Segun

The story below is about the descendants of a nearly-failed Earth colony in our far-flung future. You might recognize contemporary themes here. You can classify it as a science fiction story, or as a MM Romance, or even dystopian, though some it comes uncomfortably close to today's issues. One character is intersexed, having the reproductive anatomy of both sexes. If that's not for you, I understand. I did not expect to be a scribe for such an exotic mix of subjects and topics, but the first book I wrote about this planet gripped me and I was compelled to write it. Now, here is 30,000 word prequel to that story titled Segun.

Chapter One

Segun

Celestial Father, ruler of Heaven and Earth, with a guilty heart, I come to you. Absolve me. I was born in sin in mind, body, and soul. I seek redemption, and I beg your divine forgiveness. I accept my deserved punishment to delight in your presence without guilt.

Prayer of the Cursed, Faith Progressive Church

The day was bright with a slight breeze that carried a breath of sweet moisture from Lake Veller west of our house. Even though it is early morning, the promise of the Ostakis' relentless sun prickles my body. I bounced nervously on my toes as I inspected the work of the household's new man. At least, I tell myself I'm supervising it, though, in truth, I was more curious about Tolen than his work. Our young gardener stood in the middle vegetable garden tearing weeds from the ground in resolute and precise motion as if this work was singularly important.

Token just came to us far from the northern city-state, Kiji Amst. I didn't ask how or why he suddenly appeared, though he is Cursed like me. It is rude to ask what financial arrangement my father made for his services. I do not know if the father brought Tolen here to be his lover when Tolen's heat struck. And this is a sensitive subject. Father and Papa Rebus' relationship had suffered when Papa and I nearly died at my birth.

My father had the surgeons remove Papa's inner reproductive parts to prevent another incident. Rebus was furious when he woke from surgery. There would be no more Klath children or heats unless my father took a Cursed lover.

Was Tolen that lover?

My birth parent clucked his tongue when Tolen showed up unannounced, delivered by taxi to the side door as if he were the grocery order, but the issue was not brought up at dinner. Rebus Klath knew his place. The inheritance of the powerful Trademaster position father held flowed through him, just as my partner would inherit it upon father's death. But that is where Rebus Klath's power ended, and all decisions belonged to my father.

If Father ever got around to contracting me in partnership. This was another sore subject between my parents. Rebus desired this to happen soon. An uncontracted Cursed man like myself was subject to the harsher of the Church's dictates regarding my kind. We were upon the heels of the next Shaming Festival, and according to the church, any Cursed without a partner or an engagement contract must undergo the Shaming to redeem our sinful souls.

A grating crunch sounded from the front of the house, signaling the stop of a vehicle on the gravel street before our house. Though I was not supposed to, I walked to the garden gate and peered over it. A vehicle stands there, shrouded in the dark cloth of the clerics of the Faith Progressive Church.

"Who is it?" said Tolen.

"A church transport."

"Sid-Yonsu Segun," whispered Tolen fiercely. "You mustn't stand by the gate. If the churchmen see you, they will take you for punishment."

"It is my own house, Tolen. I will not stand ashamed in my garden."

"As you wish," said Tolen. He cast his eyes to the ground, chastened as if I spoke harshly. He is a shy man, and I wondered how old he is. Sometimes Cursed appeared younger than their years. I was in my eighteenth year, but some men swear I look like I'm in my early teens.

But my attention is stolen by the man in black robes, that moved out of sight to the front door.

"Wait here," said the cleric to his driver.

He is tall with brown hair and a beard. Clerics wear these, though most Ostakians do not. In the Ostakian heat, they were a hindrance, as must be his dark robes reaching the sandy ground.

"Who is it, then?" said Tolen.

"I think it is Thyenn Sharr," I said.

"Who is he?"

"Most Reverend Gyenn Sharr's son. Thyenn will head the Church when his father goes to his heavenly reward."

At Sharr's name, Tolen shrank against the inner wall of the gate.

"What?" I said, turning away from the portal. The show was over, at least for me, unless I entered the house, which I did not want to do.

"Don't let him see me."

"Tolen, tend your garden. You are safe here from the Church."

"I, I," stuttered Tolen.

"What is it, Tolen?"

"That is not my experience. My last Master—" Terror edged his voice while tears formed in his eyes.

My stomach turned. It is true that the Cursed had few legal rights, but the heads of their households were supposed to protect, not abuse, them. That was civil law. But the Church g in its voice lately, and it seems all sense and reason had flown most people. The Church advocated flagellation of the body to redeem the soul and eagerly sought their next victims at the Festival Shaming Post. The Cursed of poorer families unable to donate to the Church were accused of crimes and beaten, sometimes to death. If my father thought Tolen's life was threatened, he would have purchased and brought him to our house. But where were his children if Tolen was past the age of first mating?

"Tolen," I asked. "Have you ever had a child?"

Tolen turned away as his lip quivered. Oh, dear merciful Lord, they took his child from him and gave the babe to the Master's wife to raise. It was a common enough practice, especially since the Cursed die so often in childbirth, and it is thought best for the child's health to feel little connection to the Cursed that bore them. But it is yet another cruelty suffered by the Cursed.

I stepped forward and put my hand on his shoulder, and he flinched.

"I'm sorry," I said. "No one will harm you here. I promise you."

"Can you, Sid-Yonsu, make that promise?"

Tolen glanced at me sharply, and his gaze was like a knife to my soul. He used my title, Sid-Yonsu, or the Yonsu's lesser son, to punctuate his point. I did not have the power to make promises.

"Tolen, my father made that covenant by bringing you here."

"But Yonsa Rebus—" He bit his lip then. How hurt must the man be that he cannot speak?

"My father often does not bring up important details to his partner. He does this often. It causes friction. There are historical disagreements here that have nothing to do with you."

Tolen hung his head. "I'm sorry to hear that. Yonsu and Yonsa Klath are esteemed persons, even in Kiji Amst."

I thought this was a strange statement since he included Papa, but I didn't have time to question Tolen further. Our Ransa Yinsee, Ema, called my name.

"Sid-Yonsu Segun, Yonsu Klath calls you to his office."

Unexpectedly Tolen grabbed my shoulder.

"Do not go," he said urgently.

"Do not be silly, Tolen. If my father calls, I must."

"But the churchman—"

"Does not hold power in House Klath," I said.

"Yes, Sid-Yonsu," the man said miserably. He turned away, took the earth-turner he had leaned against the wall, and fiercely thrust the tines into the earth.

"Hurry, hurry, now," said the old housekeeper. She had been with our family for three generations and knew how impatient my father could be.

"Telling me to hurry will not make me move faster, Ema."

"Mind you use my proper title, Sid-Yonsu Klath. I taught you better than that."

"Apparently not," I said.

She sighed, shook her head, and muttered about the impertinence of Cursed children as she worked a dough on the kitchen work table. Then she glanced at me and pursed her lips. "Don't be nervous," she said kindly.

"I'm not," I said, totally lying.

"They say Thyenn Sharr is a good man."

"I'm sure he walks in His Holy Name." My voice held a barely concealed a sarcastic edge.

"Segun Klath!" she protested.

"Got you! You forgot to use my title."

"Out of here, you reprobate."

I landed a quick peck on my childhood nurse's cheek, and she shooed me off with a cluck of her tongue. I hurried through the disjointed hallways of House Klath, constructed so, Papa told me, to discourage and confound thieves. It was a large dwelling, capable of housing fifty people, built at a time when people, not machines, performed most labor. Now there were barely ten, seven of them servants, and I'm not sure we needed that many.

Father invited me in after a respectful knock at my father's door. It was a rare occasion for Father to bring me into his office, where he held court on the business of the world. He sat behind an ancient wood desk the colonist Klath family brought at great expense when they helped settle this planet. This and the ten-foot-long dining table in the public dining room were our legacies from that time half a millennia ago.

"Most Reverend Thyenn Sharr, this is my son, Sid-Yonsu Segun."

Thyenn Sharr's eyes narrowed when he turned to me. His beady blue eyes shone with a menace that made me shiver. His nostrils flared too, and I wondered if he caught an edge of an oncoming heat. I did feel more nervous than usual and should check my calendar.

The cleric said nothing to me, nor did I expect he would, and swiveled his head back to my father.

"Obviously born in and of sin," he said.

"I pay my church tithes, Reverend. There is no need for your insults," said my father.

"You have a father's heart, which is commendable," said Sharr. "But Church Law is clear."

"My son is too young to sin," my father said. "He is exempt from the law."

I see my father's intentions. The church considered individuals who had not begun puberty innocent of sin. But I've had two heats now, in the privacy of our house, and the illusion I was a sinless youth will shatter soon.

Father must obtain a partnership contract for me soon.

Thyenn Sharr sighed. "Trademaster, it is plain to me that is not the truth."

"You call me a liar!" Father's face puffed with his indignation.

Sharr held up his hands in supplication.

"Rather, you have a father's concern and do not want to see the worst of your child. But this is why I asked to see him, and now that I have, I declare that the boy is no longer innocent. He's entered into Sin. For the good of his soul must suffer in body. And you will agree to this, or I will be forced to denounce you as a heretic."

I swallowed hard. Difficulties between the Tradesmaster's Office that regulated the business affairs of Ostakis and the Church would strain our society in dangerous ways. This was why my father paid deference in coin to the Church though privately he had no patience for it.

My father glared at Sharr, which would normally scare most people, but this did not work with Sharr, whose morality overrode all common sense.

"Segun, excuse us," said my father.

I bowed respectfully and withdrew from the room, but before I fully shut the door, I heard Father say with tired resignation, "How much will it cost to relieve his burden?"

Chapter Two

Aulkus

This planet was incompletely terraformed. It can barely support human life. The seeds we were given for planting do not take well, and we'll have to take all the plants that do grow for seeds for the next crop. This is a crushing blow. I've put the colonists on half rations from our stores to help us past harvest, and I have men guarding the food. But there are dangerous rumblings among the colonists, and I fear for all of us if violence breaks out. I hope we can hold out until the resupply ships come.

Journal—Captain Winston Veller, Governor, Ostakis Colony

"Aulkus," said my wife, "your father sent a message." She dutifully walked toward me and handed me the note that arrived by courier at our little house at the edge of Father's property. Why did he bother? I would meet him in an hour anyway.

Cannot a man have a cup of tea in peace?

Sela is a beautiful woman with a shapely body and long dark hair that shimmers with blue highlights, but today her face is tired and lined.

"Is there something wrong, Sela?" I asked.

Her eyes misted, and she turned her head, and I guessed the problem.

"I am not a good wife to you," she said.

This is a delicate matter, and protestations to the contrary do not yield the result you'd expect. I took her hand as she tried to turn away.

"Not every woman gets a child in the first year of marriage."

"My sister did."

"She is not you. Be patient." I issued my instruction with male authority, which any married man knows, does not go far in his household.

Sela jerked her hand away as if I rebuked her with harsh words.

"I've been patient enough," she said. "I want to go to the Church and ask for a blessing to lift the curse of my barren womb."

I pursed my lips. Such blessings were expensive and, in my mind, had dubious value.

"In fact," she said, lifting her head, "I want to go the main church in Kiji Ost and get the blessing from Most Holy Reverend Gyenn Sharr himself."

Annoyance rose in my gut. It is one thing to go to the local cleric and ask for a prayer said over you and hand him coin. It is quite another to go the head of the Faith Progressive Church for him to mutter over you.

"No."

"But Aulkus!"

"No. It will bankrupt us."

"It won't," she said. "Your father will advance you the money."

"What!" Now I had lost all patience. "You went to my father with a request for money?"

"He was quite amenable."

"I am not! How dare you! How dare you shame me in front of my father! It was not your place to make such a request!"

Sela flinched from my angry words, and I kicked myself inwardly because I forgot how her father used to beat her. But then she straightened and stared me in the eye. "Aulkus Wren, I am your wife. I do much for you and ask nothing but this."

I calculated the years of extra servitude to my father that my wife added without thought, and I did not like it. Father is perfectly happy to be a vintner, but I was not. There is more to life than this vineyard and the attached farm. I dreamed of attending University in Kiji Ost, but he blocked my efforts. His ploy last year was to contract the marriage to Sela for me, a business arrangement he insisted he could not get free from.

Sela arrived at my house with nothing but her clothes wrapped in a cloth and nowhere else to go. Her face sported fresh bruises, and I could not let the woman stand outside on my doorstep.

And she was right. Sela had been a good wife to me, but I did not love her. This was not her fault. She did everything a wife should and more. My guilt in this overrode my good sense. I cannot refuse her.

Sighing, I said, "When I go to Kiji Ost for the Festival, you'll go with me. If the Reverend hears our House's petition, I'll pay for it. And perhaps you can help with the wine cart? How does that sound?"

She threw her arms around my neck and kissed me.

"Thank you, thank you, husband. I'm sure with the blessing from Reverend Sharr, we will have a child within a year."

"That would be nice," I agreed to be agreeable. Perhaps a child is the thing to deepen my connection with this woman. I picked up the message from my father.

"What does it say?" Sela could not read, which was unfortunate, but so many women weren't educated in the basics. I thought it stupid, but Sela refused my attempts to instruct her. "It's not seemly," she had said, "for a woman's head to be filled with men's knowledge. So says the Holy Texts." I didn't bother to argue with her then that they said no such thing because arguing against the Clerics' spoken word never brought a good result with Sela.

"He says the wine cart is loaded."

"Why didn't he let you do it?"

"Probably because he overloaded it—again. He knows I will not take more than what the cart should handle. Always looking for profits, that one. I should go."

"But your breakfast—"

"I'm not hungry," I said. In truth, my stomach roiled with upset at this whole petition incident. Now, I'll have to explain to Father thaFatheruld not take his money and he will take insult.

"I'll see you this evening. Pack for us both, eh? We'll travel in the cool of the night."

"Yes, Aulkus. And perhaps when we go to Kiji Ost, we can buy a new holo so I can get the services from the main church. They are said to be most magnificent."

"We'll see," I said. This was turning into an expensive trip.

Sela pulled away, and I kissed her cheek goodbye, but relief filled me when I stepped outside into the relentless sun-filled day. A wife is supposed to be a joy, but living with her is the bane of my nights. Her fierce devotion to the Faith Progressive Church and her belief in the promises of a heavenly reward for the hardships of earthly life did not endear her to me.

Perhaps, I thought the Most Holy Reverend Sharr could bless my hard heart so I might love my wife better.

But I don't think so.

Despite my father's best efforts, I gained what education I could through holos from Kiji Amst's library that I hacked on our aging holo device. The thing about old devices is that they do not have the security encryptions of the newer ones, which is why I gratefully took my father's aging one.

Ostensibly the holo was for Sela's benefit so she could watch the nightly services from the local church while she knit or wove. But I used it more than she, after she fell asleep, to read what I could from the library.

One night I found the actual journal of Captain Veller, the colonists' leader on this planet five hundred years ago. It was buried so deep in the records that even a bookmark on the spot couldn't bring it up some nights. And the language was strange, almost as if it was half of what ours is now. It took me a while to pick through it, but when I did, I learned disturbing things about what the colonists did to survive in this world so far away from their home world.

I could go on in a long treatise about those sins, but they were not the reasons the supposed Curse of the Unspoken fell on us. Concisely the colonists used, and grievously, the undiscovered aboriginal peoples for their survival. After that, I knew the Church either lied or, more generously, lacked an understanding of the past to speak intelligently about why the Cursed came among us. I could not buy into the teachings of the church after that.

So, I was a heretic, but a secret one. If anyone discovered my views, I would surely be taken to the Shaming Post as a Cursed.

I'd like to avoid that.

Chapter Three

Segun

They look like men, but they are not. They bear the reproductive parts of women as well as men. They are neither man nor woman and are subject to animalistic heat like the beasts of the field. We called them Cursed because that is what they are. It is a sin against God to countenance them. That is why we need to redeem their souls but flaying their flesh. It is the only kindness we can offer.

Most Holy Reverend Gyenn Sharr's sermon before the Festival.

Papa Rebus flew into a rage when my father delivered the news at the private dinner table.

"This what I told you would come of waiting to contract Segun! Now he must suffer public Shaming. It is bad enough that you ripped the means to produce more children from me. Now, you seek to send my only child to die from the lash of the Church."