by Marcus Sloss
‘We are finally making progress. AC1 is headed back to base for unloading. The rest of these trailers are being hooked up. I expect to RTB with all gear, including Mclain’s vats, within the hour. After that, AC1 will return to the portals for personnel pickup. DD out.’ - Jevon
Well, that was fantastic news. I was not sure whether or not AC1 could fit ten thousand souls on board, but we could always adjust. Especially when AH1 and AH2 could make the trip in seven minutes and carry hundreds.
I passed the Pandarin and called Everly.
“Can you get an updated status on new arrivals for sale?” I asked, seeking clarity.
“No, else you would just send one person to the market, have them tap on all the boxes and then sit in a recliner in your storage are. Send me the update.” Everly paused, as I sent her the new details. “There is a new listing” she noted, “but it's overpriced. Buy it now only, hmm. I will save the list, that way I can pop my head in at the last minute to see if the price has dropped down to something more reasonable.”
“Ha! Everly, there will be ten more things demanding our time, money, and attention before the golden gates transition. Hold on,” I muttered, “the fairies should be near the Mounamine.”
“Yes, Eric, but Crixxi can do Mounamine work. Apparently, we cannot do the work of fairies so…”
“Thank you, Everly,” I tried to tone down my sarcasm, “call you soon with both updates.”
She loved to tease me.
I was certainly glad she was happy. I can say one thing with pride, we had not had a single suicide since the virum. Sure, a few people had fled. Even the disgusting Denver folks we’d rescued from under the school had turned things around quickly, upon their arrival at Stronghold Mansion. Bastion was on the right track.
Suicides tore my soul apart in Saudi. There were those lingering what-if scenarios that I never got over. Even today, I found myself thinking back on Heminez or Smith and what I could have done to-
“Ah,” I said to myself, arriving at the Mounamine. I applied the data update to my translator and moved on. The walk from here to the fairies was thankfully short. They were short and fabulous. Sweet heavens above, I wanted to lie in bed with a pile of these vixens on top of me; unless they sucked out my soul … or my blood. My cock? A-Okay. The other stuff? Hard pass.
I opened the interface in question while giving the species their human name—fairies.
The hologram behind the interface rotated between sexes and then went into a developmental stage. According to the information sheet, they grew wings at puberty. No boobs, no wings. Boobs? Wham! Wings. Same with balls, but you know, I was more than partial to tits, especially a nice set of DDs, so I locked the species image on the female.
Food requirements noted simply they were omnivores, with no further information on their diets given. Talents listed included flying ... umm, duh! … architecture, mathematics, teaching, general chores and on and on; the length of the list told me fairies were smart.
Compatibilities included virum, lexium, evorium, meaxon, and something called ovesian.
I swiped the page to read their background and reason for being isolated in the Xgate system.
Fairies were territorial. They tended to find a cove, clump, bunch, or whole forest to call their own and then carefully build their home into an environment that perfectly suited them. Any outsider was considered a threat and dealt with as such. They thrived in a hierarchy of aggression that asserted class dominance. Their mighty Orith Empire had colonized a dozen systems before they were added to the Xgate containment. Now, they were prevalent on more than thirty worlds, though mostly as a subspecies. Their inability to maintain a constant state of warfare shifted their species to living in hiding or in seeking protection in exchange for servitude. Over the eons, the species had adapted into two variations; both variation were included under the one image, though, because there had been no genetic deviations. The difference between the two variations was really based on their initial level of freedom, those born into servitude, and those born free. Each listing stated it would include either an S - service reliable or F - free-spirited tag up front, to help buyers differentiate between the variations.
My Gpad rang with a video request from Everly. “Hey,” I answered.
“So, we have never seen a species like these faeries before. There are rumored to be millions of Xgates with species variations numbering into the hundreds of thousands. It seems there are plenty of downsides, though,” Everly noted, and I switched the interface over to a long listing of downsides to follow along. “The biggest negatives are: 1) that they do not fight well as a cohesive unit, as their infighting typically leads to the collapse of normal battle formations; 2) they become agitated quickly and are insanely stubborn until dominated; And, 3) which is the saddest, I’m afraid, they are suicidal if not given enough freedoms.” She snorted, “You have to be the boss, but still grant them their freedom. Yikes. The list of potential issues is much longer, but if we keep them happy, most of those go away. The biggest drawback to even a happy group, is that they are useless in a fight unless they build traps.”
“But traps can save the day,” I mused, thinking it over.
“Yes, they can probably craft all sorts of defenses. Just don't expect fairies to fight in large formations. From this report, I gather that they are better at solo activities. They may be suitable as scouts, or reconnaissance, or even trap setters. I know we Crixxi love using pits, slings, and jungle log falls. Reminds me of when we fought Daphne’s tribe once. I lost a cousin to a spike trap,” Everly said evenly. I expected some remorse, but I think she was drawn into the memory. She scratched at her ear absentmindedly. “Do you want domesticated or wild faeries?”
“I haven’t gotten through all the options, yet.” I paused and ensured I had her attention. “I want to be more to you than just a nice body to look at. I care about you. Do you want to talk about your cousin?”
“Ah,” she blushed, “thank you for trying, Eric. You have no idea how much it means to me that you're more than just a brute. I’ll pass, for now. Maybe we can talk about it on a walk or something, somewhere I can give vent to my emotions, when there is less stress,” Everly said tenderly. “It’s not something I want to talk about online.”
“I would enjoy that. Let me go over these options and if there are any promising auctions, I will highlight the ones I am interested in,” I said, opening that list. There were almost a hundred listings. “I never asked how many listings the Mounamine and Pandarin had ... is a hundred a lot?”
“Oh gods no, there were thousands for each of them. But I filtered out most of them. We’re paying more, generally, because Perci wants to set up breeding programs,” Everly said and I caught on.
“Yeah, I got that impression, too. At least until our community is producing our own young,” I mused with a shrug.
“Eric, it does not take a one to one ratio to care for our needs. We are buying a two to one servant ratio. So…”
“I get it” I said. “The math indicates we're going to have young of all kinds running around. I crossed my arms and my video orb backed up to keep me in the frame. “That means our third base just jumped in priority. Hopefully, Perci’s mom sends a data update, soon. We have Xgate 232’s pattern down really well. It would be nice to have as clear of an understanding of all the portals in the area.”
I dove into the buy it now options. I saw an interesting F option, a hundred and seventeen fairies were being sold cheap. I’d paid five or six times more for Onix than this listing would cost. I selected the contract.
* Note - Captured these while raiding. Fifty-two were killed before accepting our terms. The best we got was 5.4332332 years, three meals per 1.4323 day, and 11.22137 work hours. They were really stubborn. Priced to sell. Swapping to auction in seven minutes thirteen seconds.
I sighed. At least the timer translated properly in numbers and a scale I could recognize. I tapped my translator and rounded to the nearest w
hole number plus one decimal point.
For comparison, I checked out the auction page. Damn, the price differential between F to S was tenfold, if not more. I mean, they were still contract bound, which should mean this big of a difference. There were three other F offers available. All tended towards shorter contracts. The accompanying notes were more of the same, hesitant to surrender, generally non-compliant, with the constant risk of multiple suicides.
When I browsed the S section, with its significant price hike, the notes were far different. Eager to work, quick breeders, accept various foods readily, build their own housing, and pleasant to be around.
I sat before the interface and crossed my legs. This was a big decision. How to play it out? Hmmm.
“Are you going to sleep?” Everly asked, amused at my deliberations.
“Ah, hell, no, I forgot to close the connection.” I grimaced at her overly sweet smile. “Any thoughts on the fairies?”
Everly sat on the storage room floor and tucked her tail in her lap. “Eric, if you buy problem children, they will cause problems. I understand your heart is in the right -”
I purchased two sets of fairies before she could finish the sentence.
“Everly, I am the king, chief, boss, captain, and to a select few, I am their savior. I have to be decisive. I do value your input, but I have made a decision about these two groupings. We’ll buy the first set of F faeries, and release them. We can all celebrate as a community. The second set of S faeries, we contract with but give them an option; it’s a much smaller purchase of eleven female fairies. The note on that order specified a recent tragedy resulted in the sale. We’ll help both. If both groups leave us, so be it; we’ll contract a third set of S faeries at auction, and not offer them a choice.” I got up and stretched. “I need to get moving to the Sluggero display.”
“Uh, Eric… I need to deal with this mess you dropped into my lap. I’ve got a hundred plus fairies screaming at twelve lady fairies, not eleven,” Everly said, and closed the connection.
For a briefest moment, I caught a glimpse of the ensuing chaos. The twelve female fairies were from a breeding program gone wrong. They had not been cheap, costing three times what I had paid for Onix. I hoped they would stay, but in the end, I was prepared to give them that option.
I strolled down the line, waiting for the inevitable update from Everly. I’d almost made it to the Earth Human’s slot when my Gpad rang.
“Well, that was fun. The recently captured fairies are all touring our facilities in AH2. They have no home to return to, nor the means to survive another season in the open. The proper ladies, the ones from the S group? They ran out the portal and hid behind soldiers who immediately grew defensive over the fleeing babes. So … they fit right in. Good call too, it let the first group calm the fuck down, seeing multiple species working together.”
“Eh, my plan was to do something nice.” I shrugged. “That reminds me, I need to check in on the New Zealanders and cancel their contracts. Everly, ensure the command channel knows to be stern with the faeries. It sounds like that species will walk all-over weak-willed individuals. It says they thrive on being dominated,” I said and she quickly closed the connection to hop out the portal and relay my message.
I arrived at five foot nine species, and noted the two earlier variations, but no Earth humans. I kicked the deck of the orbital and even glanced beyond this row at the row behind and in front of me. No postings were listed there, either, but there were hundreds of these spots in this orbital.
I swore. This was not going to happen again. There would be a watch in this market at all times, with overlapping coverage to ensure we didn’t miss a thing. I walked on to the taller species, knowing what a Sluggero looked like.
In the five minute walk it took to increase the species’ average height three inches, I noticed something intriguing. Where tiny beings from half a foot to five and half feet tall covered a majority of the subspecies, this range approaching six feet in height was filled with fighting species. I rationalized that maybe reach mattered. Mass certainly did. Divine-Apes were a prime example of bigger means harder to kill.
When I reached the Sluggero interface, I went directly to the auction page. Wow. These were a highly controlled species. I went back to the information page. Breeding options. One offspring, on average, every ten point six years. Conversions were such a kick in the nuts.
I went over the options again. There was a single mated pair for the price of an aircraft carrier. What the holy hell? I panic searched for a wounded one, or a youngling, anything at a discount. It looked like there would be no Sluggero contracted this market. Oh well, I’d saved a bundle and this meant we could get more Crixxi, Mounamine, Pandarin, and even Fairies. Honestly, I thought back to the chaotic scene in the storage bay, we might not need any more fairies.
I left the market passing by the Earth human slot again to see that it still sat empty. I sighed. I hoped the rest of humanity was doing okay.
INTERMISSION 1
Hours before the Second Golden Portal
Jarod grimaced at the audacity of this human. He dug his boot into the man’s neck. His eyes blazed with anger. Jarod shifted his stance to snap a swift kick to the man’s gut.
“Last chance, you insignificant worm. Accept Jane’s contract or die,” Jarod said, applying the tip of his laser rifle to the side of the man’s cranium.
“Darling, we went over this. I am Coral, I can change my name to Jane if that is what you want?” Coral said timidly.
“I have told you a dozen times, you are Jane. My everything. Now I am working, honey, please don’t interrupt me again,” Jarod said. He was not very good at pretending to be patient.
The man at his feet wore a police uniform and was almost six feet tall with a decent build, blue hair, blue eyes, and a tight jawline. This Officer Mason was a right pain even though he was cuffed, both hand and foot. He had tried to tell Jarod he couldn’t dock his ship here; this was the result. Another conquest in a long line of captures. Jarod knew backup was on the way, Mason had said so himself.
“Do you breathe underwater Officer Mason? Don’t answer that, I’m just being an asshole,” Jarod said with a back-arching belly laugh. “Here comes your rescue. But oh wait, time to flee with our prisoner. I guess that shit head Bubbles can warp his mind and then we will sell him.” Jarod shrugged, “Load him up, ladies.”
“Wait! I don’t want to lose my mind,” Mason said, attempting to stall.
Jarod and the sirens ignored Mason’s pleading. He was carried—kicking, twisting, and screaming—onto The Pearly Dream. Jarod’s lovely helpers were eager to please their master. The whirling red and blue the patrol car’s lights was accompanied by the blaring sound of the police sirens. Mason was chucked into the cabin where Jarod heard one of his girls stuff a gag into the man’s mouth. Jarod frowned, his victim’s cries of defeat were a testament to his victory.
The Pearly Dream sailed back out into the open blue after lifting out of the water. The police would only see the quickly retreating shape of a flying boat fading off into the distance by the time they arrived at the spot where Mason had been abducted.
“Master, good work. This one will not fetch much at the market, but he will make a great warrior for your growing army,” Jane said. She nibbled on her master’s earlobe, knowing it pleased him greatly. “We should be switching over to the next golden gate any hour now. What are you going to do with all your conquests?”
Jarod’s erratic grin slipped into a manic laugh when he thought over how the last blue portal season had gone.
They had flown above the water until nearing Hawaii. Jarod had remembered two key things in Hawaii. First, he realized that Jane was already on his ship. At first, he had been confused. Then Jane told him he had been given a gift by the gods; she was a righteous gift for a devout follower. Something he clearly could not refute, when the proof stood humbly before him.
The other gift Hawaii delivered was a second large em
pty yacht, the kind that reached hundreds of feet in length, with its own helipad. Whatever aliens had eaten the humans had done so inside the ship. The scene was grizzly and another example of why hiding on the oceans was a bad idea. They lashed the yacht firmly to The Pearly Dream with anchor lines. Jane and Bubbles both assured him their generators could handle the load. Sure enough, he recalled the tension snapping tight once and then being fine. The two ships were combined into one as they headed east. Since he no longer needed to go to Colorado anymore, Jarod decided he would set up his base in San Francisco. He knew there would be plenty of targets in the area, ripe for raiding. San Francisco and Aspen had had the greatest concentrations of wealth in what had been the United States before the apocalypse. The Bay Area made perfect sense to him as the best location for his new kingdom.
Jarrod and his crew sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge five days before the next grand market. He was excited to acquire several new upgrades and to grow his Empire on the shore. During the past five days, he had set up an ocean base, not far from an Xgate. He’d fought a few jellyfish creatures until the Aurelians had realized Jarod and his sirens were turning their corpses into food and fled. The battle had been disappointing, his foe weak and pathetic. Jarod’s armor, weapons, and abilities were superior in every way.
While Jarod was confident defending himself and his ladies, he avoided portal hopping to raid other planets. Instead, he turned his attention to pillaging the Bay Area, to avoid unnecessarily angering something that might be able to defeat him. Jarod knew humanity provided a juicy target, ripe for raiding, and most of his landings had been along a series of private beaches. Jarod was sure the aliens didn’t realize that the nice homes set back on the cliff sides overlooking the ocean were the best to hit, as they always left the luxurious homes in favor of squalid apartment complexes in the city. There were signs of fighting all along the cities of the coast, but marauding aliens ignored lonely mansions that overlooked private beaches with their gorgeous views, or beach houses outside city limits with their large gated fences facing the water.
