“Ship,” Takk said. “Yeah. It is more of a ship than a sat, to my mind. The mouse is a maintenance bot, I think.”
“I agree, Captain. He... uhhh, he’s been helping me with repairs. Helped me fix small things I can’t easily do. He seems to naturally be inclined, call it programming, to repair whatever seems damaged. I hope you all agree it’s not going to be a problem?”
They shook their heads, even Takk agreed. Timin and Nibbles seemed to be a pair now. She couldn’t say she was sorry. They fit together.
Which left her alone. Avalon stared into the fire then around at the mauleons. They were so easy with each other. They too just fit together. Zo squeezed the side of her neck and her shoulder. After a moment, she rested her head on him and he began stroking her hair, which only made her vacillate from worry to a sleepy wonderment.
She could be happy with them. If only. She peered across at Takk and he met her eyes then swung his gaze elsewhere.
Daydreaming, she switched to looking at the fire, vaguely listening to the conversation.
“Do you think the sats are really falling, Takk? I mean, apart from this one.”
“Yes. The humans have data and so do we. Five crashed in the last few years. More are wavering in their orbit. In a few decades, our planet will be free of them.”
“The Quarantine will end. Starships can land and depart again,” Zo murmured. “Maybe in our lifetime.”
“Maybe.”
“Omage likes to lay claim to bringing them down. Those ceremonies they do.”
“Yes, and they have a prophecy: Lo, a pale rider from the heavens on an iron steed, shall herald the end of the world.”
Whichever mauleon said that, it had resonated. There was nothing added for some time.
“Wow. Is that Omage?”
“Yes.”
“Pretentious. Sticks up their asses?”
“Up somewhere.”
They all laughed.
Omage was where Takk was taking her. He’d even signed the contract, she’d heard, sent it off. The money was waiting for him... for them. She was a commodity.
Except there was Zo and his niceness. His caresses seemed to say he valued her for other reasons.
“Want to tell us why you decided to come here and steal the Claw, Ava?” He nudged her.
Annoyed at being questioned on what must be a sore point for the others, she squinted at him. “No?”
“Tell them.” Takk leaned forward. His four blond braids swung at his back like serpents and his stare was a challenge. “Is the truth that bad?”
For once Zo didn’t support her. She expected him to say she didn’t have to, but he only waited.
“What the fuck does it matter,” she muttered. She was leaving them soon. Zo must have forgotten that minor fact. She puffed out her cheeks. “Okay. I did it because I was going to jail and my uncle is this influential man in politics. He said do this and I’d be free. I’d be paid well and my record would be clean.” When they said and did nothing, she continued, shrugging. “My family hates me because I’m huleon and so I stole. They paid for my education, but I became a thief because it was something I did well. If it embarrassed them, good.”
She sat up and clasped her arms about her knees. Only she mattered. It was a good way to avoid being hurt.
“Fuck your family,” Kon growled out. The rest of them followed his curse with similar ones.
Only she mattered... Except for now. Damn them. The ache in her chest told her in uncertain terms that they mattered to her. She twitched out a smile. “Thank you.”
“So...” Timin wriggled about, punched his pillow materials into better shape. “That’s why you thieved. But why did your team run away from you? We all saw that flare. They fucked you over.”
“Yes, Ava, why?”
Again with the nickname. She looked sideways at Zo, heaved in a pained breath. “Because, I think, they must have been ordered to.”
Sad, but not that unexpected. Not really.
“If that was your uncle’s doing, wow.” The tattoo on his forehead shifted as he frowned.
“Did I not tell you this?” Takk interjected. “Her and politics. Dangerous fucking mix.”
She ignored him and kept directing her words to Zo.
“I had thought them friends but hey, that’s life. Uncle pays well.” Suddenly, she was struggling not to cry.
“Not sorry I asked.” He patted her leg. “You needed to say. Now all of us understand. Is there anything you want to ask us?”
“Oh.” Having that dumped on her left her floundering. “Let me think on that.”
“Since we’ve got hours before we can leave here, this seems a good time to have a drink.” In Zo’s offered hand was a canteen she knew held something potent.
“Thanks.” She swallowed some then handed it back. Maybe he was right. Maybe it was best she tell them the truth. She just couldn’t see how it mattered anymore.
Once this blizzard cleared, they’d pick up and move on down the mountain and into Omage. Then they’d give her to the priests.
“Do not give up hope. Takk is a complicated mauleon. A good leader.”
She glanced over at where he was currently chugging down more liquor. “Complicated. Huh. Why is he drinking so much, now, of all times?”
“That, I am not sure of. Going home may be bothering him, or you are?”
Her?
She shook her head and though she kept on listening to the talking, she found herself growing sleepier. She saw Takk stand and stalk away down the corridor, not staggering despite how drunk he should be. Finally she closed her eyes and snuggled into Zo. At some stage she woke to see a pile of snow someone had carried in, with both Timin and Kondio trying to make snow angels in the pitifully thin layer. They were rudely mocking each other. Smiling, she fell into a deeper sleep with Zo’s hand on her back.
Chapter Twenty-Five
What woke her?
A hand tapping and squeezing her arm. Muddled, she raised herself and propped an arm out, her palm finding the fur of some clothing.
“Get that on, your coat, and come with me.”
It was Takk, looking as enigmatic as ever. If she refused, what would he do? Tow her?
Sighing, she struggled to her feet and donned her heavier insulating gear, then walked quietly after him as he threaded past the others who still slept.
Well, Zo had brushed her ankle with his hand, and Timin opened his eyes and winked. Guess they were okay with this morning rendezvous with Takk.
Takk, the magnificent leader. Takk, the asshole.
It was morning for sure. She yawned. Light blossomed brighter and brighter until they reached a room with a huge circular viewport, where he stopped. He beckoned her to one of the seats positioned before the viewport and she sat beside him. At least he wasn’t aiming to do nasty things to her ass again. Though if she blew a raspberry at him, he might. There was that option.
A crack in the glasslike substance let in puffs of cold but it was warmer here than it must be outside. Outside was white, serene, and still.
Takk removed his gloves, then pulled hers off without asking. Then... then he took her hand in his larger one and they sat like that for quite a while, not speaking.
A few times she opened her mouth to say something only to subside. The crazy thing that happened on skin contact with these mauleons was warming her lower areas, again. The downstairs department. Her aunt’s term always made her want to snigger. It took her mind off her reaction for a second or two.
Takk didn’t even like her. Remember?
“I’m going to say some words, Avalon, and you are not to interrupt until I say you can. Is that clear?”
Oh, crazy gods above, his stern command had heated her even more. She licked her lips and decided squirming might send signals to him and made herself be still. “Yes.”
“Good.”
Then he said nothing, again.
From the corner of her eye, she peered at him, as if doing
anything fast might make him do something... bad. The blond stubble on his jaw was sexy. He had quite the rugged look to him and hard men seemed to appeal to her. Bad men, maybe.
She’d rather liked his bad the last time in the forest.
“Believe me when I say this is difficult. Where to begin? I can see my men want to commit to you and I have finally seen this as something good.”
Oh, fuck. Her mouth hung open, but he only squeezed her hand more firmly.
“All I have been thinking is how can fucking someone be enough? It can’t, can it? Then I see all this you do, did, last night especially.”
What had she done?
“You know what I thought when you helped Gia, Kondio’s scythefox? I thought you were trying to claw your way into their hearts. I thought that must be deliberate. But it wasn’t, was it?”
A real question? “No, of course not. I—”
“Not yet. I am not done. I know I made many errors. I’ve been an idiot. I’ve been against your race, your sex, your place of birth, who you are.”
Yep. She frowned and stared down at where he held her hand, at the curve of his dark claws, wondering if this was supposed to make her feel good.
“I was wrong. Very wrong. But, of all the things holding me back from accepting you, it is you. If you just want to run away, what point is there in letting them give you those gifts or thinking they might keep you?”
Again with the keeping. Where was her choice?
“So, be truthful. Would you stay or will you run?”
Wait. This was it? The big question?
“Tell me this first. Are you still wearing those nose plugs?”
“Yes, I am. This is about my soldiers, not me.”
“Uh-huh.” He still didn’t want her and was that so awful? The other three... she thought this through, played her emotions back to herself. When had she ever been this close to anyone? She guessed she felt more than merely like, for them.
That keeping her line, it wasn’t entirely good. This had to be a compromise, she finally understood that.
How far was she willing to go, what was she willing to give up, to get some form of happiness? She wasn’t sure she could be happy, ever, but maybe this was her chance?
Only yesterday she’d ached to be given this chance, to be asked to stay with them.
They were as mad as she was. The world was as angry at them as it was at her. She massaged her forehead.
“Your answer?”
Her answer? Her heart thudded, slow and sure, as if this were nothing more alarming than breaking into a vault.
“I will say...” She ceased to breathe for a second. “I will say yes. I will stay and I won’t run. I want to be with them. I do. I promise this.”
“Good. Then it’s done. The last agreement, it was temporary, and it was to expire at Omage, and even if you never quite saw it as something enforceable, I did.” He hauled her to her feet, glared down at her. “Mark this, I am trusting you because you were honest before and said you were going to run from Omage. I like plain speaking and honesty. I’m assuming your answer this time is honest also. Do not run from this agreement. More than your ass would suffer.”
Wide-eyed, Avalon nodded. What else would she do with him nearly fire-breathing down at her?
“You know I was envying you. Your friendship with them. I envied you that, but I also care for my soldiers. They are mine, just as you are, even if I don’t fuck you.”
He wouldn’t? Such a pity. He’d told her the truth though. She could see he wore nose plugs. He didn’t want to catch her contagion.
“What you’ve done is not just fucking. I see that now. It’s touch. It’s company. It’s happiness. They have hope and stuff.”
So did she, she realized. And stuff. If only he’d stop going on about it.
He released her hand, rose, and turned to go, then he paused and said, almost to the floor and in a soft voice, “Me, the closer I get to home the more scared I am. And... don’t you repeat that to anyone else.” Takk strode off.
That was jarring.
She ran to catch up.
“Hear me?” He ground that out harshly.
“Yes. But, why?”
“Because.”
“Oh.”
He stopped again, glared. “It’s nothing more than the war beating down on me. It happens when you’ve seen friends torn to shreds in front of you due to them taking a step, one step, in the wrong direction. I love my home and I fear I’m bringing that with me—terrible things. Fear dogs me.”
Fear dogs me. It sounded almost prophetic.
She had asked. Timidly she added, feeling this must not end there, not on that ominous note, “I have always had something terrible around the next corner, all my life really, until I met you and your men.”
There were tears waiting in her eyes at that. She held them back.
Though she followed him, he’d given her a piece of his reality. It mattered.
He’d also hurried her into a decision.
What had she just agreed to?
Maybe the most important decision she would ever make.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Hands wrapped over each other and feeling immensely grouchy, Takk sat slouched over at the back of the room on a pile of crumpled hull. He watched them approach Avalon, while keeping a wary eye on the developments.
He’d made the announcement—they would be keeping her, and she’d agreed to stay. Omage was therefore no longer an option.
All his fears about the dangers to them and her, he’d not mentioned those again. Whether that was wise, he was no longer sure.
They approached as if she were the queen and they the subjects.
He knew their gifts. Zo’s in particular he expected to shock this little thief girl. It might amuse him, might distract from having blurted out his fears to her. That had been unexpected. He hadn’t meant to.
“Damn,” he sighed. Why had he done that? She’d somehow drawn the ugly truth from him.
“We were going to give our gifts to you, Ava.”
Ugh, there was Zo with his new name for her.
“But we thought this through, and you don’t get them until we are home, at Takk’s farm and mine.” Kondio gestured toward Takk.
Now why had they decided that? Another delay?
“That’s okay.” She shrugged, blushing as they began to undo the fastenings on her clothes, and she twirled away until Timin caught her and dragged her back into the middle. “Hey. This is a little sudden. Won’t we get cold and—”
And then she snagged her hands and claws in Zo’s inky dark hair, for he’d latched onto her breasts and was sucking on her. Or biting. Something she liked anyway, Takk figured.
The three mauleons surrounded her and slowly pulled her to the clothes-carpeted floor. Enthusiastic sex followed, with limbs snaking and flailing, people crawling over one another, humping, and cocks going here and there. The groans and moans became louder, throatier. Choking sounds surely meant someone was fucking her mouth.
Takk stood. He shook his head, trying not to scowl at the orgiastic activities before him but failing. Her scream of joy signaled the first orgasm and the mauleons’ butts were working overtime, thrusting away at her.
Nothing for him here. She only had three holes anyway. He was never going to be an accessory to a female. He adjusted his clothes then walked away, informing them as he skirted the pile, “You have thirty minutes before we ride onward.”
They were finished and cleaned up, barely, in time. He let Zo have her with him again, and headed out, leading them toward the other side of the mountain.
* * *
With the girl by his side and doused in that lemony perfume, Takk headed for the front of the stable, where a large rectangle of muted yellow light flooded in, framed by the rolled-back doors.
“Takk!” Kondio sang out. He was undoing the strap running under the belly of his florse prior to stripping off the heavy saddle. “Is it true you already signed
that contract and we got paid for her?” He caught the reins to steady his beast. “So we got to stop and terminate that contract here before we head home?”
“We do have to terminate it, legally.” Waiting for Avalon to catch up, Takk halted. “Doing that now. This shouldn’t take long to clear up. I never took their money, so the contract was never finalized.”
“Take care.” Zo advanced and clapped his shoulder, nodded to the girl. “And take good care of her. Tell them we have better, dirtier uses for her than their ceremonial table.”
“I will.” He restrained himself from eye-rolling or swearing.
Zo cocked his head. “Lost your sense of humor?”
“Not yet. Come.” He grabbed the girl’s hand despite her foul look. “No scowling at me. You know better.”
The temple of Omage was a ten-minute stroll down the main street. The florses needed rest and feeding after the grueling last day coming down the range. Everything here was Omage this or that, he noted as they passed the shops with their signs.
Omage Tea House. Omage Pet Shop. Omage Law Office.
He’d stopped at the latter already after reading the letter left for him at the Post and Message Office.
The priests thought it best if he brought their sacrifice to them ASAP, as a ceremony was due to be performed tomorrow. How had they known he and his troop had arrived in town? Perhaps they had a cadre of informers.
Once they saw he’d not accepted payment, he could tear up the sale doc.
“Tedious priests,” he muttered.
“Is it true they do sacrifices?” Avalon asked him. Judging by the stiffness of her face, she was nervous.
He was no monster. Takk took her small hand in his again and patted it once, stopping on the sidewalk so he could explain.
“Don’t worry yourself. Yes, they do, sort of. Their sacrifices are still alive afterward. It’s an expression from a long way back. They have a ceremony of love and they say their words, and do their ceremonial crazy stuff, dance too, for all I know. They believe it will help bring the satellites down. That the world will come to an end as we know it and then start again, all new, and all.” He widened his eyes, raised his free hand and jiggled it. “The usual woo-woo stuff of religions. Dance the way we say and we will fix your ills.”
Condemned Page 14
