He hooked his thumbs on his belt. "The only advice I can give you is to forget the life you had before. You belong to me now. I don't give a shit if you live or die, but I will give you this advice. If you find yourself unable to handle this place, do us all a favor and kill yourself so I don't have to waste a bullet on you."
Kurrs nodded, and the pushing and shoving took Byron and the women out of the processing center and back into the open air.
By then, the sun had set and night had fallen. Harsh spotlights lit the path to a larger building with armed guards standing by the entrance. The guards unlocked and pulled open the doors so Byron could be shoved inside.
It turned out to be another warehouse-like building, but there were no walls or gates. Hundreds of Nikora sat, stood, or huddled on the bare dirt floor. Some looked young and small enough to be children. Others were quite old. Most of them looked thin and weak.
When Byron and the others with him stumbled in, many didn't even bother to look up. The few who did had glazed expressions.
One Nikora female who looked healthier than the others stood up. She looked up and down at Byron before saying, "You are not Nikora. Who are you that you are to be placed among us?"
He shrugged. "I'm nobody. Just passing through."
"Only enemies of the Necralia Empire are placed here. If you are their enemy, then you are our friend." She placed her hands together and bowed. "May peace fall upon you. I am Saleeta."
Byron tried to imitate the bow. "I'm Byron."
Saleeta turned, swinging her bare breasts as she gestured towards a shorter male Nikora kneeling next to her. "This is Elo, the one who is bonded to me."
Byron blinked. "Uh, hi. This is Princess, Khloe, Scarlett, Xana, and Chetaara. I'm bonded with Chetaara."
At the sound of Chetaara's name, some of the lifeless Nikora suddenly looked up. A whisper ran through the expansive room as the male and female aliens began to rise to their feet. The ones closest to her dropped to their knees and bowed their heads to her.
One called out, "Are you Chetaara of Tr'owl, High-Born priestess of P'rrshala?"
Chetaara gave a quick nod of her head.
The Nikora burst into cheers, hugging and kissing each other.
The same one from earlier called out, "You are a sign from the goddess! We will be liberated! The Outsider will come!"
Saleeta scowled and let out a roar that silenced the room before yelling, "This is no sign. And the Outsider has already arrived."
Chetaara smiled as her ears flattened. "No, you do not understand. Byron, he is the Outsider."
Saleeta raised her chin. "No, he is not. I am the Outsider."
Chetaara jerked back as if she'd been slapped. "What blasphemy is this?"
"You heard me well." Saleeta folded her arms over each other. "I am the Outsider. These people follow me."
Chetaara bared her teeth as her tail flicked. "You profane against the goddess. You know only a priestess can declare one as the Outsider, and I declare Byron Jones. He is the fulfillment of the prophecy. He came riding a ship called the Icarus. He bonded to me as was foreseen. He is able to defeat others far more powerful than him. I have seen it with my own eyes."
Saleeta took a step towards her. "We have no need of your superstition and witchcraft here. Here, the people demand real results. I have worked for these people while you left the planet to mingle with the hairless ones. I have gotten us food, medicine, and lowered our workload. I have set in motion a plan to escape from the camp, all while you have done nothing for us."
She turned her green eyes on Byron and sneered. "You have even committed to a holy bond with an Earthling. That is blasphemy in itself. And you think you can claim to help your people?"
She snorted and raised her hand as if to strike.
Chetaara bared her claws and let out a roar of her own.
Byron stepped between them. "Hey, hey, that's enough. Look, I don't want to upset anything and I don't want to start any kind of holy war or whatever. I didn't come here to be the Outsider, and I won't claim to be. Saleeta, if you can lead these people, so be it."
"No," Chetaara yelled, but Byron quieted her with a wave.
He straightened. "We'll help with whatever we can. But we came here to find someone, a man named Otis Accolade."
Saleeta lowered her hand with a deep frown. "I know of no one by that name."
A Nikora female spoke up. "Wait, there is someone being held in the lower cells. I saw them once when I was ordered to bring the guards there some food. Someone said a name, it sounded like 'Oh-Tis.' He is being held in darkness. If that is the man you seek, I know not if he still lives."
"It's a start." Byron turned in a circle to take in the Nikora around him. "We might be able to help you escape. All we ask is that you help us get to Otis."
Saleeta chuckled. "What could a trio of Earthlings, a Chamella, and a robot do for us?"
"Chetaara is right that I have, uh, abilities. Maybe it's just dumb luck. I don't know. But I do have an NRG implant that hasn't been disabled." He tapped the back of his neck. "Lucky they didn't find it. It's drained now, but I should be able to use it in about twenty-four hours. So what's your plan?"
Saleeta shook her head. "We do not know you. You could be a spy. Until we see proof you do not work with the Empire, the plan will remain a secret among us. But if you do have an implant, we could use it. And we will not deny you hospitality."
She stepped closer. "We will give you what we have, which is not much. A place to sleep, a little food. Tomorrow, you will start work in the mines. If you survive that, we will talk more."
She stalked off into the crowd.
Chetaara leaned towards Elo. "You are bonded to her?"
Elo lowered his eyes and nodded. "Yes. When I learned she was the Outsider, I vowed to always stay by her side."
Byron was a little surprised, thinking the bonding and master/slave relationship was only something men had over women. He reminded himself this was an alien culture.
Elo smiled. "I see you are bonded to Chetaara. That is a great honor as well. All my life, I sought to find one worthy of my life. If I can help you, I--"
Before they could talk more, Saleeta snapped her fingers, and Elo followed her like a puppy.
Scarlett limped forward. "Anybody got a medpack? Or some Band-Aids?"
One of the Nikora came forward with strips of cloth. "We have dressings. They are soaked in vula-juice, so they heal quickly. Not as quickly as medpacks, but they help."
Chetaara nodded and took some of the dressings to wrap around her neck.
Byron wrapped them around his aching hand and a cooling sensation spread over his fingers, easing the pain.
Scarlett rubbed a crack on her jaw. "Thanks, but those don't work on robots."
Xana came over to push a bolt back into place on her shoulder. "Um, I can do some minor repairs. It'll hold until we get back to the ship. But if you hadn't mouthed off so much, they might not have beaten you up." She popped open a hatch on Scarlett's back and began untangling wires.
Scarlett smiled over her shoulder. "It's worth a beating to tell those assholes to go fuck themselves."
Another Nikora came up to them with bowls of a white mush. "This is all they feed us. We have been gathering small amounts as an emergency supply in case they cut us off again. You are welcome to it."
Byron waved his hands. "Oh, no, we--"
"It is our custom," Chetaara interrupted, "in our tribes to share food. It is our highest honor and a great insult to refuse it."
He looked around at all the skinny Nikora and wanted to make them all eat it, but knew he was in an alien culture and didn't want to offend them. He just nodded, said "thank you," and dipped some of the mush into his hand.
GRUEL
+1 HEALTH
He sipped some of the food. It tasted bland, but not as bad as he thought it would. He ate the rest of it. It wasn't much, but at least it filled his empty stomach.
Princess put her
hands together and bowed perfectly. "You honor us with this gift."
The Nikora bowed back.
Princess ate some of the mush, and some dripped onto her left breast. She wiped it off with a glance at Byron, who pretended not to notice. He looked away and thought about how the Yankees needed to improve their pitching.
Khloe stepped forward with a hesitant smile. She tried to bow a little and ate as well.
Princess licked her fingers as she turned to Byron. She spoke in a low whisper. "Were you serious about all that, about being the Outsider?"
Byron shifted his feet, trying to think of a way to answer that didn't make him sound like a jerk. "I don't know if I'm the Outsider or not. Chetaara thinks I am."
Khloe came closer to them. "We've heard of the Outsider, but thought it was just an urban legend or something."
"Maybe it is." He shrugged. "I honestly don't know. I was able to beat some Death Wing fighters before I even became a level six. But I couldn't beat the last ones, so I don't know what it means."
Princess turned to Chetaara. "Can you tell us the story of the Outsider on your world?"
"Yes." Cheraara got a faraway look in her eyes. "It is said that hundreds of years ago, the goddess P'rrshala came to a prophetess and told her that there would be a time of enslavement for all the tribes on Nikor. In that time, one would rise up from beyond the stars, beyond even our universe. He would be from outside everything we know, and came to be called the Outsider."
Byron felt a little shiver.
Chetaara continued. "It was said that the Outsider would come from the stars on an object called Icarus, and would be stronger than he appeared. He would defeat all his enemies and end the reign of evil that conquered Nikor, bringing peace to the universe."
Khloe poked Byron with her elbow. "No way! Really? Icarus? That's the name of your ship, Byron. Did you know that before you named it?"
He shook his head. "No, I'd never even heard of the Outsider until I got the ship and met Chetaara."
Princess looked at him with her head tilted to one side. "You certainly do fit the description, Byron-san."
"But how?" Khloe looked from one to the other. "I mean, this is a game, right? It didn't even exist hundreds of years ago. And I've been hearing stories about the Outsider long before Byron came into the game. How could it predict someone like him would even show up?"
Princess pursed her lips in thought before shaking her head. "I do not know, but we know the game runs faster than real-time, so hundreds of years could be only a few months in the game. Or the Outsider could have been programmed into the game after he entered, and our memories changed."
Khloe smiled. "I think it would be awesome if you were, Byron. Then I could go back home. And I'd know a celebrity."
Chetaara approached them and held out her hand. "They have no beds, so we can sleep on the floor."
Byron closed his eyes. "After what we went through today, sounds like heaven."
Scarlett rolled her shoulders after Xana closed her hatch. "Last night, we were sleeping in a luxury hotel. Tonight, we're sleeping in a prison cell. Fuck irony in the ass."
Byron smiled, but felt like dying inside. He really had convinced himself that he was the Outsider, that he could do anything and beat anyone. His fight with Captain Jokah had been hard. It seemed like she was smarter and stronger than him, but he killed her, and that seemed to define his abilities in his mind. He came to Nikor believing he could find Accolade, free the planet, and escape Venus Online.
Yet the Necralia Empire's Death Wings had shot him down, and he found himself in a prison with no way out. Maybe Saleeta was right. Maybe he wasn't the Outsider, after all. More than that, Saleeta had been right that she had done more for the Nikora than he had.
Chapter 14
AS THEY settled in, the Nikora all dropped in a wave onto the floor. They lay in the corners, against the walls, and on the main floor. Males and females rolled onto their sides, and some into each other's arms.
Byron looked at the door they had just gone through. When he pushed it, the doors didn't even budge. "Locked from the outside."
Khloe flexed her arms. "I could maybe break it down. I'm strong enough."
Princess shook her head. "Yes, and then what? You saw all the guards out there, Khloe. We would not get far. With all due respect, we need to plan this carefully, and find out what the Nikora have succeeded and failed at. Let us get sleep."
Byron laid down on the dirt floor. It wasn't comfortable, but he was tired enough not to care. As he tried to find a position that didn't hurt his neck, Chetaara's arms folded over him as she lay down behind him.
She whispered, "You are the true Outsider, Master."
He felt a little better. At least she believed in him.
He heard rustling, and looked over his shoulder to see Xana and Scarlett lying down behind her, forming a train.
To his surprise, Khloe lay down in front of him, and looked at him with her large brown eyes. "Do you mind if I lie down here?"
He shook his head. "No, not at all."
She rolled over and spooned up against him. As her long brown hair brushed his face, he breathed in and it smelled like coconuts. He didn't know where to put his hands so he just kept them by his sides. Feeling her big, soft ass against his cock made him throb.
He tried to think of the best hitter on the Yankees, taking into account their strikes and home runs.
It didn't work.
He felt himself starting to swell against her and cringed.
He waited for her to turn around and slap him, and when she raised her hand, he braced himself. But instead, she reached back for his right hand and brought it around herself. She placed it firmly on one of her breasts.
Her boob didn't even fit in his hand. It spilled out over his wrist and arm. When he hefted it, the weight was surprising to him. As he ran his fingers down the mountain of flesh, they came to her firm nipple and she moaned softly.
If Khloe had been a NPC, he would have assumed it was game on, and just climbed on top of her, but he remembered she was a real woman in the real world. Women had always been a mystery to him, even his own sister.
At that moment, he told himself, she had to be wanting to have sex with him. She lay down in front of him, and put his hand on her tit. That had to be a signal.
Another part of him told himself he was imagining things. Maybe she was just lonely and cold. Maybe she just wanted his arm around her as a hug. He imagined her leaping up in disgust as she felt his growing erection against her, screaming how they were just friends.
But she didn't. Instead, she pushed her ass up against him, stroking his cock with her soft cheeks. He toyed with her nipple, feeling it stiffen even more, and pushed his hips against hers. She moaned a little louder.
No mistaking those signals.
He reached his other hand down to cup her other boob. He could barely get his arms around them, the two breasts were so big. He kissed the back of her neck as he stroked her nipples, making them firm, and making her gasp and shiver.
"Oh, Byron," she whispered.
She rolled over to face him, and her large breasts mashed between them so he had to lean forward to reach her face for a kiss. Her hands stroked his face to pull him closer, and her lips felt so tender against his. He reached down to run his hands down the roundness of her ass, and sank his fingers into her soft skin.
Behind him, he heard giggling that reminded him of his crew. When he looked over his shoulder, Chetaara, Xana, and Scarlett all sat up to smile at him.
When Khloe opened her eyes, she saw them and gasped.
Chetaara rose to her feet and whispered, "We will give you some privacy."
Scarlett pouted. "Aw, no fair. I wanna see."
Chetaara kissed her. "I will give you an even better show."
"Oo, I like the sound of that."
Scarlett got up and followed Chetaara into another corner of the warehouse. Xana shrugged before she followed them.
When Byron looked around, he expected the other Nikora to be watching as well, but they weren't. Most of them had fallen asleep, snoring loudly. A few glanced over at Byron, and he froze, but they always yawned and looked away, as if they'd just seen him brushing his teeth.
Chetaara was right. Sex really was no big deal for them.
He turned back to Khloe to take her in his arms again. She felt soft all over, an amazing feeling.
He'd never been with a woman with such large breasts, and he dove into them eagerly. He kissed his way over their soft curves, tasting the salt on her skin, and stroked them to feel the flesh roll and bounce. When he reached the nipples, he licked and sucked them until she bit her lip and groaned. The tiny buds thickened like his own cock swelled. He felt like he could drown in her massive tits, and it would be a great way to go. He knew she could feel his cock brush up against her stomach and thighs as it grew harder.
"Oh, baby," she groaned. "I want you so bad."
"I want you too." He sank his face in her cleavage, just savoring the feeling of being buried in her.
She pulled him up to kiss him again, then left a trail of kisses down his neck and chest. He leaned back, breathing more quickly as she made her way down his stomach and approached his throbbing cock. When her lips engulfed him, he gasped.
Her mouth licked and teased the head of his cock before sucking him in deeper. He grunted as he felt his cock slide past her tongue and into her throat.
"Holy shit," he gasped.
He'd heard of deep throat before, but never knew what it felt like. As the head moved down the curve of her neck, it felt incredibly tight. He felt her swallow and clench the head, and her lips pressed up at the base of his shaft with her chin against his balls. He felt stunned, since he knew he was bigger than he was in real life, but she took him in with ease. She continued to move up and down, sliding him deeper and deeper until he thought she would choke but she didn't stop.
Mine Shaft: A LitRPG Sci-Fi Harem Adventure (Venus Online Book 4) Page 10
