Junior (The Chieftains of the Majuri Book Book 2) Read online

  “It will be done.” Dervac walked away, but Junior had no worries there. If Dervac said it would be done, it was.

  Everyone was awake now so some of the young men started cooking breakfast. It was leftover fish and meat from the earlier meal. The Majuri had cool boxes that were much like refrigerators only portable. He didn’t even try to figure out how that worked. Junior left the technology to the tech heads. His talents were in other places.

  Once breakfast was finished and eaten, everyone who planned to hunt got ready. Excitement ran through him because he truly loved this activity. He had been raised an outdoorsmen even though on Earth, it was considered an outdated lifestyle. Junior loved communing with nature even when he wasn’t hunting or fishing. Not that he was an expert, but he did study many of the wild plants and animals on Earth not normally used for food.

  He didn’t just hunt, he gutted, clean, skinned and cut-up his kills and made sure everything that could be used was. That talent came in handy here where they were fighting to be self-supporting. Many of the colonists had taken up hobbies like curing hides, weaving, and preserving foods by drying. A jerky recipe Hannah had come up with using all local ingredients had become especially popular with the Majuri. A less spicy form was more popular among Earthers.

  Recipes that failed to please those from Earth often were dearly loved by the male Majuri. Hannah no longer scouted for new plants alone, Dervac now escorted her. He loved the new spices she found and couldn’t wait to see what she would experiment with next. That was what he wanted with Talai. A relationship where they explored their differences and found common ground. That was impossible to do when her heart was as cold as the Artic.

  He climbed onboard his air bike and the others followed suit. Once again he saw Talai and her helpers leaving with two guards. “Dervac!” He called and got his attention. “Send two more guards after Talai and have them hang back just out of sight.”

  “It will be done.” Dervac promised. Junior knew why he was concerned after that head on attack. That tribe of ape men was better known for their sneak attacks and what better time to attack if females were their goal? They had to hunt, food was a necessity but they had plenty of extra help to protect those females not with them on the hunt.

  Having done all he reasonably could without calling off the hunt, he took off with his men and several others behind him. This would be an exceptional hunt, he just knew it. The large open areas where grass grew held herd after herd of different kinds of animals. The one horned animal was abundant and he wished Hannah could find a way to tenderize it and neutralize the bad odor the meat had. If they shunned hunting them, eventually their numbers would grow out of hand and the delicate balance here would be destroyed. Honestly, he preferred every other animal to those. He saw two fall, it seemed someone didn’t mind them eating them. Probably Majuri, because if heavily spiced, the scent of the hot spices could cover anything.

  Leaving them to the unihorns, he got a few of the pig like creatures who hung at the edge of the woods. A few of the bison-like ones were quickly added to the numbers. It was like shooting fish in a barrel, they were so abundant and they culled the herd by shooting the older and the injured. This was probably like the pioneers of old on Earth felt as they moved across the plains filled with abundant game. Even with that advantage, many had died along the way. That was something they wouldn’t allow here.

  That was where Talai gave them an advantage. She was a hell of a healer. There were a couple other doctors, some nurses and a few medics; they needed every single one of them of them with these primitive conditions. They had found many new medicines and they needed so many more. Majuri medicines would begin to run out regardless of how sparingly they were used. Earth medicine was centuries behind.

  Junior caught movement in the grass and watched until a bunny appeared. It looked like several were hiding in the grass nearby. As a young boy, rabbits, squirrels, and quail had been his targets for the hunt. Those days of hunting had developed his marksmanship. Someday the young here would be free to do the same, once they had made peace with their neighbors and knew more about the dangers that lurked here.

  Hannah brought down an animal that looked like an elephant. Just before it fell, Junior had observed it limping. The animal was huge and would feed many mouths. One of the males let everyone know the giant catlike creatures were nearby and on the hunt. They moved away from the area they were in and those picking up the meat were notified to proceed cautiously. A snake slithered by in the grass, not big enough to make a meal. Some of the Majuri loved reptiles and considered them a delicacy. Had it been larger, he would have added it to the kill.

  He probably wouldn’t eat a reptile unless he was starving. If he reached that point, there were few things he would snub. They were now at the edge of the forest and there were some birds similar to turkeys. They were more colorful, but they were large enough to feed several people each. The most colorful appeared to be the males. That reminded of him of how the male peacock used its colorful feathers to distract predators and lead them away from the females and the nests filled with eggs or little ones.

  As far as he knew, these hadn’t been tested yet. He took one for that purpose and left the rest be. If they were inedible there was no use in killing them. The rest of the hunters followed his lead. There was a small furred creature and he got a couple of those because they were small and he wanted to be sure there was enough there to test. The next animal they crossed paths with looked like a horse. In time, they planned to domesticate them. Those were also left alone.

  There was an animal that paused to look at him. It appeared to be fearless making him wonder how it had survived to be grown. It reminded him of a hyena in shape. Hopefully their kills would be picked up before this creature ravaged one. Its eyes appeared to glow gold, the look it gave him seemed intelligent. They moved on before he got even more fanciful.

  He noted several trees growing nuts and some bushes growing berries. As much as he loved hunting and gathering food from the wild, there were benefits to growing at least part of the settlement’s food. It wouldn’t be long before they were doing just that. Right now it was more important to provide shelter for everyone in their settlement. Radvar also valued establishing outposts on the planets they had looked at, but had decided against settling. Radvar believed in taking every possible precaution and now that he was about to become a father he was rabid in his need to safeguard his mate and family.

  They took down a few more big animals and it was time for a meal. The attack had thrown them off and he was hungry earlier than usual. Since they were back in camp, they would just have lunch now. The younger males were hard at work gutting and skinning a few of the animals they’d gotten to cook a meal for all of them. There was already one of the pig like creatures cooking on a spit. It must be nearly done because it smelled wonderful.

  Talai and her team were bagging and tagging their samples and the guards that had gone with them came over to him to report they had indeed been attacked, but the extra two guards had helped them avert disaster.

  “How did you know?” The young guard asked. Junior was still trying to put names with all the new faces that he now dealt with.

  “I didn’t know for sure. It just made sense to try again when it was least expected. They don’t have enough females and their drive to mate is more powerful than even their need for food or water.”

  The guard looked alarmed. “That makes them even more dangerous than I thought.” Junior nodded and the guard went back to Talai’s team to continue watching out for them.

  Junior looked up and caught his renegade mate staring at him. For once she looked sadder rather than angry. He couldn’t feel sympathy for her since she was what was keeping them apart. It was her and that suspicious mind that refused to give anyone a chance to explain. What would he do if she admitted she was wrong? He would forgive her and hope she could learn to trust him in the future. Love without trust was a fragile thing and he’d already felt the sting of that.

  He could see the transport in the distance picking up the kill for the morning. So much had been killed, he wasn’t sure where they stood. Dervac came over to let him know.

  “We filled all the transports. Radvar wants all the builders back to work this afternoon. More pairs are mating and they’ll need homes to hold them and the families they will soon start on.”

  Junior was happy that most of the males and the few females that were builders were hard workers. They were willing to work long hours with only one day off a week. They seemed to understand how pivotal their job was. It was the start of fall and not having been here long, no one knew how bad the winter would be. Everyone hoped it would be mild, but it could be severe and they all wanted to be prepared. That was one of the reasons they were storing a lot of dried foods. If they had a winter that required them hunkering down and waiting for spring, most of them would switch to working in the caves.

  Before the winter hit, they planned to build several greenhouses and plant the seeds from Earth. They had plenty to do, both inside and outside. The weather would dictate which received the most attention, but all things had to be completed as soon as possible.

  Chapter 2

  Radvar’s Rule

  The trip to Earth had been profitable beyond all his expectations. They’d taken hides, horns, feathers, and dried plants from Jaded and the Earthers had gone crazy competing for the exotic items. Shay had advised him on how to get the most money and assured him that money could buy most anything on her home planet. It seemed she had been correct.

  They’d been overwhelmed with requests for information on the people that had gone with them to settle Jaded and requests to go with them. He’d agreed to take a few, those with skills they needed that
were mentally stable and easy to get along with. A family had been checked out and he’d given them his stamp of approval. The mother was a teacher and the father a well-known doctor. The children were bright and likable.

  Radvar knew he’d been lucky. The trouble makers he’d discovered had been dropped back off on Earth. They weren’t killers, he would have dealt with them had they been. They were subversives and he didn’t have time to mess with them. Earth or one of their many groups may have hired them to cause trouble. He didn’t know and it wasn’t worth his time to find out. They were gone in a flash. It was almost funny that they had resisted going.

  He’d bought somethings Shay hadn’t been aware of like a huge cache of coffee and chocolate. It was his insurance policy to keep his mate happy. If she was upset, tossing a couple chocolate bars on the table worked miracles. They’d filled up with medicines and other medical needs, foods that would be hard come by on Jaded, technology of all kinds, certain building materials, clothing, and tools. The ship was full to capacity when they’d gotten back to Jaded.

  Progress had continued while they’d been away even to the point of surpassing his expectations except where his sister and Junior were concerned. Radvar didn’t like to interfere, at least not actively. He was left with no choice because it caused Shay so much distress. If the two of them didn’t fix their relationship soon, Radvar had a plan and he would use it. It would be implemented after the twins were born. Talai had to be here for that, Shay needed her.

  Once that was done, it would be time to help them deal with their relationship, or lack of one. When he made the decision to send them away together, he knew he would get no thanks. Hopefully, those would come later when they worked things out. Meanwhile his mate was so big, her belly looked like it would bust open. It amazed him that he was getting two beautiful children in one shot. It made it even more important that this settlement thrived and that the outposts were set up properly.

  Once they were set up and largely self-sufficient, scientists and support staff would take their place and be the permanent residents of the station that the teams would set up on each planet. A squad of four soldiers would also be stationed there for protection and to carry out surveillance in space. Earth may not have been aware of any aliens passing their planet, but that didn’t mean there hadn’t been any. Maybe they’d left Earth alone because they were too primitive to bother with. The Majuri might not have all their tech with them, but they still had some valuable items and the people who could design more.

  He had chosen three planets, two they had considered colonizing when they had selected Jaded instead. The other was an ice planet that was in a key location. It guarded one of the entries to their galaxy. Quirry, his lead biologist had said it would be a good planet to study because of its extreme temperatures. It would also be easy to build a wall around the outpost out of ice. The building would be much harder but he was assured there was rock under all that snow and ice as well as several cave formations that might be well suited to their needs. Radvar was a big believer in using what was available whenever possible.

  Now he searched out his mate. He found her relaxing in their sitting room leaned back on a couch. Her belly was so large it interfered with most activities. Being the good mate, he made sure she got an orgasm a day to keep her in good spirits although he had to give himself his own too. That was just one more reason he couldn’t wait to meet his children outside the womb. Shay lit up the second she saw him.

  “My sweet mate, I’m glad to see you.” Her purring voice had him instantly hard.

  “How are the babies?”

  “I think sometimes they are battling for dominance inside my belly.” Shay laughed ruefully. Sometimes her stomach did seem to be the location of a great deal of commotion.

  Talai had told him that was a sign of healthy active offspring. As big as his mate was, it couldn’t be long. Sitting on the edge of the couch. He leaned over and hugged her gently. If he was honest, her condition terrified him. As the Chief and ruler here on Jaded, he could never admit to fearing anything. His sister assured him all was right and perfectly on track, but Shay was the first human to carry Majuri children. If there was trouble, they would have no idea how to help her.

  “Take a deep breath! Being a father will be the hardest job you’ve ever had, but it will give you your greatest joy. You should talk to my dad about it. He’s feeling a lot of the things you are since this will be his first grandchild. The first of many, I don’t doubt.”

  “Especially if we can get some of the others as busy as we’ve been.” Radvar agreed.

  “We’re just classic overachievers. We’ll probably go through this three times before one of them manages once.”

  “I like the sound of filling this cavern with our children.” His voice rumbled low with satisfaction.

  He kissed her and thought for the millionth time that he wished he felt comfortable making love to his mate right now. Talai said it was safe, but when he looked at her large unwieldy belly, fears and what ifs assailed him. His personal gratification was not worth the risk to the precious bundles his mate carried. They were more valuable than gold, more so than even his own life. Never had he felt such strong devotion to anyone else, but Shay.

  Even though his mate was huge, she still looked gorgeous to him. Her skin glowed and she was radiant. It was hard on her, but she kept up the exercise Talai recommended. If she didn’t, it would make the delivery and getting around afterwards much harder on her. He admired her stubborn determination especially now when it wasn’t turned against him. Leaning in, he kissed her one last time before he excused himself. It was time to get back to his duties.

  He entered the throne room and sat on his throne which was carved out from the rock wall of the cave. An equally impressive throne sat next to him and both had cushions on them because the rock could get cold to the touch. There were few people milling about and those were only the ones with problems only he could deal with or with reports he’d asked to be filled in on.

  He first acknowledged Donar and Becky. This was his chief builder and Donar’s mate who worked with him. No one was busier or more needed. They had done a marvelous job so far of digging the palace out of the mountain using the caves already present. The pair had completed the latest task and now were ready to move on to the next one.

  “We have enough rooms in the palace now for those who intend to live here now. The next step we can take will be one of three. We can excavate another level for recreation. This would be a swimming pool, an area for games, a library, and so on. The second choice would be emergency and guest accommodations. The third would be storage for supplies like food and water, clothing, trade goods and so on.”

  “Both of you have done an excellent job. These choices are difficult and I wish we could have a recreation level, but needs must come first. Our neighbors, the ape men, have counseled us that some year’s winter is worse than others. Let us prepare for storage of those goods we may need. Especially since we’ve already been amassing them. After that, emergency quarters for anyone needing them would be the best choice. Last, but not least, we will see to our fun. It is a necessary part of life, but everyone understands being prepared for anything is vital.”

  “Yes, my king. It will be done.” They both left and Radvar looked over those that remained. “Dervac, what brings you here?” He knew Dervac wouldn’t waste his time.

  “My king, I just came from a hunt we were on and we had a few females like Talai and Hannah along. We were attacked by the ape men that took Hannah before. They have grown more desperate. Their attack was halted, largely because Junior seemed almost ready for them. The apes slinked off to lick their wounds and I would have expected them to give up for now, but Junior added two extra guards to follow out of sight. The apes tried again and were only defeated because of the extra men.”

  “Good leaders often expect the unexpected. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. We will need to discuss this in more detail at our weekly meeting. They can’t be allowed to attack at will.”