Shield [New World Book 1] by C.L. Scholey Page A

to touch her. She hoped he was right. She had no shield and she couldn’t fight off a full-grown Castian in must. Even if he didn’t know what went where, she might still be hurt; Castian males were exceedingly heavy. Grace wondered if it had to with their armor. Rask insisted she would be fine. When she asked him what would happen, he just shrugged. Rask had no idea, he said, he just knew.
    “What is this?” Stacie asked, eyeing a bright red fruit warily.
    “I have no idea, but it tastes fantastic,” Grace said and bit into one.
    “I see and smell you have mated successfully,” Rask said to Tosk.
    “Polite men don’t talk about their sexual prowess when a woman is with them,” Grace said in her best prim and proper voice imitating her mother. The thought of her mother made her smile and feel sad at the same time. Her mother would have loved Rask.
    “Ya, they do what women do and wait until you have left the room,” Stacie said and winked at Grace.
    Grace laughed. Her mother would have adored Stacie, too.
    “I have to admit mating is the most amazing feeling,” Tosk said.
    “Except for the dreaming part,” Stacie said then laughed openly when Tosk blushed.
    “What?” Grace asked curiously.
    “Guess who went on his first roller coaster ride last night?” Stacie said.
    Grace laughed.
    “Roller coaster?” Rask asked.
    “Just a little ride,” Tosk said as though tossing off the experience with a shrug.
    “His shield went up the moment the coaster started down the hill,” Stacie said.
    “Very funny,” Tosk said dryly.
    “He got me back though,” Stacie said and rolled her eyes. “He introduced to me to his pet, Glosh.”
    “Glosh?” Grace asked.
    “Picture an Ewok with fangs and claws that walks on all fours.”
    “Yikes,” Grace said.
    “I think it’s time to take our mates outside,” Rask said.
    Grace looked around and noticed a few of the males were coming closer. Her eyes widened as another male came in his pants, staining the front. The male groaned and then growled in disgust. Stacie giggled. Rask gripped Grace’s hand and pulled her behind him. They were soon out in the brilliant sunshine followed by Tosk and Stacie.
    “You have so much knowledge; why not build your own shuttle?” Grace asked.
    “Our adversaries chose this planet because it’s in its infancy. They were able to manipulate the genetic codes of the trees to suit our talons. No type of material can be found here to make a vessel,” Rask informed her. “Our replicators make food and clothing and basic necessities but nothing else.”
    “So you can never go home?” Stacie asked.
    “Not anymore,” Tosk said.
    Grace looked at Rask quizzically.
    “We can’t take you to our planet,” Rask explained. “The water is poisoned; one drop and you and I would be dead.”
    “After all these years you can’t fix it?” Stacie asked.
    “It was the least of our worries with the Tonans attacking,” Tosk said.
    “Tonans?” Stacie asked.
    “Our enemies,” Rask explained.
    “Why do they fight with you?” Grace asked.
    “Perhaps because we are too much alike,” Rask said. “At one time we all lived on the same planet, way before my father’s birth. Something happened. A number of them were convicted of genetically mutating shields. They crave power and submission. Their armor is different from ours now. They were banished to a fledgling planet with no females to stop them from reproducing mutants. Over time, they used their ability to modify metals to create ships. They created cloaking devices. The new mutant shield that covers them made them not only immune to warring, but to emotion.
    “They have no empathy when their shields go up, no mercy, no sense of right from wrong. Tonans learned to lie. To kill without remorse or pity. It’s been our job to keep unsuspecting races safe from the devils they’ve become. Castians feel responsible. If Tonans had ever made it to Earth, humans would have been slaughtered for