I glanced at the doctor, shrugged and let Jaysen guide me out of the room.
“Oh my God!” Jaysen proclaimed hopping up and down like a kid who’d just been given a new toy. “I can interface directly with the computer! No gadgets or workarounds! I think I could get used to this!”
Kaya snorted shaking her head., “You may look different, but you sound like the same old Jaysen to me.”
“This,” she said bring up both hands to gesture at her face. “Is who I really am. I’m still me, I’m just finally starting to look the way I’ve always wanted to.”
“Well, of course, I mean I didn’t mean to say that—” Kaya started but was cut short by Jaysen.
“Kaya don’t, it’s fine. You’ve always been real supportive and I know it’s going to take a while to get used to the real me. Ah, there that ought to do it!” she pounded a finger down on the console and grinned triumphantly as it flared to life.
“Now, let’s get this bucket of bolts back on course,” she beamed tapping at the controls.
“You know…” I trailed off transfixed as I watched Jaysen. “Your symbiote hasn’t spoken with you yet, has it?”
Jaysen shook her head. “Well… I-I had this weird dream where a woman with blue hair, like this,” she said pointing up at her head. “was talking to me, but well… nothing she said seemed to make much sense. She kept going on and on about the bonding process and…” she trailed off biting her lips. “It’s not really important.”
“It is unlikely my daughter will make an appearance. At least not for some time,” Khala said her pretend image appearing between Jaysen and myself.
“HOLY HELL!” Jaysen proclaimed suddenly backing away as her eyes stared fixedly at Khala.
I blinked and felt my jaw drop open, “You can see her?”
Khala’s face stretched into a grin as she spoke. “K’teth can communicate telepathically with one another as well as bonded hosts. The bonding process must be further along than I believed for your friend to be able to see me.”
“See who?!” Kaya asked her eyebrows furrowed as she stared at Jaysen.
“Khala, Kai,” I answered. “Looks like Jaysen can see her too.”
“That is just unnerving,” Jaysen rubbed her eyes and letting out a long deep breath. “Does she just suddenly appear out of thin air like that all the time?”
“Yeah, pretty much,” I answered. “It is… or it used to be, but I’ve sort of gotten used to it. Now, I find it more irritating than anything else.”
Khala rolled her eyes and folded her arms adopting a defensive posture. “That really is not my intent. If I could think of a less irritating way of appearing before you I would.”
“I think it’s going to take me a while t–” she stopped abruptly clutching at her crotch . “Oh!” she cried out then slid her hand away to reveal a massive erection which was showing through her slacks.
“Damn, I can’t wait till I’m rid of this thing for good. It always seems to do that at the weirdest times,” she blushed looking down at her groin then coughed and scratched at the back of her neck. “I just wish I would change faster I mean I haven’t even started to grow breasts yet.”
“Exactly how far has it gotten?” Kaya asked.
“My face, my neck, and it’s starting on my left shoulder. I-I’d show you, but its sort of embarrassing,” she averted her eyes and seemed to be fighting back tears. “Anyway I, uh, the ship’s ready to go if you are.”
Kaya nodded and pursed her lips, “Not quite.” she said then turned to me. “Is there any way you could go talk to Farris? He’s locked himself up in the supply room and won’t come out.”
I blinked. “Why me?”
“You were the one that kept us from blowing his head off. I think maybe if anyone who could get him to come out of his hidey-hole it’d be you. I mean you did save his life,” she glanced at me with raised eyebrows.
“God, that doesn’t sound even remotely pleasant, but I guess I’ll do it. Just getthe ship going and I’ll go talk to him,” I said letting out a long sigh then turned away and walked out the control room.
“Farris!” I called pounding on the supply room door. There wasn’t an answer and I cursed under my breath.
“FARRIS!!!” I repeated belting out his name at the top of my lungs pounding on the door with small bit of my enhanced strength.
“Alright!” his voice called through the door. “Just knock it off and I’ll let you in!”
I dropped my fist and watched as the door slid open revealing Farris on the other side. I stepped inside the room and let the door slide shut behind me before I turned to face him. “Kaya tells me you’ve been holed up in here and won’t talk to anyone.”
“I’m talking to you ain’t I?” he growled stepping away and collapsing atop a pile of rags in the corner.
“This is because everyone thought you were the traitor, isn’t it?”
“What do you think?” he muttered pounding his fist against the wall.
“Look, Farris. It can’t be easy having people point the finger at you like that, but you can’t just hide in here for the rest of your life! Sooner or later you’re going to have to come out!” I yelled planting my fists on my hips as I glared at him.
He groaned and cupped his hands over his face. “Why?”
“Excuse me?”
“Everyone was ready to blow my freaking brains out and the only reason they didn’t was because of you. Why did you save me?”
“I don’t know… It just seemed like the right thing to do,” I shrugged grimacing as I ran a hand through the back of my hair.
“They hate me,” he shook his head, then rolled over and buried it in the pile of rags.
“Farris, they don’t–”
“Come on, you know it’s true. All these years I’ve been hanging around Pyr and I face it I’ve been a complete ass. I just… It made me feel good putting people down, but I didn’t realize how horrible it felt being on the receiving end. I-It’s no wonder everyone was so quick to believe I was the traitor!”
“Dammit Farris!” I yelled gritting my teeth. “Would you quit your sniveling? We’re all that’s left of the rebellion and if we’re going to have any chance at success we need every hand we can get! Including you! You can sit around feeling sorry for yourself or you can try to do some good! You and Pyramus were bullies plain and simple, but you know what? It was a choice and you can choose to be a different person!”
“You done?” he rolled back onto his back then closed his eyes and gripped the side of his head with both hand. “Thank you for saving my life. I’m sorry for the things I said to you. Now please leave me alone, I need some time with my thoughts.”
“We’ve set a course for Old Scottsdale, if you decide to join us, you know where we’ll be,” I muttered shaking my head in disgust before making my exit.
Chapter Six
“Ready?” Kaya asked turning to me.
“Yeah,” I grinned. “If I were any more ready I’d already be there.”
Kaya rolled her eyes and turned away nodding to Jaysen who reached for the door mechanism. As the door slid open Jaysen reached out to touch my shoulder. “Come back safe, okay?” she whispered.
I smiled. “Don’t worry; I don’t plan on dying any time soon.”
“Good,” she smiled back then I leaned in and shared a kiss with me.
“Okay, I can honestly say I wasn’t expecting that!” Kaya said staring at the two of us with wide eyes as we finished up. “When did you two hook up?”
I rubbed the back of my neck and felt my cheeks burn. “Uh, this is sort of a new development.”
“Well, um, good for you.” Kaya frowned then bit her lip. I wasn’t entirely convinced, but at least she was trying to be supportive.
“WAIT FOR ME!!!” A voice called out and we all turned to see Farris running down the corridor toward us.
Kaya glared at him. “Well, look
who’s finally come to show his miserable face.”
“I, uh, needed some time to think things over,” he averted his eyes and looked down at the floor then suddenly lifted his head and looked Kaya in the eyes. “… but I’m through feeling sorry for myself. I know what I need to do now.”
“I’d hoped you would say that,” Kaya said folding her arms across her chest as she gave him an appraising look. “You better go change into something a little less conspicuous. We’re heading into Scottsdale now and what you’re wearing just screams compound slave.”
“Right,” he replied. “Uh, alright. I don’t suppose you have any spares do you?”
“Yeah, there are some things in the supplies we picked up. There are even a few items that looked like they might be your size, just hurry would you?”
He glanced at Kaya then, eyed Jaysen with furrowed brows before his eyes grew wide, “Jaysen?”
“Yeah, I’m changing into a woman you got a problem with that?” she replied planting her hands on her hips glaring at him.
“No!” he yelled his eyes seeming to bulge out of his head.
“I’ll be back,” he added suddenly and glanced at Jaysen before leaping back down the corridor in the opposite direction.
“Better?” Farris asked stepping out from the hall in what looked more or less to be a male version of what Kaya and I were wearing. Which for him was a gray shirt emblazoned with odd swoosh label and the word VICTORIA (whatever that meant), a pair of black slacks and a plain blue cap. My own shirt, had the words ‘Green Freeze Blasters’ (your guess is as good as mine) across the chest and Kaya’s had a sort of circle symbol with a white and a black half that was divided into two tear drops with circles of opposite colors within each half. The clothes weren’t all that different from what a compound slave would wear aside from the odd designs, but they were of pre-invasion origin and such apparel was quite common among slaves within the old cities like Scottsdale, or so Kaya kept on insisting.
“Better,” Kaya agreed then turned to Jaysen. “If we don’t return within a week are you clear on what to do?”
Jaysen nodded. “I take the ship, find a nice little hiding space and then once the dust settles try to make contact with any other members of the rebellion that may have survived.”
“Alright then,” Kaya nodded. “I guess…” she started to say then sudden rolled her eyes and shook her head.
“Oh for hell sakes!” she yelled glaring at the doctor as he came running toward us. “What you want to come too?”
The doctor swiveled his head. “No, Vakrexid merely wished to say farewell. Are you well? You seem most agitated.”
“I’m fine! It’s just…” she trailed off glancing at Farris and Jaysen. “It’s just frayed nerves from everything that’s happened.”
“It is most understandable. Vakrexid wishes you a safe journey and bids you farewell!” he proclaimed then did a quick one-eighty and walked away.
Jaysen watched the doctor leave with a huge grin on her face. “I guess this time it’s really goodbye.”
“Well, I guess that last kiss was practice,” I grinned then leaned in and locked my lips around hers.
“Damn, you don’t know how much I wish I was coming with you?” she whispered in my ear as we broke away.
I smiled and traced a finger across her cheek. “I think I do, but you know you’re still weak from the transformation process. Don’t worry the doc will keep you company while we’re away and we’ll be back in no time, okay?”
She smiled. “Okay.”
I let out a long deep breath, turned away, and walked down the ramp in the direction of the city. Kaya and Farris followed and we traveled in silence through the dry foliage of the Wasatch Valley. Kaya set a rather grueling pace and if it hadn’t been for my enhanced endurance and strength I doubted I would have been able to keep up. Farris didn’t fare so well and kept lagging further and further behind.
“Kaya,” I asked her suddenly. “What’s wrong?”
Kaya glared at me then glanced over her shoulder and eyed Farris who was a good twenty feet behind us. “It’s this damn pregnancy!” she hissed. “It’s driving me out of my freaking mind! I just want to scream and for some damn reason I’m having this weird craving for carrots and I hate carrots!”
“Good hell, is that normal? Maybe we should go back and talk to the doctor,” I reached out and snatched her arm.
Kaya rolled her eyes. “Of course, it’s normal! What are you stupid!?” she yelled then her eyes grew wide and she winced. “Sorry, sorry, sorry! It’s normal… I’ve never been pregnant, but women talk about these sort of things and trust me, if what I’ve heard is true, this is just the beginning.”
“Crap, good thing I can never…” and suddenly gasped and swallowed hard as I looked down at my breasts.
‘Can I get pregnant?’ I asked Khala feeling a lump form in the pit of my stomach.
‘At the moment, yes.’
“Oh God, oh God,” I yelled out loud feeling panic wash over me as I suddenly realized that it was entirely possible. “Strave and I had sex… I’m not pregnant… am I?”
“Don’t worry, you’re not pregnant. It would have been impossible for you to conceive a child while a K’teth infant was growing within your body,” she replied appearing beside me winking and giving me a reassuring smile.
“BUT, I won’t be able to produce offspring in some time and during that period you will be able to bear a child. The Phyrr Lesch put in a built in limit in how often we could reproduce in order to allow our hosts a time period in which they in turn could produce children.”
I let out a long sigh of relief and turned to Kaya. “Not pregnant. Shit, that scared me. That must be how you feel.”
“No,” she shook her head. “I mean I’m scared. No, that’s not right I’m terrified, but I don’t think it’s for the same reason. I’m afraid because I’ll have to raise this child without a father.”
“Kaya…” I muttered. “I’ll still be here.”
“It’s not the same Lexa! I mean you’re different now. It’s subtle, and it’s been a gradual process, but in some ways you’re starting to think like a woman and I always pictured myself raising a child with the man I loved. I can’t do that now, because no matter how strongly I feel about you the attraction I once had is gone,” she sighed tears streaking down her face as she struggled with whatever cocktail of emotions I knew she must be experiencing.
I reached out and grabbed her hand. “I know everything is different now and maybe I have changed a little. How could I not with everything that has happened? But God Kai, I can still be here for you and you better damn well believe that I’m going to be there for our child!”
“I know that, Lexa, but it’s not the same. Can’t you see that?”
“Yeah,” I muttered looking down at the ground and shaking my head. “We can’t be lovers or partners, but maybe… maybe we can be sisters.”
She lock gazed with me through tear filled eyes and a slight smile crept onto her face. “I don’t exactly have a good track record when it comes to sisters, but I think you’d be a definite improvement over my birth sister. I’d be happy to call you my sister, Lexa.”
“God that sounded weird!” I stumbled and shuddered a bit staring at her with wide eyes then cleared my throat. “But sisters, that’s great!”
Kaya stared at me then abruptly burst out laughing. “You should have seen the look on your face! It was priceless!”
I glared at her for a moment then threw my head back and fell into a fit of hysterical laughter.
“Damn,” I shook my head. “It feels good to laugh.”
“Yeah,” Kaya agreed chuckling a bit as she choked down the last of her mirth.
“So…” I said biting my lips. “What exactly can I expect to find in the city?”
“The cities are where humans slaves the Qharr don’t have any use for are left to rot. Scottsdale is unique, at least among the huma
n cities I’ve been to, in that it also acts as a trade hub so you’ll see a lot of alien traders, most of them will probably be Deplarans, but you’ll definitely see some Ghrev and maybe even a few Credknotts too,” she replied quietly.
“How are we going to get in?”
“That’s actually pretty easy. Security in and out of the city is a lot more lax than it is in the compounds and some slave are even granted permission to leave on special errands,” she replied.
“Special errands?”
Kaya shrugged. “Usually it’s some crap like gathering rare food ingredients or hunting for some forest creature or whatever whim those damn gray-skins happen to have at the time. Fortunately, this will actually give us a way to sneak into the city. With the right set of falsified documents, which we happen to have, we should be able to get in pretty easy. I doubt they’ll be expecting any trouble since those fucking bastards pretty well decimated the resistance.”
“And if they are expecting trouble?”
“Well, then there probably will be trouble,” she replied staring at me with a pointed look.
“Greeeaaat,” I said. “That’s just so reassuring.”
Kaya rolled her eyes then pursed her lips and stared at me thoughtfully. “So tell me about you and Jaysen… How did that come about?”
I bowed my head, let a smile stretch across my face and let out a slow chuckle as I told Kaya all about sharing her feelings for me, our first kiss and sharing a bed with her.
“You slept with Jaysen!?” Kaya yelled stopping dead in her tracks.
“What?” I blinked. “No, no! We just shared a bed… We didn’t have sex! Christ Kaya! She was freaking out about being bonded with the K’teth and we just sort of cuddled.”
“Uh huh, right whatever you say,” she folded her arms across her chest.
“Look we didn’t do anything! I don’t think that will happen for a while at least not until she’s finished changing,” I replied. “She hasn’t really said it, but I get the impression that she’d rather her first time be as a woman.”
“Jaysen’s a virgin?”
Battle For Earth Page 20
