Travel to Mars to look for talents Riding down the valley toward the frozen waterfall, Robert urged his horse to maintain a slow gait. He was scanning the evergreen and red pine trees on a mission to choose trees for decorating the castle for Christmas. The four beats of the palomino's hooves pounded in his ears. He held him to the gait, though the three-year-old stallion kept telegraphing through the reins his desire to break into a canter or the smooth gallop that felt like flying. The youth loved the effortless pace that was natural for a Martian Pacer, bred through many generations by the Coleson family for the smoothest gait possible. The beautiful Pacers were this teenager's first love. The stallion he was riding was the result of his first breeding experiments. The manager, Angus MacQuire, dour Scotsman that he was, had at first been skeptical about the Earl Marshal allowing his young son to "play with" the farm's breeding program. Then he was impressed with how seriously Robert took the responsibility and gave grudging admiration for his success in the foals produced in his first year. Robert seemed to have a natural feel for which match of stallion and mare gave the best results. Since then, Angus readily consulted with him and deferred to his judgment. Coming up to his 14th birthday, Robert should have already gone to a military training center, the first step in his training to follow his father in the position of Earl Marshal. He knew his father was disappointed that he had not displayed any of the Greater Talents yet. Robert had a touch of Telepathy and liked to play childish tricks with Telekinesis, however there was no indication of any Greater Talent. His father, Sir Ralph Coleson, was one of the most powerful men on Mars. As the government leader, Earl Marshal, he also had leadership of the military on Mars. Flying the newly developed Scout ships was his passion and the creation of the first Martian spaceships had eclipsed all other interests; another reason he had allowed Robert to work with the horses. Robert knew a deeper reason. Sir Ralph had lost his wife, Lady Sylvia, in an accident. Out riding alone, her horse ran away with her and smashed her head into a low hanging branch. Her Telepathic cry for help was cut short. However, she was the Teleport Talent of the family. By the time they reached her body, she was gone. His father had been flying far from home. Not being a strong telepath, he had not been able to hear her cry and could not Teleport to her side. Robert nurtured a dream that when he became the Earl Marshal, the Human Martians would finally explore the galaxy. He thought the only real reason to do so would be to seek other sentient life forms. Mars offered a variety of sentient creatures that the transplanted Earth settlers had studied over the years. Robert reasoned that if such a variety of life forms existed on Mars and Earth, the other planets must have untold wonders just waiting to be discovered. The development of Faster Than Light Drive would make that possible, but that was only a dream now.
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