Human After All

by Connie Bailey

  “That’s a lake, and even softer than the ground.” Jaymes pointed the Veetle toward the large body of water.

  “I don’t think this is a good idea.”

  “Of course it is. We’re not really flying now. We’re in a guided fall. That Teesee drone took out our vertical stabes when it latched onto us.”

  “You waited until now to tell me that?” Drue’s voice rose in pitch. “We’re going to die!”

  “I almost like you right now,” Jaymes said. “And I don’t think we’re going to die. I can skip this ship across the water until it loses forward velocity. That should greatly lessen the damage when we finally stop.”

  “Can’t you do that on the land?”

  “Are you insane? Hold on. Here we go.”

  The Veetle struck the surface at a nearly flat angle, bounced, skimmed several small waves, and made contact again. Jaymes and Drue were jerked about, but their harnesses kept them safe from injury as they skidded across the lake almost to the other side. One of the stubby winglets dug in and flipped the craft, bringing it to an abrupt halt. Jaymes stabbed a finger at the emergency screen, and the compressed air cylinders in the canopy discharged. The clear lustralume bubble blew away, and water rushed into the cockpit. Unbuckling his rig, Jaymes pushed off his seat and headed for air. Drue’s head broke the surface nearly simultaneously. Kicking strongly, Jaymes struck off for shore, turning after a short distance to see how the Exotic was doing, but Drue was nowhere in sight.

  “Murd,” Jaymes cursed, treading water, hoping Drue would reappear. After several long moments, the T-bred cursed again and swam back to where bubbles rose from the wrecked craft. Already starting to shiver in the heat-stealing cold of the water, Jaymes dove. Below him, he could dimly see the paler tone of Drue’s skin as the Exotic sank deeper. Propelling himself downward, Jaymes caught hold of Drue’s wrist and towed him in. When they reached the shallows, Drue twisted free and waded in under his own power.

  “You can’t swim,” Jaymes panted as he dragged himself from the water.

  “You’re joking.” Drue flopped onto his back and gasped for breath.

  Exhausted and chilled to the bone, Jaymes clamped his jaw and refrained from telling the Zot exactly how maddening he was. Instead, he concentrated on getting himself moving so he wouldn’t freeze to death. “We’re alive,” he said. “But we’re still in trouble. It’s getting colder as it gets darker, and we’re soaked.”

  Drue got to his knees and levered himself to his feet. He turned in a slow circle, surveying the land in the failing light. “We need to go that way.” He pointed.

  Jaymes rose slowly. “How far?”

  “I don’t know in klix, but you can see lights coming on in that direction.”

  “We’ll never make it.”

  “You might be right. How’s that for irony? The highest paid Companion in the trade wandering the Grange like a pedigreed lapdog released into the wild.”

  “Is that meant to be amusing? Because I can assure you it isn’t.”

  “That’s better.” Drue gave the T-bred a teeth-chattering grin. “Maybe some of that fire will help keep you warm.”

  “Vac-head,” Jaymes said under his breath. “Can you walk?”

  Leaning on one another, Jaymes and Drue managed to stagger to the edge of the small forest before they collapsed. They crawled into a shallow cave formed by the tangled roots of a fallen tree roofed with a thatch of moss. Jaymes stifled his reactions to the feel and smell of the accumulated leaf mold as he put his back against the soft wall and drew his knees up to his chest. Wrapping his arms around his shins, the T-bred stared out into the gathering darkness.

  “This is the worst moment of my life,” he said to the night.

  “It’s still early,” Drue said. “Wait until it gets really cold.”

  “Shut up, would you? Every time you open your mouth, things get worse.”

  “Look, I know you didn’t sign on for this, but—”

  “Sign on!” Jaymes’s head whipped around, and his eyes met Drue’s. “Sign on?” he asked in a softer voice. “You and your mistress illegally tampered with my template. You used me like a tool, and now I’m lost in the middle of nowhere waiting to die.”

  “We needed a Companion for Lady Alvera’s plan to work.”

  “You’re a Companion. Why didn’t she just send you?”

  The Exotic mumbled something that Jaymes didn’t hear.

  “What?”

  “I wanted to do it,” Drue repeated. “I volunteered.”

  “Then why was it necessary to ruin my life?”

  “Because I wasn’t fine enough, all right? Alvera knew I wouldn’t catch the Deep’s fancy. The lure had to be Thoroughbred Class, top-of-the-line. There aren’t that many Companions with your model designation, and a fake would never stand up to scrutiny.”

  “What was the plan?”

  “Protecting Scion Londean has been Alvera’s only mission since I’ve known her.”

  Jaymes snorted.

  “You’re so smug, and so ignorant,” Drue said. “Let me acquaint you with a few facts that are going to astound you. Your friend Valens is… was much more than Londean’s Companion. Alvera had a hand in his training before she bought her contract and left Gentren. She didn’t put Londean and Valens together, but when she realized the Speaker favored her old pupil, she enlisted him in the shield she was building around Londean. She even made anonymous donations to Gentren to pay for Combat enhancements for Valens.”

  “Yes, I noticed.”

  A silence fell that was broken by Drue. “I’m sorry about Vale. I liked him.”

  “So did I. Was protecting Londean worth his life?”

  “Alvera believed Londean would change the world if he were President-General. Several things stood in the way, one of them being Londean’s reluctance to serve as head of the government. He believed wielding that much power would inevitably corrupt anyone.”

  “So she had Vale whispering her words in Londean’s ear. She made him into a puppet just like she did with me.”

  “No, she was only using you to remove an obstacle and a threat. D.P. Ampery would have made sure Londean never rose higher than Speaker, and he would have gladly given the order to terminate him, if Alvera hadn’t acted first.”

  “She did all this simply to clear Londean’s path to the highest office?”

  “She did all this so you and I would have a better future.”

  “I have no future,” Jaymes shouted, startling Drue. “I killed a Citizen.”

  “No, you executed a monster.”

  Jaymes put his forehead on his knees and closed his eyes. He opened them again as images of Brandel Ampery strobed in his memory. Drue was right about one thing: the Deputy President was a monster. Jaymes had told the man so himself. However, that did not change the fact that Jaymes would be executed for murder if he were caught. And even if he were acquitted, what life would he have? No one would hire him now, and all his friends were dead. Images of Valens’s and Parry’s dead bodies flashed into his brain in vivid detail. A profound wave of despair swept through the T-bred, and he shivered with more than the cold.

  “Come here,” Drue said, sliding closer to Jaymes. “Lean against me.”

  “Why?”

  “Because we’ll be warmer that way.”

  Jaymes grimaced, but the Exotic was right. Putting an arm around Drue’s back, Jaymes pulled him even closer. “I think we’d actually be warmer without the wet clothes. I’m only wearing an overcoat as it is,” he said and then added, “Thank you for that, by the way.”

  “Couldn’t have you running around in the stark. Thanks for saving me from drowning.”

  “At least the wind isn’t blowing.” Jaymes changed the subject. “Maybe we could find dry leaves or something to cover ourselves with.”

  Drue dug in his jacket pocket and pulled out a silver lozenge the size of his thumbnail. He rubbed his fingertip over one end, and it glowed bright orange. “I’ve got a
better idea,” he said. “Let’s find some wood and make a fire. If we hang our clothes over the roots, maybe no one will see the light.”

  “Don’t we want someone to find us?”

  “Not necessarily. Hand me that branch.”

  “JAYMES?” Drue put a hand on the T-bred’s shaking shoulder.

  “Let me sleep.”

  “You weren’t asleep. You’re freezing your tookies off just like me. That fire might dry our clothes, but it can only keep one side of us warm at a time. So why don’t you give it up and come lie down next to me.”

  “As long as you don’t take it as an invitation to intimacy. I wouldn’t come near you if I wasn’t afraid I’d freeze to death.”

  “Don’t flatter yourself, Prince.” Drue shook his head. “Invitation to intimacy? What kind of person talks like that? Oh, wait. I forgot. Pretentious hoitys talk like that.”

  Jaymes settled himself on his side and didn’t flinch when the Exotic put an arm around him. Drue molded his lithe length to Jaymes’s back and put a cheek against the other Companion’s shoulder. After a few moments, Jaymes spoke.

  “Isn’t your back cold?”

  “We can trade places after a while, if you want to be fair.”

  “I don’t want to owe you anything.”

  “Fine, now be quiet and go to sleep.”

  Drue waited until the sound of the T-bred’s breathing evened out before he relaxed. Pressing closer, Drue slotted his hard shaft into the sweet cleft between Jaymes’s firm ass cheeks. He didn’t mean to do anything more than arrange things into his preferred sleeping position, or at least that’s what he told himself as he cautiously slid a hand over Jaymes’s hip and down to his crotch. He was thinking how nice the T-bred’s hair smelled when Jaymes spoke.

  “I’m still awake,” Jaymes said, just as Drue found his cock.

  “How awkward,” the Exotic said, fingers moving subtly on the silky skin.

  “It doesn’t have to be.” Jaymes pressed his buttocks into Drue’s crotch and dropped his head back against Drue’s shoulder. “We’re only doing this to stay warm, right? It doesn’t mean I like you or anything.”

  “Of course it doesn’t, but I’m a little surprised you’re giving in so fast.”

  “What you’re doing feels good, and if I’m going to die here, hungry, naked, and cold, I’d like to feel good at least one more time.”

  “I’ll do my best.”

  As Drue continued to stroke Jaymes’s shaft, he snaked his free hand under the other Companion and pulled him closer. Flattening his palm over Jaymes’s taut belly, he spread his fingers, pressing gently. Jaymes moaned, rolling his head on Drue’s shoulder as pulsing fingertips massaged the skin over his pubic bone.

  “Do you like this?” Drue’s lips moved against the whorls of Jaymes’s ear. “Is it enough?”

  “No,” Jaymes panted. “I want more.”

  “You want me to put my finger in you while I bring you off?”

  “I want you inside me.”

  “I’m glad that pleases you,” Drue said, as they worked out the mechanics of their joining. “I want to be inside you right now more than I want my freedom.”

  They had to settle for saliva as a lubricant, and Jaymes nearly came a couple of times before Drue decided he’d done all he could to make the penetration easier. Jaymes rested on his left side, leaning on his elbow, with Drue behind him in the same position. Drue wrapped a hand around Jaymes’s right thigh and coaxed Jaymes to bend his knee and rest the sole of his foot on Drue’s leg. Conversation devolved into whispered monosyllabic instructions punctuated by gasps and moans of pleasure as another bout of foreplay quickly reached its peak. Drue rubbed the leaking tip of his cock against the T-bred’s entrance, and Jaymes pushed back, signaling his readiness.

  Patiently, Drue worked the head of his cock into Jaymes, a little overwhelmed by the intensity of his pleasure. He felt the precursors of the whirlwind that had once possessed him when he made love. It had not stirred for some time, but it was growing stronger now with each fevered little cry from Jaymes’s lips. As Drue eased his shaft deeper into the snug channel, he trapped Jaymes’s dick between his palm and Jaymes’s groin, rubbing the fat vein on the underside, the velvety balls, and the shiny, stretched skin where he entered Jaymes. The T-bred moaned his approval, bearing down on the hard flesh that filled him, untroubled by any concern for his performance, lost in the woods, lost in this moment. As Jaymes’s long frame relaxed, Drue wrapped his fingers around the other Companion’s hard-on and pumped it, marveling at the ease with which they found their rhythm. Physically, he and Jaymes matched up like two sides of a zipper, interlocked by lust in perfect compatibility.

  “I could do this forever,” Jaymes whispered. He flexed his opening on the rod that stretched it as though trying to draw more of it in.

  Drue stood fast with about a third of his length ensconced, nudging the front wall of Jaymes’s sheath with each shallow thrust. He felt Jaymes tighten around his aching cock, heard the little hitch in Jaymes’s labored breathing, and knew the other Companion was about to come before the T-bred announced it.

  “You’ve undone me,” Jaymes sighed as Drue’s fist shuttled faster, milking him of every drop before letting go.

  Cupping his hand under Jaymes’s right knee, Drue pulled his leg back and looked under the T-bred’s arm at the place where they joined. The glimpse of his cock sliding in and out ratcheted Drue’s excitement up until the sweet tension snapped with a spurt of hot seed. “Sorry,” he panted, acknowledging the breach of etiquette. “I meant to pull out.”

  “It’s okay. You don’t have to—” Jaymes’s words ended in a groan as Drue disengaged quickly.

  “No, I should’ve asked first.” Drue gently lowered Jaymes’s leg to the ground. “G’sho,” he murmured, as was proper.

  “G’sho.” Jaymes replied, glad the Exotic couldn’t see his face. The feeling that had blindsided the T-bred in Lady Alvera’s antechamber suffused him like sunlight, warming him and confirming his fears. This intensely annoying Zot was an ideal partner, and Jaymes knew now with certainty that he would never have his life back the way it was before they met.

  VI.

  “THIS forest is all wrong,” Jaymes said as he brushed pollen from the dragging skirts of his borrowed overcoat.

  “What’s wrong with it?” Drue reined in a smile at the sight of the fastidious T-bred—naked beneath a garment much too large for him—tripping, quite literally, through the woods.

  “Well, for one thing, the trees are growing wherever they please. They’re supposed to be in rows. And the roots stick up too far.”

  “These woods are natural. It used to be like this in a lot of places. Now it’s just more or less around the middle of the planet.”

  “Is that right?”

  Drue’s smile escaped at the sound of Jaymes’s sarcasm. “Okay, so it’s common knowledge that the Grange exists, but there’s a lot more to it than a lot of people know. The area it covers is almost a third again what they teach you in-crèche.”

  “So?”

  “So that’s a lot of real estate. Wouldn’t you like to know what’s being done with it?”

  “Let me think… no.”

  “Can I ask you another question?”

  “Sure. Maybe it will take my mind from this tiresome trudging.”

  “I’ve said it before, but I just love the way T-breds talk. So tell me, O superior one, why do people live in the Outers? I mean, it’s not very nice there, is it?”

  “They live there because it’s all they can afford,” Jaymes answered instantly.

  “Your parents are Outties, right? Why did they sell you to Gentren? So they could move somewhere better?”

  “Of course not!” Jaymes stopped in the middle of the clearing, thigh deep in yellow wildflowers. “They gained nothing for themselves, only a better life for their child, for me.”

  “So they’re still in the Outer City?”

  “I don’t kno
w that. You know I don’t. It’s a major clause of the contract that the parents have no further contact. And it’s very bad manners to bring it up.”

  “Frij out,” Drue said. “And keep walking. Dealing with rudeness is the least of your problems right now, and I’m almost done with my questions anyway. So just why was it that your parents were forced to make this sacrifice?”

  “They couldn’t afford to feed me, as you well know.”

  “Right.”

  “You’re such a jeedee Pyg. Why can’t your type just say something, instead of turning everything into some clever debate where you not only make your point, you make the other person make your point for you, and you make them look like a fool at the same time?”

  “Making you look like a fool is not my purpose, but it certainly seems to be a frequent side effect.”

  Jaymes cast his gaze skyward and refused to reply.

  “You’re not a fool,” Drue said, a few minutes later. “You’re just ignorant.”

  “Oh, well that’s much better. Anything else?”

  “Why isn’t the government using that idle land to feed the people in the Outers?”

  “Actually, I was wondering what else you found lacking in my character,” Jaymes said. “But to answer your question, I don’t presume to tell our leaders how to use resources.”

  “How is it possible for anyone to be so self-absorbed?”

  Jaymes grimaced as he stopped to pull up the sodden hem of the heavy coat and remove a thorn from his shin. “I’m a bit preoccupied with survival at the moment, and you want to have a political discussion. Forgive me if I decline out of sheer disinterest.”

  “You were almost human while we were in imminent danger, but that stick is definitely back up your ass this morning.”

  “And who put it there, I wonder?” Jaymes asked the breeze.

  Drue’s sideways smile pulled up one corner of his mouth. As he remembered making love with Jaymes, an unexpected wave of affection swept through him. “Last night was…. I’m not sure there’s a word for it.”

  “Oh, do please try to frame your emotions in words. I could really use a laugh.”