by Marcus Sloss
Jevon turned to wave us over. Ralph gave me a toothy alien smile with rows of molars and canines. The Certhian waved a slow hand, mimicking Jevon. The group seemed very happy for a post-battle prisoner exchange.
Before I reached them, Eddy ran over for a word. His expression was a mix of sadness and anger.
“Hey Eddy, good to see you,” I said.
“Yeah, I wish I could say the same,” he sighed. “The missus wants to go to Colorado Springs. I want to go to Mount Moran. I am just giving you a heads up, in case I lose the fight. Her and some wives were wanting to reach out to that city to check on their status as potential relocation places,” Eddy muttered a frown. “I told her not to be rash, but she is in tizzy.”
“Well, I can’t blame her. Allocate a convoy to Colorado Springs and establish a friendly relationship. That’s something we should have done a while ago, actually.” I scratched at the back of my neck. “Hey, Eddy, just something to consider ... people can live in wherever they want until they see how the Moran settlement turns out. The design might be a utopia unsurpassed by anything less than a cloud city, or it could be a dumpy cavern that makes you want to kill yourself. My point is, I have no issues with you getting more information before making such a big decision.”
Eddy grimaced and gave a terse nod. “Aye, well said Cap. I will get that convoy moving and report back with the results.”
“Thanks, Eddy,” I said, patting his shoulder before stepping off for Jevon and the gang.
When Eddy was out of earshot, Perci cleared her throat and gave me a meek, guilty shrug.
“So… I’m not perfect. He will be staying; I have satellite imagery of Colorado Springs,” Perci said sadly. I paused our walk again. She knew something, so I rolled my wrist, encouraging her to spill the beans. “They are mostly dead or captured. There were a lot of people there, Eric. A lot.” Perci buried her face in her hands. “At the end of the last blue gate, there was a battle against these three-foot-tall amphibian creatures. The aliens tunneled under their defenses, from the looks of the video feeds I have seen. A few hundred cowered in hiding, trying to avoid the conflict and somehow managed to survive.” She looked back up with tears in her eyes. “I found out when mom arrived with her data update and meant to see if they needed help. Sending that message out slipped through the cracks. I am sure the survivors are going to have more to report. It’s probably best we help those who managed to escape death or enslavement.”
“Wow, um… okay. Eddy will probably end up rescuing them,” I said with a frown. “This is why you need your own squire or something. Even your mom has some underlings she pushes excess work onto.”
“I was planning on using the Mounamine you filled with babies for my staff, but you haven’t done that.” She poked me in the ribs, “and you stole the best one.”
Ow! Damn, if her little pokey finger didn’t jab me in the kidney.
“I may use that Dorthy girl, she was my second pick,” Perci said with a long sigh.
My hands went on her shoulders and our eyes locked. “You’re not a robot. We’re going through a lot. Try to fix what you can, and we will get through this together. Eddy’s convoy will get us all the information we need. Hopefully, we can save those people.” I pulled her close and snuggled her into my chest. “I love you, my forever girl.”
Our side chat had kept the others waiting, so I sneaked a peck of a kiss to her forehead and guided us towards the diplomacy crowd.
“Eric, this is Toth, Toth, this our fearless leader, Eric” Jevon said bouncing gestures between us to complete the introduction.
“Welcome to Earth, and the Bastion territory. I sent Ralph here to request a prisoner exchange. He mentioned the Kerbians over there were worth more alive than dead,” I said thumbing at the fifteen prisoners watching our talks.
“Well met Eric. I represent the Koovorin Nation that asserts responsibility for these beings. We are not here to apologize for our ways, merely to offer two things. A trade, most certainly, and a visit, secondarily,” Toth said politely. His words were just a touch slower than normal. I held in my reaction when his eyes drifted apart. One remained on me, one checked out the Kerbians to his right, and the last stayed on Ralph, out his left. None lost their focus either. Odd. He slowly smiled, “We are accepting immigrant factions at the moment.”
“And random strays?” I asked. “We have some people seeking new accommodations and some servants whose contracts will be ending soon.”
“Well, that could be arranged … but we require a year of rent in advance as well as guarantees you have the ability to contribute to our economy in some way. Factions tend to help provide for their own in hard times; the Koovorin Council does not provide a social safety net. Those who fail to sustain themselves and contribute to the greater good, get tossed out or are required to enter into contracts,” Toth said with a frown. “Still, we have a dozen megacities currently connected together and many have open space and are ready for expansion.”
“Sounds great, I would love a tour with some assurances,” I said earnestly. “Never been to a megacity before.”
“The Kerbians first. I can offer you one Fairy for all of them. Honestly, I am not sure why the faction leader wants these soldiers but he does. A single Fairy is -”
“A very fitting trade. Done. That was easy,” I said and Perci rolled her eyes at my excitement. “My Sluggeros mentioned you had some kind of a competition?”
Granted, even though I was new to dealing with aliens, I should not have mentioned the Sluggeros. Linda Growlen buried her face in her hands. Jevon let a slight chuckle escape at this evidence of her frustration. If anyone understood the pains of dealing with my limited negotiating skill, it was Jevon.
“You’ve such a blunt hammer, Eric, you brute. When you negotiate, you are first supposed to put some pressure on Toth, be angry about your dead, demand retributions or some such,” Linda said, tossing her hands up in the air. “And another thing, don't give your secrets to your enemies.”
“We’re not enemies with the Koovorin Nation, are we Toth?” I asked.
The sloth shifted his eyes awkwardly from Linda to me.
“No, your defeat of the Kerbian raiders has forced them to consider easier targets. Our main armies are for primarily defense. The faction that represents our raiders … well, trust me, no one wants to bear the cost of crashing through onto your planet again,” Toth admitted with a slow shrug. “I will return with word of this acceptance. A safety contract will be drawn up that your Sluggeros can attest to and we will meet again. Say … tomorrow at the same time?”
“Absolutely,” I smiled. “One Fairy for fifteen Kerbians, with the potential for further trade tomorrow. Bring a list of what you have available, I will have zinc on hand,” I summarized.
He slowly nodded.
“Oh and you have no objection to us keeping these Jevians?”
Toth shook his head. “They surrendered quickly and Ralph said you offered them a great deal. We can respect that. They are easily replaced and the cost of their replacement is probably cheaper on the open market. See you tomorrow, Eric.”
Toth walked for a tracked vehicle that waited on the far side of the plaza. When his door hissed shut, they ground their way towards the gate.
“You would willingly trust an enemy?” Linda said with a scoff.
I gave her my full attention. “Mrs. Growlen, please let me make something clear.” I pointed to the retreating tracked vehicle. “That is not a Human. We are not in the swamp that was DC, where politicking equated to backstabbing. He literally started off by refusing to apologize for trying to kill us. There was an open honesty in what Toth said. The thing I see, that others apparently refuse to, is that this is our new reality. There will always be conflict and the need for trade. I believed Ralph, and now I believe Toth: there are millions of aliens living in some form of harmony on the other side of that portal. If I can be given assurances, I want to see what that is like, in the hopes of building som
ething similar, if not better, here.”
“You at least realize that one of those hideous Kerbians is more valuable than a regular prisoner?” Linda said with folded arms and a scowl.
“Of course, we are getting an expensive Fairy in exchange and I don’t have to kill the lot of them. Now, Linda, you look too much like Perci to be hanging around here; you and Ryan go find me some loot to raid. And Linda,” I said with a pause.
“Yes, Eric?”
“Thank you for your candor. I appreciate the honest feedback,” I said.
Perci slugged me on my arm.
“Ouch! I’m not in armor my little, enhanced virum lover,” I scowled down at her.
Perci whistled something tuneless while artlessly inspecting the raining clouds in the distance, as if nothing transpired. Eventually, though, she smirked without apologizing for slugging me for saying her mom looked like her.
Longoria crunched over the rubble-strewn asphalt when she arrived in Jevon’s truck. Score! I loved this vehicle. We had a day to kill until the next big event, assuming some aliens didn’t decide to crash the party.
There was obviously only one thing to do with a peace somewhat settled: go visit the Gribin forest through the northern portal on Xgate 232 and see what they wanted for their plants, seeds, and animals. I hoped we could find some good baby trees or something. But first, we would need to get back into our acrium armor and properly geared up. I was excited to do a bit of Vikingism, even if it was in a friendly way. Maybe it would be wise to bring a gift. I wondered what we could afford to give away. I decided a yexin should do nicely. With a plan coming together, I called out ‘shotgun’ and hopped into the truck.
“We’re going to make a few stops,” I said to Longoria, as Sammie and Perci got in the back.
“What stops?” Perci queried.
“I want to get back into my acrium and visit the northern jungle portal, bring a yexin as a gift and—”
Sammie tapped me on the shoulder repeatedly, causing me to pause. The mousey woman had wide eyes and blurted out, “Mistress Everly would very much like to go. She told me to not let you go to a jungle planet without her. Ever.” My sweet little mouse-girl swallowed nervously, “And she frightens me.”
I rolled my eyes while Perci affectionately rubbed her ears. Well, at least the cat hadn’t gotten the mouse’s tongue. My silliness caused me to giggle, as I rang up Everly.
“You put babies in Longoria yet?” Everly blurted out, “Nancy said you were going to do it. I approve.”
Longoria bounced her thin eyebrows at me with a huge grin on her face.
“Oh, you’re fully clothed,” my Crixxi frowned, “Can I help you husband?”
“Soon to be husband, actually. Hmm… We need to fix that sooner rather than later. Maybe on a bright sunny day this week and—” I was interrupted when Perci gave me a big hug from behind. That lasted all of two seconds before she scurried over the front console and into my lap. “We’re going to the jungle planet. Meet at RV3 with a Crixxi hunting party of a few hundred.”
When I closed the connection with Everly, there was a knock on my window. I rolled the window down and Perci grumbled, “Bit busy at the moment, Jevon.”
“Ha, your pouting is deflected and sent back to you. Better luck next time. Also, please do not mess up the interior of my truck,” Jevon said, patting the top of the truck. “I love this baby. All my back pay from Saudi went into this. Everly asked if she could leave Bensen in charge. Something about raiding the Gribin portal.”
“Yeah, I figured we could go in and introduce ourselves, now that things have calmed down some. Maybe see if they want a tank or generator or zinc for a trade. We could offer them a free yexin, if they want a gift. You know, nice neighbors tend to avoid killing each other and all that. We will probably lock the gate when they respond.”
Jevon nodded along.
“Yeah,” I pointed to the crews preparing to head towards Boulder, “let’s do this right. Let the looters keep looting with their civilian counterparts. We will make a quick trip to the jungle planet. I’ll have someone bring Goliath 1 for overwatch,” I ordered.
“Will do, we lock down 232 north in about an hour and try to trade; if not, the drones should find something worthy of our time. What about if we get contact while you’re gone?” Jevon asked.
“We’ll return home; we’re locking the gate, though, so it should give us some freedom for a bit,” I noted and Jevon double tapped the top of the truck for us to roll out. I rolled up the window as we sped away from the plaza. “Take us to RV3 please, Longoria. We’ll have ten minutes for a side adventure, if you want, before we go questing in the jungle.”
“This jungle is where a real adventure awaits, Eric.” She patted her lap before sliding a finger over her crotch. “Faeries can do magic,” Longoria said and Perci gave her a high five when my cock stirred.
Perci traced a hand down my thigh and then up my kilt. She wiggled out of her knickers as we drove towards Mansion. I was going to fight it at first, but I wanted her little pussy on my cock. I yanked my shirt off and slid it underneath us on top of the seat.
Longoria slowed down slightly and kept glancing our way while biting her lip. Perci had pulled my cock out and slid down onto my shaft as she straddled me. For a brief few minutes, it was only the two of us in the truck; hell, in the universe. We passionately kissed while she ground my cock deeper and deeper inside of her. I squeezed her pert little ass as her climax dripped down my balls.
“Stop the truck. I’m driving. Longoria, back seat rodeo,” Perci gasped as she shuddered and calmed down after her orgasm.
The truck pulled to a stop. Longoria hopped out, Perci hopped off, and Sammie hopped out with a squeak. “Where do I go?” Sammie asked meekly.
“Eric!” Perci nudged me, with an eye roll.
I fixed my kilt and exited the truck, heading for the back seat with a slightly dirtied shirt. Sammie scurried out to swap places with me. When I got into the back seat, Longoria was already nude, awaiting me on her knees. She pointed to the middle of the bench seat and commanded, “Sit.”
I obeyed, like a good boy, and was rewarded when her toned Fairy body straddled my hips. She paused to remove my kilt altogether. When my cock sprang free from the garment, Longoria sucked the head of my cock into her mouth. Her head bobbed up and down the length of my still hard shaft several amazing times. When my entire manhood was rigid and wet, she climbed aboard and pressed her tits into my face.
My tongue twirled around her big nipples while I felt a tingling sensation engulf my cock. A twisting squeeze was applied to my girth as she plunged down onto me. Her little pussy torqued up and down my cock as my face was smothered with her deliciously huge breasts. When I spanked her juicy booty, it rippled.
“Harder!” Longoria grunted, getting into the rhythm. I smacked her ass red while she pumped my cock with her cork-screwing vagina.
Her angle she shifted her legs to, gave a new definition to ‘flexible’ as she rotated to face forward. Her elbows rested on the center console of the front seat while here hips stayed glued to my lap. A slight fluttering of her wings enticed me to tug them towards me, gently at first. She arched her back to lustfully gaze at me from over her shoulder.
“Watch the magic,” Longoria said, her bottom lip tucked between her teeth in a fit of passion.
It felt amazing. She rode my cock hard, her ass smacking into my lap with perfect timing; her vagina twisted and clenched in tandem with her hip movements. She pumped my dick, begging for its release. Longoria clasped a tit tightly as she orgasmed on my throbbing boner. I grunted as my explosion filled her. With my seed still pumping into her, she twisted her torso back around to lock lips with me in a long sweet kiss.
Longoria rotated her hips back around and collapsed onto me, burying her blonde curls in my chest hair. I shuffled us behind Perci as we passed through the gates. My arms compressed her wings tight to her back while I held her. They felt almost like skin, yet appeare
d so different. She didn’t complain about the contact and I enjoyed holding her while I softened inside her.
“Do acrium get mad if we don’t shower?” I asked, wondering how that worked.
“Yes, we will shower quickly before swapping into our armor. After that, we can go on this side quest … now that the main adventure is over,” Longoria said with a wink and a kiss.
CHAPTER 17
Onix ran the entire way to the Xgate. The elephant sized cat swatted at the rear end of the truck like it was a cat toy. I guess to Onix we were the proverbial mouse. To me, it was damn annoying but one of those transgressions that caused your inner aggravation to turn into happiness. I mean, how often did a cat swat at a truck for fun?
Plus, I needed a smile. I had received a call earlier that I had been putting off. When we were halfway to the Xgate I decided to answer Mrs. Sinclair.
“This is Teton Fortress, over,” the radio operator said.
“Willis, why do I have a goon on the line?” I asked, knowing the siblings were listening.
This had all started the moment I exited the acrium vat in jungle camouflage armor. My Gpad rang and was answered for me. Sally told me she had built Gtower replicas shaped to look like trees. She planted—the pun caused her cackle repeatedly—enough Gtowers that we were now in contact with Teton Fortress. They’d had some priority messages I was not interested in at the time, because I was gearing up for a mission. Then Onix distracted me and now we were at the point where I was frowning again.
“The President is having a radio operator answer her wrist,” Willis said and a loud Sluggero laugh echoed in the small space of the truck cab. “Here is the video. Ha, they are trying to shut me out. Stop that before I cut off your power.”
An image of a tech guy in a lab coat holding the president’s wrist appeared in the hologram. Ah, interesting, human politics were the worst.
“Hello President Sinclair, I see you on the feed. What is this priority message?” I asked with disdain.