Sarai

by Jarli Grey

  “I see.” Jamie said, “Because were a sort of universal genetic donor, like blood type O positive on Earth?”

  Asfer grinned. “Yes…your male, your female, your transgender sexes — all these can give us new life. Humans are a great gift to us from the Goddess.”

  Jamie snorted. “Sure we are.”

  He found it hard to think of his own kind as the saviors of anyone, but the Naferi and the other species he’d meet seemed to have some pretty rosy views of mankind, even allowing for what they were learning of humans through the internet — something he knew was the subject of a great deal of study by Naferi and other PanGal researchers.

  He sighed audibly. He still hadn’t convinced any of them that only women could carry children. It just seemed so downright stubborn of them not to accept that human males couldn’t carry children. They either ignored him or looked at him very oddly.

  While it was true, as Eled had tactlessly remarked one night, that he was putting on a little bit of weight, it was only because the pard refused to let him do more than a little light exercise, a gentle walk here or there. They wouldn’t even take him flying on their maffen, which to his delight he’d found were gigantic horse-like creatures with wings. And fangs, great big fangs…

  They rocked badass wicked sick.

  And he wasn’t allowed anywhere near them.

  He was so busy brooding about this that he missed Asfer’s next comment and raised his eyebrows inquiringly.

  “You’ve made great progress with this, Jamie,” Asfer repeated. “Some of my students are gathering at my house tomorrow to celebrate the end of the academic term. Would you like to come along? If your Sarat approves, of course.”

  He really wasn’t interested, but that last little comment tweaked his pride. As if he cared whether Alekyn approved or not…anyway, his arsehole master was away, been called to a meeting with his commanding officer on a lunar battlestation.

  “Sure,” he said brightly, ignoring the twinge somewhere in the region of his heart when he thought of Alekyn. “What time and where?”

  _______________________________________

  THE STREETS NEAR THE ADDRESS Jamie had been given seemed unusually busy and full of people.

  “Looks like some sort of festival,” he remarked as they were jostled by the crowd. He glanced up at Eled, who looked distinctly ill at ease. “Something wrong?”

  “I’m not sure.” He nodded towards a banner. “That’s a symbol of Nemta, the moon goddess. I didn’t realise this part of the city was so…religious.”

  Jamie studied a couple of Naferi who were laughing. He had a feeling they were laughing at him but he had no idea why. “How much further is it to Asfer’s place?”

  “We should almost be there,” the puzzlement on Eled’s face grew. “The guide on my communicator says it should be just around this corner.”

  “Okay then, let’s — ”

  A sudden loud noise obliterated his words. Eled jumped, his hand reaching for his stunner. “What the hells! Jamie, I don’t like this!”

  “Chill, it’s just firecrackers…maybe it’s something to do with the festival.”

  “The devotees of Nemta aren’t renowned for exuberant expressions of fervor, Jamie. They’re more, you know, brooding and dark.”

  “Seriously?” Jamie looked up at him incredulously. “These people can’t be Nemta’s followers then “cos they look pretty happy to me …”

  Eled started to say something, but a peculiar expression spread across his face. His eyes suddenly rolled back in their sockets and as Jamie gaped at him he crumpled up, collapsing onto his knees. Jamie instinctively reached for him, but the crowd surged around them, separating them. Jamie’s arm was grasped in a vice-like grip and he was pulled around and completely away from Eled. At the same time someone let off a cracker near them and smoke filled the air. Jamie’s eyes began watering and he started coughing; more bodies blocked his way.

  “What the hell!” He wrestled vigorously against the iron-hard hands holding him and lashed out with a roundhouse kick. Someone yelped and then a gag was pushed into his mouth and a bag of some sort was dropped over his face and pulled tight from behind. At the same time, two large bodies pressed against him on either side, lifting him off his feet and bundling him forward despite his struggles.

  Chapter Eight

  IT HAD HAPPENED SO QUICKLY in the chaos and confusion generated by the swirling, noisy crowd he knew no-one could have seen what had happened. He didn’t know how long he was pulled along, but eventually a door slammed open and he was lifted and carted up a flight of stairs. His struggles earned him a slap or two, but nothing harsher. It was as if his captors didn’t want to harm him, but weren’t too keen on him fighting them. The two people who’d hustled him away loosened the ties on his hood and pushed him forward, shoving him into the room with some force. He staggered, but stayed upright. Pulling the sodden gag from his mouth he immediately started yelling and thumping on the locked door.

  After ten minutes or so he realised no-one was listening and made himself calm down. He looked around. The room was small, but clean and tidy. A bed, a small table on which rested a carafe of water and a glass — he wondered if it was drugged. He was thirsty but wanted to keep himself as alert as possible. A high narrow window lined with a grill offered no potential for escape. Another door led to a small bathroom, again tidy and clean but offering little opportunity to create any sort of useable weapon.

  He stared at the single chair tucked up against the table, wondering if he could break it into pieces and use its legs as a club. Probably not unless…he eyed the door speculatively. If it opened inwards, he could hide behind it and hit someone coming in. Would his captors expect something like that or would they assume that as a sarai he would be too intimidated to risk escape? One good hit would give him time to get away.

  He sighed. Who the hell was he kidding? He’d have to escape through the building and he had no idea of its layout. Two minutes and he’d be caught. And if he did manage to get outside, he had no idea where the hell he was anyway.

  No, he’d have to be really clever about this. If he was going to take a chance, he had to make sure all the odds were stacked in his favour. That meant learning a bit more about who had taken him and why.

  He stared at the bed…it was single-sized, almost a child’s bed. Huh. He wondered whether his kidnappers knew how big he was or whether he’d simply been dumped in a small holding pen before he was shifted elsewhere. That thought was a bit scary.

  All he could do at this point, he realised, was hope that Eled was okay. God knew what had been done to him, but he’d gone down as if he’d been poleaxed. Probably some sort of drug - Jamie hoped like hell that whatever they’d used on Eled hadn’t been toxic and that he was all right.

  _________________________________

  A COUPLE OF HOURS dragged past. Jamie stared at the window, at the walls, at the bolted shut door. He sat on the edge of the small bed, its meagre pillows bunched up next to him. His thoughts spun and twisted with all sorts of scenarios. Why had he been taken? Obviously by someone who wanted a human — he remembered Alekyn saying that some Naferi would want to steal him, but he’d discounted that as an exaggeration at the time.

  Now he wasn’t so sure.

  The question was, though, now that they, whoever they were, had him, what was going to happen next?

  The sound of the door being unlocked had him springing to his feet, fists clenched. Two hooded figures entered the room.

  “Who the hell are you?” he demanded aggressively. “Where am I? You’d better return me to my Sarat.”

  One of the tall figures sniggered. “Your Sarat means nothing to us. We serve a higher purpose, little human - as do you.”

  “Oh yeah, and what’s that?” Jamie didn’t expect them to answer him, so the response that came momentarily rocked him.

  “You are the manifestation of our future,” the Naferi nearest to him removed his hood, revealing l
ong dark hair and smooth golden skin. Narrow silver eyes studied him dispassionately, like a leopard calmly evaluating the prey he was about to slaughter. “The Goddess Nemta has decreed you will be the first.”

  “The first what?” He wasn’t sure he wanted to hear the answer, and when it came he was pretty sure that had been a good instinct on his part.

  The Naferi smiled thinly, “The first of the Patriarch’s harem of human sarai.”

  Jamie stepped backwards, feeling the color drain from his face. “I don’t understand,” he said desperately. “Who is the Patriarch and why does he want a harem of human sarai?”

  The first Naferi - the one who’d sniggered - cocked his head to one side and smiled in a way that made the hair on the back of Jamie’s neck rise. “Syfern is the Patriarch of the Goddess Nemta. He is first Among-We-Who-Believe and you will be his first human. He will have many offspring with his human sarai, as will we who also follow Nemta, who is the way and the light. And your children will be the first. Is that not a good thing, little human?”

  He was serious, Jamie realised, his heart sinking. He’d thought Alekyn and Tiff and the pardmates had been deluded about human males bearing them children, but it seemed all Naferi believed the same thing. And these godbotherers were deluded enough to hurt, maybe kill, Eled and kidnap him just so they could turn him over to their religious leader …

  His back connected with the wall behind him. Nowhere to run, he realised numbly. The Naferi strode forward, grabbing his arms. A quick twist and the bands at his wrists were connected together. Then he was pulled from the room, and marched down narrow stairs and outside.

  A small nondescript hovercraft was waiting for them. The Naferi holding him lifted him inside, pushing him down into a seat and strapping a seat belt across his front. The snick of the clip as the belt buckle connected sounded like the chambering of a bullet to Jamie, and he had to fight to remain calm.

  He tried to peer out the windows as the hovercraft sped along. It was late evening or early morning; there were lights here and there, but he couldn’t pick out any landmarks, not that he knew that many anyway.

  The flight seemed endless, and he could feel exhaustion replacing his stressed alertness. His head was beginning to droop onto his chest when finally the hovercraft went into a holding pattern and then slowly circled what must be a landing strip somewhere.

  The engines were turned off and the Naferi unbuckled themselves from their seats and rose to move to Jamie’s seat, one standing back as the other loosened Jamie and hauled him to his feet in an ungentle grasp.

  Wherever they were going, they’d arrived.

  __________________________________

  “THE PUNCTURE WOUND IS in his thigh,” Tig’s face was grim. “Some sort of paralyzing drug, but the healers have no idea what it is so it’s probably from off-world.”

  “Gods damn it,” Alekyn hated seeing his pardmate lying so still. “Will he be all right?”

  “The healers think so,” Bram said from his seat at his brother’s side. “His vitals are good; his organs are not failing, but the depth of his unconsciousness is worrying. Our parents are on their way.”

  Alekyn rested his head in his hands, groaning. The last few hours had been unbelievably stressful. He and Tig had been on duty at a Luna Station 3, a space port on one of Naferis’ twin moons. When news of Jamie’s kidnap and Eled’s comatose state reached them, they’d immediately travelled through the nearest void rather than wasting time flying back by shuttle, reaching Altas two hours after Eled had been found in a suburban street on the far side of the city from their home in the early hours of the morning.

  And now Jamie, his beautiful, frustrating and annoying sarai, was missing.

  But not for long.

  ________________________________

  SYFERN, JAMIE DECIDEDd waspishly, was completely demented and deluded. When Caris, the dark-haired Naferi who helped kidnap him, had escorted him into the great man’s presence, Syfern had bounded across the room, arms wide open as if greeting an old friend.

  “Ah, my beloved sarai, it is so good to see you.”

  Jamie stared at him in amazement. “I think you’re confusing me with someone else,” he spat. “I’m not your sarai — I’m the sarai of Alekyn of Clan Furis.”

  Syfern flicked his hand as if shooing away a fly. “A mere bagatelle,” he chortled. “He has not bonded with you officially so his mating of you is not insurmountable.”

  He leant forward sniffing the air around Jamie’s neck. For a moment his mouth trembled open, and then his gleaming yellow eyes narrowed lasciviously. “Of course I can smell his offspring within you but that is no matter — I will raise the pardling as my own and you will soon bear me many others to compensate for your…unfaithfulness.”

  Jamie tried to back away. “Shut up, you old goat,” he snarled, trying to ignore the “offspring within” bit. “If you think you’re going to do anything to me, you’ve got another thing coming.”

  Syfern roared with delighted laughter, and then chucked Jamie under his chin. Jamie glared at him, speechless with rage.

  “Caris, is my little human not wonderful? So much more attractive than those water-loving Lyrians. Oh Goddess,” he said admiringly. “I cannot wait to taste his charms.”

  He rubbed his hands together and Jamie shuddered, imaging those same hands pawing at his body.

  Caris bent his head, his gaze on the floor. “Yes, my lord. The Goddess has blessed you. And all of us.”

  The last few words sounded a little strained to Jamie, but that was probably, he realised, because he’d managed to kick Caris very hard in the balls as he’d hauled him out of the hovercraft.

  “Yes, yes, she has,” agreed Syfern. “Now I think we should make haste to the great Temple where the faithful have gathered for our bonding ceremony. My love — ” he chucked Jamie under the chin again, ignoring his flinch. “I realize you are tired, but you can rest on the way. Caris, get him onboard my shuttle.”

  He was herded back up to the roof. This time a considerably larger and more ornate craft was waiting for them. Inside he was strapped again into his seat, his hands still locked together. Syfern sat next to him, his large body pressed nauseatingly close. Caris disappeared into the cockpit and shortly afterwards, the resting hum of the shuttle switched into a higher gear.

  Jamie felt sick as he felt the craft rise. Where the hell was he being taken? He leaned as far from Syfern as the seat belt would let him, but the wretched man simply put his arm around Jamie’s shoulders and smooshed him close.

  “Stop that, you disgusting pervert,” Jamie jabbed his elbow hard into Syfern’s abdomen.

  Syfern grunted, his eyes slightly crossed. “My sarai, you must show more respect,” he admonished. “But no matter, my little humanling, the Goddess has gifted us with a wonderful elixir and so you will soon adore me as you should — ”

  Jamie snarled at him. “Let me go!”

  Syfern just hugged him closer, a hand sliding down Jamie’s leg. Jamie was just thanking his lucky stars that his long overtunic was topping tight trousers and it would take considerable maneuvering for Syfern’s wandering hands to find his private bits when a loud jolt sounded against one side of the ship. A long, sharp whine of metal crunching filled their ears.

  “What the — ” Syfern looked confused, and relaxed his grasp slightly. “Did we hit a maffen?”

  A confusion of discordant noises came from the cockpit and several alarms started sounding, bright red lights flashing. Syfern hauled Jamie closer. “Do not fear, my beautiful one, I will keep you safe.”

  “Yeah, right. Let go of me, you ass, before I bite you.”

  The shuttle seemed to stop moving in midair, then it started to turn in one spot, first one way, then the other.

  Oh shit, thought Jamie, were going down. We going to crash. This is it, the end. No more popcorn.

  A pang of regret stabbed at his heart — for himself, for not being able to see his brothers again bu
t more than anything else, the biggest source of his pain was that he had not made things up with Alekyn. He was going to die and he hadn’t told Alekyn that he …

  Damn it.

  He was never going to be able to tell that stupid lump of a Naferi that he loved him.

  The shuttle was began spinning in space. Syfern started to roar but over the wail of the claxons Jamie couldn’t tell what he was saying. It was probably, he decided with a part of his mind that wasn’t focused on regret and fear, a prayer to his stupid goddess. He hoped profoundly that if she did exist, Nemta would give her bloody chief priest a boot up the bottom.

  Suddenly an explosion near the rear of the shuttle rocked his body forward in the straps, bouncing him back against the seat and turning his vision white.

  Then everything went quiet. The sudden cessation of noise left him reeling even more; his head felt heavy and almost disconnected from his body. Some sort of sensory overload, he decided, and dragged his gaze around to where Syfern, now on his feet, was fighting…what the hell?…Alekyn. Behind him, Tig was trying to grab his infuriated pardmate, while behind Syfern, Jamie could see Caris looming, fangs bared and dripping. The other Naferi who’d helped kidnap him was lying awkwardly over one of the seats, unconscious, blood trickling from his mouth.

  Caris? Jamie shook his head uncomprehendingly as those fangs sank into Syfern’s neck and the Patriarch, much like Eled earlier, crumpled to the ground, the look of disbelief on his face so comical that Jamie found himself laughing hysterically

  ________________________________

  “I STILL DON’T UNDERSTAND,” Jamie’s brow wrinkled adorably. “Caris was a spy?”