by Lisa Lace
“Grenta!” sad Rev. “What in the hells do you think you are doing?”
“I’m testing how effective the transformation was. Don’t you remember the problems when we sold the last batch? The women were all over each other before we could deliver them and get our money!”
Rev turned his head away. To top it all off, these wivers genetically modified the women to incite their lust. They were sickening people.
“Well, it looks like the mix is ok this time,” said Rev. “Now leave her alone. We can’t afford to lose any more cargo. Or do you want this Staukub to imprint on you?”
“That wouldn’t be a bad thing. Sadly, I don’t have the money to pay the captain for her. Take her with the others to the transport.”
Grubba smiled at Rev and rubbed her blue quilled head against his shoulder. “Are you going to-”
“NO!” said Rev quickly. “Come along. We are going to meet your husband now. At this moment!”
“My husband is not you?”
“Definitely not me.”
Grubba made a little noise of protest, then looked around. “Where is my friend?”
“Friend?”
“My friend. You know here. She was here with me.”
Rev was surprised. Implanted memories were supposed to quickly supplant natural ones. Was the procedure working properly? Did she had a memory of Tracy?
“Your friends are over here,” said Rev, pointed to the other created Staukub. “Come on.”
Confused, Grubba followed him to where the other Staukub stood. Everyone was looking lost.
Grenta walked up behind them.
“Ladies, I know you are feeling a little confused, but that will wear off in a little while when we reach the planet surface. Remember, you asked to come here to meet husbands. There is a whole group of men looking for beautiful creatures like you. Follow Cax to the transports and we will take you to them.”
Some of the blue-faced women nodded their heads enthusiastically while others merely gaped. Rev resisted the urge to shake his head.
“Time to go.” said Rev.
*
Jaal and Bris met them in an old military personnel transport and helped secure the barely dressed women. Grenta announced he was giving everyone medication to help with motion sickness. None of the women complained when they were injected. By the end of the trip, the women were making mewling noises, like animals in heat.
They landed towards the end of the day. The sun prepared to sink below the line of mountains to the west. A group of Staukub miners drove to the space transport in a large vehicle with plenty of seats.
Jaal let the gangplank extend to the sandy soil and opened the hatch.
“You have our shipment?” grunted a blue faced male Staukub leaning out of the cab of the vehicle.
Bris muttered to Rev and Grenta, “Not the brightest lights, are they?”
As Bris spoke he handed Rev a laser rifle, and Rev noticed that Bris was similarly armed.
“Nope,” Rev grunted, taking the rifle in hand. Staukub were good for physical labor, but none of them would win a prize for outstanding scientist. They were good in battle situations that required a massive number of ground troops that were going to die.
Grunts.
The quills on these males were three quarters erect, indicating they were worked up and possibly ready for a fight.
Jaal addressed the miners. “Yes, we have your cargo. We wouldn’t be here otherwise.”
“I’m Quam, these are Jenq, and Faul. Let’s see them.”
Jaal took the arm of one of the females who was pressing her body against him. He pulled her in front of him, where she was visible to all the miners.
“Here’s one. What’s your name?”
“Telli,” said the woman. She draped an arm over Jaal’s shoulders and licked his cheek. Jaal, in turn, grabbed her nipple through her thin dress and twisted it. She giggled loudly and rubbed herself against his side.
“Here we go, this is Telli. She’s ready and willing, just like all your ladies here.”
“Let’s take a closer look,” said the man. He jumped out the cab of the truck along with two of his fellows. They walked towards the ship. The three men were dirty and had dark smudges on their skin and jump suits.
Jaal held out his hands. “Now, gentlemen, our business isn’t concluded. Once payment is made, we’ll be glad to leave them with you.”
“Our money’s not here,” said Quam. “It’s back at the camp.”
The captain clearly looked unhappy with this announcement.
“That wasn’t the agreement, gentlemen. Cash up front.”
“Money NOT HERE,” repeated Quam as if that offered enough explanation. “Come to the camp. We’ll drink, look at the women, have some fun.”
Jaal pursed his lips. Grenta leaned in.
“Let’s just get this over with. The women are drugged enough for a few hours. We should be able to get the money and go. Otherwise, we’ll be stuck with twenty-three Staukub.”
The captain grunted. “They’ll go with you, but only to get the money. Bris, you go. I’ll stay with the ship.”
“No,” said Quam. “All of you.”
“Then no sale, gentlemen.” Jaal backed away from the hatch with Telli hanging on his every moment.
“Wait. Fine. One stay with ship. The others come.”
With that declaration Bris, Rev and Grenta helped the women climb into the bed of the miner’s truck and then followed them in their own vehicle. Rev looked toward the mountain ridges to the south, wondering where Tracy was on this waste of a planet.
The need to find her and to be close to her thrummed through his body, Just his thoughts turned his ache for her into fire, and he knew that he couldn’t be away from her much longer.
Just a little bit longer, he told himself. Witness the exchange of money, get the final evidence and he could take off and search for his mate.
As the truck bounced along the uneven terrain, his mind was filled with thoughts of his woman.
TRACY
Tracy hit the ground hard even though she followed the suit’s instructions. When she started to regain consciousness, her face was hot from the alien sun, and she felt herself sliding backwards down a mountain of sand. The parachute was still attached to her, dragging her wherever the wind blew.
For some reason, all she could think of was the last time she saw Rev. The bastard was green.
Warning. Disengage parachute.
The suit repeated its three times before Tracy could figure out how to trigger the release and free herself from the parachute. She stopped sliding but the parachute kept traveling along the sand, its edges curling around like an octopus crawling over the bottom of the sea.
Advise retrieving parachute for use in survival situations.
Fuck. What was she going to do now? The breeze was carrying away the chute faster than she could get to it.
Standing on her feet proved a painful affair. Her hip hurt from landing on it. She’d rolled just a little too soon when she crashed into the ground.
Even if she had not been injured, walking was proving difficult as well. The sand slid under her feet as she walked on top of it. As she scanned the horizon, she found the chute flapping on top of a sand swell, held in place from some unknown force.
Taking a deep breath, Tracy limped forward and climbed the mound, even as sand slid under her feet. Just as she managed to reach the top of the swell, the chute curled and fluttered down a small valley.
Cursing, Tracy started to run towards the parachute, but the suit hampered her movements. She fell and tumbled down the hill of sand, coming to a stop on top of the parachute.
Hah, she thought to herself as she rolled to her feet and grabbed onto the parachute straps. A gust of wind filled the chute once again, and Tracy fell one more time as the parachute dragged her across the sand.
This is ridiculous, she thought. She was in a depression between two mountains of sand, and barely holding o
n to the strap of the parachute. The winds were dying down and instead of being filled with air, the parachute fluttered against the sand. Frustrated, she pulled hard on the straps. Incredibly the chute collapsed into a long tube. She inspected the cords connecting the parachute to the straps and found they were woven into the chute.
Tracy admired the alien design. She’d seen parachute landings on television at home and saw how the chutes had to be manually rolled to collect the billowing cloth. She tried tugging on the straps again and the tube curled into a manageable ball.
Yeah! This small victory cheered her. She picked up the ball and tucked it under her arm.
With the parachute reclaimed, Tracy started licked her lips. She was still fully clothed in the alien jump suit, she was sweating heavily, and she needed a drink of water. Tracy noticed a small tube sticking out on the inside of the helmet, near her mouth. On a hunch she put her lips around it. It was surprisingly soft, but then again, anything hard might be dangerous in space. She sucked on the tube, and was rewarded with the most putrid tasting liquid she ever drank.
Tastes like Tracy, she thought.
She resisted the urge to cough and spit. Tracy knew she needed to keep hydrated and in this sun-bleached hell, this might be the only way to do it.
Warning. External temperature rising to dangerous levels. Recommend finding shelter.
Of course. Tracy had one slacker boyfriend that loved survival shows. She had dutifully watched them with him, until she found him cheating with another woman. But she had learned a thing or two. And one of those things was that in the desert, look for shelter during the day, and travel during the night. Ok, Rory, she thought. You were good for something. If I ever make it back to earth, I’ll thank you in person.
Tracy climbed to the highest point around here and found some hills nearby with dark shadows. There had better be shelter there or she was going to be cooked.
*
Tracy placed one foot in front of the other as she crossed the scorching sand. Each crunch of her boots felt like a small victory against the intractable waste around her. She was starting to feel light-headed from all the exertion.
As she approached the rocks in front of her, she felt the ground solidify underneath her feet and more details of the structure revealed themselves. She saw a great face of red stone, etched by winds and aged into bands of pink, red and reddish-brown. Nature carved a giant arch into the structure, which provided entrance into a canyon.
She stepped through the threshold and saw a crevasse surrounded by a ring of stone. The ring consisted of great slabs of red worn rock that tumbled over each other. It was quiet here and the wind was kept at bay by the rock walls. Stone folded on itself, creating small open areas of undulating sandstone where the sun beat down from overhead. As Tracy moved and her perspective shifted, she noticed tiny sparkles in the rock faces.
If she wasn’t in such a dire situation, this could be a vacation for her.
At the furthest end, the walls buckled to form a dark fissure. Tracy made for this and hoped there would be enough room for her to squeeze through.
When Tracy stepped inside the breach she found it both wider and deeper than it had appeared from a distance. She could stand up, and the sun did not penetrate further than a couple feet.
Oxygen levels critical. Find an alternate source of oxygen.
Maybe it wasn’t the exertion that was making her feel woozy. Dropping the parachute and putting her hands on the helmet, she felt for a clasp or a latch but she couldn’t find a way to release it.
Great, she thought. I survived a high altitude jump just to die of asphyxiation on a planet with breathable air. At least, she hoped the air was breathable. It would have been pointless for Rev to send her here if there wasn’t.
To disengage helmet, twist it to the left.
Tracy giggled at the absurd thought that her head was covered by what amounted to a twist-off top. With a hard tug, she turned the helmet slightly and pulled it up. A loud POP released her head from the bubble.
Her face was immediately assaulted by scorching heat and waves of hot air which wicked off her sweat in a second.
It was HOT, and she was in the shade! Tracy wanted to take off the jump suit right away, but reasoned that as long as it collected her body’s water for her, it was better to keep it on.
It was time to explore her surroundings. Holding her helmet, she walked further into the cavern. In the darkness of the cavern, her helmet began glowing, illuminating her way. Surprised, Tracy held it up, and the helmet sent light into the shadows.
Expecting to see things like bats clinging to the walls, she was relieved to find the cavern bare and smooth with no signs of animal life. Still, she stayed alert. If she thought this cave looked like a safe place to stay in, wouldn’t other creatures? If it WASN’T populated with native life, there must be a reason.
Tracy didn’t know how the helmet light was powered, so she moved back closer to the mouth of her temporary home where there was some light from the entrance. She was getting hungry. Rev said something about supplies, and as she patted down the pockets of the jump suit, she felt reassuring bulges there. She quickly figured out how to open the pockets. A sharp tug opened the seals, and she withdrew the contents of each pocket separately.
One pocket revealed a cache of foil wrapped items. Other pockets held a long tube with a lens at the end and similar foil wrapped pouches with something that sloshed. When she touched the tube, the lens lit and scattered light throughout the cavern. Tracy was pleased. At least she had a flashlight.
She also found a long knife in a sheath. The knife was unlike anything she had ever seen. It was very thin and lightweight, but it was not made of metal. The sharp edge and the point made its function very clear.
These aliens were clever!
She picked up a pouch that appeared to be food. She squeezed it until it opened and drew out a long thin bar of semi-hard brownish and grainy gel. Yuck. The bar was separated into four sections. She broke off a section, wrapped the rest back up in the foil and let it close off. Tentatively she pressed her tongue against the bar.
The taste wasn’t awful, but it wouldn’t win any food awards. It had a sharp bite that reminded her of allspice, but there was little sweetness to it. As she chewed a mouthful, she compared it to drinking a spice tea without sugar. Tracy wasn’t thrilled with the food on the alien planet, but she wasn’t going to complain either. She took little nibbles of the bar, then drank some water from the suit.
The spice in the food bar made the recycled water taste better somehow, so at least she wasn’t gagging from that.
She was more impressed with the survival gear than with the food and water. Once you understood how the equipment worked, and they seemed to have made that easy for anyone to figure out, it appeared to be constructed for ease of use. She had food, water, light, and a knife. She assumed from the suit’s instructions that it would be easy to convert the parachute into a makeshift shelter if necessary.
All she needed to do now was wait to be found and rescued.
Tracy munched on her food bar slowly. She assumed that the food bar was designed to fill her up and provide essential vitamins as long as she drank enough water to go along with it. That was how diet bars worked on Earth, and she hoped that aliens capable of space flight would have the same nutritional advances that existed back home.
She thought about what she could do next.
Tracy could wait until Rev found her, though she couldn’t imagine how that would help in the long run. They’d still be stranded in a desert with no way off this rock.
She could try to find the miner’s camp, though she had no clue as to where that might be.
She finished the last bit of her bar and took another swig of water. Maybe she was getting used to the taste, but it didn’t seem so bad now. With a sigh, she picked up the helmet again and put it over her head. If she kept it over her head, but not sealed tightly, she could still breathe and not lose as mu
ch water through respiration.
When she tilted her helmeted head against the rock, the sunlight struck it at an angle. Tracy then noticed slight tracings in the face of the helmet, like an electronic schematic. She got excited. Maybe the helmet could do more than just talk to her.
Tracy hoped the helmet was activated verbally. “Show me the terrain,” she said.
There was no response. Great. Maybe her command was too complicated.
“Map.”
Instantly a three dimensional picture fanned out across the face of the helmet. It displayed hills and valleys for a wide area. It was impossible for her to tell exactly how big the area was without a reference for the scale of the map. A little pinpoint of red light glowed in the center which Tracy took as a “you are here” indicator.
Map is incomplete. Additional sensor data required for an accurate rending of the planet’s surface.
Maybe it was incomplete, but it was still a lot better than nothing. Unfortunately, this information did not tell Tracy what she needed to know. She tried again.
“Miner’s camp.”
Searching.
Well, at least there was a response this time.
After a few minutes, a second red star blinked on the screen above her own point of light.
Possible location of humanoid habitation. Ninety-five percent probability location was populated at one time. Seventy-five percent probability it is currently inhabited.
Heck, she’d take those odds. In the Girl Scouts, she learned that it was best to go towards civilization, whatever the direction. She looked out the entrance to her cave to see heat dancing in waves on the sand.
When the sun goes down, she thought. I’ll head out when the sun goes down.
REV
As the truck traveled northeast on the sand flat, red dust spewed up from under the tires. They were moving toward an outcropping of rock. The Staukub women clustered around Rev, Bris, and Grenta, each stroking the men where they could. Rev tried to urge the women on him to sit down, but they would have none of it. They were all too horny from the transformation, and their hands were all over the men closest to them.
