Zero-Point

by T J Trapp

  Colin sighed, trying to keep his mind on the trials playing out before him. The only highlight since his return from the hills yesterday was showing Leon how to use dark energy. Leon idolized him, so anything he did seemed so much better when Leon was around. If his Daddy never comes home, I guess I’ll be the only man in his life, Colin thought dourly.

  Another recruit entered the training area, joining the three others already practicing their thrusts and feints. She was a tall, lithe woman, not too young, not too old. Something about her caught his interest, and he couldn’t stop watching her. She was nice-looking – always of interest to Colin – and appeared to have a reasonable level of natural ability. She moved with a cat-like grace that reminded him of his sister, but she clearly lacked the level of skill in handling her weapon. That, of course, would require the endless hours of training that Erin devoted to her craft. The woman’s blade was often out of position, but she seemed to anticipate the moves of her opponents and appeared to be able to counter their strokes before they started their attack.

  Good instincts, thought Colin.

  After she finished her match, Colin felt strangely drawn to her and approached her. “You have lots of talent, but don’t appear to have had much training with a sword.”

  “Thank you,” she said dryly. “You are right. Mother did not think that women needed to use a sword.”

  “I thought I knew every beautiful woman in the city, but I do not know you.”

  “I do not know who you know in the city, but I am a stranger. My mother has family in a town in the mountains, close to Gott City. I lived in that town. Now that the elves are on the move, mother insisted that I come to this city, before the elves attack, and find a place to stay. I thought trying to be one of the Queen’s riders would be a good way to help, and would let me meet the important people in Freeland City. Perhaps even the Queen.”

  “You could be good with a weapon with a little practice. Can you ride a trogus?”

  “Not at all. I have driven drunglets, but I have never ridden a trogus. Are they difficult to ride?”

  “They take a lifetime to learn to ride well.”

  “You don’t think that I could learn in the two days before the next part of the trials?”

  “I guess I could show you what riding one is like, and then you could decide for yourself.”

  “You have a trogus that I could ride? A great battle beast?”

  “Why yes. And a good one, at that.”

  The young woman looked at him closely. “Now I recognize you! You are Queen Therin’s son! Of course, you have a trogus.” She extended her hand to Colin. “Why would you want to help me?”

  “Because the Queen needs more riders.”

  “Nothing else?”

  “Well, you are attractive.” He smiled his disarming smile, which had captured so many young ladies.

  The woman smiled in return. “I think that you are more interested in riding me than in me riding a trogus.”

  “No, no, I am not.”

  “I can see in your face what you are feeling.”

  “I will make you a deal. I will teach you to ride, with no strings attached. First thing tomorrow morning at the main stables?”

  “I will be there.”

  “By the way, what is your name?”

  “My friends here call me ‘Polly,’ and you can call me that.”

  ✽✽✽

  The next morning, Polly showed up at the stables. Colin was there before she arrived.

  “I was about to give up on you,” he smiled.

  “So sorry. I guess I am not used to the rigor of the life of a rider.” She laughed, and he joined in.

  “That’s all right – we’ll get started now that you are here.”

  He showed her how to harness a trogus, and then he let her get on the big animal in the confines of the stable area. The trogus was much calmer than he expected, and only snorted once as she came astride, but she was terrible at riding the animal.

  “This beast is difficult to ride. It has left me stiff and sore. Do you know how to take care of that?”

  “Yes, it can be tiring, if you are not used to riding.”

  “My leg – it feels like it is cramping. So sore.”

  “What can I do to help you?”

  “It would help if you could rub my leg and work out some of the stiffness. You can come to my place.”

  Colin dutifully followed Polly out of the stables to a small, but very nice, dwelling compartment in a fashionable section of town. “I see you are staying in the good part of town,” Colin said. “Your mother has set you up well.”

  Polly led him into her bedroom and stretched out on the bed. “Now you can rub my sore leg,” Polly said. Colin dutifully started to slowly rub her calf, feeling for knots and sore spots.

  “I think the ache is in my thighs,” she purred. Colin began to massage her thighs. “It would be easier for you to feel the proper spot if my riding pants were not in the way,” she said, sliding out of her pants.

  Colin’s rubbing became less therapeutic and more intimate. He felt a distant surge of pleasure as he touched her. He let that surge sweep forward until it turned into an irresistible urge. Soon his riding clothes were also shed. He was immersed in pleasing himself and the girl until he was spent from pleasure.

  “We must do this again. How about tomorrow? In the morning? But we can forego the pretense with the trogus.”

  Colin nodded in agreement. “Yes,” he sighed happily. Then a thought occurred to him. “Isn’t tomorrow the next part of the trials? Don’t you have to be there?”

  “Yes, it is – but I think I need some more riding practice with you before I attempt the next portion of the trials. I will delay participating in the next part of the trials for a while.”

  The next day Colin slipped away from the training trials and discretely walked the short distance to Polly’s place. She was there and waiting for him. They immediately slid into bed. Colin could feel the same distant feeling of desire that he had felt the day before, and lay drowning in ultimate pleasure as the feeling swept forward, consuming him, body and soul. He found himself responding to Polly in ways that he had never felt before. They continued until Colin lay motionless, contented and spent.

  Afterward, Polly lay in bed with him with her body tight against him as he dozed off. He woke up as he felt a tug on his hand.

  “Ow! That is my ring, don’t pull it off.”

  But Polly slid the ring off his finger into her hand before he could resist. She ran her hand over his arm and hand. “You have a nice ring, but it is very dirty. I will take it and clean it. Go to sleep and dream about how much you want to please me.”

  “All right,” Colin said. A clean ring would be nice.

  Polly. She filled his thoughts. He felt a deep desire to please her. His whole world focused on pleasing her. He would do anything that she wanted. He was rewarded with an intense feeling of pleasure. A feeling that was so wonderfully satisfying that he didn’t want to live without it.

  “Sleep,” he heard her say, and he went to sleep.

  Colin woke sometime later as Polly was sliding back into bed with him. His only desire was to please her, and he did until he wasn’t sure that he could do anything else. She lay close to him and pulled a ring from one of her fingers.

  “I cleaned your ring while you were asleep,” she purred. “Now it looks so much better. Wear it, in remembrance of our pleasure, and whenever you look at it, think about how your life would not be worth living without me.” Colin nodded thankfully.

  Polly rolled out of bed and Colin watched, mesmerized, as she dressed, sensuously pulling on an iridescent overshirt over her plain tunic and trousers. She pulled her long hair into a knot at the back of her neck, and left the room without looking back at him.

  Colin sighed again, with a deep sense of pleasure that he had never known before. He would do anything to please that woman. He was sure that he couldn’t live without her.


  ✽✽✽

  The next day Colin came by Polly’s compartment unbidden. He knocked gently on the door and pushed it open. A man that he recognized as one of the Queen’s senior riders opened the door; Colin could see Polly emerging from the bedroom behind him.

  “Oh!” exclaimed Colin in surprise and bewilderment.

  “Colin, come in!” Polly said. “I wanted to see you today. Bo and I have just finished. You may leave now, Bo.”

  Bo said nothing but quietly left without looking at either Polly or Colin.

  “What were you doing with Bo?!” Colin asked.

  Polly laughed. “Do you think that you are somehow special or something? That is very egotistical of you.”

  Colin looked crestfallen. Polly touched his face. “Don’t worry, little Prince. I can let you be something ‘special.’” She came over to him and wrapped her arms around him, squeezing him slightly.

  Colin smiled. He would do anything to be something special.

  “Relax your mind and think about how much you want to please me,” Polly whispered. He relaxed, feeling the breath leaving his lungs as she embraced him. He felt Polly’s hands sliding over his body and then he felt her mind sliding into his. He had no desire to resist. He wanted to please Polly. He wanted to have special meaning to her. He would do whatever she wanted. He felt his mind sliding towards hers.

  After a long moment, Polly let him go. “Now you are ‘special.’” She grinned. “You do feel slimy but not as bad as I thought. You are the first cross-breed I have ever done. You do know that cross-breeds can be bonded just like regular clutchmen, don’t you? You are now bonded to me.”

  Colin nodded, as if in a trance, trying to regain his breath.

  “You are now my little-cross-breed clutchman and will do everything that I want. I will know your every action, your every thought, your every impulse. And I can communicate with you at any time. Now sit quietly in the corner of the kitchen, while I take care of some business.”

  Colin smiled and nodded. He followed her directions and sat on the floor in the corner of the small kitchen, pleased that he could do what she asked.

  A man who Colin did not recognize came to the door and Polly let him in and quietly led him to her bedroom. He could feel everything that Polly was feeling and experienced her desire for this man. Colin could sense when the man undressed and got into bed with Polly. At first, he felt angry and jealous, but suddenly he felt Polly in his mind and he only wanted whatever made Polly happy. He felt with Polly as the man did whatever she wanted, and he felt totally satisfied when the man was finished.

  After the man had left, Polly came out of her bedroom, her naked body completely exposed to him in the light. Now it will be my turn, he thought gratefully.

  “Come, my little whelp, don’t expect me to waste my time with you, when there are better fish in the sea. I need you for more important things than pleasure.”

  Colin sat back down on the kitchen floor.

  “Tell me how many elf rings there are in the city.”

  That is a secret known only to the Queen and I, he thought. A part of his mind wanted to keep that information secret, but he heard himself saying, “Polly, there are between thirty and forty rings in the town. The Queen is the only one here who knows the exact number, but I have counted the people who are using them.”

  “Within your residence, who has them?”

  “Besides myself, my mother, the Queen, has one. The Princess has one, and so does her consort. And their two children each have one. Beyond that, I think that twenty riders have rings: the Queen’s Guardsmen.”

  “Where are those riders?”

  “Half of the Queen’s Guard are assigned to defend the city walls and the rest are defending the Queen.”

  “Good. Well said, my pup.” Colin glowed with pleasure at her praise.

  “Now, every time you meet a rider, I want you to trade your ring – the one I ‘cleaned’ for you – with the one the rider is wearing. Then bring that ring to me – do not put it on – and I will ‘clean’ it also, and I will give you another, prettier, ring as a reward. Can you do that?”

  “Yes, Polly, I will do that for you.”

  She turned on her heel and spat in his direction.

  “You will no longer call me ‘Polly.’ From now on, you will call me ‘Mother Pequa.’”

  32 – The Shop

  Erin could sense that Alec was restless.

  “Now that you have found that your mother has passed on, I sense that you are seeking another direction,” she said gently.

  “Yes, I had hoped that she was still alive, but … well, it has been over a decade since I left this planet, and she was not in good health. I just wanted to …” he trailed off.

  “To see her again? That is understandable. I would want to see my mother again,” Erin said.

  “Well, that, of course, and … well, I wanted to ask her … now that I know that I am a cross-breed, I wanted to ask her about my father. I never knew him. He left her before I was born … disappeared. She rarely spoke of him. He left her a large sum of money, so we had a good life – we were never poor – but I always felt that sadness about her, that he had disappeared, and I missed him, too, even though I never knew him.”

  “I am very sorry, my Consort. My father taught me much, when he was alive, and I know how my mother has missed him since his death.” She hugged Alec, and they were silent for a long time.

  Finally he spoke. “It’s been nice staying in this hotel but now that we have the insurance settlement and have our finances straightened out, it will be good to move on.”

  “Where do we move to, Great Wizard?”

  “No, I mean, ‘figure out what we do next,’” said Alec. “Come on, we need to go check out that machine-shop place to see if it will work for us.”

  “Do you want me to call a driverless with my cell?” Erin asked. She had become quite proficient with the little device in the few days since she had received her own cell. She still could not read English, but had mastered the voice commands.

  The driverless soon appeared and took them to a big windowless building in a row of other big windowless buildings. They stepped out and looked around. Although this warehouse area was not particularly old, it was run down and had the aura of a place that had seen better times. A few of the buildings appeared to have some activity occurring in them but most appeared to be empty. All of the occupied buildings had double rows of concertina wire protecting the outside and bars on all of the windows. Many of the unoccupied buildings had broken out windows or pried-open doors; the backsides of some of the buildings were tagged with colorful graffiti.

  “This is the shop that my cell indicated might work for us to base out of,” Alec said. “The units in this industrial park are big enough for the things I have in mind.”

  “‘Industrial park’? Would not a park have trees and grass? This place is just barren … what do you call it … ‘concrete.’”

  The unit facing them had a small sign reading “Specialty Metals Fabrication LLC.” A man came out and walked rapidly towards them as the driverless car moved away, leaving them on their own. Erin nudged Alec and pointed at the man.

  “Are you the people who came to look at my business?”

  “We are,” said Alec. “Mr. and Mrs. Thelander.” Alec had decided early on that it was easier to continue to use the name given them by the hotel clerk than to explain what their real names were and why he was not really dead.

  “Glad to meet you. I have been ready to retire, but I’ve been waiting to find the right buyer for the business. It’s a great little business, and the price is reasonable.”

  Partially true, thought Erin, eyeing the man.

  “Show us what you have,” Alec said.

  The man escorted them inside, making sure to lock the front door behind them after they entered. They walked through a small front office space and into a large, well-equipped manufacturing shop.

  “This is our machi
ning shop,” the man said, gesturing around the large, open space. “The next room is our material processing area. We do all our chemistry work in that room. The third room is a clean room for component assembly. On the other side, I have bonded space for material storage. We have plenty of extra shop space for expansion.”

  Alec nodded appreciatively, looking around with a practiced eye.

  “Why are you selling your business?” Erin asked.

  “It’s not really my business,” the man said. “My brother-in-law created this machining and processing business and ran it for years. Started in his little shop in his back yard, in his garage, and over the years succeeded in expanding it into what you see here today. Built specialty components for the space industry. He was good at this kind of stuff, but he died unexpectedly of a heart attack about a year ago.”

  “I am sorry,” Erin said.

  “Everything he had was in this business – all his money was tied up in it. Maybe he was over-extended a little bit. Anyway, he had only a very small life-insurance policy, so my sister has nothing if I don’t sell the business. I have been running it as a favor to her until we could find a buyer for it.”

  “I looked over the financials that you sent us. They look marginal. How is the business doing?” Alec asked.

  The man sighed. “Well, to put it bluntly, we are living on borrowed time. We are living off old contracts. One of the big chores facing the new owner will be to maintain the current clients – keep them happy and all – and develop new ones.”

  Alec nodded, but didn’t say anything.

  Several people had materialized in the big room. “Let me introduce you to the key staff here,” the man said. He motioned for the people to come closer.

  “This here is Frederick. Frederick is the business and sales manager. This is Daniel – he is the head engineer and is responsible for product delivery. Here we have Sylvia. Come over here, Sylvia, and meet these people. Mr. and Mrs. Thelander. Sylvia is responsible for material supply and for all our chemical processing. This is Linda – she is responsible for quality and material control. That kind of stuff.”