by Saxon Andrew
• • •
Ryshana opened her right eye and saw the man sitting on the ground beside her. “Pretty dull stuff, huh?”
“You’ve endured a lot of suffering,” he said with compassion.
Ryshana’s right eye closed slightly, “Nothing like what my mother went through.”
Jab shook his head, “The pain of those we love is never as great as the ones that love them seeing it happen.”
Ryshana blinked. “You sound like you have experience with that.”
The man looked away for a moment and said I need to go back to my ship for a few moments. Will you be all right here?”
“Can’t I go with you?”
“The brambles and thorns will cut you up,” Jab responded.
“How will you get through them?”
“This stretch fabric I’m wearing will prevent them from getting through. It will only take about fifteen-minutes.” Ryshana looked at the guard and Jab said, “He will remain paralyzed for another two hours.”
“Is he unconscious?”
“No, he’s been hearing everything we’ve said.” Ryshana’s shock was immediate and the man said, “Don’t worry about him. I’ll handle it when I return.”
“Aren’t you going to handle me as well?” Ryshana asked.
Jab stopped and turned to her, “I’m not going to harm you. But I will need you to agree to some things to avoid it.” Ryshana nodded and he walked off into the trees.
Jab made it through the thickets to his ship and a thought suddenly struck him. He looked at Ryshana’s memory of what the guard said and did to her and knew he had made a mistake. He sighed heavily and went in the ship. He shut down all the systems, after moving it far under the foliage of a copse of ten giant trees. The black ship was completely in the shadows cast by the trees’ branches and was impossible to see from any direction. He had stepped out when he landed and heard voices; he went to see who they were before shutting down his scout, that’s when he saw the woman and the guard. He picked up a small box and put it in his back pack. He stepped out and closed the port. He stepped away and he lost sight of the ship as he entered the trees. Could he trust this woman to do what was required for her to live?
• • •
Ryshana’s pain was bearable enough for her to stand up and walk over to the edge of the thickets, look around, and finally find what she needed. She pulled a tree limb back from a fallen tree and it snapped off. Where it broke off, there was a sharp, twelve-inch point on the end of it. She walked back to where the guard was lying on his back and she leaned over his face. The smile was still on his face, as Ryshana smiled and said in a lilting voice, “Hello. Remember me?” Ryshana sat down next to his head and knew that the strange man had said the guard was hearing everything, but was he really? She leaned over his face again and saw sweat covering his forehead. She smiled; he was definitely hearing her. “I know you just hate that your little session with me was interrupted and that bothers my little heart so much. If you don’t mind, I think that I should continue it, don’t you think, honey?” She held the pointed end of the branch over his face and shrugged, “I’m really sorry I’m not as prepared as you were, but I will try to make do with my little friend here.” The guard’s body was soaked in sweat as Ryshana stood up, “It’s good that you’re not unconscious, I have more fun when they know what I’m doing.” The guard couldn’t even close his eyes as Ryshana raised the stick.
• • •
Jab came out of the thicket and saw Ryshana sitting where he left her; maybe he was wrong about her. He walked up and glanced at the guard. There was a wooden pole sticking out of the ground at the guard’s crotch; he looked up and rolled his eyes. “Don’t get your pants in a wad!” Ryshana quickly said. “I took off his boots and pants, so they wouldn’t be messed up!”
Jab sat down beside her, “Well, thanks for that.”
“You still haven’t answered my question.” Jab turned his attention to her. “Who are you? Really?”
“Your pain must be better,” Jab replied.
“It is! Please answer my question.”
Jab hesitated and then began, “I’m from a civilization that is going to be confronting the Brotherhood.”
“Are they attacking your planets?” Ryshana asked.
Jab shook his head, “Not yet. But we’ve decided to not just sit around and wait for that to happen.”
Ryshana cocked her head, “That’s a wise decision; the Brotherhood can really destroy a planet when they go into berserker mode. So, you’ve come here to learn everything you can about how the Brotherhood operates?” Jab nodded. Ryshana nodded slowly as she said, “I’ve had some time to think about what you’re doing, and I believe that you should take me with you on this mission.”
Jab’s expression turned grim, “That’s not going to happen!”
“You should think this through before you reject it out of hand,” Ryshana responded.
Jab glared at her and then asked, “Tell me why?”
“It will help your cover and I will be there in the event you encounter a situation that puts you in a bad predicament.”
Jab quickly responded, “I have your memories, why would I need you?”
“Because memories may not always cover situations you might encounter. Some one that lives in a culture is needed to interpret what’s happening and respond correctly within the mores of a society; you could easily make a mistake. And don’t even suggest that your transfer of my memories allows you to see them instantly. I’ve seen you having to focus to find some of them. That hesitation could get you killed.” Jab stared more intently at her and Ryshana continued, “I know that I’ve seen too much and represent a real risk to you. I know you’ve seen in that SOB’s memories that no one can withhold anything from a Brotherhood inquisition.”
“I’m going to give you the means to kill yourself before that could happen,” Jab replied.
“But they would know if I did kill myself that someone had to give me the means to do it. They would associate me with that piece of garbage lying over there.” Jab thought about what she was saying, when Ryshana added the icing to the cake, “Look. You must know the Elder over my community has it in for me. It’s just a matter of time until another Law Enforcer shows up to remove me from the community. However, if you take me back to the city with you as your mate, the Elder will be ecstatic and probably reward you handsomely for coming up with the idea.”
“Mate?” Jab questioned emphatically with squinted eyes.
“Look at my memories and then correlate them with what the excrement over there knows about it,” Ryshana replied. Jab focused on Ryshana’s memories and, though he wanted to do it quickly, it took several minutes for him to look at both the guard’s and her memories. Ryshana watched him in silence and said, after a minute had passed, “This much hesitation over a simple question about our mating practices could get you in deep trouble if not killed outright.”
Jab shook his head, “You’ve made your point. But the Elder would know that you would never agree to accept this guard as your mate.”
Ryshana waved a hand at him, “Come on, whoever you are! You act like accepting that garbage over there would be optional! You’ll simply tell the Elder that you beat me into doing it; it wouldn’t matter to him if you did and he’d probably cheer you for doing it.”
“I didn’t see that in either of your memories,” Jab said with a solemn tone.
“Look, if that piece of rotten meat says I agreed to be his mate, who is going to disagree with him? Certainly not my Community Leader or anyone else living in this hellhole; they’re all scared to death of the Law Enforcers. The Elder won’t challenge it because once I’m in the city with him, he could kill me at will. If I happen to make the mistake of challenging it, the other side of my head will be damaged like the one you see now, and the damage would continue until I agreed, or at the very least stopped denying it.”
Jab went into the guard’s memories and took a dee
p breath, before saying, “You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into, Ryshana.”
“Don’t fool yourself. I know that you are going to be forced to assume the personality of that dead carrion and treat me just like he would.” Jab opened his mouth and Ryshana continued before he could speak, “I know that you may be forced to physically abuse me in front of witnesses or possibly kill me to maintain your masquerade. That’s how life works here. I know that and I’m willing to accept those risks.”
“I don’t know if I could live with that, Ryshana.”
“Are you here to stop the Brotherhood or not!?!” The angry tone of her question startled Jab. Ryshana lowered her gaze, “I’m willing to die to bring them down and you should be willing to do whatever it takes to make that happen too. You need to know that if I must die to make that happen, I’ll do it willingly knowing I died for a good cause! Being dragged out of the community to be abused and killed for no reason other than to forward the Brotherhood’s agenda is a total waste.”
Jab considered what she said in silence and Ryshana took a deep breath. Her mouth pursed, and she looked up into Jab’s eyes, “I know you’re worried that I won’t be able to hide my disgust and anger of the Brotherhood to pull this off. But I want you to know that I can see that if you’re forced to hurt me, you will pay a personal price for doing so. The only way to prevent that from happening is to play the role of a fully submissive mate. I will do that and try to assist you anyway I can. I will not give in to my emotions.”
Jab lowered his eyes and stood up, “You win. You have to know that both of us may end up dead trying to pull this off.”
“So, be it; we’ll just have to do the best we can. I do have one question.
“What is that?” Jab asked.
“Are you some sort of alien looking like a human?”
Jab smiled, “No, I’m a human.”
Ryshana’s expression turned quizzical, “If you’re human and not part of the Brotherhood, where are you from?”
Jab knew this was where he would find out if Ryshana was going to be able to carry through on her suggestions. “My civilization is the one that forced the Brotherhood to leave it about a thousand years ago.”
Ryshana’s eyes flew wide open, “YOU’RE FROM THE GREAT EVIL?!”
“If that’s what the Brotherhood calls their original place of origin, yes, I am.”
Ryshana’s smile was huge, “THAT’S OUTSTANDING!!”
Jab’s expression showed his confusion, “Why do you say that?”
“You come from the civilization the Brotherhood hates and fears the most. Who better to knock them off their throne! I’m in! All in!”
“All right. We’ll do this together.”
Ryshana shook her head, “If your civilization had done the right thing and just killed them instead of sending them out to infect the universe, you wouldn’t have had to come here.”
The corner of Jab’s mouth went up, “I don’t see how I can argue with that logic. But we didn’t and here I am.” Jab had his answer. He looked at her and said, “The guards name is Borgt. You will call me by either ‘My Mate’ or that name when necessary.”
“What is your real name.”
“I’m not going to tell you.”
“Why not?”
Jab paused, before answering, “If you only know one name for me, you won’t make a mistake.”
Ryshana looked at him sideways, “That’s clever; Borgt it is.”
Jab walked over to the guard and saw what Ryshana had done to him…it wasn’t pretty. He looked at Ryshana and she smirked, “I do good work, don’t I?”
“Did you really need to punch out his eyes with that stick?”
“They were the last to go.” Jab looked at the pole sticking up out of the ground and Ryshana shrugged, “Well, almost the last thing.”
Jab reached down and pulled the dart out of the guard’s chest. He raised his hand to his mouth and made two puffing sounds. Ryshana turned to the guard and saw his body start dissolving. It started at two points on the guard’s body and accelerated quickly. In five minutes, the body was gone leaving only the indentation in the grass where it had been. Jab rubbed his feet over the grass and disturbed it until it appeared like the grass around it. He went over to the guard’s uniform and began putting it on. He said to Ryshana, “I need you to roll around in the grass and dirt.”
Ryshana went to the ground and rolled over several times. When she finished, Jab stood up and said, “Stay on the ground.” She went up on her elbows and Jab grabbed the hem of her dress and ripped it up the center to her waist. She was holding the front of her dress together with her left hand and she looked up at him. “I know you’re not feeling any pain because of the pill I gave you…”
Ryshana quickly interrupted, “I know what to do; I look like I’ve been truly punished, and I’ll act accordingly.”
Jab was impressed; this was one smart, brave woman. He gripped her hand and pulled her to her feet. He put his arm around her and helped support her. “I can walk,” Ryshana complained.
Jab shook his head, “That’s because the pill is preventing you from feeling the pain of doing it. You’re going to feel this in the morning.”
“Do you have another one of those pills?” Ryshana asked with lowered eyebrows. Jab nodded. Ryshana smiled, “Then no, I won’t.” Jab shook his head and supported her anyway. They started walking back toward the community and Jab said, “I’m going into Borgt’s memories.” And so, it begins, Ryshana thought as Borgt’s expression changed to a perpetual sneer.
Chapter Seventeen
Jab saw the edge of the trees ahead and put the back pack over Ryshana’s shoulder, as he raised his hand to Ryshana’s neck and applied pressure. She winced and lowered her head. Borgt saw there were four people waiting at the edge of the community; three women and the Community Leader. He marched Ryshana up to them and Ryshana wailed loudly as he abruptly stopped her in front of them. He glanced over at the women and saw one of them was holding a folded dress in her hands. “PUT IT ON HER!” Borgt snarled as he shoved Ryshana into them. She screamed from her pain, as one of the women caught her before she could fall to the dirt. The woman grabbed her around her chest and raised her arms as the third woman rushed over and finished ripping Ryshana’s dress and pulled it off her. The woman with the dress, put it over her arms and dropped it over her head as Ryshana moaned the entire time. Once the dress was in place, Borgt snarled, “Go and fetch her other dresses!” The woman ran away at her best speed and he reached over and grabbed Ryshana’s neck again.
The Community Leader asked, “Why do you need more dresses?”
Borgt turned to the Community Leader and smiled wickedly, “This one will be leaving with me.” The Community Leader’s eyes narrowed and Borgt announced, “She has agreed to be my mate.”
The Community Leader jerked his head to Ryshana, “Is this true?”
Borgt savagely pushed Ryshana’s head forward and back twice, causing loud screams, “She agrees!” Borgt snarled as he leaned in close to the Community Leader placing his hand on his shoulder. He gave it a squeeze causing him to flinch as he put a micro recorder on the back of his tunic, “Are you doubting my word?” Borgt asked with a vicious tone.
“NO, LAW ENFORCER! I SEE THAT SHE AGREED SHE HAS ACCEPTED YOU AS HER MATE.”
At that moment, the woman returned from Ryshana’s house with a stack of Ryshana’s dresses and Borgt opened the grey backpack and shoved it toward the woman. She shoved the stack of dresses in the backpack and handed it back to Borgt. He put it back over Ryshana’s shoulder and asked harshly, “Are you ready to leave?”
Ryshana yelped as he squeezed her neck and then quickly replied, “Yes, my mate.”
Borgt smirked, “Make sure everyone understands that she has agreed!” The Community Leader nodded so hard, he should have gotten whiplash. Borgt turned and marched Ryshana toward the small ship the guard had used to come to the community. He used his subvocal module t
o activate the micro-recorder and listened as he walked toward his ship. Once he was out of hearing range, he heard one of the women say with venom in her voice, “He should have killed her!”
“I’m surprised he didn’t,” another female voice responded.
“He probably wasn’t given the authority to do anything but punish her,” the Community Leader responded. “Killing her probably wasn’t an option.”
“He should have done it anyway,” the first woman replied.
The Community Leader sighed, “Yes, he probably should have. I’m surprised he forced her to be his mate, but it solves our problem. He’s removing her from the community and she will no longer cause us issues with the Elder.”
“He’s probably made her be his mate, so he can kill her. Once he has her in the city, he can do what he wants with her,” a woman pointed out.
The Community Leader chuckled, “That’s probably exactly why he did it. This way he won’t be punished for an unauthorized killing. That’s a good insight, Leola.”
“All I have to say is good riddance!”
Jab listened to them and knew that he was hearing true believers speaking. They revealed their cruel nature and he knew that nothing could or would change them. The Community Leader walked back toward his home and his mate joined him, “I noticed you staring at Ryshana’s body.”
The Community Leader shrugged, “I’m still a man.”
She sighed and looked up at him, “I once looked like her.” He looked down at her and saw a face that was lined and wrinkled by too many years in the grueling hot sun. She asked, “Do you ever see me that way?”
He smiled, “Every time I close my eyes when we’re together.” She put her arm around his waist and hugged him. He took a breath and said, “I also remember when we lived in luxury in the city.” She nodded and sighed along with him. He knew that his mate’s beauty and living in the city would never happen again…unless he closed his eyes.