by Jack Porter
“Courage,” Deeve said. “They’re looking for courage.”
I nodded, but kept waiting.
“A lack of imagination,” Jayloo said, framing the suggestion as an insult.
I smiled at her. “In part, yes. They’re not looking for people who will overthink a situation. But instead, for those who will look at what is and react accordingly.”
Sydney was studying me carefully. “You’re comfortable being by yourself,” she said.
I nodded.
“Then why even seek us out? Why didn’t you go your own way to begin with?” she added.
“In truth, I didn’t seek you out. When I climbed out of my pod, for all I knew, I was alone on a hostile world. Without a directive from the Company, my first thoughts are simple. To survive. And that means food and water.” I gestured with my head to the supplies I was leaning against. “Both of which I found.”
Neither Jayloo nor Sydney looked pleased with my answer.
“So why stick around?” Sydney asked. “Why didn’t you just take what you wanted and go?”
“I could have done that. But that would have been much the same as killing you all, don’t you think? Leaving you alone on this world, without any resources to speak of. And despite what Jayloo might think, that’s not who I am.”
“A group has a greater chance of survival than an individual, for the most part,” Uma said.
I nodded. “For the most part. If they’re willing to work together.”
Uma was still studying me. “You’re cold,” she said. “Calculating. That’s another thing they test for.”
I nodded slowly. I couldn’t deny it. But at the same time, it wasn’t what I wanted them to focus on. It wasn’t the most relevant to the main question.
“I’m also honest, conscientious, loyal, and trustworthy. Which are also characteristics they are specifically looking for. But here’s another question. In all the time the Company has been using people like me, assessors to scout new worlds, seeking avenues for ever-increasing profits, how many have ever gone rogue?”
The woman all looked to each other. I knew the answer, just as they did.
“How many have ever committed a crime?”
I stared at them again, looking for the answer on their faces.
“Honesty. Loyalty. Trustworthy. Those are characteristics they look for above all else. How many people who have those characteristics turn to crime?”
“Depends. I’ve heard of gangs where the members have those characteristics. Organized crime syndicates,” Sydney said.
I had to give her the point. “I’m not in a gang. Or if I am, that gang is the Company itself. And yet, its them who put me in chains. The people I’m supposed to be loyal to.”
Jayloo apparently wasn’t enjoying the journey I was taking her on. “Just tell us what you did!” she demanded.
“Nothing more than my job,” I said.
“I don’t believe you,” the purple-haired woman shot back.
I stared at her for a moment, but didn’t otherwise react.
“What do you think might happen if someone like me stumbled across something that the Company wanted to keep secret?” I asked.
“You’re supposed to be this trustworthy, loyal person. Surely they can expect you to keep your mouth shut?” she responded.
“Ordinarily, yes. But what if this secret was more important than that? What if it was so important that the company couldn’t risk it ever coming out at all?”
“Then they would just kill you,” Jayloo said.
“Perhaps they should have done that. But what if that was too permanent a solution? If they wanted the source of the secret available if they needed it?” I shrugged. “Either way, they chose a different option.” At this, I held up my wrists, showing them the cuffs.
There was silence for a few moments.
“What secret?” Deeve asked.
I smiled at her. “Do you really want to know? I mean, if it’s important enough that they would go to such lengths to shut me up, what do you think they would do to others who knew?”
I didn’t say anything else. I just let the pieces I’d laid out take form in the girls’ minds.
Honest, trustworthy, loyal.
There had never been a case where someone like me went rogue.
An unnamed conspiracy of silence.
Perhaps it wasn’t enough to turn all of their opinions my way, but it certainly didn’t do me any harm.
But Uma wasn’t done asking questions. She had one more up her sleeve, and I had to admit, it was a good one.
“What would you do if you could? If you were free to act?” For the first time since I’d known her, she cracked a wry smile. “If you weren’t stuck on an uncharted world a gazillion light years away from where you were supposed to be?”
I paused for a moment to think. “I hadn’t really considered it,” I said truthfully. Then I held her gaze. “But if I was free to do so, I would use the information I have to burn the whole Company to the ground.”
At my words, some of the women murmured in surprise or perhaps even shock.
“What about your supposed loyalty?” Jayloo asked.
“It ended the moment they put me in chains.”
“It’s that explosive?” Uma asked. “The things you know?”
“It could be.” Then I shrugged my shoulders and looked away. “Not that it matters any more. It looks like we might be stuck here for the foreseeable future.”
As one, the women grew contemplative, their expressions varying from sadness and loss through to grief.
Again, Uma turned to Kia.
“Kia? What do you think? Will we find a way off this chunk of rock?”
But the psychic didn’t have an answer one way or the other.
To the ongoing tune of the howling sandstorm and flapping canvas, I repeated a variation of my earlier comment.
“It’s been a long day. If you can, it might be a good idea to get some rest. I’ll take the first watch. I don’t need as much sleep as others do.”
This time, the girls were more inclined to take my suggestion.
Each of them found a relatively comfortable space for themselves even as I stared out into the storm.
Chapter 13
I shifted about to better keep an eye on the open end of our shelter. I was settling myself in, preparing for a few long, empty hours, when to my surprise, Deeve approached and sat down beside me without asking.
I’d seen her whispering to Uma but hadn’t thought much of it. But now, I put two and two together.
“The Commander doesn’t trust me to keep watch all by myself?” I asked the athletic woman beside me, softening my words somewhat with a grin.
Deeve didn’t answer directly. “Or perhaps I’m simply not yet ready for sleep,” she said.
I was happy enough to let that small fiction slide, and for a few minutes, we sat together in companionable silence.
I heard the first hints of light snoring from one or other of the women, as well as a muffled sob or two from Jayloo. It was clear that the small woman wasn’t coping very well, but at the same time, it wasn’t my place to try to comfort her.
Beside me, Deeve turned toward the sound, and I thought she might choose to leave, to see what she could do to help. But I touched her knee, drawing her attention back my way.
“Wait,” I said quietly.
Sure enough, within a matter of seconds, I heard a feminine voice trying to quietly soothe the smaller woman. I glanced over and saw that Sydney had shifted closer to the purple-haired woman, and was effectively snuggling against her, giving her the comfort she needed.
At the sight, Deeve relaxed a little, then glanced toward me. But her expression was almost an accusation.
“Cold and calculating,” she said, repeating the description—or accusation—Uma had leveled my way.
I nodded. “When I need to be,” I agreed. I kept my voice low enough not to be heard by the others over the sound of the
storm. “But that doesn’t mean I lack empathy.”
Deeve’s expression softened. “Was that part of the tests as well?”
I nodded. “The company understands that happy workers are more productive. And that’s more than just about checking boxes. When I assess a new world, I’m assessing how it will feel to live there as much as anything else.”
Deeve settled herself back against the supplies and seemed to relax.
“We’re never going to get off this world, are we?” she asked.
I thought about it. “The chances aren’t good. If what Uma says is true, we’re a long way away from where we should be. But that doesn’t mean this part of space is empty.” I shrugged. “Maybe there’s someone up there even now, scanning for signs of life.”
“Maybe we should have stayed with the transport,” Deeve mused. “Surely a broken transport would be easier to spot than half a dozen people hiding out in a sandstorm.”
I considered telling her about the tracker that had been grafted into me. Sure, the range wasn’t that great, but if anyone did happen to be in orbit, they would pick up my signal without any trouble.
At the same time, I didn’t want to give the woman beside me false hope.
“Leaving the ship was the smart thing to do,” I said, but didn’t go into the reasons. They’d already been said.
As if her thoughts were mirroring my own, she asked, “Do you think we will find water?”
“I do,” I said, putting as much confidence in my words as I could. “We’ve already seen evidence that it exists. The creatures we’ve seen—they’re not so different here than elsewhere. Which means they must be getting water from somewhere.”
My words seemed to give the tall woman some comfort. I realized then that Jayloo’s sobbing had faded to the point where I couldn’t hear it through the wind. And again, perhaps that’s where Deeve’s thoughts drifted to as well.
“Do you think Jayloo and Sydney…” she began, but didn’t finish her sentence.
I answered her anyway. “I think there’s something between them, yes. Jayloo looks to Sydney whenever she has something to say, and Sydney is always near when Jayloo needs someone. Did they know each other before this journey began?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know any of the passengers. But it seems like it, doesn’t it?”
I nodded.
To my surprise, Deeve’s expression took on a saucy look. “Although it’s bound to happen, isn’t it? Especially if we are stuck here forever. People are people, and we all have our needs.”
The way she said it, I knew what she was getting at. “And I’m the only man, stranded alone on this world with five beautiful women?” I said.
Deeve’s expression didn’t change. She nodded.
“Don’t you think we have enough to worry about without adding that into the mix?” I said it with a grin, teasing just a little.
“Of course we do. But that doesn’t mean things won’t happen. Does it?”
I knew she was right. I’d even starting giving it some thought myself. Of all of the women, Deeve herself was toned, athletic, and just my type in terms of confidence and capability.
Uma would be a challenge, given her sense of responsibility and position. But I’d known many women like her in the past, and would have quite liked to match my physicality with hers.
Even Kia. Big eyed, exotic, fine boned, ethereal, with a figure that would have earned her excellent money in the modeling world, I couldn’t help but find her appealing.
As for the other two, there were still a few barriers there that needed to be worked on. And perhaps they had already come to some sort of understanding between them. But even if they had, that didn’t mean there wasn’t room for a third among them.
I realized that Deeve was still looking at me, and that her smile had broadened. It was as if she knew what I was thinking.
“Isn’t it Kia who’s supposed to be psychic?” I quipped, and she gave a quiet laugh.
“Yes. But it’s never been hard to read men’s minds,” she replied.
I wondered if this was Deeve’s way of dealing with the stress of the situation. Wondered also if she might be willing to take things further, to pass some time proving to ourselves that we were indeed still alive.
The way her cheeks seemed to shine, the way her eyes seemed to grow large suggested that she might be. But the rest of her body language, the way she kept herself separate even as we sat side by side suggested caution as well.
And besides, I was supposed to be keeping watch. This was a dangerous world, and for all I knew, there were predators out there in every direction.
Almost, I started reaching for her. But, with regret, I decided it might be in everyone’s best interest if I changed the topic instead, at least for the moment.
“Those metal shards we gathered from the transport,” I said randomly. “Now might be a good time to see if we can carve handles for them.”
Deeve continued to study me with some interest for a few moments more. Then she nodded, and turned away to gather both the metal shards she had been using as knives and some of the bones I had collected as well.
Chapter 14
Over the next couple of hours, we talked about smaller things, enjoying each other’s company and keeping the conversation away from anything meaningful. And yet, throughout it all, there were occasional looks and smiles that suggested the earlier topic of conversation hadn’t been completely forgotten.
At the same time, I managed to add serviceable bone handles to several of the metal shards, binding shard and handle together with copper wire stripped from the salvaged cable, using a glue found in the tool kit.
At some point, I would need to grind down the edge of the blades, but even as they were, these knives would be good enough to help discourage a hungry predator or two.
By the time I was done, Uma had joined us, and said she was taking over the watch. I was more than happy to let her do so.
Both Deeve and I found places for ourselves. There wasn’t any discussion. Not even any real intent, at least on my part. But we’d instinctively ended up close together on the canvas we’d laid over the sand, on the other side of the supplies, away from everyone’s view.
With the sandstorm still howling and rattling the canvas, I found myself looking at Deeve, who was studying me with a contemplative expression, a secretive smile twisting her lips.
The look in her eye suggested that sleep was far from her mind.
I smiled back, allowing my gaze to drift over the tall, athletic women lying so close to me. Somehow, her green, practical top and dark trousers conspired to drape themselves over her in an alluring way—or perhaps it was just the way she filled the clothes out, a mixture of slimness and femininity at the same time.
She’d turned her body toward me, her hand testing the edges of the gap between us, halfway to me. A lock of her dark hair curled around her cheek, and on impulse, I reached out to brush it out of the way.
She smiled more broadly.
“So,” she said, keeping her voice low enough not to be heard over the wind.
She said nothing else, but there was no longer any doubt in my mind about her intent. I smiled back.
“So,” I agreed. “Here we are. Stuck on a strange world, a million light years from anywhere.”
Where the others responded to the reality around us in their own way, Deeve’s eyes seemed to dance with good humor.
“What are we going to do to pass the time?” she quipped.
I let out a low chuckle and shuffled closer to her. My various burns and pains long forgotten, I ran the tips of my fingers over the curve of her hip, and felt her shudder slightly at my touch.
She closed her eyes and leaned toward me, so I kissed her on the lips.
All at once, Deeve wrapped her arms around the back of my head, greedily turning that one kiss into a sequence of them, her tongue going to work against mine even as she moved her body closer to mine.
I r
esponded in kind, using my strength to crush her against me, aware that the athletic woman was largely quiet except for a few small noises that slipped out between kisses. Her movements were urgent, hungry, as if she hadn’t known the touch of a man in far too long and was determined to make up for lost time.
Acutely aware of the others close by, I slipped a hand down the back of Deeve’s pants, enjoying the feel of her firm roundness against my palm. She squirmed for a moment, trying to give me access to her most personal places, but her pants were too tight.
She broke away, grinning as if to a private joke. “I knew you were a bad boy the moment I saw you,” she breathed, her voice husky. At the same time, she took her hands away from me for long enough to undo the clasp on her pants. She glanced quickly about, as if checking for anyone spying on us, and wriggled quickly out of them.
“Did the chains give it away?” I asked.
I couldn’t help but admire her athletic form, the smoothness of her skin, and saw that the soft curls nestled between her legs already hinted at dampness.
“Well, yes,” she agreed. “But more than that. Your focus is on survival, as it should be. Yet you watch us with the eyes of a predator. Uma has seen it, and Jayloo. Probably the others as well.” She grinned more broadly. “I figure it’s just a matter of time before you choose your prey.”
I chuckled quietly to myself, acknowledging that she had seen through me with surprising ease.
Yet it wasn’t me who took the lead next, but Deeve. She looked at me like she was starving, and I was a prime steak complete with all the trimmings.
All at once, she pushed me onto my back and climbed on top of me, her knees on either side of my face, giving me a truly spectacular view. Keeping her head low to avoid any chance of detection, she undid my pants and pushed them down just enough.
But then she paused for a moment. “Well. That is a surprise,” she said. “Another augmentation?”
Still chuckling, I gripped the athletic woman by the hips and buried my face in her slick center. She made a low noise and seemed to melt, and in a moment, I released her.
