Flawed Gods

By Angela B. Mortimer

In a future, planetary world, a former Varan lover who was misjudged and sent away as a criminal abducts the beautiful Doella from the man she agreed to marry. Thus begins the odyssey of two fleeing, passionate lovers who are pursued by her jilted bond-mate and eventually by Varan authorities. No Varan ever changed his or her bond mate. Marriage was for life. Doella’s hair was like a pale gold waterfall, and her eyes were the color of deep green emeralds. She was powerful, intuitive, and her golden body easily surrendered to her recurring need for passion. The odyssey to flee Varan pursuit leads to encounters with menacing societies, dangerous dragons, lecherous kings, and cunning wizards... until the Varan authorities and the jilted bond-mate capture Doella and her troupe. However Doella’s infidelity and lack of honor is now insignificant with the discovery of a threat to annihilate the Varan civilization. The last best Varan hope is to send Doella back into her most horrifying encounter. The clock is ticking ... in a fascinating, suspenseful and sexy read.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Angela B. Mortimer
• Release date: Jun 7, 2012
• ISBN: 9781476238395

Angela B. Mortimer

Born in the UK, married a gorgeous Aussie and have been living happily here ever since. Attended West of England college of art. Love reading sci-fi, fantasy and my fav subjects like genetics, planet sciences, philosophy, history - especially ancient, and of course space. I dreamt of being an astronaut. I've been writing since I could and painting for as long.I love the outdoors and gazing at the stars and wondering what might be out there.

Book preview

Chapter 1

She couldn’t sleep, sad and lonely without Paul. Why come into work early? She hadn’t even turned on the computer, just made two cups of coffee, both left untouched and cold, and stared out of the window for two hours. It was almost nine and the office was coming alive. Her workmates stared at her as they passed. It hadn’t been long since Paul’s death, only two weeks. This was why they left her alone, frightened of any real intimacy with her, and unsure of what to say after their initial expressions of sympathy.

In an uncharacteristic Louise Baker way, Doella stretched her long legs and ruffled her hair. Louise was never casual; she pulled herself together, convinced a change was coming, not of her making. Doella tried to ignore it, but the emotion was overpowering. Today will be like yesterday, and tomorrow the same. Waiting, waiting, when would they get here? Work seemed unimportant now. Although she’d immersed herself in it for five years. Five long years, pretending to be the same as everyone else. Now with Paul dead, there was no reason to stay. Time to move on again. The depression was getting stronger, coming from without rather than within. Something shifted, and someone prevented her from finding out why, someone powerful and used to her mental signature. I should push against it, make it show itself, but I’ll wait until the others come. Her thoughts were jumbled, confused. It was unlike the usually self-controlled Doella - she was more than confused, frightened too. Hurry up and get here, she thought. It’ll be easier to be prepared for what might happen if we’re together. We are stronger then.

The intercom buzzed and she forced herself back to this reality.

‘Two gentlemen in reception to see you, Louise; they said you were expecting them.’

‘I’m sorry Mary; I forgot. Show them up. No, on second thoughts, I’ll come down.’

She stood up buttoning the black jacket of her business suit, and then, feeling too restricted unbuttoned it again. As she walked to the lift, she felt the sympathetic eyes of everyone following her.

‘Poor Louise,’ they whispered when they thought she couldn’t hear, ‘fancy losing him like that, such a shame.’

Two men stood at the window watching the rainfall. Like Louise, they too were tall and blonde. Word got around, and younger women came to see Mary on the slenderest of excuses. Doella observed their whispers. They assumed the men waiting must be her brothers because they looked so alike. Both turned at her approach. A smile was all that was necessary. A slight touch of hands and they followed her into the street.

‘I’ll be back in an hour, Mary,’ she told the receptionist. And she said to herself, or maybe never. That would give them something to talk about for months - possibly years.

The rain stopped, and a sticky humid atmosphere greeted them. London seemed louder and dirtier than ever. Her senses heightened.

I don’t want to go back to Varos right away. You’ve been off world so long, it might interest you to stay awhile. I know somewhere we can go. She then spoke aloud, sensing they looked odd standing there and saying little. ‘We can discuss matters there. It’s noisy so no one will overhear us; and since it’s before lunchtime, we should find somewhere to sit.’

‘Fine, Doella.’ Simune spoke, an odd inflexion to his speech.

They followed Doella without further remark, each one nursing his thoughts as to what might happen next, but glad to be together again after so long apart. With the triangle complete, the sense of power and energy was invigorating. They felt stronger together.

She led them to a pub in a smart back street. It was dark; the walls had the original wood panelling. Doella ordered what she thought they might enjoy. Takos helped her bring the drinks to a well-concealed table in a small booth.

‘What’s happened?’ Doella used speech again, indicating the others do the same. But the silence remained unbroken for a few moments as the men sipped their beer, something they hadn’t done for a long time. Doella waited, not touching her drink. Again she spoke softly so as not to be overheard. ‘What’s happened? It must be serious if you’re here together. The last time you both came it was the late thirties, and it was horrible.’ She shivered, reliving old memories.

‘Unfortunate but controllable - as you remember Doella,’ Simune replied.

‘Unfortunate? Look how many people died,’ she retorted.

Takos interjected, both reluctant and eager to tell her the news. ‘Carnos has escaped.’

Again, there was silence. Doella took a sip from her drink. She put the glass down on the table and turned it around and around. At last, she broke the heavy silence. ‘I thought so. I registered him yesterday; he reached out to me. Why is he still in interlamina, I thought he must be back on Varan.’ She looked puzzled and then shivered as she spoke. ‘I’ve been expecting you to come, Takos, but not you, Simune,’ her voice was flat and expressionless. ‘I suppose this is the time to decide what we’ve been dreading; to bring an end to this Earth experiment.’

Takos answered. ‘It’s not easy, is it? Our Earth people are at a tough time in their development. If Carnos has escaped, and is still up to mischief, he may manipulate them again; make everything hot up, as they say, and destroy each other. We should leave the Council to deal with him.’

‘His name is Carnos - remember. His name is Carnos.’ She experienced anger. Why? She was unsure. But Doella repeated the name, not spoken or heard in a long time, but she knew somehow Carnos perceived her. A faint shimmer in the atmosphere, a faint echo from somewhere, told her he was aware. Silence again. They finished their drinks, and using Doella’s money, Takos bought more.

Simune spoke, forcing the oppressive silence to end. ‘There is still more we can learn here, but we must decide what we should do.’

Doella, hardly listening, said, ‘It’s up to me; I must change him.’ She sighed. ‘I should have tried harder. It was my fault; I have much pain and suffering to answer for over the past thousand years.’ Her voice was sad but resigned. The past couldn’t be changed.

As the pub was getting crowded, she switched to mind speech. I suggested we could stimulate the speed of development by introducing a more aggressive and negative side to their nature. It was necessary to bring Evil here. We made them strive against it to speed up their development, and they advanced much faster. My theory proved right, along with those statistics from the other Earth worlds. ‘It was not what my heart felt, but it was what the records showed.’ She spoke like a human being again, full of emotion, and laughed when the others looked quizzical. She looked at them accusingly and carried on in the same vein, the words rushing out, unable to stop the flow. ‘Unlike you, I have lived with them, whereas you have shut yourselves away with your technology.’ She looked directly at Simune. ‘To you, they are just records, figures and statistics; and to you Takos - they have actual emotions, although you still treat them like animals in one of their zoos. To me they are real. Some I have loved. But I can’t keep anyone for long. I’m not allowed to enhance their lives so they live longer. It’s not our policy, and so I have hurt and been hurt so many times.’

Takos reached for her hand. Doella, stay at Varos Base with us.

‘No,’ she replied aloud to his silent comment. ‘I couldn’t do my job. I couldn’t understand them as well as I do now. It was up to me.’ She spoke without bitterness, trying to dismiss the thought of a safe life at Varos with Takos.

The other two read the confusion in her mind, but Takos was the one who said.

‘Doella, you have been on this world too long.’

‘You mean I have Earth sickness?’ She didn’t look at either of them, just kept twirling her glass on the torn, stained, cardboard coaster.

‘Doella it’s not your fault,’ Takos whispered.

‘I still empathise.’

‘We introduce a negative element into their genetic structure. We learned a long time ago it speeds up development.’ Simune was logical, as always.

‘But we added too much.’ Doella insisted.

‘Carnos did.’ Simune was losing patience. ‘No aggression factor, no advancement, just stagnation and deadly monotony.’

‘Just like Varan.’

Doella went too far. A long silence followed. She finished her wine.

Simune thought it wise to offer her hope. ‘We’ve time left before we leave them on their own. We can’t change everyone, but we may calm down a few trouble spots.’

‘Then we need Carnos to help,’ she insisted.

The men looked at each other. Doella saw it and was puzzled. They kept their true feelings to themselves. Takos reached again for her agitated hands.

‘He’s been so long on his own and maybe even more unstable; perhaps dangerous. I don’t want him near you,’ he said.

‘He won’t hurt me. Why is he still in interlamina? It makes little sense.’ They ignored her question.

‘We may conclude the project and return to Varan,’ Simune suggested.

‘No Simune, please no.’ Doella was getting angry. ‘You know they aren’t ready. They wouldn’t survive but destroy each other.’ She realised many in the pub stopped talking and were listening to their argument as it grew louder. ‘Speak in Norwegian, if we use mind-speech our silence will make us appear even odder,’ she whispered in that tongue. ‘I’ve become so used to English now; I forget they can overhear us.’ She smiled as if to shelve the problem for a while, have peace from the disagreements, and allow the other patrons their conversations. They soon lost interest in the strangers who made little sense.

‘It’s good to see you both. I’ve missed you. It’s hard living on-world; it’s as if I’m carrying an invisible secret, and I can’t confide in anyone. I’m constantly changing my identity, choosing to love someone, and then having to leave before they become suspicious. I’m not what I seem. I’ve become, as you say, a little too human. Even my arguments are no longer scientific. I’m sorry for my outburst - I had no right to submit you to it.’ She looked at them. They buried their thoughts, but she caught what they were thinking: is she another rogue Varan, rare but so destructive…

‘Do you have any attachments at the moment?’ asked Simune.

The question was on Takos’ tongue while they talked, but he couldn’t say it.

‘No, he died a short time ago,’ she said sadly. ‘The manner of his death was odd. A car ran over him, but there was no driver inside the vehicle. Many people saw what happened. The police said the brakes were faulty, but I found it strange. So many of my friends have died in odd circumstances. I wondered at the time if Carnos had anything to do with it, but it was just a suspicion. I told myself he was on Varan. How did he escape from interlamina without the technology? Well, perhaps he has.’

Takos and Simune looked uncomfortable.

‘Yes,’ said Simune, ‘but there’s more. He’s using the lamina areas to his advantage. We are concerned he may try to trap you somewhere. He couldn’t keep you there without your permission, but he may want to establish communication with you.’

‘Why me? Why not one of you?’

Takos reluctantly replied. ‘You were friends. No, more than friends - he loved you. You know that, although you won’t admit it.’

‘He may react differently now, Takos. He may hate me. I rejected him if you remember. I told him I wouldn’t leave you. If I loved him, none of this horror would have happened.’

‘Doella, we have learned more from this than just a lesson in genetics.’ Simune sounded cold, and his eyes narrowed. ‘We should go back to Varos now and make rational decisions.’

Simune’s coldness worried Takos. Usually, he was the logical scientist, but at other times, he became angry for reasons Takos couldn’t fathom; and it was anger more dangerous because it burned like ice. Takos knew when Simune spoke this way he was no longer interested in arguing, only in action.

‘Simune is right,’ he said, dismissing his concerns about his friend. It wouldn’t help if Doella knew their secret. ‘It would be safer if you travelled by plane to Oslo and then took a car to the base.’

‘You’re right; I must come back. It’s time I moved on. I prefer to travel back with you. I’m sure you’re wrong - Carnos wouldn’t try to kidnap me. It would make his position worse.’ She got up, and the others followed her outside. It was raining again.

Takos took hold of her by the shoulders. He spoke urgently. ‘Please, Doella, take a plane. It will be safer.’

Simune interrupted. ‘You won’t change her mind. You know how stubborn she is. Doella is there a quiet place nearby?’

‘It’s hard to find a quiet place in London.’ Doella laughed as she said it, but inside she shook.

They found a deserted alley at the back of the restaurants, filled with old boxes and rubbish. They stood in a circle holding hands. On their wrists, each wore a small, insignificant bracelet. Their bracelets glowed slightly, and suddenly their figures disappeared.

When they arrived at Varos base, deep underground in the far north of Norway, Takos and Simune realised their companion had vanished. A search of the base told them she was missing, just as Takos feared.

Takos moaned and made a motion to go back. ‘You were right; he was waiting to make his move. But how did he know?’ He looked poised ready to move back into lamina.

‘No, you can’t follow now.’ Simune stopped him. ‘We knew this might happen. He can’t keep her for long. I told you, he’s spying on us.’

‘But how could he escape? He should still be where we imprisoned him. He may not hold her for long, Simune, but he might change her.’ Takos was white with fear.

‘You won’t be able to find them without preparation, Takos. They could be anywhere. You might become lost yourself.’

Takos sat on a nearby chair and put his head in his hands. ‘Simune, what should we do?’

‘We wait.’

Chapter 2

Doella knew what happened as soon as the darkness engulfed her. The only way they’d resolve the excessive aggression factor was with Carnos’ help. She had no fear and called on long unused, natural powers to find a focal point. First, she regained control over her body and then the surroundings.

The darkness diminished, and she made out walls on either side; thick looking stone ran parallel, to what? Bare feet pressed against smooth slabs. The constricting London clothes, replaced by ones in keeping with her Varan heritage. Carnos planned this to the last detail.

Doella was now Varan, her beauty no longer hidden in a human shell. She gleamed and glistened with a golden hue. Her hair streamed down like a pale gold waterfall, and startling eyes were now the colour of deep green emeralds. Sensuously clothed in a transparent material, which glittered blue on silver, as it sometimes covered, sometimes exposed her lovely shape. She sighed and stretched, stronger in her true form. Not having to disguise her appearance refuelled her energy.

She walked along the corridor. It seemed to stretch forever. Perhaps it did, she reasoned. Doella stopped and gathering her thoughts, shifted her perspective, and decided to take a different route - then found herself in a large medieval-style room. With the same stone walls as the endless corridor, and a few high arched windows through which she saw a dark, starlit sky, which appeared to be real, but wasn’t. A large fire burned without heat in the middle of the room. To one side of the fire, a table was set with food and drink, with two chairs waiting. A large canopied bed took up most of one side of the room. Large tapestries covered the bare stones of the walls. Doella observed the typical medieval scenes of battles and peasants working in fields.

‘Strange subjects for Carnos,’ she mused aloud and turned to see him standing behind her.

But not for you, Doella. He didn’t speak aloud.

They looked at each other. He was as she remembered - his handsome face with a stubborn chin, which summed up his personality.

Doella broke the silence. ‘Well, Carnos?’ His name sounded strange. No matter how hard she tried to appear disinterested, her voice shook. It was strange, but pleasant to see him again. ‘You haven’t changed, and I thought you might have grown horns and hooves like one of the human’s devil creatures.’

The laugh that answered her forced humour was brittle. ‘And you are as beautiful as ever, but your eyes are sadder.’

He stepped closer as if to embrace her, but she moved back. His hands dropped to his sides. Silence again. Doella moved toward a window and pretended to gaze at the fixed sky. Carnos walked across to the table and poured a glass of wine. She accepted without comment and took a sip. ‘Why have you brought me here?’

‘You wanted to come.’

She turned to face him. His eyes were cold and empty, not the deep, sparkling blue she remembered.

‘I wanted to come? You arrogant fool.’ She turned away again, the wine spilt onto her dress. ‘Why would I want to see you again?’

‘Isn’t this your plan?’ His voice was tight. ‘Isn’t this what you had in mind when you excluded me from the project, and the light… and from you?’ He threw his full glass against the wall. The wall rippled, and the glass disappeared. He walked back to the table to fill another one.

Doella turned to face his back. ‘I excluded you? You were the one who left. You changed the programs, altered the evolution phases.’

He walked over and gripped her shoulders. Looking into her face, with eyes now alive. ‘Are you sure? Science is more important to you than love. We are part of an experiment. Not just humans, but Takos, Simune… that’s why you were left in control? A fine example of a Varan female, learned, powerful and ruthless.’

She dropped her eyes for a moment, recovered and shrugged his hands away, then sat at the table, pretending to eat. Carnos joined her and they ate in strained silence. Doella stared into the fire, determined not to think about or admit his accusations.

Carnos watched her face. She needed to break the tension, but didn’t know what to say. His hand stole over hers, and she jumped.

‘Doella, I knew you’d come. Those thoughts kept me sane. Come and sit here.’ He showed her the soft rugs near the fire.

She followed as he pulled her closer to the fireplace, but did not sit beside him, watching the flames, unable and perhaps unwilling to control this situation. Admitting only to her deepest self. You are right Carnos; I have been waiting for you but waiting for something different from your expectations. Your words have sown a seed of doubt in the feelings I was so sure of.

His eyes lit up with forgotten want. It was as if he’d read the thoughts she fought so hard to conceal. She tried not to love him because of Takos. I am Varan, not human. I have no doubts we acted as we should… but the seed of doubt ripened.

Doella sighed and moved away. She gazed unseeingly at the sky that did not exist. He got up, followed, and put his arms around her. She didn’t resist as he led her to the bed. She felt a delicious rush of passion and did nothing to change what was happening.

He pushed her onto the bed and kissed her. She responded, forgetting the years, which separated them, as he explored her body in the way she remembered so well. Forgot the evil he committed, the lovers she assumed he’d destroyed. She’d known his imprisonment was not complete; that he was still in interlamina. Although she’d pretended he was safe, back on Varan, after serving the short time in lamina to cool his anger. She’d heard him call to her when she was alone, yet done nothing to secure him and not told the other two. Nor had she asked why he was still imprisoned, when he should have been freed long ago. She ignored everything, trying to pretend she’d no right to interfere. Of what was she frightened? He was right. She loved him despite everything she believed he’d done.

Doella surrendered to their passion. She realised how much she’d missed him, how her other lovers were incapable of satisfying her, even Takos. She forgot Takos and their promise of marriage, forgot everyone and everything for this long-denied passion.

He stood up, took off his loose gown, and it fell to the floor. Returning to the bed, he looked at her with an expression she could not interpret and pulled the cord, which kept her Varan dress together. No words, but in his mind he heard her asking him to touch her, pleading. She waited, her eyes closed.

This was what he’d hoped. He responded to Doella’s urgent lust. Slid his hands up her legs, pausing for a moment, and then moving to her perfect breasts, the nipples hard with passion, and rubbed them between his finger and thumb. She moaned with desire.

‘Doella, I knew you still wanted me.’ He bent to kiss her mouth, pressing his body onto hers. She arched her back, pushing against him, begging him to enter her. She was wet with passion. Carnos licked and sucked at her breasts, enjoying her, striving his utmost to make sure she’d never forget what they experienced together. He wanted to be the only lover she’d ever need.

She gave in to her feelings. As their lovemaking reached its climax, her mind soared. She felt detached from her body as its sensations built towards orgasm.

Carnos couldn’t control his passion as he rocked inside her. She matched his movements, and he squeezed her breasts harder. His hands roamed down her body, she moaned and arched her back as he caressed her. The waves of her orgasm vibrated in his mind, triggering his climax, and he groaned and collapsed onto her.

They held each other without speaking. If it was night-time in this prison, they’d spend the rest of it making love. Sated and exhausted, they slept.

He awoke to find her gone.

Takos and Simune noticed her return. When she didn’t ask to see him, Takos headed for her quarters. Simune stopped him at the door. ‘You’re too close to this, Takos.’

Takos said nothing, but Simune sensed his acquiescence and entered Doella’s apartments alone.

Her quarters were large. The complex originally built for hundreds of Varan when they arrived on this planet to start another human race. Simune knew where she’d be. He walked through the rooms, each one filled with precious items from the past times and the many lives she’d lived on-world, a treasure trove of ancient memories.

Thermal springs filled the deep caves surrounding Varos, and Carnos built a room to use them. Doella lay in a rock pool, filled with warm spring water. This was a retreat from the tensions of living on the surface with her beloved human beings. Her golden body took on a silver cast beneath the green water. ‘Join me, Simune?’ she asked.

He sat on the edge of the pool and tried to hide his emotions, to stay cool and scientific. Takos and I know what happened. Your emotions were powerful. It didn’t take much

imagination to know what you were doing.

She ignored his anger, unwilling to commit further to her emotional confusion. ‘He has his bracelet.’

Simune’s anger disappeared. ‘When we arrived here without you, I knew, otherwise, he couldn’t intercept you. I looked for the bracelet, it wasn’t in its stasis container, and the records don’t show when or how it went missing. I haven’t checked for a while.’

‘There’s more.’ She closed her eyes and tried to relax in the water. ‘He’s formed a large holographic area in his interlamina, and that can’t be achieved

Reviews for Flawed Gods

[Susan Swain · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Epic storytelling. Who knew aliens were so sensual? Or dragons so lonely? The cleverly titled Flawed Gods is the first in Angela B Mortimer's Sci Fi /Fantasy series on flight through space and time.