Blurb:
In an
alternate reality, an Iroquois woman and her twin gay sons battle shapeshifting
aliens.
Valchondria
(Earth) developed a one-world government, consisting of Leader, the
Maintainers, and the Supreme Science Council. A millennium ago, the
Valchondrians sent two ships of colonists into space. The first ship became
radicalized by a violent religious cult. Alien creatures called the Naadloosh
attacked the second ship. Valchondria banned contact outside its atmosphere and
shut down the space program. Over the centuries, freedom and progress decayed.
Now the
Naadloosh have found the human world. Leader and her sons must stop the
invasion. Maintainer Admiral Nil blames Leader for a series of tragedies and
might pose an even greater threat than the changelings that want to feed on
humanity.
One of
Leader’s twin sons, Telius, simply wants to marry the man he loves. The other,
Argen, struggles with the residual effects of a deadly drug addiction. The
young men rally to Leader’s side as she faces humanity’s greatest threats.
Excerpt:
Telius
stepped through the sliding doors, into their two-story home. The aroma of
docle bread wafted through the house and led him into the kitchen. A few white
petals remained on the cutting board, but the smell came from the oven, now set
on “Warm.” His famished stomach tightened even more, but he hoped his favorite
dish signaled an even bigger surprise, one he really couldn’t call a surprise.
Multi-colored
artwork in synthetic wood frames covered the bland plastic walls of the front
entry way. Telius had insisted on displaying the abstract paintings Argen had
created during the early phases of his addiction recovery program, during the
time the twins got to know each other.
Telius
stepped through a holographic mural of Valchondria and approached the
wallscreen room’s long brown couch. Its only occupant used voice commands to
channel glide the giant screen he faced. Ebony skin showed through his
close-cropped hair. Dark brown eyes lit up from his smile when he turned
around.
“You’re
finally home!” Jase-Dawn said, jumping up from the couch. He gave his boyfriend
one of his big hugs, the ones that meant he wanted to share something, followed
by an even bigger kiss. “I expected you in sooner.”
“Forgiveness.
After class, I spent some extra time in the undermall. The priests were
distributing food packages to as many of the walkway people there as possible,
and I wanted to help out.”
Jase-Dawn
stepped back a little, leaving his hands on Telius’s shoulders. “You didn’t
eat, though, did you?”
Telius
laughed. “No, I didn’t eat one of those food packages. I’m hardly a walkway
person, living here.” He spun his pointed finger around at the oversized house
Taldra’s predecessor had commissioned for her, the house that Telius, Argen,
and Jase-Dawn now shared. Taldra had moved to Valcine Plaza a year earlier,
after accepting her predecessor’s appointment of her as Leader.
Jase-Dawn’s
arm moved up and over like a Maintainer directing crowd control. “Don’t start
complaining about how easy we have it here! You’ve saved the world enough for
today, or should I say tonight? Not that you should have gone to the undermall
after dark anyway. It’s dangerous and full of crime, and you’re—”
“One of
Leader’s sons? I won’t start if you don’t.” He grinned a little, then returned
to the scent that made his stomach growl. “Who baked docle bread?”
“Me.”
“You?”
Telius narrowed his eyes.
Jase
rubbed his partner’s shoulders. “I’m learning new things. Argen gave me a video
chip of your father’s recipes.”
“That
was nice of him. Where is Argen, anyway?”
“Finishing
something. He knew we needed some time alone.” Jase-Dawn led Telius to the
couch, and they sat close together, arms entangled.
“He had
a seizure today, from the confidence pills. He’s fine, though. Forgiveness, I
didn’t mean to spoil the moment.”
Jase
smiled again. “You didn’t, love. Argen told me all about it, while we were
programming the tonal androids to help me teach my music class. Actually,
though, I wanted to talk about something else.”
“Like
what?”
“Like
us. Over the past year, I’ve thought constantly about the day I’ll gain
Valchondrian citizenship, and no longer be considered a Degran spy. Now that
day is almost here.”
“I kind
of remember that, considering you wrote it on the holo-calendar…with sparkle
font.” Telius winked, his nose still trying to pull him to the kitchen. But he
wondered if Jase-Dawn was about to ask a question that involved one of the
benefits of becoming Valchondrian.
“Telius,
will you become married with me?”
“I knew
it!” Telius said, wide eyed.
Jase
scrunched his nose. “That was actually a yes or no question.”
“And
you already knew the answer. Of course I’ll become married with you! How many
people find the perfect spouse, the person they always want to be with?”
Meet the Author:
Duane
Simolke wrote the books The Acorn Stories, Degranon, Sons of Taldra, Holding Me
Together, and New Readings of Winesburg, Ohio. He co-wrote The Return of
Innocence and The Acorn Gathering: Writers Uniting Against Cancer.
DuaneSimolke.Com includes writings and links. He lives in Lubbock, Texas.
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