Chapter Four #2
Cori was hugging her friends and promising to come back soon. They all got back to the pyramid, where Harwin had little Harran and his rattle. Chloe and Harwin risked a quick hug, and she stroked Harran’s head with her sleeve.
By the time they were ready, Chloe was feeling like she would miss Aten.
Gertrude was excited and called shotgun on the new vessel. They were hailed, and their ship slid easily into the shuttle bay of the slip ship.
Stepping out of her shuttle and onto the decking felt weird. She kept her staff with her as she walked toward the hallway where her four Zowoths were waiting. Well, three and a half. One was considerably smaller than the other three, but then, she was the most high-ranking.
“Lady Chloe, this is your vessel, and I am the pilot, Margo Pike. Battle rank three.”
The man next to her said, “Engineer Arvel, battle rank four.”
“Security officer, Lord Baket, battle rank four.”
“Maintenance and food prep, Soven, battle rank four.”
Chloe looked at the woman who had scars covering a third of her face. “Margo, you are Terran?”
“I was. I am Zowoth now.” She smiled, and her cheek pulled against the scar. “If you would like to get underway, we can go anywhere you like.”
“Sanctuary Base. Oh, this is Skylar, Dyturan-Terran and keeper of the Terran ghosts. And this is Cori, altered Terran.”
Cori waved. “Hey.”
Skylar nodded. “It is pleasant to meet you.”
Margo nodded. “Your ship is settled, consciousness is linked to the slip ship, and Soven will show you to your quarters. Are we free to travel, and where did you want to go first?”
Skylar grinned. “How long to Orexi, and from there, how long to Sanctuary Base?”
“Using Gertrude, eighteen hours to Orexi, and based on arrival time, two days from Orexi to Sanctuary Base.”
Cori said, “How long to the array that projected our world’s death day?”
Margo paused. “Show me the location.”
“Show me a tablet.”
Margo chuckled and walked to the wall, caressing the screen and pulling up a projection. “Where do you want to go?”
Cori put a call in. “Trin, where is Isolde’s array?”
“Ackuvel territory. Sending you the ping.” Trin said, “You are going to get her?”
“We are.”
Trin grinned and then said softly, “Thank you.”
Cori got the ping, and Margo set it on the chart.
Gertrude said, “I am loving this new ship. So sleek and pretty. Right. I have the coordinates, and the path looks fun. From this point, we should be able to slip there in fourteen hours.”
“Excellent, Gertrude. I stand ready to assist you. Soven, please take the ladies, get scent samples, and inoculate yourself, Arven and Lord Baket.”
Soven grinned. “Safer for everyone that way.”
Margo pointed to Cori. “That one can kill you, the Dyturan can kill you, and the third is the beloved of Dytura, so take a guess.”
“That one can kill me, too.”
“Correct. Off you go.” Margo smiled.
Chloe frowned. “Do they have your scent as well?”
“Yup, or last week’s ovulation would have had a very different result.” She looked at Chloe. “Being a marked Zowoth is a tricky proposition.”
Arven and Baket were looking at her intently. Margo scowled. “Stop looking at me like that. There is nothing to report to him.”
Chloe paused. “Him?”
“Long story. Get Zowoth-proofed, and I will explain before we arrive at the array.”
Chloe nodded and followed Soven through the halls with the other ladies. Margo headed for the command deck.
* * * *
Margo worked on controlling the power and the flow of energy over the hull. She could feel Aken-Var staring at her ass while she worked, leaning over the terminals. “Stop looking, first among us. It isn’t going to happen again. I know the rules now.”
Baket walked into her peripheral vision. “You were the sweetest unmarked that I have had in decades.”
“And I will never be unmarked again, so there you go.”
Baket walked closer, and she saw the bright sapphire eyes that meant Aken-Var was running his body. That was his right as first among the Zowoth. He could also help in battle if needed, but only for his born people.
“They are still talking about how you marked yourself again in the women’s quarters to keep from being sent to me a second time. I must say, my feelings were a little hurt. You enjoyed yourself, yes?”
“It was fun, but my kind pair bond, not in sets of twenty. To be confronted with eighteen other females who wanted to compare notes was like a sharp blast of icy water on any satisfaction. I am better off as I am now.” She settled in the pilot’s seat. “I value freedom over sex, Aken-Var.”
He sighed. “One day you will be receptive, and you will call for me.”
“That was last week, and you missed it, poor guy.” She was watching and saw his eyes flare neon red. “Hah! Serves you right for tricking me.”
“I did not trick you, beauty.”
“You told me my life would be better if I took the healing. You promised me respect and safety. You lied to get me into bed.”
“It was bed, furs, two tables that we broke, and several walls. You were magnificent.”
“Enjoy the memory.” She met his gaze. “I don’t like liars, and you have betrayed me more than those who sold me to the fighting pit.”
His eyes went clear green. “I did not betray you.”
“You lied to your own advantage and would have kept me in a crowd to be chosen when you were bored with your upper court. I have been in cages, and I do not like them.”
He was shocked. “You would be treasured.”
“I am not lifeless metal. I am no one’s treasure.
I need to be free to have sex when I need it and want it and not waiting for you to have time in your schedule.
I had a need three times in your home, and I could do nothing.
I wasn’t even allowed to take care of it myself.
The scars went on, and they will stay on.
And I will remain out here, where I am free. ”
He snarled. “They did not tell me.”
“Why would they? Your regulars had their appointments in your bed. I was just a novelty.” She shrugged.
“I accept that, but it doesn’t mean that I wish to repeat the humiliation that followed one night with you.
Sex workers don’t expect anything and don’t track you with your crewmembers.
I get satisfaction after a few hours, and then I leave. No appointment necessary.”
The eyes went red again.
She sighed. “That can’t be good for Baket’s eyes.”
“He volunteered for communication.”
“I stand by my statement. I am not coming back to Amtha Prime.”
“I could order you to come.”
“Not if I am in season, and as a Terran, I cycle every twenty-eight days. The nullifiers that are available don’t last long on me. Too hormonally active for living with your population. I am thinking of a permanent solution.”
His eyes widened. “No.”
“Your people allow me to work with you, but I am not one of you. I know that now more than ever. If Chloe and Dytura allow me to remain on this ship as pilot, I will. If the Zowoth won’t have me, there are any number of Hmrain who want to keep their consorts safe.
I make an excellent bodyguard.” She smiled.
“Hey, can I borrow Baket if I am feeling frisky?”
“No.”
“Fine. Hired dick it is.”
His eyes went red again.
“Look, you have your choice of females; I have the capacity to have my choice of males. That’s how it works for the warriors, right? You can have as many partners as you can support and as are willing to remain with you. I figure I should be able to manage four if I keep up a half-decent income.”
Baket dropped to the ground.
Arven sighed. “He’s gonna wake up with a headache.”
“I know, but Aken-Var is pushing hard to tuck me into his collection, and I need more than he is willing to give.”
Arven snorted. “I have heard the rumours. It sounds like he gave for days.”
“Yup, as did I. And then I was dumped into the women’s quarters by his major domo and told my next appointment with him would be in sixty days. My appetite had thrown off the normal schedule.”
Arven blinked. “I thought that part was an exaggeration.”
“No. That was what it was.”
“That was when you clawed up your face.”
“And body. I used brooches that had been dumped in my cell, and I started to replicate my original scars. The ones on my back were the hardest, but the jewels made cutting easy.”
“How did you manage so much?”
“I didn’t make a sound. I had four hours between delivered meals, so I started as soon as breakfast was delivered. Lunch was normally slid into my cell, so that left me extra time, I left a blood trail on my lunch tray and that is what gave me away when I slid it under the door before dinner.”
“Wait. Cell? I thought the quarters were open with gardens and hobby spaces.”
“Not if you have tried to break out. Then, they keep the pretty things in boxes until their attitude improves. Mine did not.”
Arven grinned, his glossy green skin bright. “What happened when they saw you?”
“Ah, the infamous thing that I said?” She snorted.
“It is what you are known for.”
“Play time is over. I would like to get back to work now. Where’s my crew?” She paused and said, “Oh, and someone needs to mop in here; it’s a mess.”
Arven laughed, and Baket groaned and sat up. “He was pissed!”
She laughed. “He will just go have some fun and games to take the edge off. He has plenty of playmates.”
Arven’s eyes flared. “But none who can take me like you. Thank you for the information. I did wonder how things unfolded.”
“Aw, you got better at hiding the eyes.”
He smiled, bowed, and Arven swayed.
Baket slowly got to his feet. “Why did you taunt him like that?”
Margo grinned. “Because you like to be called Lord Baket. You insist on the title, you take the headache.”
He looked at her and sighed. “Fine. In the ship. When back at Amtha Prime, I will insist on the title again.”
“Insist all you like. My feet are not hitting that soil again.”
Arven frowned. “What if you gain a ranking?”
“I am a three. That’s fine. Good pay rate, and it entitles me to pilot a ship.”
Baket snorted. “You will reduce your chance at glory just to avoid a male?”
“No, but to avoid that male? Yes. All I get from him is sex and prison, and one is not worth the other.”
Arven looked at her. “What about family?”
“My family is dead, long before my world ended, and I am unbreedable at my age.”
Baket frowned. “Your age?”
“I am past breeding age by five or ten years, but my body is still going through the motions. Tremendous sex drive with little result.”
The two men stared at each other. “You have mentioned numbing your system.”
“That is part of the going through the motions; it keeps going off as I run out of eggs, and then it stops. I should be ready to bond out to a farm world in five years or so.”
“Farm world?” Baket looked appalled.
“Yeah. In about ten years, my body will degrade, and my family usually doesn’t make it much beyond that. I want to live my life before that point.”
Arven said softly, “So, you might have fifteen years left if your genetics stand.”
“Yes. I fought for fifteen years, fought for every minute of open air and freedom. I am not giving that up.”
Footfalls got closer. Soven returned with the ladies and injectors.
Margo smiled. “I am sure Soven explained the purpose.”
Cori nodded back. “He said it will make their bodies register us as family.”
“Well, you came back at the perfect time. I was just about to explain menopause.”
Chloe chuckled. “Why?”
“Because I am firmly in it. Makes for dramatic hormones but not much else in my family.”
Skylar asked her, “How old are you?”
“Fifty-four. On the downside to the end.”
Chloe looked at her. “Your life is strong.”
“Yeah, that comes and goes, but the hot flashes were amazing in the arena. They never saw me coming.”
Arven blinked. “You... this is the same urge that drives you toward sex.”
Margo pinked. “Yeah.”
Cori stared, her purple-and-black stripes giving her a supervillain vibe. “You weaponized menopause.”
Margo looked at her and smiled, her face pulling against the scars. “Someone had to.”
The other humans looked at her and started laughing, and the orcs looked confused. Just the way she liked to start a road trip.