A Lovely Failure

Banned to a remote outlying planet thought devoid of anything useful, Charles finds an agreeable paradise run by women. He isn't exactly motivated to carry out his mission to exploit the planet. When the Home World sends a colleague to check on him, that threatens everything--including the planet itself. He needs to warn the Queen. Excerpt Charles woke to a gorgeous morning. His lovely Rakell lay stretched out beside him, her coppery body naked. Lazily he stroked the pale green line that ran down the center of her back until she woke. She raised her head and smiled at him and he knew she was waiting for his signal before reaching for the button to alert Andy. He stretched languidly and considered whether he would make love to her now or after breakfast. Decisions, decisions, he thought contentedly. Andy would have a delicious breakfast ready by the time he got up and showered and Rakell wasn’t going anywhere. When he walked into the garden, Andy promptly served a sumptuous breakfast of fruit and juice. As he ate, he lounged in his comfortable chair and took in the lush scenery that surrounded him. His domain. It belonged to the Queen, of course, everything did, but was his to enjoy and use. This entire part of the planet was a garden; calling the space around him a garden was a conceit of his. It was also his delight. Everyone took pains to see that it was always precisely what he wanted. Although most plant life seemed to flourish on their own, Charles could help but be amazed at the way his gardener, Amos, arranged a variety of colorful plants and stones to create a perfect ambiance for relaxation. Amos put the best gardeners on Charles’s home planet to shame. In subtle ways, he changed the view daily, somehow always managing to create the perfect atmosphere, the one that captured Charles’s mood exactly. Captures my mood or influences my moods? Charles thought absently.