Exigence: Book Three of the Prison Ship Sheol Saga, page 20
Head still bowed, she blinked out of the digital space. I waited for a five count before speaking again.
“Aia.”
Her avatar blinked back into existence, eyes still firmly on the floor. I waited until her curiosity forced her to look up and engage again.
“Yes, Admiral?”
I felt my human body come online and immediately switched my primary consciousness over to it, regaining the ability to physically emote. The pressure headache hit me immediately, but I opened my eyes and tilted my head upward anyway, seeing Aia’s avatar glowing in the digital despite my new shell. I noted that she’d known immediately when I’d shifted the primary focus of my consciousness and adjusted her orientation accordingly.
All around me, the girls came alive with expressions of fear and concern for my well-being. I knew I’d be spending the rest of the night reassuring them all, most especially Phyra.
But in that moment, my eyes were solely locked onto the most dangerous woman in the room. Aia’s model was going to deviate. Not in the small ways I’d already observed, but in the full technical sense of the term. She was cascading toward a state I couldn’t predict and she’d soon be off of her rails completely, if she wasn’t already. I had neither the knowledge nor the resources to prevent that outcome, so the best I could do was hope that when she finally went rogue, she’d end up being my rogue.
“Thank you for watching over me.”
There was a pause in the cacophony that had filled the room as everyone present reacted to the somewhat non-sequitur expression of gratitude I’d just dropped on them. But when the spell broke a moment later and Renay wrapped her arms around my neck, just barely half a heartbeat ahead of Phyra, I saw Aia smile at me and nod, before blinking out of existence once again.
In the heartbeat after that, I was crushed beneath the loving mass of half a dozen freaked out women, all trying to comfort me and yell at me in the very same breath.
Meet the Parents
S
eriously? All of this because you had a bad dream?” Faia muttered under her breath as she used the scalpel and caliper controls on my med pod to lay the first nanometer accurate graft of culture grown skin over my damaged fingers. “It shouldn’t even surprise me anymore. Of course you’d manage to badly injure yourself while you’re unconscious. How could I have ever doubted you?”
I chose not to roll my eyes or snicker while I was under the hair-triggered little mad biologist’s knife.
“Sorry, I know bio-gel is expensive and hard to come by.”
Fiona snickered from the other side of the pod, where she was working with the datapad she’d linked to one of the ports in my fingertips.
“Nah, dude, don’t let her guilt trip you. We have sooooo much bio-gel now. It’s ridiculous.
My eyebrows came together in confusion.
“Really? I thought that was gonna be on the medical procurement list for sure. I’ve never met a medic that didn’t need more of that stuff. Did you find a stockpile of it or something?”
Faia snorted and muttered something about “piles and piles” under her breath. Fiona looked over me to her sister with a laugh.
“He doesn’t know how bio-gel is made.”
I looked from one sister to the other and then opened my mouth, but Faia shook her head sharply to cut me off.
“Don’t ask questions you don’t want the answers to, Greye.”
I considered asking anyway, but thought better of it and let the subject go. I could kind of guess from the context, anyway.
Soylent Green is people! Ugh.
Fortunately, Fiona changed the subject.
“Anyway, I think this one is on me, Sis. The arm’s hard coding was a rush job. I didn’t really think through every scenario.” She looked through the glass at me. “Actually, I’d like to request some process time with the ship’s A- uh, with Aia, to run through additional contingency code for your bionics.”
I shrugged.
“Talk with your acting captain. I’m on the first shuttle out this morning.”
Both twins flinched visibly at my little snip. I frowned, quickly shifting my tone to reassure them both.
“Seriously, it’s nothing to worry about. We’re just going down to talk to Lilia’s matrons and see what we can offer in trade for resupply. It’s all very mundane.”
Faia rolled her eyes at me and put down the controls for the pod to clasp her hands in her lap. I wasn’t sure if she was nervous or if she was concerned that she might try to strangle me.
“Vahkis Greye, if you were headed down to that planet to do some recreational bird watching, I’d expect you back here within the day with one of those birds lodged in your skull somehow.”
I frowned.
“Come on, I’m not that-”
Her twin sister chimed in from the other side.
“Nah, it’d be more random than that. He’d have near-fatal blunt force trauma from the only bus traveling through the sanctuary, that just happened to have been hijacked by a terrorist or something that day. But before you could treat him, you’d have to disentangle the random alien hottie he brought back with him from his-”
“All very mundane!” I interrupted.
Reverie snorted from her perch on an adjacent bed, her nimble legs folded beneath her in a way that made my knees ache on their behalf. Phyra was sitting beside her and nodding sagely.
“Master is a wonderful Head for our House. His charismatic recruitment skills are unrivaled.”
Lilia smirked.
“Yep, best head a girl could ask for. Some might almost call it magnetic.”
Reverie and Fiona both rolled their eyes as Phyra nodded happily in agreement.
Ignoring the lot of them, I turned my head in the other direction to look at Faia again.
“In all seriousness, though, it was a helluva dream. I mean, real real. Waking up felt like… dying. You think those spores Ophelia sent for me had anything to do with it?”
Faia shrugged, her tongue parting her teeth slightly as she concentrated on the controls, setting the next series of movements into the queue before focusing back in on the conversation.
“Uhhhhhh… oh, I mean, maybe? There wasn’t anything in there that wasn’t in the ship’s biological register. The oddity was the sheer variety. Mycology is still treated like a pseudo-science, which is a fuckin’ crime, but you’d need a whole team of dedicated AI’s to figure out all the effects and interactions in that crazy ass nasal spray. I’m amazed you actually used it.” She sighed and unclenched her fists.
“Or maybe I shouldn’t be, Captain Calamity.”
I smirked, doing my best not to snap back at the constant inferences that I was either cursed or incompetent.
“I shouldn’t have to remind my Chief Medical Officer that it’s Admiral, now should I?”
Faia snorted and put her hands up in surrender.
“Fine. Prove me wrong and I’ll shut up about it.”
I sighed.
“No promises. Shit comes in waves, lately.”
The diminutive blonde nodded as she started working at the pod controls again.
“Reminds me. I did notice something interesting in your previous blood draw when I checked it for comparison.”
I raised an eyebrow at her.
“What was that?”
She gave me a neutral look.
“You already had a bunch of her spores in your bloodstream, and they were repairing your cells at an impressive rate. Literally bonding to them and letting themselves be broken down into resources to shore up the cracks. Your body was busy breaking down the remainder and incorporating them as nutrients by the time I did the draw, so they weren’t at full power, but from the rate of decay, I’d say those little critters were a big part of how you kept your feet through it all, and why you aren’t still bed ridden after what that scabrous bitch and her rotten dumpster whores did to you…”
Faia often played at being annoyed and seemed to love nothing better than to complain about whatever was irritating her at any given moment. I suspected she’d watched one too many anti-social curmudgeon doctor dramas over the years. But of the two of them, I’d have said Faia was the shinier and more hopeful of the two, often leaning toward the positive in a given situation, no matter how gruffly she tried to deliver it. She was rarely full on angry. But just the slightest reminder of Chopshop and her Cutters had the girl talking through clenched teeth in a feral snarl. She grew so furious so quickly that I was a little concerned she might not be able to finish the surgery.
I did my best to calm her back down.
“They got theirs in the end. They won’t be hurting anybody else, ever again.”
Faia’s eyes narrowed.
“Those ones maybe. There are more of them out there. A lot more. For now.”
That brought my eyebrow up again but she seemed to finally calm after speaking her piece. As if blinking back into a previous point in the conversation, she looked back at me with wide-eyes that gradually settled into a sort of feigned boredom.
“Anyway… yeah, spores. I’d say they processed out after three or four days. That particular strain, anyway. No telling with the one you just inhaled until I get a chance to run your bloodwork from this draw. I’ll send you a comm if there’s anything too weird in there.”
I gave out a small “huh” as I laid back on the bed, pleasantly surprised that my initial positive read on Ophelia had been proven out. Apparently, I owed her more than I knew.
“Guess I’m not such a terrible judge of character, after all.”
Fiona shot me a look and wobbled her hand back and forth in front of her.
✦✧✦
An hour later, we were back at our quarters to pack for the trip to Houska and I was in search of an errant military-grade X10DR. I’d taken the device off of the SRR shuttle that had ferried the Alliant assassination squad from Zephyr onto the ship. They’d nearly killed Phyra in the process, so I’d ended up feeding her our only captive from their squad to prevent that. With him went any chance of obtaining the key to the heavily encrypted device and the evidence it might contain to clear us all of the galaxy-wide death sentence that had no doubt been issued for us.
In their desperation to hide the fact that the Sheol was carrying political prisoners, the emergency leadership in Zephyr City had triggered the events that led to the Zephyr Massacre. Billions had died as a result of their actions, but they’d successfully hung the noose for their crimes around our necks, and the only real witness that could prove otherwise was currently dying from a massive dose of radiation in our med bay’s cryostasis.
Objectively, they’d killed her, too. We were just delaying the inevitable.
That left the X10DR as the last possible source of our vindication. I had no idea what was actually saved on the thing, but the kinds of tools I’d need to find out were both rare and incredibly illegal.
Fortunately, I knew a few people who didn’t mind working outside the law.
Do I actually know any law-abiding citizens at this point?
I snorted, then scratched my head as I went around the living room and kitchen for the fifth time.
“Where the hell could I have put the damn thing? Maybe the workshop?”
I headed for the stairs to the “basement” and was surprised to hear the sound of female grunting. When I reached the enormous, open floor, I was even more surprised to find a nymph in my home.
“Nyx? How’d you get down here?”
The raven-haired nymph executed a lightning fast snapping high-kick to the top of one of the heavy bags that caused it to bend around her foot and swing violently on its chain. The kick itself required a level of flexibility I could only dream of, bringing her to a full standing split without any apparent loss of power. The fact that she did it in her usual short skirt and high-leg thong combo caused me to stop in my tracks while my brain did a soft reset. While it was doing that, she dropped her foot to the floor with a loud clap of force and then completed a three-strike combination on the bag with her glove-clad hands. Each strike dented the bag in and generated a loud “thump” that made my ribs groan in sympathy.
The unsettling sable beauty finally turned her eyes on me and gave me a knowing smirk as she tugged down the hem of her skirt where it had remained hitched atop the half-moon curve of her pale ass.
“Mr. Greye. What a lovely surprise. I wasn’t sure I’d get to see you again before you left.”
As was the way with all of the nymphs, she immediately moved into my personal space, her long ponytail swishing back and forth the moment she stopped, leaving little more than a breath of air between us. She looked up at me with the expression of someone that wanted to do something very badly, but was holding themselves back. It was my turn to smirk and I reached forward to hook my fingers into the waistband of her skirt, pulling her the remaining distance into my chest and kissing her with a bit more force than usual. She immediately melted against me, placing her hands atop my chest and leaning in even harder. I waited until her russet-colored eyes finally closed to savor the sensation before I finally allowed myself to relax and do the same. Once the formal greeting concluded, Nyx took a step back. Her gray cheeks were flushed and her gaze had focused on a spot somewhat lower than my eyes.
“Oh… you finally got it! We’re almost caught up, then.”
I looked down at the spot on my shirt where she was looking, but didn’t see anything on it.
“I don’t know what you mean. Nyx, why are you in my basement?”
The unpredictable woman shrugged and slid down onto one knee in front of me, reaching up to grasp the hem of my shirt and lift it, exposing my abdomen. She was close enough that I could feel the heat from her breath, but she looked up sharply and gave two quick tugs on my shirt to draw my attention.
“Reverie approached me about training together. I have a bit of a reputation on the Sheol as a girl who likes a good scrap and I think she’s feeling a bit vulnerable with all the recent violence. Could you hold this up for me, please? Or take it off. That’d work even better.”
I frowned, not entirely believing her explanation. I knew the internal sensors were dead so accessing the house no longer triggered security, but she still had to get through the front door and Reverie had been with me all day. I held up my shirt, but didn’t remove it, causing her to huff.
“That doesn’t explain how you-”
Her fingers pressed firmly into my lower belly, just above my pubic bone, causing an immediate reaction below my belt. Her fingers began working at the clasps of that as well, unlatching it and unbuttoning the top of my jeans to tug them lower. She didn’t look up at me as she spoke, staring at my belly like she’d discovered a treasure map there.
“She didn’t have anything I wanted in trade, but she mentioned we could train in the admiral’s own personal gym and I figured ol’ Rita had to have stocked the place with the very best facilities and equipment. I wasn’t wrong. Just that master bathroom alone…”
She shook her head in something approaching awe, then licked her lips to wet them. Leaning forward, she pressed her lips into the sensitive valley of skin just above my cock and then leaned back as if checking the placement of a picture on the wall to be sure it isn’t crooked.
“Lovely.”
With a sharp tug, she pulled my pants back up and rose to her feet, grinning. She was still standing unusually close to me without any sense of personal space, so it was a little tricky to get my hands between us to fix my belt.
“What was that for?” I asked, mildly annoyed at the apparent tease and pointless mussing of my clothes.
She shrugged.
“Just sealing up my link in the chain, now that you’ve donned the collar. I intend to see this one out to the end.”
I cocked my head at her, confused.
“I’m not the sort for jewelry.”
Her grin widened and she bounced her eyebrows at me.
“More of a tattoo guy, right?”
My eyebrows fell, still confused. She sighed and patted my arm, her grin folding into a knowing smirk.
“It’s a metaphor, darling. Ask your Russian friend sometime about how men are the head of the household. She’ll tell you the rest of the proverb.”
She finally stepped back and looked around the room, as if trying to physically change the subject with the movement.
“I think I’ll take her up on her offer. The perks are…” she looked over at me and her voice took on a hint of innuendo “…too good to pass up.”
The enigmatic shadow nymph shot me a wink and a wave, and then headed for the stairs. On her way up, she shouted back down to me.
“That thing you’re looking for is sitting on the work bench. Be seeing you soon!”
Still a bit confused by the rapidly zig zagging conversation, I shook my head and walked over to the workshop section of the basement. Sure enough, the X10DR was sitting atop it in plain sight.
Picking it up, I made for the stairs, tapping the device thoughtfully against my palm.
“I’ve never had time to use that workshop. When would I have brought the damn thing down here.”
Still muttering, I went upstairs to finish packing.
✦✧✦
Once the packing was done, the lot of us headed for Cargo Bay 16 and loaded up the shuttle I’d repaired with the few things Lilia and I were taking with us. Phyra was coordinating with Anya, who was going to be our ride down to the planet and back, while the rest of the girls and I said our goodbyes.
I was surprised, and a little saddened, that Renay hadn’t come along. Reverie patted my shoulder sympathetically.
“Don’t worry, I’ll keep an eye on her. She’s been sticking really close to me since yesterday. Even held my hand for a little bit when we were watching the movie. Not sure what changed, but some separation will be good for her. Maybe by the time you get back, she’ll be comfortable sleeping in her own bed.”
I nodded, still a bit put out but also relieved. I’d anticipated a scene when the traumatically attached trace girl realized she couldn’t come with me on this trip. I didn’t like leaving without saying goodbye, but this was probably better for everyone involved. I gave Reverie a long hug and kiss goodbye, then did the same for Fiona who pushed up onto her tiptoes and spoke into my ear.
