Vitalis Omnibus

by Jason Halstead

  “This ain’t solving our problems,” Klous interrupted.

  “There’s no solving our problems until we hear from the Terran Coalition,” Sharp said.

  “Could be another problem if Tarn led the spitters back to us,” Kira said.

  “We weren’t followed! Besides, I was carrying her ass most of the way!”

  Kira nodded. “Her naked ass. I’m impressed you made it back,” she gave him a sarcastic smile. “Besides, you’re on defense because you’re clumsy and loud. You’re lousy at hiding your tracks and I don’t know if I erased enough of your trail.”

  Tarn blew her a kiss.

  Sharp clapped his hands softly to get their attention. “Tarn, have your team keep their eyes open. Kira, get Elsa up to speed and find out if the spitters are headed our way. We’ll see about adding on to Treetown for the new folks. Is Eric free?”

  Kira nodded. “He will be first thing in the morning.”

  “Why not now?”

  “He’s going to be busy tonight. All night, unless I wear him out early.”

  Elsa’s eyes bulged at the implication of what Kira had in mind for Eric. She hadn’t met the man yet but it was now obvious the two were an item.

  Tarn chuckled and added, “You be sure and look me up if he can’t hang with you.”

  Kira’s response was a hand gesture that hadn’t changed for centuries.

  Chapter 3

  Kira walked up to where Elsa was sitting with what remained of her unit. The savage looking woman grinned at her when she couched down beside her. “Great thing about Vitalis isn’t just how fast people heal, but also how quick we can recover.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Get yourself a man and you’ll figure it out,” Kira said with a wink. Elsa’s cheeks reddened, she’d made the connection. “Forget the gun, it’s done in. Vitalis doesn’t care for things that don’t come from her.”

  “Her? You make it sound like Vitalis is a person.”

  Kira looked up at the towering trees around them, then across the shadowed forest around them. “You will to, after a while.”

  Elsa snorted.

  “Are you ready to come with me? Explaining it won’t do, but when you feel it, you’ll know.”

  “Feel what?”

  Kira stood and offered her hand to the Marine. “Feel the life.”

  Else took her hand and rose, her brow furrowed. Kira smiled. “We’ll meet Fiona out there, she’s due to be back in this morning.”

  “What about my team?” Else turned to look at the other four survivors. Jess had risen with her, prepared to accompany her.

  “Maybe later. First I’ll show you. We’re all one team here. One unit. Everybody works and everybody helps.”

  A cry of laughter caused the Marines to turn and look over the edge of the decking they were on. Far below, playing in an area that had been cleared free of small trees and underbrush, four children were playing. Sasha and another woman were with them.

  “I thought you’d only been here three years? I don’t remember any children with the researchers.” Elsa scrutinized the kids playing, the smallest was a toddler, the others were old enough to be in school.

  “Heal faster, recover faster, and grow faster,” Kira said. “Kelsey’s the oldest, he’s Klous and Sasha’s son. A year here is a little shorter than a Terran Standard year, but we’ve been keeping track using the TS.”

  “He looks like he’s six of seven!”

  Kira shrugged. “He’s the first human born on Vitalis. Everything is big here, maybe he’ll end up growing large enough that we’ll have to be careful he doesn’t step on us.”

  “You’re kidding, right?”

  Jess broke in when Kira only offered a smile. “I’ve checked them out and everything seems normal. No abnormalities with their bones or anything. They might be a little larger than normal but they’re not going to be giants.”

  “Oh…still, that’s amazing.”

  “This is an amazing place,” Jess confirmed.

  Don’t let the beauty fool you,” Kira’s tone turned serious. “Everything out there wants to kill you. Captain Sharp wasn’t joking around.”

  “Be careful out there, okay?”

  Elsa turned to the medic and nodded. “I seen enough last time to know better than to take it for granted. I’ll be fine.”

  Jess turned to Kira. “I’ve heard plenty about you. You’re going to try to scare the shit out of her and save her at the last second. Just make sure you bring her back or you’ll have more to deal with than you think.”

  “Is that a threat?” Kira’s face had frozen into a partial smile. Her eyes narrowed as she spoke to the Marine medic.

  One of the other Marines looked up from where he’d been tinkering with his FIST armor. “Doc’s just given some friendly advice is all. Maybe this planet is a nasty place but have you ever seen what a squad of pissed off Marines can do?”

  “Settle down Strum, I’ll be fine. I’ll even make sure I bring Miss Kira here back in one piece, okay?” Elsa said.

  The tension among the marines dropped immediately. A few even offered smiles. Jess offered Elsa an all knowing stare, then shrugged. “All right, have fun ladies.”

  “Thanks Mom,” Kira said, rolling her eyes. “Come on, we’ll stop and pick you up some weapons.”

  “Oh goody, toys!”

  Kira chuckled. “Toys you’ve probably never imagined you’d be forced to use.”

  Kira led across three bridges between trees until they came to one that was centrally located. A hollowed out section in the massive trunk served as their armory. It contained numerous spears, axes, and bows. “Stone age weapons?”

  Kira chuckled. “We haven’t gotten into any mining yet, sorry.”

  “You don’t even have any knives made out of broken ship parts?”

  “Where’s your V-bar at?”

  Elsa scowled. “Blade snapped last night when I tried to jam it into the tree.”

  “V-bar’s supposed to be one of the most rugged and versatile knives in the universe, isn’t it?”

  “Okay, I get it! Shit breaks here. What makes this caveman stuff so much better?”

  “It comes from Vitalis, it started out stronger.” Kira appraised Elsa then turned and grabbed a bow that leaned against the wall and a sack filled with several arrows. She handed them to the Marine then selected two long pieces of string and handed those to her as well. “Grab a spear and follow me,” she ordered.

  Elsa watched her walk out and head back across a bridge. She shook her head and grabbed one of the spears then hurried after Kira. She caught up when the long legged woman was nearly halfway across the second bridge. “Now what?” Elsa asked.

  “I needed my gear,” Kira said. She walked into the hollow in the tree she and Eric shared, pushing aside a skin that served as a door. Elsa followed her in without bothering to ask permission.

  “Oh! Hi! I thought you’d be working on the new additions,” Kira said. Elsa looked up in surprise and saw a short but otherwise very fit looking man sitting on the primitive bed. He looked up at Kira, then yawned.

  “After last night’s workout?” Eric said when his yawn finished. He noticed Elsa behind her and waved. “Sorry, I didn’t expect company.”

  Elsa followed his body down and realized he was naked. Not only naked, but it was obvious that not everything was proportional to his height. Kira laughed, drawing a blush from the off balance Marine. “Put that monster away baby, you’ve got a long day ahead of you. I know of four Marines that could probably use some busy work too.”

  Eric’s cheeks, when Elsa managed to drag her eyes back up to them, were just as red as she imagined hers were. He reached over and grabbed a pair of shorts sewn out of hide and pulled them on. “Shouldn’t you be off wrestling dinosaurs or something?”

  Kira nodded. “I am, but I stopped back by to grab my stuff and change.”

  “Change?” Elsa blurted out. After all the shit Kira’d been talking about
armor and weapons being useless now she was putting some on?

  “Mind if I stay and watch?”

  “Only if you don’t mind being late for work and being worn out all over again,” Kira said with a wink.

  “The sacrifices I make,” Eric muttered. He stood up and gave Kira a kiss that left Elsa wishing she was somewhere else. When they parted Kira swatted him on the ass on his way out the door.

  Before the tarp had swung closed Kira untied her vest and tossed it on a small pile of hide clothing. Elsa watched, not out of interest but because she wanted to call the woman out for making herself sound like such a badass. Kira untied her skirt and added it to the pile, paying no attention to Elsa whatsoever.

  Whether Kira was lying or not, she had to admit the woman looked incredible. Her body was similar to Tarn’s – something that belonged on a statue being worshipped by primitive cultures. Everyone she’d seen on Vitalis was in incredible shape but Tarn and Kira were something else entirely.

  Sasha, Elsa remembered, possessed an almost unnatural beauty to her. She wasn’t fat by any means, but the curves on her body reminded Elsa of someone surgically enhanced to work in the adult entertainment industry on one of the outer worlds. Kira was the opposite. She was lean and small breasted, but muscular enough to wrestle one of the screechers that had given her such a hard time.

  Elsa shook her head. Kira was lean and looked powerful, but the Marine reminded herself that the huntress couldn’t compete with her. Not only did she have Marine training but she’d also had genetic manipulation to increase her muscle density and efficiency. Life on Vitalis probably meant she’d be leaning out and looking a lot like Kira.

  “All right, let’s go.”

  Elsa snapped her attention on Kira. “What? You want to go out hunting like that! I’m having a hard time knowing I don’t have any underwear on beneath this skirt!”

  Kira grinned. She wore a short loin cloth and nothing else save for a pair of moccasins. “I left my power armor on my other planet.”

  “Power armor?” Elsa shook her head. “Look, I know you’re trying to impress me but I’ve seen the fucking monsters out there! I fought things that would have ripped me into tiny pieces without my armor, you can’t just shake your boobies at them and hope they leave you alone!”

  Kira laughed. “I can’t think of anything shaking my boobies at would work on. It would just draw more attention. This isn’t to impress you or scare you. This is because clothing makes noise and retains smells. When I’m head out deep I wear nothing. We’re not going that far.”

  “Nothing? Not even your shoes?”

  “Just my weapons.” Kira grabbed a short spear with rope tied around it like Tarn’s. She slipped it over her head so it was slung across her back. She grabbed an unstrung bow next, then fitted a string over one end of it so it was loose and attached the other end to the bottom of the bow. “Pay attention.”

  Elsa watched Kira slip one of the bow over her foot, then she slid her long leg between the string and the wood, then used her leg and arm to arch the bow while her other hand slid the string up until it fit in a notch at the end of it. She stepped out of it and held it up for Elsa to see. “You’re turn.”

  Else struggled but, after a few failed attempts, managed to string her bow. She expected Kira to be laughing at her when she looked up but the woman offered her a nod and a brief smile. “Come on,” Kira said. “Like I said, we’re not doing much today, just some practice and basic knowledge.”

  “But you’re still mostly naked,” Elsa pointed out.

  “Does that bother you?” Kira was halfway through the door, her hand holding open the hide. She turned to face her, the makeshift door still open. “Or does it excite you? I’ve heard about Marines that spent a long time with nothing but their platoons. Long deployments that last years can make for some lonely nights.”

  Elsa’s eyes bulged at the blatant implication.

  Kira smiled. “Look, if you like women that’s fine, I don’t care. I’ve got Eric and he does me right any time and every time, so you’ll have to keep looking.”

  “No! That’s not—”

  Kira held up her hand. “You’re already feeling Vitalis in you. I know, believe me. It’s been years but I remember it and I still feel it. We all do. It’s amazing, what this place does to you. It makes you feel alive like you’ve never felt before. And that means sex too. You’ll be more aware of it and more interested in it. Just wait, it’ll get better and better for you. I’m envious of those kids, I can only imagine what it would be like to have been born here.”

  “You really like this miserable planet, don’t you?”

  Kira nodded. “I do. I love it. Vitalis gave me a second chance. Before this place my life was a fucking mess. I’ll tell you about it sometime, but not now. We’ve got to meet Fiona first.”

  Elsa nodded. She hadn’t even decided if she liked Kira yet and now she had to go and meet another one. Fiona, she remembered, had been one of the Marines on garrison duty with the research station. Maybe another Marine could help her come to terms with the place.

  She followed the nearly naked woman out into the early morning, wondering what would try to kill her today.

  Chapter 4

  It looked like Kira was the one trying to kill her. They’d marched through the jungle for hours. Elsa felt she should be exhausted but her body kept responding when she asked for more. Kira set a brutal pace the prevented her from talking even if she’d known what to say to the strange huntress.

  The other thing that amazed Elsa was how Kira moved. She watched her whenever she could, marveling at the way the woman’s muscles rippled under her tanned skin. Sunlight seldom broke through the forest and many of the other residents of Treetown had been pale because of it. Not Kira, she was as bronzed as a primal goddess should be.

  Kira didn’t just move like a force of nature, she was as stealthy of the most cunning of jungle predators. For all the speed her long legged strides made through the forest Elsa strained to her a single noise caused by her. Her feet never once scuffed a rock or broke a stick. Her hands and body never brushed against a tree or leaf. Even her breathing seemed steady, smooth, and without noise.

  So caught up in watching Kira was she, Elsa gasped aloud when they broke through the jungle to a beach so brilliant it sent a bolt of agony between her eyes. Kira turned to glare at her, then motioned for her to continue. Elsa hurried after, feeling the hot sand as her moccasins kicked it up to spray against her legs.

  The mid day sun was high in the sky beating down upon them. After Kira had walked more than half the distance to the shore she stopped and took her moccasins off. Elsa caught up to her and gazed in amazement as Kira slipped her loin cloth over her hips. She set both on the white sand and motioned for Elsa.

  “What are we doing?” Elsa was in no rush to stand naked on the beach. She turned and looked up and down it, squinting against the bright light that reflected off the beautiful sand. “We can’t be alone out here.”

  Kira grinned. “There are less than fifty humans on the planet. They’re all back at Treetown except for you, me, and Fiona.”

  “So where’s Fiona? I thought we were meeting her.”

  “So did I, but she’s not here yet.”

  “Okay, so why are you naked now? Change your mind?”

  “I figured I’d take a swim since we’re waiting for Fiona. It’ll help you too, come on.”

  Elsa frowned. “I had to cross some deep rivers filled with some very scary fish.”

  “There’s bigger and nastier fish out there,” Kira confirmed her worst fears. “Some scary things near the shore too, but you’ll never learn what they are unless you let me show you.”

  Elsa swore and Kira laughed. “Come on,” the huntress urged, “it’s going to take a lot of walks to burn that baby fat off of you.”

  Elsa’s jaw dropped. “What baby fat!” Her eyes went to Kira’s body. She scowled. She’d show this primitive bitch! She yanked her shirt
up and over her head then pushed her skirt down. She fell over trying to take off her shoes, which only made Kira laugh.

  “Come on,” Kira said, holding out her hand. Elsa glared at her but took the offering and rose up. “Ever been skinny dipping before?”

  “Skinny dipping?”

  “Yeah, it means swimming without any clothes on.”

  “I’ve never heard that before,” Elsa admitted.

  “It’s an old Earth term. I don’t remember where I heard it, but that’s not surprising since I’ve lived two lives.”

  “Two lives? What are you talking about?”

  Kira smiled. “I’ll tell you later. Come on, let’s hit the waves.”

  Elsa glanced at her pile of clothing and then the line where the sand met the jungle. Seeing nothing, she shrugged and walked after Kira, grimacing at the hot powdery sand beneath her feet. “Shit, this burns!”

  “You’ll adapt,” Kira said over her shoulder.

  “You mean to tell me this doesn’t burn your feet?”

  Kira stopped and lifted up one leg. Showing balance reserved for a near zero-g ballet dancer she stretched her foot out in Elsa’s direction. Her skin looked smooth and without a hint of red to it. Elsa reached out and grabbed it, feeling the warmth that radiated from it. “Ha, it’s hot!”

  “But it doesn’t bother me. It did at first. I got used to it. Vitalis took care of it. Now either start rubbing or let go. I suggest you let go.”

  Elsa let go. A foot rub did sound nice, but she preferred to be on the receiving end. “I never figured a scary bitch like you to be into foot rubs.”

  Kira chuckled. “My feet are ticklish too. Both the rubbing and the tickling gets me going and you said you weren’t into girls.”

  Elsa’s jaw dropped again at her guide’s blunt behavior. “You’re too much!”

  Kira nodded. “Just wait, you’ll understand soon enough. Come on, into the water with you. Follow me though; some of those rocks aren’t rocks.”

  Elsa stared at the rocks in the water. They looked normal enough to her. Dark grey and shiny with the water from the small waves that broke over them. “If they’re not rocks, what are they?”