A Man For Bella

By Beth Sadler

Bella Mills happily agreed to guide the brilliant and handsome Klim Darl through the Daintree Rainforest in search of hidden cave paintings. After all, how often did a nerdy academic get to experience an adventure with an intriguing stranger? His references were impeccable, but Bella was sure he was hiding something very important, and it wasn’t just that he was terrified of her driving.
Executon Klim Darl was the shyest man on Teeron. So, how was he going to woo and win the beautiful Bella Mills? He needed her help as a guide, but he needed her love even more---There was also the little matter of him being an alien, to explain.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Beth Sadler
• Release date: Sep 12, 2015
• ISBN: 9781311072023

Beth Sadler

Married for 49 years to my own Tall, Dark and Handsome Hero. A marriage that has produced three sons and four young grandchildren. Through all of life's ups and downs I have always found pleasure in jotting down the scenes that played out in my imagination. Now, I'm finally able to sit at my desk and let the stories flow, (Ah retirement feels good). Cheers, Beth Sadler

Book preview

A Man For Bella

By

Beth Sadler

Copyright Beth Sadler 2015

Smashwords Edition

Smashwords Edition, Licence Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it or it was not purchased for your use only then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This book is written in Australian English.

Cover Copyright Beth Sadler 2015

All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.

Foreword

Teeron

Brilliantly coloured birds screamed their joy from deep inside the vibrant green jungle, as the twin suns of Teeron rose over the horizon, signalling a new day and sending the night stalkers scurrying for their lairs. Another night in Teeron’s vast interior had passed and the day belonged to the survivors.

The small, deer-like daron that grazed in small herds on the edge of the jungle and the tiny munks, with their hairless faces and bright, long green fur, were especially happy. They had long been the choice prey of the massive snakes and other jungle predators---survival of the night was never guaranteed.

Until very recently little had been known about the verdant jungles of Teeron. They covered the centre of the planet in a thick carpet of vegetation.

Down on the coast, the inhabitants of the modern, solar powered homes rose to start their day. No thought was given to the night’s struggles that had been faced by the denizens of the jungle. Their vast farmlands and cities were enough for their needs, so they were happy to leave the ecological balance of the planet alone. Only the coastlines and a few hundred kilometres inland from the seas had ever been settled.

Teeron was a similar size to Earth, but with only a small population the size of Australia to house and feed. The result of the jungles pumping massive amounts of pure, clean oxygen into the air was a supremely healthy planet and a supremely healthy population. The government of Teeron was dedicated to protecting the lungs of the planet that gave them rich green fields, crystal clear rivers and deep, mysterious oceans teeming with life.

Teeronites had no need of more land so they explored the galaxy instead.

Recently however, after the discovery of an ancient spacecraft and a hidden valley that housed the secret of their early civilisation, more research was being carried out by the planet’s scientists. They were now travelling into the jungles under the protection of groups of guardians.

Guardians were the elite troops that did the same job as the combined forces of military and police on Earth. As Teeron had never had a war, a separate military was unnecessary.

The populations of both Teeron and Earth shared a genetic heritage, although Teeron was a planet of only one race. However, that one race was genetically blessed. All were extremely tall and well made, with faces of sculptured, classical beauty framed by black, softly curling hair. Their sapphire-blue eyes gleamed with intelligence and good will.

Teeronites were also vegetarians, so no cattle were bred to provide food, thus the high methane levels that existed on Earth were absent from Teeron.

It was widely believed that both planets had been settled by slave labour from a third, home planet. Earth having a more diverse racial population had led to the Teeron researcher’s belief that Earth had been stocked first. The reasoning amongst the scientists was that some kind of disaster had overtaken the slave masters, making Teeron the last planet to be stocked and thus only one race to occupy it. Both planets had been left to survive as best they could.

For centuries Teeronites had secretly visited Earth, ready to help if the planet was in danger, after all, they were cousins, however many times removed and Teeron was technically far superior. It was believed that the early Teeronites had been scientists, thus the science based beliefs of the population and the technical skills. However, the truth of their beginnings had been lost long ago in the mists of time.

At first Earth’s environmental problems had worried Teeron greatly, but recently it had been decided that Earth was successfully working towards its own salvation and had no need of Teeron’s interference---so, they watched and waited.

Now, the Teeron Interplanetary Scientific Research Pods, or pods, as they were widely known as, travelled a well worn path between Earth and Teeron, concentrating their efforts on trying to find the truth of their joint origins.

Each mission seemed to produce a new adventure and a new love match between Teeronite and Earthling. The list of bonded couples had quickly grown over the last few years and there was now a small colony of newly life-mated couples. These life-mates had chosen to build homes on a beautiful beach just outside of Freedom City, the governing city of the planet. When they weren’t at home producing beautiful babies, these intrepid adventurers were travelling the solar system with their loves.

Now, each adventure to Earth seemed to produce another wondrous love story.

The suns rose higher in the sky, sending shards of pure light to bathe Teeron in its soft morning glow. It lit the land like a multi-coloured jewel in a setting of blue silk. A new day had begun, and doubtless, a new adventure.

Prologue

Executon Klim Darl, commander of the Interplanetary Scientific Research Pod—Seeker 6, leant forward in his seat and calmly gave the final order that would jump Seeker 6, out of the treacherous wormhole that he had been navigating, without a break, for the last six hours. Order given, he calmly sat back and waited for the operator to comply. No one looking at him now, would believe that the last six hours had been anything but normal. However, his crew knew differently and the sigh of relief that rippled through the control deck was evidence of the dangerous currents that they’d just run.

It was well known that Executon Darl was the only commander in the fleet who was comfortable using this particular wormhole to reach Earth. He had been the first to navigate it and then map it for the fleet’s use. His brave work had not gone unrecognised; the wormhole was now named The Darl Pass. It cut eighteen hours off the trip from Teeron to Earth. Making the trip a mere thirty hours instead of the forty-eight that it took using the other, safer wormhole.

Klim flexed his stiff leg muscles and rotated his shoulders in preparation to rising from his chair and stepping onto the control deck. Six hours of sitting in a chair, even one as luxurious as the command chair, had left his long, muscular frame feeling more like that of a wooden soldier’s than one of flesh and blood.

The control deck ran in a long, half circle, high on a mezzanine level in the huge flight room. Its endless array of monitors, bright flashing lights, buttons and joysticks were studiously tended by intelligent men and women of spectacular beauty.

Not that any of them thought in those terms. The simple fact was, Teeron only had one race and that race produced tall, black-haired, blue-eyed humans without exception. That tended to make them think of themselves as very ordinary. Most envied the diverse colouring and shapes that the humans of Earth were blessed with.

Klim locked his command chair in place ready to step down onto the control deck. A quick glance along the edge of the mezzanine level assured him that the rail that it ran on was secure. However, he would make sure that it was thoroughly checked out before it was needed again.

While navigating the wormhole, an executon had to move swiftly and constantly around his control deck, directing and reassuring his crew as he navigated the currents. It wasn’t possible for anyone to cover the huge area fast enough to avoid disaster, so the motorised command chair zoomed the Executon from one station to the next for the endless hours of the jump. One recent Earthling guest had dubbed it Klim’s Throne, a name that had secretly been adopted by an amused crew.

Klim let out a silent sigh of relief as he felt the deck under his feet, his leg and back muscles screamed their thanks as he moved towards the stairs that led down onto the main flight deck. His face carved into rigid lines of control made him appear stern to an onlooker—nothing could be further from the truth. Klim Darl was a shy, kind and intelligent man who loved his job and his crew with a fierce loyalty---he would willingly die for them.

Loud cheering and applause broke out as Klim reached the head of the stairs. Hastily looking down he saw his flight crew bowing low as they thanked him for their safe passage. He swiftly turned to see the crew on the control mezzanine doing the same. He returned their bows with one of his own before hastily descending the stairs and heading for his cabin.

Hail Hera, he hoped that he made it through the room before his embarrassment became obvious. Trying hard to keep a fixed smile of thanks on his face he silently begged his body to obey him for once, at least until he was behind a closed door. But no, as the cheering grew louder his blasted shyness won out and his face flooded with colour.

Damn it all to hell, would he ever overcome his immature reaction to attention?

His grateful crew continued to cheer and pretended not to notice his embarrassment. They owed their lives to his skill and wanted him to know that they were proud to serve under him.

**********

Hours later, when the Pod had been safely tethered over a valley in the Gold Coast Hinterland, the cloaking device set and the away teams briefed, Klim settled down to study his own mission notes.

As a marine biologist Klim had explored many of the oceans on both Teeron and Earth, however he had been given an especially interesting project on this visit to Earth. He was to try and find traces of a breed of dolphins that was now extinct on Earth, but still thrived on Teeron. If the animal had really once existed in Earth’s oceans, then that would be one more indicator that Earth and Teeron shared a common heritage spawned on an unknown planet.

Klim carefully read the paper that had been published in a prominent Australian scientific journal. It wasn’t the first time that he’d studied it, but each reading sent a thrill of discovery racing through his body. If Professor Arabella Hortense Mills was correct, and if she could be persuaded to reveal the site of her findings, then he stood on the brink of a major discovery.

Hail Hera, he

Reviews for A Man For Bella

[Amanda Davis · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The whole series are a must read. It is a good wholesome series.