Chapter 17
SEVENTEEN
Bri
Something is off with Tai. He was way too quick to agree to my plan. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he did it to shut that brethren down.
Their faces go from adoration to sneers when Tai returns with a glass of water for me. Clearly, they don’t approve of this new arrangement. I could cut the tension with a knife.
Tai drops down on the ground next to me. He shoves more food in his mouth like a barbarian, completely unaware the brethren are all glaring at him. Tai’s arrival seems to have disturbed the delicate balance. The harmless brethren appear to have sharper edges than I believed.
Their debate continues in heated whispers a few tables away. The bullshit prophecy can be interpreted in a million different ways, so it’s not shocking they might form into factions. I’d rather not get caught in the middle of their religious debate.
“Brethren, we may not agree on everything, but the prophecy is clear: the goddess must bless the holy water of the Wahadi. Perhaps then her true purpose will be revealed to us,” Boss says.
His announcement is met with a low rumble throughout the room.
Something about the way he says “true purpose” sends a cold shiver down my spine.
I might not like the guy, but his suggestion works in my favor. A little time on the surface will give me a chance to get the lay of the land and the chance to get through to some of the brethren. Once I’m convinced they will stop bowing down to Boss, Tai and I can make a run for it.
“On the way, we must stop by Table Mountain for a sky reading, to fulfill the requirements of the prophecy,” Hot-Breath says.
“The blessing of the Wahadi is what will bring back the lifesaving water and transform Sabaak into paradise for all of eternity, not your silly sky reading,” someone else says. The menacing look in Boss’s eye shuts down any further discussion.
The room goes unnervingly quiet. The only sound is Tai’s open mouth chomping next to me. I dig my elbow into his ribs.
“Ouch! What the fu—” He stops himself when he sees fury in my eyes. Tai looks around the room, finally observing the situation around him.
Boss also takes note of the mood. “Brethren, of course we will go to Table Mountain on our way to the Wahadi. Our merciful goddess would never neglect one of her sacred duties.” Another one of his sickening smiles spreads across his face. A face that is asking to be punched.
Keep speaking for me and see what happens.
A brethren I haven’t nicknamed yet leans down to place more food in front of me. I use the opportunity to ask the questions I need answers to before I agree to any of this.
“What’s a wahadi?” I whisper into his flat ear.
Without looking away from his task, he responds. “It is the sacred oasis.” The way he picked up on my need for subtlety makes him my favorite so far.
“And what’s sky reading?” I follow up with.
He looks down at me, baffled. “It’s when the shapes in the clouds answer our most important questions. It’s how we knew our goddess would be our salvation.”
I feel caught in a lie, and the only way to get out of it is more lies. “Oh yeah, that. We used to call it something else.”
Tai laughs and tries to disguise it as a cough. I slap him roughly on the back, a playful punishment.
Boss’s eyes narrow on me, and the brethren shrinks away out of his field of vision. I stare back, daring him to say something. Boss is the first to break eye contact and stands stiffly to leave, his robes sweeping behind him.
I glance at Tai. “Road trip!”
“What the fuck do you mean we can’t leave?” Tai paces around our small room, roughly combing his hands through his hair.
Our room. I had to think quickly when Boss suggested Tai go back down to the dungeon.
There is something going on here, and Tai seems to know more than he led me to believe. I don’t feel like I can trust anyone at the moment.
“I can’t go yet! You heard them out there—they need me to bless the water and read the clouds or whatever for their cult.
I’ll play goddess a little bit longer, and then we can leave.
” The lie comes so easily. What I really need is a chance to help get rid of Boss so these guys can live out their lives in peace.
“It’s the perfect opportunity for us to leave!” His fingers curl up like claws. I bite my lips to keep from smiling. Messing with Tai is the most fun I’ve had in months.
“Tai, have some compassion. These poor guys are stuck here, with only their religion to cling to. They think I’m going to save them. It’s the least we can do.” Another easy lie. I’m impressed with how convincing I sound.
“This isn’t our problem, Bri,” he says through clenched teeth.
“I hate to do this, but you should probably call me something like Goddess Divine or something.” I quickly turn my back to him and pretend to straighten my pile of blankets to hide my smirk from him, but my shoulders shake from the effort of keeping it in.
“You’ve got to be shitting me,” he says, clearly annoyed. The laughter bubbles up out of me.
“I’m taking a bath. When I get out, you better have a damn good reason why we can’t leave tomorrow, and playing goddess for their sake doesn’t count.
” He slams the bathroom door behind him, and I shove my face into a pillow to stifle my laughter.
The look on his face was priceless. To think, when I was bored all those months in the muraDome, I could have been torturing Tai the entire time. Such a wasted opportunity.
He’s clearly not buying my excuses to stay. It won’t be forever. Only a few days. Maybe a week. That’s all the time I’ll need to poke a few holes in Boss’s authority and help lay the first stone of the egalitarian society they think they have. Unfortunately, it appears I’ll need Tai’s cooperation.
Why does he have to complicate everything?
I loosely braid my hair back for the night and undress as quickly as possible. I jump into bed and pull the blankets up to my chin. I’m going to ask the brethren for some pajamas tomorrow. Sleeping naked with Tai across the room is not a good idea.
The source of my discomfort walks back in a few minutes later. He’s dripping wet, with the towel wrapped around his waist. I look away as quickly as possible, but I can’t escape the soft padding of his feet on the ground reminding me of our mutual state of undress.
“Are you ready to tell me the real reason you want to stay here and not get home as soon as possible and never touch sand again?” he asks. Clearly the bath did nothing to ease his bad mood.
“I don’t like Boss. I don’t like the way he runs this place and treats everyone terribly. They all live under this fantasy of being equal, but he’s clearly abusing his authority.”
Tai runs his hands through his damp hair. It’s short by his ears and a little longer on top and in the back. It looks good on him. I don’t know many who can pull off that haircut.
Stop it. Stay focused.
“How long is your little religious reformation going to take?” he asks, sounding exhausted.
His question gives him away. He’s actually considering it.
“A few days. A week max.” I try to suppress my smile.
Victory.
“I’m only agreeing to this because I know how dangerous leaders like Boss can be.”
I kick my feet under my blankets and free the smile I’ve been trying to rein in.
“I’m not doing this for you. I’m doing it because it’s the right thing to do, so don’t get too excited.
” He sounds so gruff and serious. I was able to convince one of the most stubborn aliens I know to go along with my plans for the second time in one day.
Now I have a few brethren to get through to and we can be on our way.
“What’s with the orgasm thing?” he asks, changing the subject abruptly.
“You want to talk about that now?” I hoped he had already forgotten about the awkward greeting.
“Yes, I do.”
“This is going to sound crazy.” I stop right there and search for the words to describe what happened earlier.
“Try me.”
“So, before you got here. Well, I guess it began with some prophecy about their goddess needing satisfaction—”
I stop myself when a laugh bursts out of him. It’s a nice laugh. Even though it’s at my expense.
“I told you it’s crazy.”
His laughter is contagious, and soon I’m laughing so hard I’m clutching at my side trying to get the rest of the story out. It’s been a while since I’ve had a good hard laugh. Tai’s laughter softens. He inhales deeply and wipes a tear from his eye.
“Go on. I can’t wait to hear what happened next.” He watches me with a persistently wide grin on his face. The orb light near the door casts a warm light across the room. His bright eyes watch me with amusement. It’s a nice smile to go with his nice laugh.
“Well, they kept propositioning me in different ways. I had to pull the goddess card to get them to stop offering to eat me out.”
He chokes and coughs. “Eat you out?”
“Go down on me,” I explain.
“Yeah, I know what it means. I just can’t imagine the brethren doing that.”
“I’ll have you know I am a very desirable person, and an extremely capable lover,” I blurt out, instantly cringing from embarrassment. I don’t need to defend myself to him of all people.
“Capable lover?”
“Whatever—you know what I mean.” I punch my pillow and try to beat it down so it’s more comfortable.
I huff and turn my back on him to face the wall so he can’t see me blushing.
My face is hot and I want the ground to swallow me up.
Memories of that night back at the muraDome flood in. The night I can’t seem to forget.
We had both been drinking just enough to let down our guards.
My face got hot and red every time we made eye contact.
We were all celebrating the breakthrough in our research which would end the food crisis on Earth.
Our mission on j’Tilak was a success—the unique environment held the key to ensuring crops could be grown on Earth.
There was hope in the air, which felt even more intoxicating than the drinks.