Fire Rage (The Fire Planets Saga Book 3) by Chris Ward

Author:Chris Ward [Ward, Chris]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: AMMFA Publishing
Published: 2018-12-10T22:00:00+00:00

28

Lia

Lia found it difficult to keep the look of amusement off her face. ‘Look, physically the resemblance is clear, but it’s the timeframe that makes me doubt your claim.’

Lump shrugged then patted the glass tube. ‘He’s a Farsi. They far outlive regular humans, even those who’ve undergone advanced genetic therapy, which is most of them. Vain buggers. Us Farsi’s are far more modest.’

‘Modest? Huh. I could label Caladan with a lot of things, but modesty isn’t one of them.’

Jake stepped forward. ‘Young man… er, I think… I find the insightfulness in your words a jarring contrast to your appearance,’ the journalist said. ‘Do you think we could arrange an interview? My audience back on Cask will love this.’

Lump tried to grin, but it just looked like the top part of his head was about to slide off the bottom.

‘Sure. But I’ll require payment.’ Then, without any change in his expression, he began to laugh.

‘Help me here,’ Lia said. ‘Perhaps—and I say this theoretically, because it couldn’t possibly be true—you wish Caladan was your father. Perhaps you felt a kinship with him during his captivity, one which is manifesting itself as a true situation.’

Lump shook his head. ‘No. He’s my father. My real, biological father.’

‘Putting the whole apparent time-travel thing aside for a moment, may I ask, with complete respect, what on Old Earth was going through your mother’s mind?’

‘I don’t mean in the natural sense. You see, my birth mother was once part of a research fleet which was captured by pirates.’

Lia glanced at Jake, who lifted an eyebrow, then looked back at Lump. ‘Go on.’

‘Well, the pirates were a dire lot, devils the lot of them. They were involved in the genetics trade, particularly banned genetics.’

Lia, with little clue to what Lump was getting at, just nodded.

‘They were undertaking forced impregnations to better conceal the banned genetic material, moving it from their own mules to others. Their original mules were a series of captured pilots, but after the material was transferred, the mules were supposedly killed.’

‘That sounds plausible,’ Jake said with no hint of sarcasm that Lia could detect. ‘Shall we drink some Stillwater and arrange terms for a full interview?’

‘Years later, after my mother escaped, she tracked down the pirates and discovered the identity of the captured prisoner used to impregnate her. His name was given as a single word: Caladan. I have carried that word close to my heart ever since.’

‘Much as the thought terrifies me, I still find it difficult to believe,’ Lia said. ‘The Farsi are one of the most populous of the human-subspecies—’

‘Exactly,’ Lump said, lifting a knobbly finger. ‘They possess a forty-percent higher fertility percentage, plus a far extended sexual lifespan to that of regular humans.’

‘Compensated for by gross unattractiveness,’ Lia countered. ‘Plus, Caladan is a common name, adopted so I believe, after an ancient war hero who rose to fame during their battle for independence during the subspecies union and uprising.’

‘A staple of Cask System’s history books,’ Jake said. ‘Considering there is a Farsi colony on New Bolivia.

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