Quest For Earth

by S. E. GILCHRIST

  They left the dark shadows of the lane and edged their way around the well-lit arena. They darted from pillar to pillar until they reached the entrance in a manner that only served to increase her anxiety. The square was empty of life … Why the need for such dramatic manoeuvres? The vid-cams were bound to be recording their every movement. And yet no militia burst into view to demand they return to their quarters.

  She stared at the temple doors, flung wide in invitation.

  Could it be a trap?

  Sherise entered.

  Inside the main hall a few candles remained burning, throwing a feeble light over the empty space with its hard marble floor. The idea of kneeling in prayer on this cold surface for hours on end didn’t engender any enthusiasm in her. So different to the temples on Darkos where there were plenty of colourful cushions, fountains with the music of trickling water and the scent of soothing incense. She pushed the memories aside. At the far end was a podium standing on a long dais. There should be rooms beyond. One, perhaps, would lead to the High Priestess’s chambers. Now there was an enigma. It might behove her to learn a bit more about the High Priestess. Sherise sighed softly. Her list of things to do was growing by the minute.

  They were halfway down the hall when Kade caught her arm. ‘Did you hear that?’

  Sherise held her breath and listened. Nothing. She shook her head and shrugged out of the other woman’s grasp.

  ‘I’m sure I heard something. I’ll check it out.’ Kade strode back down the hall and out through the door.

  Sherise closed her gaping mouth.

  ‘By Cercis’s cloak! I do not believe it,’ she said, her voice bouncing off the walls. She stomped towards the podium and stood on the dais, staring at the walls, roof, floor. Surely there would be a passageway somewhere leading to other rooms. She pursed her mouth as she absently fingered the rough woven material of the tunic she wore.

  Not possessing a change of clothing, she had squeezed herself into a dark tunic and pants Kade had found at the back of a dusty cupboard. With every movement the material rubbed against her skin. She scratched at the itch teasing the tops of her breasts. Really, she didn’t see why she could not have worn her own clothes.

  A faint drift of cold air caressed her face. The warning jerked her back to her surrounds. Too late.

  Before she could grasp the handle of the knife hanging from her belt, her mouth was smothered by a hard hand and a man wrapped his other arm around her waist, hauling her backwards. Caught off balance, she thumped against the warm body behind her. Heart hammering, her quick breaths sucked in a familiar scent that tugged at her very essence.

  Maaka.

  What was he doing here? The fool! If Kade returned he would be in danger of losing his life.

  Be easy, sweet Sherise, it is I, Maaka.

  Sherise rolled her eyes. Of course she knew it was he! She pushed and his touch drifted away. She stifled her regret and spun round, tossing her braid over her shoulder as she glared through the gloom. The urge to tap her foot to relieve her irritation at the glint of amusement shining in his eyes, obvious even by candlelight, was quelled. Any more noise and Kade would be bound to race inside. Sherise was positive the other woman lurked not too far away. Could it be a trap with Sherise as bait?

  ‘By all the stars in Darkos, what are you doing here?’ No sooner had the whisper left her mouth, than the sneaky thought he may have come for her ignited a bright flame of hope.

  But he was not even looking at her!

  Instead, Maaka stared beyond her, brows knitted together as he examined the shadows of the great hall. He patted her arm absently, brushed past and prowled about the dais as if he searched for something.

  So, not for me.

  Her chin held high, she folded her arms over her chest and hurried after him. Really, what had she expected? Maaka to sweep her up into his arms and declare his undying devotion? It was not what she wanted anyway. She could never live a life of deprivation and hardship again. She would never willingly be involved in a war. Never would she make such a choice.

  She would source the technology they needed and go home.

  And forget she had ever met him.

  Maaka pivoted to face her. He traced the outline of her lips with his finger and she glimpsed the gleam of his white teeth as he smiled. A tender smile that obliterated all those nice, rational decisions she had been busy renumerating to still the fever of want that raged inside her.

  She jerked away from his touch.

  He gave a gusty sigh, loud enough to be heard in the street beyond.

  So, he was back to playing games with her. Her fingers dug into her palms. She would not be fooled twice. ‘Shush! Do not make so much noise. They know you are in the Fortress. A warrant has been issued on your life.’

  He shrugged. ‘A good soldier gathers as much intel as possible before he goes into battle.’

  Could he be deliberately baiting her? Of all the responses he could have given, a reference to his stubborn insistence on continuing his feud was the most likely to infuriate her. Although, now she had spent a little time amongst both races she could well understand Maaka’s frustration. So far, she had seen no reason for the Purideans to withhold their resources.

  ‘What do you hope to find in a temple? A cache of arms, perhaps?’ She swept a hand to indicate the empty temple, knowing that anxiety for his welfare turned her tones sharp.

  Maaka slanted her a quick smile before he walked to the far wall to probe the surface with his hands.

  A pale gleam captured Sherise’s attention. She knelt down and tugged at the edge of a piece of parchment that had slipped beneath the timber podium. Once the page was in her hands, she soothed out the creases and tilted it to the candlelight.

  ‘Attendance is demanded of the chosen to celebrate the Third Quarter holy day,’ she read aloud.

  Maaka snorted. ‘All beliefs should be a matter of choice, not a decree.’

  How to argue when she also believed in freedom to choose? As if in slow motion, she loosened her hold on the parchment and watched it fall to the floor.

  ‘Aah, as I suspected. There is another room beyond. Behold, here is the release.’ Maaka pressed his fingers into the wall. A click and part of the wall swung inwards.

  Sherise hurried across the room but he interposed his bulk in front of her. She gripped his arm and shoved to no avail and had to resort to peering around his body. Hidden behind the door was a hallway with an illuminated ceiling and, at the far end, another door.

  With a faint snap, she shut her opened mouth.

  He tossed an airy, ‘The armoury perhaps?’ over his shoulder and ducked beneath the low lintel and entered the passage, Sherise one step behind.

  The door was not locked. Apart from the Corporation and archive buildings, no one in the city seemed to lock their doors.

  Sherise dug her fingers into the flesh of his arm as they stepped over the threshold. She stopped and stared around the room, disappointed. ‘There is nothing here.’

  A long narrow bunk covered with a grey blanket, a rectangular timber closet and a table set against the wall surrounded by three chairs. For a room that supposedly was to offer respite for the priestess, she could feel no peace or warmth within these walls. She stared up at the light emanating from the ceiling and her brow wrinkled as a sliver of unease trickled down her spine like the slow slide of ice cubes.

  ‘My source must have been mistaken.’ Maaka strode to the centre of the room, took his time eyeing the limited furnishings, then shrugged.

  ‘What did you think to find here?’

  ‘Information is what I seek, my sweet Sherise. Any insight into the weaknesses of my enemy.’

  Their gazes met.

  At the sombre expression in his dark eyes, her chest tightened. Was it her imagination or did the light in the room dim? Sherise bit her lip and broke the connection sizzling between them by wrenching her face away.

  Suddenly desperate to flee, she dashed to the doorway, b
ut paused to say, ‘We must leave before Kade returns. I am certain she intends to claim the bounty on your life and has gone to warn the authorities.’

  ‘Do not tell me you are concerned for my safety?’

  Sherise sniffed and quickened her steps, wincing at the loud slap of her boots against the tiled floor of the hallway. ‘I have no desire to be seen in the presence of a fugitive. I understand there are harsh penalties.’

  Maaka chuckled. The deep sound slid over her heightened senses like the whisper of satin against her skin. He was right behind her. Two more steps and she would reach the hall of worship.

  ‘Shall I tell you of my desire?’

  He gripped her waist, spinning her round so quickly she had little time to do more than gasp. The next moment, his tall hard body pressed her up against the wall. He tilted her chin with a gentle but firm touch. He lowered his head and she stared up into eyes that glowed as fiercely as any jewel in her palace.

  Her surroundings ebbed and faded, shrinking to encompass only him. The heat of his body enfolded her, captured her as surely as his arm wrapped around her waist had kept her from running. His hand clamped with demanding possession over the cheek of her bottom, his fingers gripped tightly into her flesh.

  But she had no wish to escape.

  She rose to her tiptoes, sliding her hands up and over the roughened skin covering the heavy muscles of his chest and shoulders. And still their lips did not touch.

  His minted breath mingled with her frantic pants.

  Her entire body inflamed, a world of need pooled between her legs. She thrust her mound against his groin, relishing in the feel of the stiffness of his long cock, and rubbed up and down his length.

  ‘Maaka, please.’

  And at long, long last, his mouth touched hers.

  A gentle, tender caress. A light feathering of his lips nibbling along the contours of her mouth until she thought her body would implode.

  She wanted him to take her, possess her, kiss her as if nothing would ever tear them apart. As if she was the only woman for him, in all the universes.

  His kiss changed, hardened, turned demanding.

  And she gave.

  She opened her mouth for his entry, meeting his demand with her own. She closed her eyes, glorying in the roughness of his kiss as he stole her breath and her essence. Beneath her touch, his shoulders tensed and rippled as she measured their width and strength with each greedy spread of her fingers. When his hand closed over her swollen breast, she moaned as her nipple peaked into a hard bud beneath the coarse tunic. He squeezed and cupped, the material rubbing against her sensitive flesh until a sob burst from her throat.

  Maaka licked her lips as if he savoured the sweetest pastry, then dragged his mouth over the line of her jaw and down the side of her neck. ‘I prefer your normal way of dressing. This material displeases me,’ he said, his breath tickling her skin.

  She smiled at the disgruntlement in his voice. ‘It is a little scratchy.’

  The faint sound of a door slamming shut in the distance sobered the giddy delight engulfing her. Sherise jerked her head aside, but Maaka had also heard the noise.

  One last, quick, hard kiss on her lips and he stepped back.

  ‘We must leave this place.’ He caught her hand in his and towed her along as he surged into a jog, through the door, across the dais and down the long assembly hall to the front entrance. He swept a hand in front of him, as if feeling for disturbances in the air. He grunted and passed through the foyer.

  At the entrance, he paused and Sherise pressed a hand to her pounding heart. Would Kade and a squad of militia leap out from behind the pillars? Visions flashed through her mind of Maaka, tied and bound; worse, bloody and senseless.

  Oh, goddess Cercis, is this a vision of what is to come or the results of my anxious heart?

  ‘Clear,’ said Maaka near her ear. He gentled his grip on her hand, rubbed his thumb over her skin.

  Your continued concern over my safety pleases me.

  Sherise stiffened.

  She had thought she had managed to block his access to her mind. Apparently, she would need to work harder. Her teeth sank into her lower lip sharply. Had he been privy to her thoughts at all times?

  Maaka turned to look at her. Alas, our connection is only when we are together.

  Thank the goddess! She twitched at her tunic, straightening the hem.

  ‘Once we have joined, it will be another matter.’

  She saw the flash of his teeth parted in a grin and heat flamed over her skin.

  ‘Tsk, tsk, you are holding us up. We need to be far from this building.’ His hold tightened and he launched into a run across the square, pulling her along with him.

  Sherise hoped that Maaka knew where they were going because after several twists and turns down the maze of laneways she soon lost her sense of direction. Her feet burned from blisters she could feel forming on her heels and toes from her gravity boots. Apart from sandals, which she had deemed unsuitable for covert activities, her boots were the only footwear she had brought with her from the shuttle. Her thighs shook, her legs heavy as her lungs worked like pistons. When Maaka stopped, she sagged against his back, clinging to his belt, heart pounding.

  Sweat beaded down her back and beneath her armpits.

  If she stopped eating so much sweet food maybe she would be thinner; capable of running a lot further without all this huffing and blowing.

  ‘I believe we have thrown our hunter off our tail.’ He planted his hands on his hips, tilted his head back and gazed at the building in front of them.

  Sherise straightened and stepped away on wobbly legs, her eyes following his stare. By design, or pure chance, they stood at the front of the archives building. She eyed the black spheres containing the vid-cams. Any minute and the alarm would be raised.

  Maaka would be dragged from her arms.

  ‘They will know we are here.’ She indicated the vid-cams. ‘This way.’ She tugged at his arm with the tenacity of a digging beetle until he obeyed.

  He followed her around the corner.

  Still no raucous alarms split the quiet night. At least she hoped so. It was hard to be certain over the furious drumming of her heart.

  ‘What were you doing running around the city without your guard dog?’ Maaka asked.

  ‘If you are referring to Kondo, I chose not to advise him of my movements.’ Sherise peered down the shadowy street. Perhaps she should return to her quarters. But she would not leave Maaka to his own devices in a city where he was the hunted. She straightened and glared over her shoulder at him. ‘I have reason to doubt his allegiance and I am certain he is not too far away from his new ally. Why not call him to heel?’

  ‘So clever, I am impressed.’ He ran a hand down her braid.

  She felt the pull and tug as he wound her hair about his hand. Her back arched, her head tilted to expose her throat. Maaka pressed his hand over her belly, pushing her into the hard lines of his body, his need nestling between the cheeks of her bottom. Her thigh muscles dissolved into liquid and she fought the urge to clamp her legs together and grind against his heat.

  He grazed the skin of her neck with his teeth and said, ‘I am serious, Sherise. I insist on knowing what is so important you would risk the curfew imposed by the Corporation.’

  She willed her brain to focus, proud when she managed a coherent sentence. ‘You seem to know a lot about this place.’

  ‘And yet, not enough.’ His teeth nipped her skin and she yelped. He soothed the mark with a kiss.

  She strained away, breathing through the well of desire swamping her logic. Why not tell him? There could surely be no harm. ‘I need access to data.’

  ‘Mmmm?’ He traced the hollows and dips of her ear.

  Sherise sagged, closed her eyes, her fingers curling over the hair-roughened arm about her waist. He moved his hand lower, spreading his fingers wide as he moved them in a circle over her mound. She clenched her teeth over the pleadings she
ached to voice.

  ‘Continue,’ he whispered.

  Continue what? Her voice a hoarse, wispy sound, she said, ‘I am looking for information on what technology these people possess. And I’m keen to learn the history of this city. How did the dome come to be built? And most of all, I want to know if there is any truth in your words about being genetically bred.’

  The next instant she faced him.

  Still trembling from the mad run through the city and Maaka’s sensuous onslaughts, she stared into his intent face, hoping and dreading he would read and respond to her hunger.

  This is not the time or place, sweet Sherise.

  The notion that he could command the urgings of his body when she could hardly think straight was like exposing her body to the bone burning cold of deep space. She wrenched away from his touch.

  Focus.

  Remember, he handed me over with little argument.

  Gathering the tattered banners of her pride, she met his stare with steady composure and saw the blurred softness of lust dissipate from his features. He passed a hand over his head, looking beyond her into the shadows for a beat, before examining her upturned face. ‘You don’t trust me.’

  ‘I have learned to be cautious.’

  ‘You could have asked for confirmation from the Board.’

  Sherise hesitated. ‘We have already queried them about technology and have received only basic information. The rest, I prefer to discover myself.’

  ‘Where would you seek such details?’

  She poked her head around the corner again and stared down the street towards her objective. ‘The archive building, but alas, I have been unable to enter. There are too many vid-cams scanning the entrance and the door remains locked against me.’

  ‘Then we will seek another way.’

  Sherise sucked in a breath. ‘It will be best if you found a safe route out of the city.’

  ‘Leave now? Tsk, tsk, sweet Sherise, I have yet to take what I have risked all to find.’ Maaka linked his fingers with hers. ‘Let us see if we can source a rear entrance.’