by Rena Marks
“Merely by voicing a command. For instance, I would say, ‘Call Shala,’ and the call would be implemented. I would hear your voice in my ear, and we would carry on a conversation while I walked the streets.”
“So everybody is just wrapped up in their own individual world.”
“Yes. They did become a bit antisocial. Narrow-minded. Do you see how some have evolved to have only one eye? It seems that they lost the need for two eyes, as they only focused directly ahead. It was actually celebrated when an individual was born evolved. Young girls were encouraged to seek mates with only one eye, in the hopes that her offspring would carry the genetic anomaly. Also keep in mind the AI could communicate telepathically—having come from a collective we were of one mind. Once embodied by the Sirians we kept the telepathic communication secret from the rest. And not all phones were done away with. These wireless cells are implanted into people, but the physical phones that are used handle calls from the other two planets in the galaxy. They work on different energy fields.” He grinned. “We were able to intercept and spy on those highly classified calls.”
“There is a lot of genetic diversity here. On Zeta, we were used to only two. Us and them. Even the mixed breeds took on stronger Zetan features.”
“Eventually the features would have integrated fully. But it takes many centuries. The Sirian planets had intergalactic travel for years before the civil wars. The culture was diverse until the hatred started. Green skin, a primary contribution from Sirius A, was frowned upon. Beings with green skin all moved to that planet, except for the AI, who had no choice. We were a sick laboratory experiment, marking us as lesser beings by pigmenting us that way.”
“Where are you?” she asked, scanning the people.
“I’m not sure. This point in time doesn’t feel familiar.”
“Will we see any of the other guys I know?”
“Yes. Up ahead, the AI are the green-tinged people down the block, gathered in front of the Supreme Tower.”
The tower was large and white, a physical landmark in the city of black and grays. The group of men that Serepto indicated were larger and muscular than most of the peoples who walked around. “You all stand out from the rest,” she said, excited. “Let’s go watch.”
She slipped her hand into his, pulling him along faster, by passing the rest of the crowds of people who went about their business.
The group of five men had the same flashing blue eyes they had today.
“This one is Jax.” Serepto pointed out the leader of the group. “Echo is right next to him, but you do not know the other three. We were bred to be more muscular to man the battlefields, notice the body difference with the natural-born Sirians.” There was a huge difference in body size.
“This is Jax?” Shala stood before the large, tall man. He was a sight to behold. Stunning, picture perfect, like a model except with a lightly green skin. Others made up different shades of green.
“I told you he was pretty,” Serepto grinned. “But don’t let the looks fool you. It made him much more of a target.”
Shala remembered. Jax was used as a sexual object by the wealthier women of the planet. In comparison, the rest of the Sirians were thin, but not well formed, as if easy living made a group of long, thin peoples who didn’t need much muscle tone.
“Where are you?”
He shrugged. “I still don’t remember this point in time. Perhaps underground by then, working on our plan of escape. Perhaps in jail, because we were already showing signs of rebellion.”
A thin, long woman with straggly white and yellow hair and one eye approached Jax from behind, moving right through Shala. She had four other women surrounding her and they were dressed to the nines, jewels dangling from their necks and wrists, with varying shades of hair color.
“Jax, we’re partying tonight. We’ll take your friend Serepto, but they’ll have to release him from the hospital for it.” Her smile was evil.
“Or, I was in the hospital,” Serepto added, his voice grim.
“For what?” Shala gasped.
“I was on the first line of the battlefield earlier.”
“You can’t release him from the hospital! His injuries are too severe,” Jax snapped.
“There’s one part of him that was well protected by the body armor,” the woman said, glancing at her long, pointy nails. “Though his face isn’t too pretty. His nose was smashed in again. They’ll reset the broken bones, but what has it been? Four times now? He just keeps getting uglier and uglier.”
“Let him heal,” Jax said. “I’ll take his place.”
The women with her giggled.
“Somehow I knew you’d say that,” the woman said, raking her claws down his bare arm. Jax looked like he fought not to shudder. “Ladies,” the woman called. “Let’s go notify my husband that we’re having a fucking party tonight.”
Shala gasped. The way she said it wasn’t cursing the party, she was literally describing it. They would fuck Jax tonight, every one of them. She watched as the women marched into the white, beautiful Supreme Tower.
Now it just looked ugly.
“I had no idea he took this one for me,” Serepto whispered. “Tess must have pulled this scene from his databanks. Or from Echo’s.”
Shala wrapped her opposite hand around his forearm, squeezing him. “Jax loves you as much as you love him. You would have done the same.”
“Would I have? I hated that bitch. I would have preferred to die on the battlefield than face her humiliation.”
“Says the man who lost his legs for me.” Shala reminded.
Serepto shook himself. “Let’s move on. I didn’t bring you here to show you our emotional tragedies. I brought you here to see the world, what it was like.”
She nodded and let him lead her by the hand down the hoverway. She glanced back over her shoulder to see the AI grimly discussing the situation.
“It gets better from there, anyway,” Serepto said, catching her glance. “We began to make serious plans. We managed to fake a few deaths, and paid off the crematorium for the bodies. They never knew our brothers weren’t dead. We hid them underground, they were the ones who hollowed out the core of the planet, creating the mainframe computers and worked around the clock on the details for our survival.”
“You already knew the planet would be destroyed?”
“We’d always known. We’d staved off a lot of situations by this point. But the original Sirians from this planet grew more and more cocky and we knew it wouldn’t be long before they did something stupid. Planet C was also aware, trying to smooth relations between A and B. But they were a more peaceful planet and their campaigns of Green is Good were ridiculed. This planet also thought they leaned toward favoritism with Planet A, since the inhabitants were all green. They were actually trying to get them to respect the AI they created, since no one else had been able to do so. Trying to get them to realize what an accomplishment it was, and instead of being jealous of our race, to get them to work with us for the betterment of the galaxy.”
“It never worked?” Shala asked.
“No. Ego is a powerful thing. They thought they owned us as our creators. Hop up.”
He pulled her up a few steps and directly above the walkway was a hoverway that most of the Sirians used. It was a gravitational pull that allowed you to stay in place, but would quickly move you to your destination.
“It’s a travelator. It was designed to accommodate speed, since Sirians were always rushing. However, the public took it wrong and stood on the gravitational pull instead of walking quickly. Standing on it congested the walkway for others who wished to hurry and while it looked like we’re moving quickly, you’d get somewhere faster—and get healthier—simply by walking on the walkways below, like the AI did.”
“Did the AI create this?”
“Yes. But the public used it incorrectly and the higher ups then took credit for its creation.”
They were able to use it correctly, zoomi
ng right through the crowds of people who stood blocking the hoverways.
“We’ll exit here,” Serepto said, tugging her along gently.
“The ground feels slow now,” she said, laughing as they descended back to the walkway below.
He grinned. “It’s all an illusion. You’re moving at the same speed you just were walking at.”
He turned her to a giant entry way with screens, and beyond the screens was the likes of a world she’d never seen.
“What is this?”
“This is the area we developed where food was grown and harvested. This tiny portion of planet supplied enough for the entire population. Beyond the farms,” he stretched his arm out, “we created beaches and areas of relaxation. Notice the artificial sky is blue? We changed the oxygen levels in here to create faster maturing crops. The blue sky was a nice touch. It calms people instead of the natural orange, which activates them.”
“It’s beautiful,” Shala said. “Arian used to tell stories when we first landed on Apleadian of our home planet. It had a blue sky. I imagine this is what it looked like.”
“She told you stories?”
Shala nodded. “Many of us hadn’t remembered what the planet was like. At night we’d sit around a campfire and she’d tell us stories of the old ways. Now we have some crops from our original planet.”
“She obtained those when we met her.”
Before them, one of the green-skinned AI motioned to a few others.
“Look, there’s Dieroc,” Serepto said. “He’s calling Rune over. This other one is Callio.”
“I just got a message from Jax,” Dieroc said to the others, speaking quickly. “The bitch is on her way over here to sign documents. She’s going to call Serepto to torment him. So far Echo is blocking her attempts. But as soon as she’s in the vicinity, he’ll stop. We’re intercepting the call.”
Rune nodded. “I’ll connect to her cell circuitry and you speak for him. Callio, work on modifying Dieroc’s voice with the recorded tones of Serepto’s so it sounds like he’s the one on the phone with her.”
Callio nodded.
“What the hell?” Serepto murmured. Without thinking, Shala slipped her hand into his and squeezed. Whatever had happened, Serepto had no idea his brothers protected him from it.
Just then, the one-eyed blonde walked through, babbling to herself, though Shala knew she spoke on her cell.
“Put me through to Serepto,” she snapped at the person on the other end of the phone.
The three AI—Dieroc, Callio, and Rune—all stood silent, with their eyes flashing.
The blonde sat down on a small bench at the entrance of the fields. Apparently she thought Serepto picked up from his hospital bed, because she plunged right into it.
“I’m extremely unhappy,” she snapped. “How dare you allow yourself to be injured? You knew I planned my party tonight.”
Next to her, Serepto froze. Shala squeezed his hand, offering silent comfort.
“You have a choice, you sniveling coward. Do you really wish for your friends to take your place?”
They couldn’t hear Dieroc’s response, as he pretended to be Serepto. Shala wished they could be in two places at once. But for now, she didn’t want to leave the alien woman’s side and miss anything that she said.
Her voice dripped ice. “I’ll make sure you face the front line. I’ll make sure you’re the one watching your friends die. And in the meantime, I’ll abuse Jax to the point where you can never face him, knowing that should have been you.”
There was silence as Dieroc responded.
“I never wanted you, anyway. You’ve been the one we used simply because my husband said you’re easily expendable. All it takes is placing a bag over your broken face.” She muttered, “End call,” and sat, still frustrated. It must be awful not to be able to hang up. Then the blonde rose from the bench. She entered the front office of the farms.
The AI split up, returning to their duties.
“Why did she mention that about a bag?”
“I’d thrown myself face-down on an explosive. My face was scarred. I told you I wasn’t very pretty.”
“You’re beautiful,” Shala said. “Whether you were scarred or not. I’m glad you came to our planet,” she said, shyly. “I’m glad I’m your mate.”
“Even though you don’t really have a choice?” he said, his voice raw with some sort of guilt he obviously felt.
“I do have a choice, Serepto. I choose to be with you. Back when I remembered you, I chose to come with you to space. And now that I don’t remember you, I still choose to be with you. I wish to have all the memories between us again, but if it doesn’t happen, nothing is different except I know one thing. I choose you.”
“Shala,” he gritted, dropping to his knees. “My love. You don’t know how I’ve longed to hear those words.”
He pulled her to him, squeezing her as if he’d never let go. He smelled delicious, and it was wreaking havoc on her libido.
But she wished she could love this strong, sexy man. He deserved no less.
She dropped to her knees, right there before him, in the garden that was a cross between her planet and his. She pressed her mouth to his, moaning softly.
“I’m so sorry for what you had to go through with that woman. Let’s put her out of our minds. She’s long dead and you and me? We’re alive. We’re living, and we’re together. Forever.”
“Shala, are you sure?” His voice held so much hope, she knew she made the right decision in carrying forward their relationship.
She pulled open the seam that kept his uniform intact, sliding her hands inside to feel the warmth of his skin. Bulges of muscle swelled under her palms as she roamed over his chest, his nipples, flicking them lightly.
Stars, this sexy man was all hers. She was a lucky woman, even if she couldn’t remember. She pushed the shirt off his shoulders, and he helped her get it off his arms. Then he laid back for her, his arms cradling his head as he leaned so she could look her fill. The movement outstretched the bulk of his muscles and emphasized his broad chest.
“I’ve always told you that you can lead the way. You can explore as you wish, or you can stop at any point in our relationship.”
What she wanted was to make him feel good. To make him forget. She wanted to take his mind off his treatment in the past. But she could hardly share that with him, he’d look at this as a pity coupling. She didn’t want him to think that. She was actually curious about this aspect of their relationship. Curious and eager.
He made her melt inside.
All around them, images of people worked in the fields, but they couldn’t really see the two of them. It was a little naughty, and a whole lot sexy.
She crawled over him, noticing the large bulge in his pants. Somehow, she knew without a doubt he could never resist her. But she rose higher than his groin, kissing the center of his chest, moving to taste a nipple, and then kissing the center trail lower. He groaned when she reached his belly button, her tongue dipping in and out. With her fingers, she worked his waistband, unlatching his pants and pushing them apart to free the bulge beneath.
Then it was sweet bliss as his erection burst free, practically falling into her hand. She palmed it, and he groaned. “That’s it, baby. Just like that. That’s how you always touched me. Soft and sweet.”
She moved her hand to cup his balls. “I really like that you’re my man,” she said, rubbing her cheek against the length of his shaft. The smooth skin of his cock bobbed against her face. The skin was softer than she imagined, though his shaft was hard as rock.
“I’m glad to be your mate. I never dreamed to belong to someone. But as soon as I saw you, I knew you were the one. I stalked you immediately, before I’d have to kill anyone else who showed interest.”
She smiled. She wished she could remember those days, but instead she pressed her smile into the side of his shaft, kissing it. She licked alongside it, reveling in the heady musk that was his alone. H
e shuddered beneath her tongue. She tasted his pre-cum, knowing he would be delicious. She sucked the head of his cock, hollowing her cheeks until he gasped.
“Baby, no…control,” he muttered.
“Then release.”
But she should have known her mate would have no patience. With a growl, he pulled her up alongside him, yanking her skirt up around her waist. She’d worn no underwear that day, and her sex was bare.
“Sweet Goddess,” he muttered, cupping her mound. Instant warmth made her squirm, spreading her legs wide. His finger parted her slick folds, dipping into her liquid heat. She wriggled enough to fling her loose top off. It had its own built in bra, so she was completely naked from the waist up without it. She arched her back, her small breasts pointing into the brilliant sunshine.
“This is so hot,” she said. “People milling all around us. Watching.” The fact that they didn’t know they watched was of no consequence.
“Look who’s coming,” he said, his eyes intense as he took in the view of her spread out.
Out from the office, the blonde had apparently finished signing her documents. As usual, she spoke on the phone again.
“Good. I think it’s fitting that she walks right through our image while you pleasure me,” Shala said, pulling his head down to her breast.
His mouth dipped down, sucking a pert nipple into his mouth. He sucked deeply, the pulls yanking somewhere delicious and deep inside her. This naughty thing was a complete turn on. Of course, anything with Serepto was a turn on.
“That feels so good,” she moaned, spreading her legs. He covered her sex with his large hand. Even she could feel the wetness as her liquid seeped through his fingers.
“I love these lips,” he muttered, a large finger rasping against her labia, parting them. Electric zings tumbled through her body, and she thought she’d scream when he delved inside. In and out he stroked, driving her wild on his finger. She knew there was nothing more in the world that she wanted.
“I’m so ready for you,” she said.
With one smooth last stroke, he pulled his finger from inside her, and brought it to his mouth to suck clean. Then he flipped her over, her skirt still pushed up around her waist. Her ass was up in the air, her breasts were dangling free, and she parted her thighs, wanting the feel of his long, thick cock plunging into her so bad.
