It’s a pity.”

“Huh? Sorry, Professor, I was filing our flight intention with the bridge. What was that about a pity?”

“Well, with the comet passing so near, planet 9746-D will undoubtedly be decimated.”

“You mean blown away? Poof, out of existence?”

“Well, not completely as far as we can postulate. But the devastation would be widespread. You know, earthquakes, new mountain ranges, changing paths for rivers, that sort of thing.

“Anyway, that’s part of the reason we’re out to gather data today. More exact readings on the mass of the comet, its gravitational pull and its core content will help with the equation.” His enthusiasm was palpable.

Ami smiled, feeling her eyes twinkling. “Well, okay then, lets go.” She started her engines and turned to her passenger. “Buckle up, Professor.”

They left the ISE ship, Oracle, and headed toward the iridescent tail of the comet. Ami veered around the huge chunks of space debris that followed along in its wake. “You’re the boss. Where do you want to go?”

“Take us as close to the body of the comet as we can safely get.”

“You’ve got it.” Ami logged in a course and increased the little ship’s speed. A short time later, she reported, “Okay, Prof, we’re coming up on the comet. What have you got in mind?”

“I’d like to launch a robot to gather some information for us. Will we be able to hold a parallel position long enough for the drone to transmit the data back to us?”

“How long do you need?”

“Two or three hours, at least.”

“I think we can do that.”

“Excellent. And while it’s doing its thing, I’ll work on some equations I’ve been pondering.” Professor Clements plugged his personal computer into the jack provided in the ship’s panel.

“Good idea. I’m launching the drone now.” Ami set the automatic controls to keep the probe steady and stood up to stretch and work on the new compu-hydrater she was installing. A power surge had burned up the old one, and Ami spent too much time on the Currie to be without the means of whipping up a little snack.

She was head first in a mass of wires when the alarm sounding brought her back to reality. Glancing at the chronometer, she realized it had been over two hours since she began work. Disentangling herself, she moved to see what was wrong. Scanning the panel, Ami cursed. “Professor, the comet has a grip on us. I’m afraid we’re not going to be able to stay and wait for your data.”

“What do you mean? You said—”

“I know what I said, but this baby’s got quite a pull. It’s much stronger than I thought. Stronger than anything I’ve encountered. We’ve got to get out of here now if we’re ever going to.” She strapped herself back down and punched in the command to fire rockets. Nothing happened. She tried again. “Well, frek.”

The next order of business was to send out a distress call. The Oracle would be able to send out another ship and pull her free if she failed to break loose. Only the communications system refused to respond. Oh, that was perfect. Releasing her belt again, she dashed to the main electrical control box and rerouted all power except life support to the main thrusters. “Come on, sweetie. Don’t let me down. We girls have to stick together.”

“Excuse me, did you say something?”

“Nope. Just hold on.” She sent up a silent prayer and punched in the command for the thrusters to fire. Bingo. That was more like it. She banked sharply away from the comet and felt the pull give at last. “Yahoo! Here we go.” God, she loved this. Flying was her life.

Her euphoria was short-lived. The energy expended to get away from the comet used up most of her reserves. Going back to the power panel, she was dismayed to see the melted mass that had been the probe’s wiring. Taking a deep breath, Ami began to rewire for power to the communications center. It took hours for the melted wires to be sorted out, but at last, she did it. Fuel was critical, and she realized they were not going to make it back to the Oracle. “You said that fourth planet was habitable?”

“Well yes, but only for a short while. Then I’m afraid the comet will—”

“Yeah, yeah. We won’t be around then. I’m going to have to make an emergency landing, but I’m going to set the distress call on a loop so it will continually project. They’ll find us in short order. Okay?”

“Okay.”

Fate was a bitch. Just as they cleared the planet’s atmosphere, a huge chunk of the debris, which rode in the comet’s tail, impacted the probe and knocked them off her carefully calculated trajectory. All Ami could do was hang on to the steering mechanism for dear life. The emergency landing she’d planned had just turned into a crash landing.

* * * *

Taren surveyed his work with a sense of pride and accomplishment. It was a new experience for him. He’d spent his entire life studying how to do things without much practical application. Logs from trees he felled himself, now fortified the new wide entrance to the caverns. The reinforced door he’d created and hung with his own hands. He hadn’t bothered to design a lock. The daily rumblings as the comet drew ever nearer told him that soon there would be no one to challenge him for entrance. Besides, he was confident in his ability to keep the stronghold safe. He was a master of all weapons, his body itself a tool capable of destruction.

All he had to do now was wait.

According to the Elders’ predictions, the comet would take approximately eight months to pass through the solar system. He reckoned that eight weeks or so had gone by, the comet now readily visible in the daytime as well as at night, its size appearing to grow daily. Its tail shone bright, marking its path with a rainbow of color. So beautiful. So deadly.

As had become his habit, Taren settled on the sloping grass to watch the retreat of day. Too soon there would be only night. And cold. And loneliness. Still loneliness. He could not remember when he hadn’t been lonely. The strict discipline of Sanctuary had taught him to separate himself from human relationships, to be emotionally isolated, even during group activities. To hide how much he longed for companionship. To refuse to disclose the image of a woman’s anxious face, her frantic voice begging him not to forget her or how much she loved him.

In all the years at Sanctuary, it had never occurred to him to break the rules. Now he couldn’t help but wonder if the other Keepers faced similar memories. Similar longings.

Movement to his left caught Taren’s eye. At first, he thought it was a shooting star, perhaps a piece of the comet’s tail that had broken free and fallen through the atmosphere. Then he realized it was maintaining a course parallel to the horizon. Nothing caught in the grips of gravity could do that. He stood to get a better look. The thing wavered, stabilized and then angled toward the ground at an amazing rate of speed.

He saw it clearly as it passed by in the gloaming, a silver arrow-shaped thing that raced across the sky and struck the mountain across from where he sat. The sound of the impact echoed in the stillness. Taren was moving before he realized his own intent. He would see this odd thing that had intruded on his contemplation.

* * * *

Ami’s brain registered pain several minutes before she persuaded her eyes to open. She feared what she might see. When she finally did pry them open, she found her imagination had not prepared her for reality. A piece of the control panel was lodged in her thigh. The cockpit was a shambles. Professor Clements was slumped down in his restraining belt. He looked unconscious.

“Professor?” Her voice remained low, but it set off a drumbeat of pain in her head as though she had shouted. The sweet coppery smell of blood made her throat clench with nausea.

Her companion did not answer. She looked around and discovered an extension wrench that had broken free, lying near her seat. She strained to pick it up, lengthened it to the maximum range and prodded the man in the passenger’s seat. “Professor, I could use some help.” His head rotated, sightless eyes staring into eternity. Ami swallowed convulsively, forcing the bile back down her throat. She was terrified. She did not want to die on this backwater planet, alone, with no way to notify her family. What a time to realize her parents might have been right. Perhaps the ISE wasn’t the best career choice for her.

Think, she chided herself. Follow the proper procedures. The Oracle will send someone. She needed to update the distress alert to priority. “Computer, engage.” No reaction. “Computer, run diagnostic.” No response. The update would have to be done manually. Armed with the wrench, again she stabbed at the twisted remains of the control panel. The movement jarred her leg. Writhing tentacles of agony spread outward and were neutralized as her body defended itself in the only way available—it shut down.

* * * *

The crash site was farther than Taren supposed. It took more than two hours to make the descent and cross the valley. Now he realized that the terrain on this side was much rougher, and he wished he’d brought a rope. There might be something worth salvaging. If he could get it back to the stronghold, it would provide diversion in the dark weeks to come.

Hindered by the meager moonlight, Taren picked his way carefully toward his goal. His curiosity peaked as now and again he caught a flash of light like sun reflected in a mirror. What could it be that had fallen from the sky?

When at last he stood beside it, identifying it remained a problem. Cautiously he circled the thing. The point of the “arrow” was imbedded in the ground, and one side was crushed like a tender plant under a heavy boot. He touched the shiny surface gingerly. It was metal, but didn’t feel as cold as he would have expected. At regular intervals, light flashed along its surface. Taren cursed the darkness and the infernal light whose flashes gave him tantalizing glimpses without actually allowing him to inspect the object.

He took a deep breath, expelling his irritation as he exhaled. He couldn’t see in the dark, and daylight wouldn’t come any faster just because he wanted it to. Patience was a lesson he’d learned well in his years of training. He settled himself on the ground to wait for the dawn.

* * * *

Ami clawed her way to consciousness. Disoriented, she couldn’t at first remember the cause of the urgency she felt. Then she spotted Professor Clements, and it all came back to her in a rush. The memories and the pain. She had to send the distress signal. And judging from the dimness of the lighting in the cockpit, she didn’t have much power left with which to do it.

When she passed out, she’d dropped the wrench, and now it lay several feet away, out of reach. There was no help for it. She must pull her leg free from the shard. That would cause the bleeding to start again, she realized. Willing herself not to panic, she looked for something to use as a tourniquet. The restraining belt would work. If she could just get it free. Mentally thanking her training instructor at Survival Camp, whose insistent badgering had instilled some habits that had never left her, she pulled a stiletto from her boot. A quick slice from the razor sharp blade and the mesh belt fell free. Wrapping it high on her thigh, Ami closed her eyes and grasped the metal fragment with both hands.

Pull it free, tie off the belt, engage the SOS and get to the hatch. Simple. She could do this. Before she had time to think any more, she yanked the metal from her leg. Though no one heard, she screamed. It didn’t help the pain, but it did release some tension. She worked feverishly to tie the thick belt with numb fingers. Shock would set in soon. Leaning forward, she hit the sequence of buttons that enabled the automatic emergency locator. She hoped to send a real message to her shipmates, but the probe didn’t seem to be in any better shape than she was. The SOS would have to do.

The hatch looked an eternity away. Ignoring the pain in her wrist, she lifted her left leg with both hands, placing her foot on the floor. The stream of blood that decreased when she tied the belt swelled again. Thank God, she hadn’t severed an artery. Putting all her weight on her right foot, she stood up, her vision tunneling until she leaned over for a minute. Walking was out of the question. She realized the ship listed at quite an angle. Sinking to the floor, she dragged herself toward freedom. The ship shuddered, and for a minute, she feared she would slide back to where she’d started, but then her hand grasped the emergency release handle, and the hatch blew outward.

* * * *

The scream startled Taren from a light sleep. At first, he couldn’t imagine where it came from, but then he reasoned that it came from the metal object. Could a human be inside? From what little he could see, the thing had not changed. Except that the flashes of light it emitted glowed markedly dimmer. If someone was in there, they obviously needed help. But how to get inside? In frustration, he grabbed the side of it and shook. It moved, but not much. It was heavier than he would have guessed.

Without warning, a section of the object hurled through the air to land quite a distance away. Light from within now illuminated the area, affording Taren an excellent view as a hand groped around the edge of the opening. Leaping onto the side, he grasped the hand and lifted. Expecting a much heavier weight, he nearly flung the woman over his shoulder before he readjusted the amount of muscle he needed. Tucking her under his arm, Taren jumped to the ground and laid her down far more gently than he’d picked her up.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

Ami opened her eyes and squealed, propelling herself by her elbows away from the man looming over her. She had never seen anything quite so intimidating in her life. He was huge, his bare torso rippling with muscle, his broad shoulders blocking out most of the light from the ship. His head was shaved except for a thick black strip on the top, which was pulled back and tied in an intricate looped knot. His features were chiseled, masculine, and in other circumstances would have been attractive. Just now, he scared the hell out of her. He spoke to her in some foreign language. She frowned. He spoke again and again, but she still couldn’t make out a word.

“Sorry, buddy,” she finally said in exasperation, “But I haven’t the foggiest idea what you’re saying.”

“I said you’re going to bleed to death if we don’t do something about that leg.”

Her mouth dropped open in shock. “You speak Standard?”

“I understand what you’re saying, but I’ve never heard the term Standard. On Barrus, this language is called Englé.”

“I couldn’t understand anything you said at first.” Her heart rate slowed somewhat. His deep voice soothed. He seemed to want to help. For sure, he could have broken her in two already if he’d wanted to harm her. Frek, he could have broken the probe in two if he’d wanted to.

“I tried four other languages before you responded.”

He smiled, and she almost wet her pants. She changed her mind. The only thing scary about him was that he might be unavailable. She tried desperately to concentrate on what he was saying, but she could only focus on dimples and perfect white teeth. She had a thing for teeth. “F-four?” she asked, hoping she made sense to him, because she sure as frek made no sense to herself.

“Yes, and I was getting worried. I was running out of languages.” He squatted beside her and tugged at the leg of her jumpsuit. “How do we get you out of this thing? I need to see your wound.”

Honey, you can see anything you want. “There’s a knife in my right boot. I think you’d better cut the cloth away.”

He proceeded to do so. Great hands.

“Looks pretty deep. All my supplies are back at my camp across the valley. Do you have medicines? A needle and thread, perhaps?”

“What are you gonna do,” she giggled, “stitch me up?” She thought he was kidding. He wasn’t.

“Unless you have a better idea. I can carry you to my stronghold, but your blood loss would be great unless we stop the flow.”

God, what kind of world had she landed on? “In my ship, there’s a first aid kit. But it’s stored in the side of the ship that’s crushed. I don’t know if you can get to it.”

“Tell me what it looks like. I’ll find it.” He spoke with such authority she believed him.

“A white box. Red cross on top. About yea big.” She held up her hands to indicate. “Oh, and ah...”

“Taren,” he supplied.

“Taren. There’s a dead man in there.”

“Dead? Are you certain?”

“Yep. Looks like his neck might be broken. I wasn’t in any shape to do much investigating.”

Taren lowered himself into the ship and what he saw stunned him. Two seats bolted to the floor. Dials, buttons, wires, switches, and levers, all contained in a compact area in front of the empty seat. Lighting that seemed to come from nowhere. Myriad objects attached to the walls: strange unidentifiable things. He would love to spend weeks studying this conveyance. But the woman was wounded, and he needed to find the white box. He quickly checked for a pulse on the passenger. Finding none, he began his search.

He spotted it right away, the white color a sharp contrast to the dull gray of the rest of the interior. Unfortunately, it lay wedged between sections of the crumpled wall. He broke away some of the metal and disengaged some sort of bracket before the box eased out of the space where it was hemmed in. While he worked, Taren thought about the woman outside. At first, she seemed afraid of him, but once they could understand one another, she no longer shied away. She’d actually carried on a conversation with him. She was obviously different from the other people he had met. Well, of course, she was. She wasn’t some villager. She came from the sky. It was mind-boggling. She had actually flown. And here he was inside her vehicle—while she was outside bleeding. Berating himself, he hurried back outside to help her.

Taren was delighted when he discovered that the box contained mysteries as well. The woman explained what to do then left it up to him to disinfect, anesthetize and suture the wound. She swallowed small yellow tablets she said would guard against infection and promote healing. He would like to study those as well. Perhaps their chemical composition could be reproduced here on Barrus.

The ground began to shake violently. Taren snapped the box closed and braced himself. This tremor was much stronger than the others had been. The woman whimpered. He sat on the ground and pulled her into his lap, his back supported against a boulder. The horrendous sound of splitting rock warned them that a fissure had opened nearby.

The tremor subsided, but the woman continued to shake. “What was that?”

“Quake. They’ve been building in intensity since the comet’s approach. That one was the worst so far.” The waning light from the fallen vessel allowed him to study her hair. Red. Taren had never seen red hair. The soft texture of it tickled as the wind blew the tumble of curls across his chest. The sensation fascinated him. Unable to resist, he rubbed a piece between his fingers.

“Shouldn’t we get outta here? Go inside or something?” The trembling in her voice caused a reaction he neither desired nor understood. He stroked her hair gently away from her face.

“There are no buildings nearby.” His voice sounded husky. He cleared his throat and spoke again, “Besides, inside is the worst place. Then the building just falls on you.”

“Good thing we’re outside then. I don’t think I’m up for any more excitement tonight.” She placed her palm against his chest. Except maybe some Taren-generated excitement.

Her actions made him squirm. “I didn’t like the sound of the rock splitting. Too close.” She stroked his right pec. Sweat broke out on his brow. “Trying to move before dawn could be dangerous. We might fall in a crevasse.”

“Then by all means, let’s stay put.” She snuggled closer.

“We should rest.” Taren hoped sleep would dispel these strange feelings.

“After that? I couldn’t sleep a wink.” Besides, pressed up against your chest, sleep is the last thing on my mind.

“Okay. We could talk for a while.”

She shrugged. “Okay.”

“Who are you, and why are you here?” The deep rumble of his voice vibrated through his chest.

She couldn’t believe she’d forgotten to introduce herself. Her mother would be horrified. She sat up and angled to face him. “I’m Ami Starnes. I was here to pilot for Professor Clements, the dead guy in the ship.”

“Pilot?”

“Yeah. Drive. Steer. Guide. Direct.” She indicated the probe.

Taren looked at the crushed hull and back at the small red haired woman. “Will you tell me about your conveyance?”

“My ship? What about her?”

“Her?”

“You know, ship...her.”

“No. I’m afraid I don’t.”

“No kidding? Well, to tell the truth, I’m not exactly sure why. People just always refer to ships as female. It goes back to ancient times, I think.”

“What does your ship do?”

“Well, she’s an info probe for the ISE. Our mother ship, the Oracle, has ten like her. They carry two people, one pilot and one scientist, out on short excursions to collect data.”

“What is ISE?”

“Intergalactic Scientific Exploration. It’s a private scientific company that operates with government sanction.”

“And what kind of data do you collect?”

“Depends.” She settled her head back against his left pectoral, her breath hot against his nipple as she spoke.

His breath caught. “On what?” he whispered.

“What’s out there,” Ami waved a hand in the air. “Sometimes it’s geologic. Sometimes biologic. Sometimes cosmic.”

“And this time?”

“Cosmic. The comet. We were studying it.”

“Why?” Taren was having a very hard time concentrating.

“To determine its composition, course, effect on the solar system. Stuff like that.”

“Well, you’re about to get a first hand look at its effect on Barrus.”

“Barrus. Is that what you call this planet?”

“Yes.” Was it just her imagination or had his voice dropped a full octave?

“And the earthquake was...”

“A prelude to what’s still ahead of us.”

“If you know what to expect, why are you up here instead of at your home preparing for disaster? My family would be gathered together, ready to face anything as a united force.” Were his eyes blue or green?

For a moment, Taren got a mental flash of the woman’s face, which had haunted his dreams for as long as he could remember. Then it vanished. “I have no family.”

“None? No parents, siblings...wife?”

“No one.”

Hallelujah. There is a God. “So, why are you up here in the middle of nowhere?”

“I am a Keeper.” She could hear the pride in his voice. “It is my job to protect the amassed knowledge for after the cataclysm.”

“You lost me.”

“The comet returns every three hundred years. Its passing devastates our planet. Practically all knowledge is lost, and we start over again as a civilization.”

“So what’s different this time?”

“The Keepers.”

“Yeah. You mentioned them before. What do they do exactly?” Ami angled back against his arm so she could see his face as he spoke.

“There are twenty-seven of us. Each guards a stronghold in a different province throughout our world. Each stronghold contains examples of art, scientific knowledge, agricultural information and machinery—the sum total of knowledge on Barrus. Each Keeper must protect the stronghold and keep himself safe so after the danger has passed, he can return the lost knowledge to what’s left of the population.”

Blue. His eyes were definitely blue. “Okay. That’s a good plan. But what if no one survives? Don’t you think a little effort should have been put into saving some of the people, too?”

Actually, he couldn’t have agreed more. But his strict training did not allow for questioning the teachings of the Elders. At least, not aloud. “No. The humans have always survived. The knowledge has not. This is the best way.”

“Whatever.” She stretched, trying to ease the pain in her leg and once again settled back against Taren. As opportunities went, this one was golden. She turned her head to one side and stroked her cheek against the velvet steel of his chest.

Every muscle in Taren’s body tensed. He sweated each time she wiggled. Repeatedly, the soft warmth of her breath stroked his chest. Heat surged to his loins. He could feel the same fullness he’d experienced after dreaming of the woman at the well. This was not good. How could he explain his untoward reaction?

Ami relaxed in sleep, her body sagging more completely against him. He could feel the softness of her breasts resting on his abdomen. Her arm curled around his waist. He resisted the overwhelming urge to press his groin against her softness. He tapped into his formidable willpower to stand firm. Why had the Elders never warned them of such possibilities?

The Keeper

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