by Loki Renard
Kyren started toward Hywell again. The younger man let out a shriek of fear and scurried toward the front door. Kyren let him go. He had more pressing matters to attend to than the bloodied nose and hurt feelings of a freshly thwarted egomaniac. The danger he had anticipated was running scared for the moment, but it would return, and when it did, it would be unstoppable.
Chapter Ten
“Tara!”
Tara woke with a start to the sound of Kyren calling her name. “Huh?” She croaked the question groggily. There was a note of something close to panic in his voice, a very rare tone to hear out of his mouth. She opened her eyes to see him standing there looking stern and angry.
“What did I do?”
“Nothing, pet,” he said. “You’re not in trouble. I need you to get up and get dressed in your warmest clothes and boots,” he said. “It is as I had feared. The Authority men are coming.”
“For us? What’s…”
“Clothes. On. Now.” He shouted the order at her.
“Rude,” Tara scowled. “I didn’t do anything… hey!”
“Forget it,” he said. “There wasn’t time for arguing, and there isn’t time for clothes anymore. We have to leave.”
Kyren hauled her out of bed and tossed her over his shoulder, entirely naked. He carried her through the house and stepped through a pair of doors at the far end of a long corridor she had not been in before. To her immense surprise, she found herself in a huge space dominated by a small launch pad and a fairly large spaceship, which was just as tall as Kyren’s house. She’d always thought his home had a spire at the top. Now she realized that it was actually the nose of what had to be his own private space shuttle. Perhaps she should have been surprised, but she wasn’t. Kyren was full of surprises—as was his home.
He carried her inside the belly of the machine, up several flights of stairs, and sat her in a seat at the very top in a room covered with panels of instruments and several rows of chairs. There were already two pilots at the controls, going through the buttons and the lights with intense concentration. Kyren strapped her into the seat, the belt going between her naked thighs and pressing against her sex. The solid feeling of the belt holding her in place calmed her a little; her anxiety had been steadily rising since Kyren had woken her up yelling about Authority men.
There was a window next to her, through which she could observe the launch pad below. Through it, she could see servants carrying boxes into the ship. Several of them came aboard with them, all of them looking just as concerned as Kyren. Tara recognized his manservant, several of the maids, some guards, and more. They were moving in a swift, orderly way that made Tara think that this had been practiced. This wasn’t a blind panicked escape. This was an evacuation.
“Are we ready to depart?” Kyren asked the question of the pilot as he strapped himself in the seat next to Tara. “We have about three minutes before the Authority rams the gates, by my reckoning.”
“Yes, sir,” one of the pilots responded. “The doors are closed, and we are standing by for all souls on board to take their seats.”
“Kyren!” Tara grabbed his arm with more than a little concern. “What’s happening?”
He turned to her, pushed the dark hair out of his eyes, and finally gave her something resembling an explanation. “One of the men who was present for your punishment discovered our secret. He came to me, demanded you, and threatened your life. It’s time to leave Udine, pet.”
“But why are we all running away? Why is half the staff on the shuttle with us? I thought you said the Authority just wanted me?”
“That was before I broke Hywell Junior’s nose,” Kyren admitted. “The Authority will not look kindly on that, I am sure.”
Tara let out a little squeal that bordered on delight. “You broke his nose? Why?”
She watched as Kyren gritted his teeth at the memory. “After the threats he made, he is fortunate I did not kill him where he stood. If he makes the mistake of confronting me again in this life, I will not be as restrained. But that is not likely. We will not be coming back to Udine.”
The ship started to hum and vibrate as the launchers were powered on. All around them, Kyren’s servants and guards were taking their seats. She looked around at their faces, and saw a quiet concerned calm.
“What about your other pets? I mean, your actual pets.”
“I had been sending them off to various places from the moment you arrived,” Kyren said. “I thought there could be trouble, and aside from anything else, I knew I would have my hands full with you. They are all quite safe in other reserves off-planet.”
“But your house… the other servants…”
“The servants who remain behind have received their emergency severance. Enough money to start over anywhere else, and papers to get them off-planet if they choose. The house… that will be sacrificed.”
“Sir, we are ready to take off,” the first pilot interjected. “Waiting on your orders.”
“Go,” Kyren nodded. “There is no time to delay.”
He nodded and commenced the launch procedure. Within seconds there was a rumbling deeper than Tara had ever felt, a vibration that seemed to go to the very core of her, and then a pressure as the great machine broke the bonds of gravity and began to rise into the sky at an ever-increasing pace. She was pushed back into the soft fabric of the chair, the belt tightening against her chest and sex as the massive machine rose through the air.
“Look out the window!” Kyren shouted over the sound of the launch. They were already half a mile or so over the house, and when Tara looked, she saw what seemed like a miniature version of Kyren’s home. They were getting so high so quickly that it was dwindling by the second, but she saw clearly that it was surrounded with black Authority vehicles, and had dozens of little black ants who must have been men swarming around the locked gates.
“It’s empty! Well, empty of people and pets, everything that matters,” Kyren shouted over the noise of the laws of reality bending about their vessel. After the first twenty seconds or so, the noise abated significantly and became more of a smooth whooshing sound.
“Watch, pet!”
Tara’s eyes were still glued to the scene below when he pushed a button on the little device in his hand. A moment later, a great fireball erupted from the very center of his compound. It was followed by a series of smaller detonations that burned bright until they were covered by a billowing black cloud that eradicated the view. In a matter of seconds, everything Tara had known on Udine was gone.
Tara looked from the window to him with her jaw dropped. “You just blew your house up?”
“I did,” he agreed. “I always wondered what it would feel like to do that.”
Tears filled her eyes at the idea of everything being gone. It was all so sudden. She looked at Kyren and was sure she could see a faint glaze of tears in his eyes too, though he quickly blinked them away and replaced them with a confident smile.
“I’m sorry,” she whimpered. “This… this is my fault.”
“No, it’s not.”
“It is… I went on that bus… and I stole that candy… and you lost everything, because of me.” She began to sob and Kyren put an arm around her to comfort her as best he could while they hurtled toward deep space.
“Not because of you,” he reassured her. “Because of an oppressive regime. I made my plans long before I met you, Tara. Udine was a useful base for me for many years, but this was always the end game. It just came a little sooner than I expected.” He took her face in his hands and pressed a passionate kiss to her lips, looking deep into her eyes as he spoke again. “Even if it had been because of you, it would have been worth it.”
She opened her mouth to speak, but all that came out was a sob. She cried against his shoulder, for him, for all he had lost, for all she had come to regard as home. First she had lost her home on Earth, and now a second one had been detonated beneath her. Nothing seemed certain anymore, nothing but Kyren, whose s
trong arms held her through both their grief.
“Where are we going to go?” She sniffled the question against his shirt. “And did someone pack me some clothes?”
“Yes, there are clothes here for you, pet,” he smiled. “The crates you saw being loaded onto the shuttle contain everything we will need where we are going. Once we leave Udine’s atmosphere and borders, you can take the belt off and we can look for something to clothe you.”
“Where are we going?”
“I own a small planet in an adjoining system.”
“Of course you do,” she said with a watery attempt at humor. “You own people, why not planets.”
“Why not, indeed.” He smiled back at her. “I think you will like Cirrux.”
“Cirrux. That’s the planet’s name?” Tara wiped her eyes and looked at him with a slightly broader smile. “Your name is Kyren Cirrus. You named the planet after yourself.”
“I did,” he smiled. “Owners have naming rights.”
She looked into his face and saw a strength and confidence there. He was not mourning the loss of his home on Udine. He was already looking to the future. She wondered how it was he could be so sure of himself, how he managed to always make everything alright, no matter how bad it was.
She let out a little giggle. “Is there anything you can’t do?”
“I don’t know,” he mused, undoing their belts so he could hold her close and wipe away the tears she had shed. “I’ll let you know when I find something.”
Chapter Eleven
The trip to Cirrux was not a short one. Even at the incredible speeds the ship was capable of, it still took several weeks. That meant spending several weeks in rather close quarters with the Udanese people who had once been Kyren’s servants. Tara liked that a lot. On Udine, everybody had been forced to hold fast to their given roles, but little by little, those conventions began to slip on the shuttle. She got to know the women who had been maids much better than before, and form friendships with some of them, and she got to know all the relationships that had been taking place under her nose in Kyren’s house, but that she had never seen.
There were seven other young women on board, four older women, five young men who had been soldiers, and three older men who had been manservants on Udine, but now took a more openly advisory role. The more she got to know them, the more she realized that nobody’s presence on the ship was mere chance.
“You really planned this,” Tara said wonderingly one evening toward the end of their journey. The pilot had announced that they were soon to be in orbit around Cirrux and that everyone should prepare for landing and egress. The soldiers were dressed in light, functional armor, and all had side arms. The women were also fully covered in similar style, tunic and leggings and long boots.
“Planned what, pet?” Kyren murmured the question as he helped her into her ‘suit.’ He was already dressed in his; the light armored plates accented his muscles and his broad frame. She loved how he looked in it, but she didn’t want to wear one herself. She preferred freer, less restrictive clothing. How could she move when her body was covered in hard fabric?
“Settle down!” He slapped her bottom as she wriggled free of the restrictive gray garment. “You need to wear this.”
“Why?”
“Because Cirrux isn’t settled like Udine was. There are wild animals.”
“So? There are wild animals on Earth, and I never wore armor there.” Tara swung her leg out of the way as he tried to grab her foot to slip it into the tunic.
“Cut it out,” he growled. “Put your pants on, Tara! I shouldn’t have to argue you into your clothing!”
She could tell she was on the verge of getting spanked long and hard. Her butt was stinging from the single slap he’d given her, and it was an easy bet that a whole lot more would be coming if she didn’t do as she was told.
“Fine,” she sighed. “But seeing as you planned everything else, you could have planned me something better to wear.”
“What are you talking about, pet?”
“The people here, you have enough to start a small colony… enough young women… enough men trained to protect… people who know how to maintain and construct buildings… people who know how to tend gardens…”
“Of course,” Kyren said. “I told you, pet, Udine was an unpleasant inconvenience for me. My presence there was an accident of birth—and it proved to be an excellent place to consolidate wealth and power, but I never intended to live the rest of my life there. I was born Udanese, but that never meant I had to stay there. Cirrux is the destination of my choosing.”
“But you were already so wealthy and powerful on Udine,” she said, scowling a little as she pulled her leggings on. “You could have taken over the Authority…”
“And become them? No.” He let out a dark chuckle. “I know you think I am power obsessed, pet, but I have no interest in subjugating an entire civilization. I’m looking for a new kind of freedom. Well, actually, a very old form of freedom. The freedom to live as I please with those I love and care about.”
Tara heard the passion in his voice and smiled. She liked this Kyren better than the one who had lectured her about forks and not sitting on tables. This was the Kyren who made love to her, the wild, free man she had always felt whenever he was inside her.
“We will be making land imminently,” the captain announced over the speakers. “Please proceed to the bridge, take your seats, and strap in. The atmosphere is thicker and more turbulent than Udine’s and we are expecting more resistance as we pass through at speed.”
Tara and Kyren rushed to the bridge, where along with everyone else, they took their seats for the final descent. There was a hum of excitement in the air, an anticipation of new things, and a little anxiety for what they were about to do. Kyren reached out and held Tara’s hand, settling her as the shuttle began to pierce the smoky veil that had hidden the planet from their eyes.
The warning was not an exaggeration. As they entered orbit and then broke it to make descent, the shaking was so intense Tara could feel her teeth rattling in her head. And then suddenly, just as had been the case when they took off, all was smooth. The shuttle had cleared the outer layers of Cirrux’s atmosphere and was curling down toward the planet’s surface. They landed on an elevated grassy plain and after a few post-flight checks, the pilots declared it safe to exit.
“Come, pet,” Kyren said as they joined the others in removing their restraints. “Let’s explore our new home.”
He took her by the hand and together they led the crew down toward the new world. At the base of the ship, the exterior hatch had been opened and a warm, natural light was shining through it. Tara felt herself drawn toward it; there was something so idyllic about the quality of that simple sunbeam that told her that no matter what lay beyond the hatch, it would be good.
She was reminded of the last time she had stepped into a new world. She had been so afraid back in Udine of new spaces and open doors. She remembered the first day there, how scared she had been to explore the hall… and now she could not wait to run out into this new world.
All it took was a single step, and there she was.
Kyren had to grip her harder by the hand to stop her from running clear across the open grassy plain as she let out gasps and cries of pure joy at what she discovered outside the shuttle doors.
“Kyren!” she shouted. “It’s home!”
Cirrux was the most beautiful place Tara had ever seen, rolling fields and bush with a river running through it in a silver ribbon heralding from distant mountains. It was home. She could feel it in her gut; even though the Earth she had known was covered in scrub and dust and irradiated dirt that could make you sick, some part of her had always known what the world was supposed to be—and this was it. A world as Earth had once been, a world that hadn’t existed for a long time before her birth. Filled with the strangest feelings of nostalgia for something she’d never seen, and joy at coming home to a place she was not
from, tears ran down Tara’s face.
Kyren’s arms wrapped around her from behind as he pulled her against his body. “You like it, pet.”
It wasn’t a question. It was a statement, and a correct one.
“I’m not sad,” she sniffed. “I don’t know why I’m crying.”
“Because this is beautiful,” he said. “And it’s ours. It’s our birthright. It’s what we were always supposed to have. Earth, Udine, they are poisoned in different ways. This is pure. And it is all ours. As far as the world curves.”
Struck by the beauty, Tara suddenly felt a fresh worry rise. “What if the Authority come here?”
“The Authority have no power outside Udine,” he said. “They are not interested in planets like this one. There are too few people to control and there is too much work to do. The Authority are interested in maintaining their stranglehold on the society of Udine and Udine alone.” He squeezed her shoulders reassuringly. “We’re safe now, pet. Just as I told you we would be. I would never have let anyone harm you.”
As Tara and Kyren looked out over the world that was theirs to explore, the crew was already at work constructing a shelter that emerged from small boxes and expanded into soft dome shapes, strung together and covered with soft panels that hardened into an impervious skin once applied.
It dawned on Tara that life would be quite different here in many ways. They would not live in the grand home and with the advanced technologies that they’d had on Udine. They were going back to basics, to a simple way of life.
“I just realized…” She turned to Kyren with a grin. “This is my world,” she said, her eyes gleaming. “I know how to hunt. I know how to find the roots we’re going to need to survive. We have some supplies, and maybe some seeds for crops, but until they come in, you’re going to need a hunter gatherer… you’re going to need me.”
