The Beast of Arsu

By Bethany Maines

On the planet Arsu, Bella Glass steps into a rose garden and is thrown 140 years into the future, crashing into the life and vehicle of Kai Craig. Kai is a man dying by inches, struggling against the last vestiges of a war that has ravaged the planet, his body poisoned by radiation from a bomb that turns men into monsters. As Bella faces a world she doesn't recognize and tries to figure out how to return home, she finds herself falling for Kai’s kindness and loyalty. But when they discover that someone has traveled through time to Bella’s past intent on changing the outcome of the war, Bella must choose between Kai and preventing a devastating alteration of the timeline. As Bella races to save her planet, she must leave Kai alone just as the effects of the bomb to turn him into a rage-filled beast that threatens everyone close to him. With time running out, Bella and Kai have only one chance to prevent losing a war that’s already been won and succeeding might mean that they must give up a love they were never meant to have.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bethany Maines
• Release date: Aug 2, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005175740

Bethany Maines

Bethany Maines the award-winning author of romantic action-adventure and fantasy novels that focus on women who know when to apply lipstick and when to apply a foot to someone’s hind-end. She is both an indie and traditionally published novelist with many short story credits. When she's not traveling to exotic lands, or kicking some serious butt with her black belt in karate, she can be found chasing her daughter or glued to the computer working on her next novel.

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Galactic Dreams

What if...

...you could change the future?

What if your enemies could too?

Welcome to the universe of Galactic Dreams, where fairy tales are reimagined for a new age—the future.

In each Galactic Dreams Volume 3 novel you’ll find an old tale reborn with a mixture of romance, technology, aliens and adventure. The Alliance is on the brink of war with rebel Naturalists who insist on keeping the human race pure of genetic modifications. As the Naturalists fight to keep the technology of the future at bay, some take that fight more literally than others. Now each Prince and Princess, each intrepid adventurer scrabbling to make a difference in their corner of the galaxy must find out what happens when the future arrives on their doorstep.

Galactic Dreams is a unique series of science-fiction novellas from Blue Zephyr Press featuring retellings of classic tales from different authors, all sharing the same universe, technology, and history.

We hope you enjoy this adventure.

Galactic Dreams Timeline

The Beast of Arsu

by

Bethany Maines

Prologue

Branch 6 Library

Sixty-five-year-old Dr. Isabella Glass watched the security footage play on the vid-screen. The flat 2-D experience felt old-fashioned compared to the now ubiquitous holograms. The many missing segments had been filled in with sensor logs from security droids, but even those flickered and switched as each security droid became damaged. It had taken Isabella years and a small mountain of credits to get here and now that she had seen the evidence, she had no idea what to do. She had expected answers and now she only had more questions. Why hadn’t Moira warned her?

You can see now, can’t you? asked the librarian’s boyish, male voice. It echoed around the darkened chamber, reverberating slightly off the smooth, alabaster walls.

Isabella started at the sound of the voice. The Branch 6 historical archives were six-thousand feet below sea level and she had breached every security protocol to make it this far. The library’s Artificial Intelligence should have been shut down and un-aware for another six minutes.

See what? asked Isabella cautiously, running a scan from her com bracelet. Her other security-blocking measures seemed to be holding, but if the librarian was awake he could eliminate them in seconds.

I’m glad you came, said the librarian, ignoring her question. I’m glad you saw this. You need to understand what is at stake.

Isabella licked her lips. She was guessing that not everyone at Branch 6 agreed with the AI. The librarian had helped her before, now Isabella wondered if this was why. On the vid-screen, Dyson Pretorius was frozen, his face twisted in rage as he watched Oliver Lee writhing on the floor in agony, his body beginning to liquefy.

I know what’s at stake, said Isabella. That’s why I’m here.

The librarian appeared in hologram form. He was a dapper-looking gentleman in glasses with a moustache. No one ever understood why he’d selected that as his preferred persona, but he’d been that way as long as anyone could remember.

Then you understand that what has happened, must happen, said the librarian.

No, said Isabella. We should stop Pretorius now. Before he goes any further. This doesn’t have to happen.

It has happened, said the librarian. It exists. We cannot change that. The risk of paradox is too great. The number of lives at risk, too high. We have run the calculations. Pretorius must succeed and Lee must die.

Isabella tried to think through matters logically, but she found that her heart was jackhammering in her chest as her view of both the past and future shifted.

I have run additional calculations, the librarian, more softly. I believe that Isabella Glass is essential to our mission. You must assist us.

There’s a little bit of a problem with that… said Isabella. How much did Branch 6 know? Did they know about Moira? Did they know about the messages?

I understand, said the librarian. And I understand that not all Branch 6 personnel agree with me. He said that part primly as if he were attempting to be polite. But I believe you can help. We must be ready for when Isabella Glass arrives.

Part 1:

When, after having lost his fortune and moving his family to the country for some time, the merchant received word that one of his ships, long thought lost, had come into port, his children were over-joyed thinking that they might regain their former wealth. But it was not to be and, as the merchant returned home sadder and poorer than ever, he lost his way in a storm and found himself in a beautiful, but apparently empty castle.

The next morning, as he left, he said to himself, I may not be able to bring my children the extravagant gifts they selected, but I can bring Beauty the rose she asked for. But as he plucked the rose there came a terrible roaring and a hideous Beast appeared. The Beast condemned the merchant for stealing the rose after the merchant had been provided such fine lodging for the night.

Your life is forfeit! roared the Beast.

But the merchant begged for his life, saying that his children depended on him and that he had only sought to give the rose to his youngest daughter, Beauty. When he learned the merchant had a daughter, the Beast relented and said that the merchant might live, but only if Beauty willingly came to stay with him.

Beauty and the Beast, a fairy tale

Chapter 1

Thirty-One Years Later

— Kai —

Kai Craig cranked the wheel of his cruiser and pushed the accelerator, slamming through the corner at more than three times the recommended speed. The torque pulled his head to the left as he let the cruiser drift, sliding sideways through the hairpin turn before launching into the straight-away. The backroad to the estate was winding and narrow—one of the first roads to be created when the planet had been settled four-hundred and fifty years ago. There was a newer aero-lane off the coast, but Kai hated the feeling of being cooped up in a tiny pod with no escape except a long dive downward hundreds of yards into the sea. He liked being in control of the machine himself. He’d had to rip out the majority of the safety protocols and half the computer to be able to drive it like he wanted and the cruiser was now definitely outside of warranty. Any damages or injuries he incurred would be solely paid for by himself.

Kai knew people thought he was being selfish and willfully dangerous for driving—he was putting himself and other people at risk by getting behind the wheel instead of letting the AI drive. He wasn’t sure why they cared. He had no future. There wasn’t a great destiny waiting for him. The only thing he was fated for was death. No one said it to his face, of course; they didn’t want to trigger his condition. Most people didn’t talk to him at all anymore. He watched people avoid him daily. Taking the long way around the office. Pretending not to see him in restaurants. Dashing away from conversations at cocktail parties. Although, these days he had stopped going almost anywhere unless his mother insisted. And after the last time, even she, stubborn as she was, had stopped asking.

Kai drifted through the next turn, riding up the curved barrier wall that was meant to prevent vehicles from tumbling down into the gorge below. He grinned as slid off the wall and back onto the road at five times the recommended speed.

He thought that the mechanic’s shop had reported him for the most recent safety protocol mods because someone from the government had been around to see his doctor in an attempt to get Kai’s driving license removed. Fortunately, Sam had stood by him—attesting to Kai’s safety and control. Kai didn’t want to know what kind of paperwork had been forced on Sam for doing that. Sam had told him not to worry about it. Which probably meant that if Kai screwed up they’d take Sam’s license to practice medicine away. That was the kind of friend Sam was.

The road was slick with rain and the water was distorting the cruiser’s magnetic field generation, making the ride a little bumpier than usual. Kai checked the display as it showed another traction adjustment. The drops lashed the windshield, as outside the moonlight flashed in slivers between wind-tossed tree branches like a strobe light. It was going to be a higher tide than normal—the two moons had synchronized their orbits and were both full. If it hadn’t been for the storm Kai knew he would be able to see them hanging fat and heavy in the cut made by the road between the tall palm-like trees. Slightly egg-shaped Daedalus and the smaller, faster Icarus usually chased each other across the sky, making navigating the tides of Arsu difficult, but on the periodic occasions when they completely synchronized, the tides reached record levels and storms were more likely.

A few small, fist-sized rocks bounced onto the road in front of him, slipping free of the steep embankment to the left of the road in a shower of mud that mostly stayed off the pavement. He identified them as non-threats before the computer and ignored both the rocks and the flashing warning light on the dash. On the bluff above the road, the elegant, two-hundred-year-old Catalan Resort was shuttered for storm season. The Catalan was beautiful in any weather, but tourists tromping about the grounds in the mud and rain caused more damage than staying open was worth.

Kai wished they were closed all the time. The Craig estate was close enough to the resort that the wardens had to chase tourists away during the high season. Kai hated the high season, but then, Kai hated people these days.

He rounded a bend, enjoying the G-forces as he twisted the wheel. He mashed down on the accelerator harder and was preparing to speed into the next turn when the proximity alarm went off. He saw the display registered life signs from whatever was in the road and hit the brakes. The forward acceleration stopped, but momentum carried the cruiser forward. Kai hit the anti-thrust, fighting the cruiser to keep it from rolling. He swung the wheel and threw out a force-net, trying to latch onto solid rock to slow him down, but instead, a boulder came free of the muddy slope and showered the cruiser in blinding grime. Kai reached down and manually yanked the hover-grav unit into the off position. The cruiser bottomed out, scraping on the pavement with a shower of sparks, and bringing the once pristine white vehicle to a shuddering stop inches from the thing in the roadway.

Kai forced his fingers to release the steering wheel. He could feel a caustic surge of anger as his body chemistry reacted to the adrenaline and fear. The computer ran diagnostics on the vehicle as he turned the hover unit back on. The cruiser was still functioning—no thanks to whatever was in the road. He thrust the cruiser door open, pushing it to move faster than the automated speed. It pivoted upward like an insect wing and he ducked underneath it, exiting the vehicle with movements that were hitched and jerky with rage.

Whatever had dared to stop him would be removed. He would fling it from the road. He would…

It was a girl.

He could turn off the last of the safety protocols and run her over. The air-scoop would slice her to ribbons and the hover unit would apply enough force to make her bleed out in less than two seconds. It would be easy.

Kai stood, breathing heavily, fighting that thought, rain hitting him in the face. People he cared about would not want him to do that. He forced himself to take a step toward the girl and not get back into the car. Sam would not want him to run the girl over. There would be consequences. For one thing, Kai would not be allowed to drive anymore. And Sam would get in trouble. He clung to the idea of Sam, forcing himself to visualize Sam’s cheerful, open face, and his short spiky dreads that were always trying to escape from his surgical hat. Sam would get in trouble. Kai could not do that to Sam. Kai clenched and unclenched his fists, digging his fingernails into his palms, and then realized the other problem with running the girl over.

The girl would be dead.

But a lot of girls were dead. What was one more?

Kai tried to figure out if that was his illness talking or if he really thought that. It was hard to tell. It wasn’t like she would be the first person he’d killed. It would just be the first time he’d done it without government permission. Did that make a difference?

He took another step and remembered to inhale and exhale for the count of ten each way. It would trigger the vagus nerve and start the process of moving his body out of a flight or fight response. When he had first started using it, the trick had worked like a charm. Now he needed about twenty minutes of meditative breathing to make a dent.

Get back in the car, run her over and go home. He could always claim he hadn’t seen her.

Stubbornly, Kai took another step toward the girl and another deep breath. Lightning lit up the sky, illuminating her body in stark contrast to the dark blue pavement. The way her body was limp and twisted on the road brought up an acidic backwash in his throat. The sound of long guns echoed in the thunder and he opened his mouth to call for a medic.

There were no medics. There were no guns. The war was done. They had won.

Strange how he didn’t feel like a winner.

Kai took another step forward and knelt down, feeling for a pulse. Her skin was cool, and he pressed one hand against her neck feeling the continuous murmur of her heart. The glare of the headlights created a stark, blinding contrast that made him practically blind. Squinting against the glare, he felt along her body, seeking out injuries, trying not to move her too much. His fingertips registered a strange vibration as he touched the soft skin of her neck, but he dismissed that as the echo of the raindrops. She was young, but probably of age. Late twenties, maybe. Nothing seemed to be broken. Her dress was torn and she was scraped and bleeding in multiple places, but the largest injury was to her head. He put his hand into the dark sea of her hair and felt the warm, thick wetness of blood, which he could distinguish even in the downpour. For a moment he smelled the scent of the hot metal cartridges as they discharged from the long guns. But then it was gone, replaced by the smell of rain-soaked loam and woods and the weird, scentless odor of the oxygen exhaust produced by the cruiser.

Kai tapped his com bracelet and heard the sad, hollow donk sound that indicated he was no longer connected to the planetary network. He connected to the cruiser computer and pulled up a rudimentary scan from the vehicle sensors on his com bracelet. There weren’t any broken bones, but the girl needed help. The town and medical center were a good thirty minutes away—if the bridge wasn’t closed due to the weather. His house was twelve minutes away when he let the computer drive.

He grabbed the girl by the wrist and pulled her upright—rolling her into a fire patrol carry over his shoulder. She didn’t weigh very much. She wasn’t that big. The passenger door opened as he approached and, as gently as possible, he slung her down into the seat. He moved to the other side and settled himself behind the wheel, noticing that the pristine, pearlescent dairsa fabric of the seats and the immaculate, white carpeting was soaking wet and muddy. The cruiser would need to be detailed as well as repaired. It wasn’t until he was already on the road that he realized he wasn’t mad about that.

Kai pushed the car through the twists and turns, still driving fast, but this time trying to be smooth as well, so as not to jostle his passenger. He knew this section of road like he knew the bumps and grooves of a Carbine-12 rifle. In ten minutes and forty-five seconds, Kai pulled the car up to the estate’s front door instead of the garage like he usually did, and went around to the other side to get the girl out.

The manor house was shaped like a horseshoe with the wings curling away from the drive. Even in the rain-drenched dark, the pale towers of the house glimmered, glossed by the storm and lit by the fleeting moonlight reflecting off the pale stone. The enormous, copper doors, long-turned verdigris green, were designed to be awe-inspiring and Kai usually wondered just who his ancestor had been trying to impress. But tonight, he was simply grateful he wouldn’t need to negotiate an obstacle course to get the girl into the house.

He was lifting her out of the cruiser when the doors swung open, spilling warm, yellow light across the white paving stones of the drive. Lynnwood walked out to meet him, an umbrella hovering over his head, shielding him from the worst of the rain.

Is everything all right, sir? Lynnwood was being cautious with him, just like everyone was cautious. For once that didn’t bother Kai.

No, said Kai honestly. I need a med-kit for her.

Of course, sir, said Lynnwood, blinking in the rapid way that meant he was accessing the house processors. Who is she?

No clue. Found her in the road. She’s wet and bloody. Which couch can I put her on?

For a moment, Lynnwood’s face registered shock before being smoothed away by his usual stoic expression. Kai had long ago forgotten that Lynnwood wasn’t human and that all his little tells of emotion were for the benefit of the humans present. Or maybe they weren’t. At Lynnwood’s age who could say what emotional programming the AI had accumulated through the years.

Perhaps the green room? he offered.

Good call. Big couch.

Lynnwood hurried alongside him, shadowing them with the umbrella, and the door swung shut after them, closing with the merest whisper of sound. Kai took the girl through the foyer and hall into a sitting room with green accents and upholstery. The couch was velvet. He didn’t envy Lynnwood the cleaning later. As he set her down the girl’s eyes drifted open.

I didn’t pick the roses, she said, clutching at his arm.

All right, he said, but her eyes were already closing.

Well, that wasn’t particularly helpful, said Lynnwood, looking dismayed. Lynnwood was constantly disappointed that humans weren’t clearer with statements of their needs.

Head injury, said Kai, with a shrug. It was best to ignore the ramblings of the injured. Where’s the med-kit?

Yes, it does look rather bad, said Lynnwood looking at the ceiling, which was probably where the scan nodes were located.

There was a whistle from the doorway and a household droid appeared, a box pinched in its retractable arm. Kai took the proffered med-kit and opened it, rifling through the contents. In his experience, the contents of most non-military med-kits were practically useless. Quick-heal spray and a few bandages were inadequate for actual trauma. He was relieved to see that his orders to upgrade the kits had been carried out. The med-kit scan confirmed his diagnosis—the head injury was the most serious, but the girl’s body temperature would become a concern if she wasn’t warmed soon. He pressed a wound cleaning pad to her head and held it there as he rummaged through the kit to extract the suture tube. The wound cleaner turned green indicating that it was safe to proceed and he dropped it onto the carpet. He turned the girl’s head, trying to part her hair so that no strands would get caught up on the wound, then jabbed the suture tube into it. As always, the hard click indicating that proper import had been attained was reassuring. The suture nanites would do the rest.

Can I help, sir? offered Lynnwood, directing some cleaning bots with a few blinks. One scuttled out of the baseboard and scooped up the wrappers and cleaning pad from the carpet.

I think it’s just cleaning and quick-heal from here, said Kai inspecting the girl again now that the lighting was better. Her dress was purple and hideous—as if she were indulging in the trend of dressing like one’s grandparent, but hadn’t selected any of the stylish looks to draw from. There were ruffles and bows and a long flowing skirt thing over narrow trousers. There was some sort of extra layer of sheer fabric around the cleavage area that had been mostly torn away. Her hair was a dark inky black, although that might lighten when it dried. Her skin was probably a golden beige under normal circumstances, but at the moment she was ashen and starting to look lavender around the lips and in the hollows of her eyes. She was too cold. Go find her a blanket. No sense in moving her until she wakes up.

Yes, sir, said Lynnwood. Shall you be wanting dinner?

Kai looked at the girl. He did want dinner. But if she woke up while he was somewhere else, she might be scared. Yes, but just serve it in here.

Lynnwood didn’t respond right away and Kai looked up at the butler to make sure he’d been heard. Of course, sir. I’ll return shortly with dinner and a blanket for the young lady.

Kai nodded as Lynnwood walked from the room at his usual stately pace. Then Kai reached back into the med-kit for more cleaning pads. He quickly cleaned her remaining scrapes and spritzed her down with quick-heal. He ran his hand along her arm, caught again by the sensation of a tiny vibration. The feeling passed but was replaced by the soft pleasing texture of her skin. As his hand warmed her arm, he thought he caught the faintest scent of rose petals. He lifted her hand and ran his nose over her wrist. The smell clung to her, faint but stubborn despite her ordeal. Did she douse herself in some sort of rose lotion? She was so delightfully smooth, supple, and kissable.

Kai caught himself before he actually kissed her wrist. For a long moment, he stared at his hand willing it to let go of her. Just like the rage that seemed to always be hovering at his elbow, his sex drive was constantly trying to make its desires known. The poor girl was unconscious and it didn’t make a damn bit of difference to the testosterone flooding his body.

He forced himself to stand up and move away from her. He turned on the fireplace and adjusted one of the armchairs so it wasn’t facing directly at her. He could eat dinner, finish up some work and wait for her to wake up and explain how the hell she’d come to be unconscious in the middle of the road.

Chapter 2

The Beauty

— Bella —

Bella opened her eyes and tried to figure out where she was. The ceiling was dark wood and coffered. That much wood would be ridiculously expensive. She turned her head slightly as she became aware of a flickering light and heat on the left side of her face. There was a fireplace. With a fire. It couldn’t be real of course—no one could afford to produce that much carbon—but the hologram was first-rate. She was becoming increasingly aware that something was wrong. She was damp for one thing. An all-over wetness as if she’d jumped in