And then I knew.
“We need to talk to Andi when we get back,” I said.
Mira turned to look at me from the seat. “Bit late for a threesome, but, hey—”
“Not that, although I’ll hold you to it. I think I know what happened to this place.”
“This place?” Mira asked, a tiny frown on her face.
“The Empty. The world. All of it. The virus didn’t just work one way, by splitting humanity. It split animals, too, but not just forward. I think it brought them back. From the past, and the only way to know is to dive into the Cache system.”
Mira was quiet for a moment, then she asked a question in a small voice. “Weren’t there giant—things? That lived long ago?”
I thought of fossils. I considered the rhino. “Like you can’t imagine,” I said, and her frown went deeper still.
7
We returned in late morning, hours ahead of schedule and loaded with dinner. A group of teens greeted under the careful eye of Natif, who acted like a small but effective general as he herded the kids into a line. In moments, the hog was gone, whisked away to the nearby smokehouse.
“It’s too small,” Mira said.
“That hog weighs as much as the truck, give or take a bit,” I said in mild alarm.
“Not the pig. The smokehouse. We need another, and five times the size. With rows and multiple rooms. A place to process meat for the center of town, so to speak. Then we can build more as we go out, and one for fish, too, so it doesn’t stink the place up.” She made a face and I nodded in agreement. It was the best kind of planning to do things before we needed them.
“Okay. It’s done. We could always go back to where we were today. A lot of wood out there, if we can find time—and enough hands—to shape it.”
“I think that will be under control soon enough. That tall guy, the one who looks like he smelled something bad?” Mira said.
“Danto. Doesn’t talk much,” I said. He’d arrived a few days earlier and had been a sour presence everywhere he went. He was tall, lean, and gloomy. “He might need a purpose.”
“He has one. He was a sawyer, back north. Worked a mill that ran on water and some electricity. Cut everything from pine to softwoods for the traders up that way. He’s the guy to run it, but you’ll have to talk to him. I don’t like being around him, and no one else does, either.”
“I hadn’t realized he was that disliked.”
“Not disliked. There’s just this mood around him that I can’t put my finger on. He’s alone, too. Didn’t come with a wife or kids or even a friend, far as I know,” she said, as if this alone was enough to make him suspicious.
“I’ll have a quiet word with him, see if a job helps his attitude. If not, we ship him off with the traders. Sound good?” I asked.
“Good.” She kissed me and began walking off, shouting at Natif to clean out the truck or she would do terrible things to his hide.
“Okay, Danto. Let’s see if you want a job or a free ride,” I said to myself, walking toward the center. There was a buzz of activity as it was nearly lunchtime, though I didn’t see Breslin’s giant form anywhere among the crowd.
Lasser waved as I walked up, his long face red from effort. “Lot of tiles today. I’ve got ten of us on forming. We’ll need twice as many if we’re going to keep up with the bull you found.”
“Breslin?”
“The same. He’s got his crew working like a tornado is on the way, and he’s doing half of it himself. Never seen a single man dig that much, that fast. Like an armadillo, but taller,” he said with a laugh.
“He’s better company than a ‘dillo, too.”
“I’ll say. Beba is working to clean up the kids. Says they’ve got dirty teeth and cuts and rashes, and she’s not going to be happy until every one of them is in perfect health. She’s got them scrubbing to the bone in a channel. I think some of the kids went in brown and are coming out pink, and if she isn’t happy with their efforts, she has a brush that she’s using. After the first kid howled his way through her scrubbing, all the rest went at their skin and nails like they were trying to wear them away,” Lasser said, grinning broadly.
“A highly motivated group, it seems.”
“Truly. So are mine. They’re working well, and they understand that the sooner the tiles bake, the sooner we become more secure. With every two hundred tiles we can extend the channels ten meters in each direction, five in all. I’d like to say we can do more, but the water won’t stay above ground for that long,” Lasser said.
“What about ponds? Small ones, round? Use them for storage when you can’t push the channel any farther.”
“I—you know, that works. We can have smaller homes near the ponds, if not the channels. I think that will do it. Let me get with Breslin and confirm, so we can make tiles that will go around the basins,” Lasser said.
“Let me know,” I said, and he waved as he ambled off, his long legs taking him across the path with ease. “Now, let’s see the log guy.”
I found Danto working, which was a good sign. He was taller than me by a couple inches, lighter, and wiry with the kind of frame that indicated a hard life. In another time, he’d fit the profile of a herdsman, but now, he was just a sullen, dark presence, his black eyes flashing with irritation as I walked up to him.
There were two ways to go about engaging with him, and I chose the method that kept any disagreement quiet and out of public sight. There was nothing to gain by being an asshole, and frankly, we could use his skills. I stuck my hand out and smiled. “Danto, I have a proposition for you.”
He stared at my hand, then shook it reluctantly. “Yeah?” His voice was low and reserved, like he hated speaking.
“I won’t bore you with a speech about teamwork or bullshit like that. I understand you’re good with a saw, and you know your way around a mill. We need a mill. I’d like you to build it and run it.”
His brows shot up on a face that was thin and sour. With a rough hand, he rubbed slowly at his scalp. There were small, bright scars among the black hair. Life had been hard for him, and whatever he expected to hear from me, it wasn’t a job offer.
“I don’t like taking orders,” he said.
“I don’t like giving them.” We stood while he digested that, then he frowned in a new and interesting way, adding yet another unpleasant expression to his face.
“Why do you need lumber?” he asked. His tone was still wary, if not hostile, but I wasn’t done with my pitch.
“To build the cities.”
“Cities?” he asked, incredulous. Then he snorted and went back to scraping the piece of hide he was working on. His motion was practiced and careful. He was used to hard work, and skilled work, too. “Good luck. A city is a drain that collects trash.”
Ah. There it was. I had an idea about what made him tick, so I lowered myself to a crouch, getting close enough to speak so only he could hear me. Kids were carrying tiles past us under the tree cover, but they paid us no mind other than some smiles and waves. We were effectively alone.
“How did you get those scars?” I asked.
He froze, and when he looked up, the sour expression was now unfiltered rage. “None of your fucking business.”
“That’s fair. How about if you hear my theory before I throw your ass out of this place?”
He dropped the hide, hands clenching into fists, but I ignored it.
“You got those scars from one of the elites in Kassos. Probably some asshole who fancies himself a lord or count or whatever they call themselves up there. He saw your skill, recruited you, and wanted you to work for free. In my time we called that slavery, and you took offense, so he had something done to you.” I peered closer at the scars, then nodded. “Who put the beating on you?”
Danto was rigid with anger, but he managed to grind out a single word. “Faustas.”
“Ahh. New to me, but not for long, I think. Is Faustas some kind of enforcer for . . . ?” I let the question hang.
He was compelled to answer.
“Sipulvon.” He hawked and spat, his eyes flat with remembered anger.
“I’m not Sipulvon.” I waved around us. “Nobody here is anything like Sipulvon, or Faustas. Except for me.”
His eyes shot up to meet mine, and I nodded slowly.
“You’re no Faustas.”
“Oh, I know. But there’s a small part of me that is perfectly capable of that kind of violence. In fact, I’m built for it. Rebuilt, you might say. I’m not entirely human, and I can do things that would make Faustas shit his pants if he had any sense, but he doesn’t, and I do, and that’s why we’re building cities instead of ruling over a failing ruin. Do you understand, Danto?” I asked him, my tone level.
“I’m not your fucking dog.”
“And I don’t want you to be. I want you to be yourself, and I want you to run the sawmill so we can stop people like Faustas from ruining lives. You don’t have to like me. You don’t even have to respect me. But you do have to agree with what’s happening here,” I told him.
“Which is what? A labor camp for you and your whores?”
My fist connected with his jaw, knocking him flat. I lifted him up so that we were eye to eye. “You fucked up, friend. You can insult me, but as for them—” I shrugged, grinning. I wasn’t angry. I was making a point. That was the difference my ‘bots made. What would have started a fight merely ended one now, as my emotions were completely in check.
He glared at me but said nothing.
“I don’t give a shit if you approve of—well, anything. I don’t have time for your archaic bullshit. To repeat: I need your skill, and I can offer you something you want. Something no one else can give you.”
“What’s that?” he said, pulling away from me.
I let him go. He touched his jaw, but never took his eyes off me. That was good.
“I can give you Faustas, and eventually, Sipulvon. Hell, give me a list of the tyrannical assholes in Kassos, and we’ll get around to each and every one of them. See, Kassos isn’t going to last, not on my watch. Wetterick’s Outpost is first, but I’m going to dismantle their little kingdoms one at a time and replace them with something they need.”
“Another warlord?” he said, his voice rich with disgust.
“No. Freedom. Their place, their choice—within limits. Slavery is gone. Ogres won’t be kept, nor will humans, nor any other species I haven’t seen yet, and I don’t think I’ve even scratched the surface of this place. There won’t be women and children in chains, or men used as blade fodder, and the bandits that haunt the trading routes are in for the last terrible surprise of their lives. That’s what I’m going to bring them. You understand?”
He considered that, his face mulish but softening just a little. “I heard there was a massive logjam where you killed that hog. I need it.”
“The whole thing?” I asked.
“Every stick. I need access to a channel of water, too, and some hands to help. I also need to be left alone. I don’t like you, and I don’t like your—society.”
“You don’t have to. You’ll have what you need, starting tomorrow. You can access the solar trucks, too, as long as Lasser goes with you. If you get out of line with him, you’re through. Clear?” I asked.
He didn’t answer, but he nodded, and that would have to do.
8
That night, I lay next to Silk, telling her the details of Danto and what I thought was going to happen next.
“I think the time for another power source is now, not later, and we may as well consider a second site,” I told her. We were in bed, listening to a few people outside as they talked and planned for the coming day. The fire was still going, casting an occasional flicker through the two large windows on the front of our house. Andi and Mira were with the people, talking, bonding, and generally finding out how things were progressing. I was learning to delegate, and the results were excellent. My family was made up of exceptional people, and The Oasis belonged to them as well. It made sense that they should be seen as part of our leadership.
Silk dragged a finger over my chest, idly. “A second town? That’s what you mean, right?”
“It’s inevitable, but we don’t have people yet, and I’m not comfortable giving that kind of technology to someone who is unproven. I don’t want to build a network only to have us fall apart in warring city-states at the first disagreement. That’s bad for everyone, most of all whoever tries to seize power, because then we have to take them out.”
“There will always be someone who disagrees. The key is making everyone participate. If the people have a reason to care, they’ll take an active hand, and we can hold off warlords for a generation. Maybe two. But they will appear. It’s the nature of men. And women,” she added.
“Will you be a benevolent dictator?” I asked, laughing and rolling to face her. Her eyes were bright in the dim glow from outside.
“Naturally. You will come to love serving me, washing my feet and combing my hair as I carry on with world domination and—what was the term you used in the past, when I complained about the general lack of privacy we have for sex?”
“Empress, I believe,” I said, recalling our conversation. She’d been irritated that we could not find quiet time. Ever, it seemed.
“Perfect. Well, this empress—and Mira too, because she’s still shy about her body—will construct a—something. I’m not sure what, but—”
“A love palace?” I asked, helpfully.
She touched my nose with a fingertip. “Exactly. There will be a bed, and bath, and none of those,” she said, looking to the large windows with disgust.
“I’ll build it for you, though it seems like a terrible waste of resources just so you can get laid in peace.”
“Does this seem like a waste?” she asked, cupping my balls and pulling lightly with her fingertips. I felt the breath leave my body for an instant, like a spirit had passed through me. My natural reaction was instantaneous. Also, I began to caress her breasts because they were within range and I’m no fool. I waited 2000 years for that kind for that kind of opportunity, and I’d be damned if I wouldn’t take it whenever I could.
“I spoke to Danto today,” I said, trying to remain casual.
“Is that so?” Her hands never stopped moving.
“A hard man.”
“That makes two of you,” Silk said. I could hear the smile in her voice. Her touch grew firm, then light, then firm again.
“I got my point across, but he needs supervision and proper motivation, despite his wish to be left alone.”
“I’m a natural at supervision,” she purred. “I’ll see to it that he receives only the firmest of hands when it comes to keeping him in line.”
“I’m sure you will.” I kissed her then, because that was far more interesting than talking about some surly woodworker.
When we broke apart for air, her teeth were gleaming in a satisfied smile. Her hands slowed, but my fingers still flicked over her nipples, and then lower, earning a soft gasp. Maybe it was time to stop talking about problem employees. I slipped a thumb inside her and pushed it up and back, feeling the ridges of her innermost places. She bit my neck and flattened to me, her body soft and warm and writhing.
It didn’t take long for her to come, and she let it happen in a series of clenches around my fingers, now split and working in two places at once. When she finished, I felt the twitch of memory as her hand began moving again, bringing me back to a level of hardness that was almost painful.
“Be right back,” she said, lowering herself. A second later, her mouth slid down my shaft. Her tongue moved twice, then she pushed herself down until her nose touched my stomach.
I came hard and fast, with no apology or warning, and she let her mouth linger for a moment, sliding off me with a suction that was perfection itself.
“I hate making a mess,” she said, lying back down with a grin.
It took me a moment to speak. “I’m glad you’re such a cl
ean freak.”
“I am. It’s one of the things an empress must be, or so I’m told.”
“A third of my kingdom is yours,” I told her, and she laughed, turning to put her face on my upper arm. Her body was light, her hair spilling across the blanket in a tangle.
We stayed quiet, listening to each other breathe as the noise outside began to fade. People were going to bed, because the work was hard and the sun rose early. Not for the first time, I found a silver lining in the fallen world. The sun dictated how we lived—for now, until we had more lights, and cities.
I felt a pang of regret that I would rewire the world, but it was too dangerous for humanity to live in the dark all the time. There were monsters now, and if unchecked, they would tear the last person apart given the chance. My family and I would have to be the gatekeepers against that happening.
“I have something to ask you, and it requires thought,” I said.
“More thought than I usually give?” she asked. Silk was nothing if not careful, so she lifted herself to an elbow and watched me, waiting for the question.
“Do you want ‘bots?”
The question hung for a moment, then she nodded. “Yes.”
“Okay,” I said, and like that, it was done. I knew Mira would follow suit, and a subtle tension left my body as I realized I’d been thinking about the issue for some time. Since the moment Andi told me she had access to nanobot treatment at the Cache, probably.
“Do you want to know why I said yes?” she asked.
“I do.”
“Three reasons, in no order.” She held up a hand and began listing the reasons for her answer, tapping a finger for emphasis with each thought. “A longer life, and more chance to build something. More time with you and the girls.”
“That’s only two,” I reminded her.
“Oh, the third is easy.” She took me in her hand and began stroking again. “I’m not going to be done with you for a long time.”
9
Future Reshaped: A Post-Apocalyptic Harem (Future Reborn Book 3) Page 4