Range

by JA Huss

  "Junco," he breathes, "you'd be perfect to me no matter what ya looked like."

  I cross the fractional distance and kiss him for that lie, my hands sliding up from his waist, then over to his wing where I caress the sensitive bone that hovers just above his shoulder with my fingertips.

  He buries his face into my neck and then the whispers begin to float across my cheek and up into my ear. "But darlin', just so ya know, ya look like the Goddess to me right now. Yer my Goddess, Junco."

  He pulls away from me to stand and then unbuckles his belt.

  I'm transfixed, silent and unable to take my eyes off him as I watch his fingers. He stops to grin and just when I'm about to ask him what's up, he knocks the unlaced boots off my feet, grabs the bottom of my jeans, and yanks them off.

  I lie there, completely exposed, and watch as Tier takes me in with his hungry gaze, his own clothes temporarily forgotten. When he remains still I stand up on the bed and wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him. He pushes against me and I let it all go. All the anger and hurt. I let all the bad things go and just enjoy it.

  He removes my arms from around his neck and places them gently at my side, then brings his hands up to my face and pulls me towards him as he presses his forehead to mine. I look down on him a little, since I'm standing on the bed, and his fingertips fall along each side of my neck, down my throat, over each shoulder, round out over my breasts and then trace a line down my rib cage.

  A shiver escapes my body as a small sound of pleasure.

  His touch stops abruptly and when I look down at him again he's just staring at me. "What?" I ask in a whisper.

  "Yer perfect," he says.

  "I'm sorry."

  "What for, Junco?"

  "For tricking you into believing that."

  His eyes glisten a little as they glow and the hurt starts to come back. "I'm sorry, too."

  "What for, Tier?"

  "For not saying those words to you often enough to make you believe them."

  I swallow and start to look away but he's got my face in his hands again. "You are the most perfect thing I've ever laid eyes on."

  My head shakes out a no.

  "You are the exhale after the kiss, Junco."

  My whole body tingles with those words.

  "That's where all the best parts are," he continues. "Afterward. All the best parts come after."

  "I hope so, Tier. Because I've been waiting for the good parts so long, I forgot what they were and why I want them."

  He cracks a grin and his fingertips are touching me again. He drags one finger down the front of me, right between my breasts, down to my stomach where he stops. I miss his warm touch as he pulls his fingertips away and begins to unbutton his pants.

  My breasts glide up against his chest as I push against him and we both moan a little. His rough hands come up to cup my face and his mouth presses hungrily into me as my fingers dispense with his lower body armor.

  When he's bare I fall back into his arms and let him lower me onto the bed, the weight of him making me close my eyes with desire. "I love you, Tier."

  He enters me and I buckle under him, making him growl with desire as my head tips back and my mind has no hope of focusing on anything but his touch. He finds his way inside me with his words as well. "Yer mine, Junco," he whispers, weaving himself into my soul. "Yer mine."

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  The incessant, breathless fast-talking of panicked people pulls me up from my slumber. I half remember Tier's kiss and soft words across my cheek as he left to go back to Earth, so this noise does not make immediate sense.

  "Junco?"

  That's definitely not Tier.

  "Junco?"

  The sleep slips away and I'm so fucking irritated. "What the fuck it is now, Sera?"

  "You should watch the screen, Junco. It's something you should see. Quick!"

  Her urging gets my attention and I sit up, the sheets falling down before I realize I'm still naked. The breathless talking has turned into screams and my eyes track to the screen in front of the bed.

  Masses of people are shrieking now, the breathless voice just one among what looks to be thousands of Asians, running for their lives. I think I had a comic book that looked like this as a kid.

  The shaky video feed is running as well, but the cam must be an iris lens because every few steps the reporter turns to look back and the feed follows. I lean in, trying to see the monster.

  And catch a glimpse of two sets of black wings far down the street.

  It's Tier and Ashur.

  And they are dragging Soli behind them, towards the ocean. The reporter voice announces this new turn of events and he stops when he realizes they aren't coming after the people, unexpectedly changing direction. He's running even harder now, this time trying not to lose the avians.

  Ash and Tier drag Soli around a corner and their figures disappear for a few seconds until the reporter finds them on the beach.

  "Where is this?"

  "Indonesia," is all Sera comes back with.

  Soli is definitely not on board with what they are doing, it's painfully clear she's hysterical even from a distance. The reporter comes on again, trying to describe the scene as he sees it.

  "—is struggling against the one they call the Angel of Death and the other one, the one who could be his twin but from what I've seen is following orders. Who this female avian is is not clear, but I've heard others say she is one of the Siblings who were taken off Earth two years ago." He catches up to them on the beach just as Soli goes berserk, flailing around with her razors, screaming and calling for Moju.

  "But—" I look over to Sera. "Moju was on board?"

  "He was," she confirms. "But clearly Soli is not." She takes a seat at Tier's little table. "She's excitable, that one. Always overreacting."

  "So—we're good with this?"

  Soli's screams burst out of her in a last-ditch attempt to resist the warriors who will not tolerate resistance. Tier smacks her across the face and then he and Ashur push each other for a few seconds. Ashur doesn't look like he approves, which is funny, considering he's the only one on the team who ever tried to physically kick my ass.

  "We are. It must be done. Soli agreed as well, she can't just change her mind in the middle of the plan. I'd smack her too."

  The reporter's voice is back, he's turned his sight towards a distant light that is coming up from the ocean. "There's the second beacon," he explains.

  Soli's razors catch Ashur across the face and he flips out on her, throws her down on the ground and pushes his face into her neck. She stops resisting and I can only imagine what he just said to her.

  Tier spies the reporter for the first time and flips him off.

  I laugh. Fucking Tier.

  Ashur has Soli upright again and they're both leaning down into her now. I don't need to hear them to know what they're saying. Stop being insane, Soli. You're acting like Junco.

  "We need to go, Junco."

  I turn to Sera. "Go where?"

  "Leave, I need you to come with me right now. Before they finish the Pillar. We can catch the next one, OK?"

  Back on screen Ashur and Tier push the reporter and he stumbles in the wet sand as the entire world watches them drag my sister up in the air and fly out towards the beacon of light protruding from the ocean floor.

  "Sera, I'm not—"

  "He knew that Isten would die, you know."

  Oh, God. My heart.

  I shake my head. "He didn't, he can't see me, he said he can't—"

  "Right." Sera cuts me off with a laugh. "And Lucan didn't know you would kill yourself at Deliverance, you believe that as well? The most powerful being in the entire Solar System was outwitted by some newborn avian? That's what you believe?" She stares at me as I stand there, still naked from my afternoon tryst with Tier. "They've known, Junco. Lucan knew you'd save Tier and he let you. He knew your plan."

  She stops to let this sink in.

  Rikan
knew so it only makes sense that Lucan knew that part too. And really, it's not the fact that he might have known and he let me do it anyway that bothers me, it's the fact that he lied to me about knowing. They always lie to me.

  "He needs Tier far more than he ever needed you, Junco. Getting you and Tier, that was just a bonus."

  "He said he loved me." The confusion comes out in a profoundly sad admission of ignorance.

  She shrugs. "He has only ever loved one person, Junco. And that's Tier." She looks at me with her serious eyes. "And he only loves Tier for what he can do for him. I told you back in the virtual cabin, Junco. He's not a good guy. I've known him since he was reborn, we're complements. Just as you and HOUSE are complements. We were partners with Inanna once, like you are partners with Gideon. The three of us were powerful once. But he betrayed us. I know him, Junco, and he is not good."

  I swallow and look away, trying to find my clothes. There's a bag in the table with my name on it and I open it up and peek inside. An avian uniform. I take it out and notice the shirt has been re-tailored to accommodate my wingless back. I pull out the pants and the boots, all refitted for my new body. And then there is one more outfit in there. My camo pants and sniper t-shirt from when I first left Earth with Tier years ago.

  I try to pull the camo pants on and Sera laughs as they get stuck at my knees.

  "You've gained weight, those will never fit now."

  I fling them off and start pulling on the new avian uniform pants. The soft black cloth brings back memories of Fledge. Of the killing and the agony of the unknown.

  Sera picks up the discarded camo pants and hold them up. "When did your father buy you these, Junco?"

  I'm pulling the sniper t-shirt over my head as the words come out between my lips. "Seventh year, I think. Why?"

  "And you fit into them when you left Earth? When you were nineteen?"

  "You know I did," I say with a snarl. What's she getting at?

  "You still don't see it, do you?"

  "See what, Sera? Just fucking spit it out." I grab my old RR field boots instead of the new avian ones and tug them on. At least my feet haven't gotten bigger.

  "You weighed what? When Tier brought you with him? Ninety pounds?"

  I scratch my head. "Ninety? No, I've always been one-twenty."

  She's shaking her head at me.

  "So what if I was, anyway. I'm small, so what's your point?"

  I continue to lace up my boots.

  "You were sick back then. Very sick."

  "Right. That's why I kicked everyone's ass in Fledge and Deliverance."

  "Inanna made you healthy again."

  I whip out my SEAR and swipe it through her ethereal body before the words are even out. "Fuck you! I was there, Sera. I know exactly what she did to me and I will never forget that pain."

  "You will dock that weapon and not take it out again until you are ready to play out your part. Because if you do, Junco, you will be responsible for the deaths of billions of people. Do you understand me?"

  "Why?" I demand. "What the fuck is the big deal with the stupid SEAR knife? Lucan was freaked out about it, Inanna took it away, and now you."

  She stares at me, her eyes briefly glowing. That's new. It reminds me a little too much of the Fallen Archer in the Fledge church. My breath is heavy as I stare at her.

  "I understand your anger and hatred for Inanna. And I understand how you feel, but this body you have now…"

  I look down at myself.

  "This body is the picture of health. That scarred-up shell of a half-human you were before? That was not even close. And you were never, let me make this perfectly clear, never meant to be an avian. That was a mistake Tier made out of pure selfishness."

  I stare blankly past her. Like Gideon. Who never went through the avian morph. "Then why? Did Tier know? That I wasn't supposed to be an avian? Is he in on all this?"

  She shrugs. "Parts, yes. He knew he was supposed to kill you, but he doesn't know your Destiny."

  "Which is what? Exactly?"

  She waves a hand at me. "Later, Junco. We need to leave here right now. Ashur and Tier will be back in a moment and that will jeopardize our chances for success."

  I snort at her. "How the hell are we gonna get off the ship?"

  She smiles. "Teleport, Junco. How else?"

  "You can do that?"

  "No," she replies. "But you can."

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  This teleporting business is news to me so I just sit back down and finish lacing up my boots.

  "I've been told you can hold your breath for long stretches of time?"

  She says it like it's a question, but we both know it's not a question. "Gideon told you that?"

  She nods.

  "Well." I shrug. "I suppose if I have to I can do a lot of things. But I'm not real excited about holding my breath in space, if that's what you're getting at. Besides, I have no suit, so the pressure will kill me anyway."

  "You won't need a suit and I can tell you how to do it. It's not hard, I was with Lucan when he learned and he was several levels below you when he completed his first trip."

  My mouth hangs open. "You can tell me how to do it? Are you fucking insane? Never mind, I'm gonna wait here for Tier and have him take me—"

  "He won't take you back, Junco. Whether you believe it or not, you're currently a prisoner."

  I roll that word around in my head for a few fractions.

  She's right.

  I am a prisoner.

  But that doesn't mean I'm gonna let her take me out into space with no suit.

  "I'll take my chances."

  She storms up to me now, angry. Her normally green eyes blaze red, just like Lucan's do when he's in that demon form. "You will not take your chances. You'll teleport right now or I will throw you out into the dark emptiness and watch you writhe in pain until someone comes to save you, do you understand me?"

  "That," I snarl at her, "will kill me. So go right ahead."

  She relaxes and the corners of her mouth turn up slightly. "You will not die, Junco. But you will feel pain."

  She points to the screen where the djed is beginning to self-assemble, growing like some mutated beanstalk from out of the ocean depths. "Tier is done now, he will be here soon, he commands the timespace pretty well these days. On three you will go into your mind and fling yourself to Earth, never mind where, just in that general direction. Don't fight my guidance, I'll get you to where you need to be. When we are on the ground we'll take the next step."

  I just stare at her as I log the screaming coming from the screen in the background. The tsunami warnings are blaring and I can't help myself, I turn to watch. The split screen shows the growing Pillar on one side and the advancing wall of water on the other. The reporter is crying like a girl as he runs, trips, and then gets trampled by others even more panicked. His head bobs up, like he's gasping for air, then gets smashed down onto the concrete as feet connect with his skull. I watch, along with billions of others, as the blood seeps into his iriscam and blocks the view.

  "One."

  The feed switches—apparently reporters are expendable these days—and this one has a clear shot of Gideon and Tier fighting on the top of a building. They are a flurry of teeth and claws, blood is everywhere.

  "Two."

  Fling myself to Earth? That's her fucking idea? Tier becomes distracted, looking at the reporter, and Gideon takes advantage and pounds him in the head. Tier refocuses and the bloodshed continues.

  Gideon is in my head urging me. Go, Junco. Go!

  I'm gonna regret this. But he's in charge, so—

  "Three."

  My time slips and suddenly everything is in battle slow-mo. I do just what she said. I fling myself out of the ship, have a slight panic attack because I'm not facing Earth when I feel my body move, and then Sera's voice is in my head.

  Do not draw breath. I will guide you.

  We're not in space. We're somewhere else. Somewhere blu
rry, like a tunnel. I concentrate on not blowing out my last breath of air and close my eyes as the blur makes the acid in my stomach go into overdrive. It immediately makes me want to puke, but if hurling in your helmet is a bad idea, then this would definitely be worse.

  My body is so cold I feel the crystals form and then spread across my skin, making a sound that pulls me back to the cracking of ice when I used to break the rules and walk across our mountain lake in the winters back in Council 3.

  This memory hurts so bad I forget to hold my breath and it bursts out. I open my eyes in a panic and watch the air as it crystallizes in real time. The cold overtakes the warmth my body has been supplying the liquid that bathes the outer layer of my eyes and the ice-cracking noise is in my head now, blinding me. My lungs burn and every reflex screams to rid myself of the carbon dioxide that is building, second after second, as we advance through the tunnel.

  Shut down the core, Junco.

  I'm not sure if that command was from Gid or Sera, but it doesn't matter. I obey and slow my heart, making the blood coursing through my body slow as well. I pull every remaining molecule of glycogen from my leg muscles, ask for the calories the extra bit of fat on my body contains, and have a fraction to enjoy my exceptional self-control before I am slammed into the ground face first.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  The rapid wind and crackle of plasma fire erupts around me as I struggle to come to terms with what just happened. Sera is in my head, not next to me anymore, and her screams are so uncharacteristic I almost place them as foreign.

  Port again, Junco! Port again!

  "What the fuck does that mean? Port again?"

  Teleport, you stupid child!

  I don't think another teleportation is possible in this lifetime, let alone seconds after being slammed to the scrub that is scratching my face as I think.

  But then the plasma fire grazes past my waist, taking out some skin and maybe even some muscle underneath for good measure as it burns a hole straight through my shirt and catches it on fire. I swat frantically, look around, and realize I need to do that port thing now or I'm gonna be gunned down by some nasty desert dwellers.