He made a brief stop at a restaurant for take-out before returning to the land port. Once he had Sparrow seated on the couch in their habitation section with her dinner, he took them up from Amphictyon’s surface and set their course for Malta. That was where he would find the answers he sought.
Sparrow was disappointed. She had known that attending the soiree was part of their mission. She just hadn’t expected the event to be so breathtakingly fascinating. The sounds, people, beautiful dresses, and spectacular mansion had been unlike anything she had ever imagined. Sparrow had been educated by her personal AI and had amassed a great deal of knowledge. While she had read many books, she had never been able to form correlations between the events unfolding within the stories and her own bland existence in the lab.
Now, with her new experience, Sparrow was eager to read for a second time The Wives of the Warrior. At the time she had read it, the feelings expressed within the story had made little sense to her. It had been her curiosity that had spurred her to read the story in the first place. The female tech slave, the one who often cried at night, had read the story during meal times for several days.
Jumping up, Sparrow put down her spoon and went to change. She didn’t want to risk spilling on her dress. She put on one of Xavier’s shirts, a pair of socks, took a vid-screen, and returned to the couch where she read while she ate.
It was about an Eriopis prince from ancient pre-technical times. His mind was so powerful that he could set things aflame with a troubled thought. To save his village from himself, he had set sail with the intent to always surround himself with water. However, as he journeyed the oceans, eventually he was forced to go ashore for food and water. On a distant island, he found a lonely female who had been stranded by a storm. Her beauty was so great that his eyes were no longer troubled by anything he saw. She stayed with him and sailed the seas. While gathering fruit on another island, a sad, beautiful song attracted him to his next wife. Her beautiful voice so eased his ears that nothing he heard could bring about his wrathful fiery destruction.
Sailing away again in bliss with his two wives, he found another woman with skin as soft as sea foam. Her touch soothed him to such an extent that no pain upon his flesh could inspire his uncontrollable flames. They sailed far upon the vast seas until on another island, he met a woman with lips tasting of sweet nectar, and another smelling of fresh flowers. With all of his senses soothed by his five wives, the Prince was able to sail home with them to his village where they all lived happily together for all of their days.
“What are you reading?” Xavier asked as he walked by her. He hung up his suit and pulled on some pajama bottoms. Then, he sat beside his adorable wife to eat dinner.
“It’s called The Wives of the Warrior,” Sparrow said absently.
“You’re reading a Laconian romance novel?”
“What? Oh, yes.”
“Read it to me in bed after dinner,” Xavier said.
“What? Oh, okay,” Sparrow said as she put her book aside.
Sparrow soon learned that her naughty husband wanted to assist with her reading comprehension by acting out some of the scenes.
“No, you can’t run away. The bed is our boat. The carpet is the ocean. Do you know how to swim?”
“Oh, Xavier.”
“Watch,” he whispered.
Like some advanced form of virtual reality, Xavier brought the book’s setting to life in her mind. In awe, Sparrow took his hand and sat with her back to his chest. She gazed around in wonder at the bright sky from upon the deck of the ship. The wind caught the sail making snaps of sound. One of her curls blew against her cheek, and she lifted her hand to brush it aside. She listened to the waves as they sloshed against the sides of the boat. Gradually, the bright sky faded to darkness lit by billions of distant stars.
Sparrow fell asleep in Xavier’s arms with a smile upon her lips, happy tears in her eyes, and joy bursting in her heart.
Chapter Eleven
If Xavier had learned anything in the past year, it was that ordering a woman to stay on a ship where it was safe wasn’t healthy for a relationship. Malta was almost as dangerous to Parvac citizens as Earth. Once Inquisitor reports on the mining planet had been made available to them, they had understood why Emperor Probus didn’t want his daughter near the place.
“Is this really necessary? This place has such a small population in comparison to Amphictyon,” Sparrow said.
Xavier finished attaching holsters to her thighs and slid blasters into them. “Yes.”
He handed her a helmet. Soon, they were riding away from their ship and the land port down a slag street that had been made smooth. Mountains of rocks, a few stores, and distant mining facilities were all Malta had to offer. As a pretense for the stop, Xavier was having fuel added to the vessel. He parked his bike in front of the general store. It was owned and operated by a father and son who had softs spots in Teagan’s heart. Xavier offered Sparrow his hand as she dismounted the hover bike.
“Welcome, folks. Please, feel free to look around,” Mr. Gregory, the owner, said.
Sparrow gravitated to the tools, but they were for mining and didn’t hold her attention.
“Take your time, Sparrow. It will be hours before our fueling is complete.”
“Okay.” She picked up a package of cookies imported from Earth and handed them to him. “I haven’t had these in years.”
He grinned and placed the package of chocolate chip cookies on the counter. “Wait until you try the cookies that Teagan, her mother, and grandmother make,” he whispered into her mind.
A few miners were in the store and eyed Xavier distrustfully. He watched as his wife entered the boutique in the back of the store and sent his wife a compulsion to buy one of the gowns hanging from a rack along its back wall.
“These gowns are of the finest silk and imported all of the way from Arachne,” Arthur Jr. said.
“Is this the fabric that the spiders make?” Sparrow asked with wide, curious eyes.
“Yes, indeed. If you see something that strikes your fancy, feel free to try it on.”
“Thank you.” She waited until he had moved away before touching a gown of rich purple. Since Xavier was in no hurry, she took it into a changing room. Only removing her shirt, she slipped it over her head. It was the softest thing she had ever felt. Soft female voices grew louder and then entered the room. Sparrow changed back into her shirt, careful not to snag the gown on a blaster. When she came out of the changing room, two women looked her up and down before dismissing her. Sparrow couldn’t help staring. She had never seen such huge breasts before and hadn’t realized they could get that big.
Xavier’s loud, deep laughter pulled her from the boutique and back to where he waited at the counter. Walking to him, she handed him the gown. “Find something you like?” he asked. Sparrow nodded. After paying, he asked, “Would you like to have lunch with me?”
“That would be great.”
A very short ride later, they parked in front of the town’s restaurant. After the waiter had taken their order, Sparrow asked, “Are my breasts too small?”
Xavier choked on his tea. “No, you are perfect. Is this about those women? Sparrow, they had their breasts surgically enhanced.”
She scrunched up her face. “Why?” She thought that having such a full chest would make all activities more challenging.
“To attract customers probably.”
“Customers?”
“Yes, those two ladies were a couple of Malta’s prostitutes.”
“Explain.”
“They have sex with others for payment.” Xavier watched as the blood drained from Sparrow’s face before all rushing back to her cheeks.
In an outraged whisper, she said, “They do what we have done together for credits?” Sparrow was horrified. The intimacy she shared with Xavier was a physical expression of her feelings for him. “With strangers?”
Xavier nodded.
“That is disgusting.�
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When the two women who had looked at her with disdain entered the restaurant, Sparrow’s spine straightened, and her disapproval became clear. Xavier knew that Teagan’s friends on Ephors had operated a local brothel before being run out of business by a new house. He listened to the thoughts of the two women. They had been sent to spy on him. The man who had left Governor Dorvesh’s party on Amphictyon had sent them. Even now, the man waited for the prostitutes to report back to him at the brothel.
“It seems they also take payment to spy on the side,” Xavier said under his breath to Sparrow. Her eyebrow went up again. She chewed her steak with deliberation. “It looks like I’ll be paying the brothel a visit.”
Narrowed in anger, Sparrow’s eyes were downright menacing. “You will do no such thing.” Shocked at her vehemence, Xavier sat back in his chair and stared at his tiny little wife. “If you ever set foot in such a place, the explosion I detonate will be visible in distant galaxies.”
Xavier read her thoughts and knew that she was considering how best to modify the missiles and blasters on their stealth ship to accomplish what she threatened. For a moment, he had forgotten that Sparrow was a weapons expert because she was so cute. However, crossing her would be a mistake.
“Then, how do you suggest I proceed in my investigation, Lady Ponidi?”
Viciously, she stabbed her fork into a carrot on her plate and chewed. “Surveillance equipment.”
“I don’t have time to set it up. They’re spooked. Let me go snoop around. I won’t be unfaithful to you. I am yours alone for all of my days. In fact, you can monitor me. You can watch everything I do.” Xavier took a small pin from one of his pockets, attached it to his jacket, and linked it to a palm-sized vid-screen which he handed to Sparrow. Taking it, she looked at the screen. She tilted her head to the side and watched as the screen mimicked her actions almost like a mirror. She smiled up at Xavier. “Go buy something at the General Store. I’ll be back for you before you know it.”
“I’ll be watching you,” Sparrow warned.
Xavier grinned and got up to move her chair out for her. She slipped the vid-screen into a pocket and left the restaurant in a temper that wasn’t feigned. He chuckled to himself. Anyone who made the mistake of getting on Sparrow’s bad side would experience her explosive temper only once. After paying their bill, Xavier rode his hover bike to a building with a sign out front denoting it to be the House of Tranquil Tenderness. To Xavier, it sounded like a boring spa. He locked his bike and walked inside.
A redhead with big blue eyes greeted him. “May I help you?”
Xavier skimmed her thoughts. “I believe you can.”
“How much of my time would you like to enjoy?” She smiled and held his arm close to her chest giving him an excellent view of her charms.
“An hour should do.”
She smiled seductively and scanned his credit chip before leading him to her room. Upstairs, the carpeting was a light-brown, and the walls were a pale-grey. All of the furniture was made of a rich, dark wood. The redhead secured the door behind her and let her dress fall down her shoulders to reveal her breasts. “I’m all yours. We can do anything you want.”
“Anything?” Xavier asked.
“Anything,” she said as she sashayed closer. Running her hands from his stomach up to his shoulders, she pressed her bare chest to his. In a husky whisper, she said, “We can be as rough or as kinky as you want.”
“Lay on the bed,” he ordered. Once she had obeyed, Xavier sent her into a mental construct and took his time reading her memories. He chuckled at her loud, ecstatic moans and screams. In her imagination, she was having the best sex of her life.
Xavier learned that the brothel was a front. It had been opened and staffed with the sole intent of hiding mineral and ore shipments for illegal use in weapon’s manufacturing. Miners came to the brothel, made deliveries, and were paid with sex.
Xavier chuckled, “A little ore for a whore….”
The minerals were stored in the basement for pickup from their buyers, who paid with chips preloaded with illegally earned credits. So, the whores were getting paid, dirty credits were being laundered by the legally operating brothel, and the weapons manufacturers were getting their supplies without the Galaxic Militia ever being the wiser. Leaving the prostitute in the throes of passion, Xavier snuck down to the basement for proof.
Sparrow fumed in anger at the female who tried to tempt her male. She slipped the vid-screen into her pocket and angrily flipped through the clothes on their hangers. Now, she would have to disinfect Xavier before touching him again. She couldn’t believe that married men were permitted to enter such places. Didn’t they have rules? She stomped over to look at one of the mannequins. On it, a long floral dress in yellows and blues was displayed. Its hands were hidden demurely behind its back.
“Too bad those women don’t dress like this,” Sparrow said under her breath. She gazed up at its wide-brimmed hat.
The mannequin lifted its head and opened its yellow, glowing eyes. Before Sparrow could scream, the AI’s hands shot out from behind it and grabbed her by her arms. A second AI appeared from where it had hidden in a dressing room. From its inner wrist, it fired a blast at the side wall. The AI who held Sparrow too tightly jumped through the smoldering opening and ran.
The mechanized strides of the AIs made a combined hum of sound with the steady crunch of gravel beneath their feet as they ran away from the town and toward an outcropping of bedrock. Behind the outcropping, a shuttle waited. Sparrow fought with every bit of her strength, but the robot that had her caught fast in its polymer arms was unfazed by her efforts. Kicking out with her feet and spreading her legs wide, she slammed with a loud thud the soles of her shoes against the shuttle’s hull. The AI simply backed up, spun around, and entered the shuttle backwards. It put her in a seat and harnessed her in as though she were a small child.
An arrogant man with black hair and a shiny, pale-blue suit sat across from her. He steepled his fingers together. “Your father has been worried about you. He will be relieved to have you safely returned to him, Miss Bishop.”
“I’m not his daughter. He bought me from my mother.”
“Don’t be so crass. He gave you his name, housed, fed, clothed, and educated you. That’s more than some worthless breeders, like your mother, do for their own genetic offspring.” He stared at Sparrow with contempt. “Is this how you repay him? You turn against him without provocation and side against him with a stranger? Where is your loyalty?”
The man’s words shocked Sparrow and made her doubt herself.
“Miss Bishop, during this escapade of yours, I’m sure you have realized that you aren’t like the average young lady your age. Your father cares for you and will forgive you for acting out. It is normal for a child to rebel.”
The man’s voice was hypnotic. The sound encouraged her to agree with everything he said. His lies were meant to undermine her newfound happiness, the happiness that made her soul soar. He wanted to cut off her wings and slam her back into a cage, not to be kept as a beautiful, helpless pet, but as one capable of performing tricks that ended lives. Sparrow drew the blasters from the holsters on her thighs, that they had neglected to take from her, and fired repeatedly into the shuttle’s rear energy coils. A loud sizzling sound ended with a pop as the shuttle lost power and dropped. Sparrow grinned at the fear on the man’s formerly smug face.
“You must not understand something. The last weapon Bishop made was me, and I won’t be traded or sold.” Sparrow hit the emergency eject on her shuttle seat before the AIs could grab her. The hull panel above her slid open as she shot up into the sky. Then, the air jets activated and lowered her to the barren, rocky surface. The shuttle was going down east of her location.
Wondering why Xavier wasn’t already speeding toward her location, she pulled out the vid-screen he had given her and saw blasts sparking off of crates in a dark room. Xavier was returning shots at his attackers. She slipped the
device back into her pocket. It was no wonder he hadn’t come for her.
Turning in a slow circle, Sparrow saw a structure in the distance. She began jogging to warm up before speeding up into a run. She had two blasters and a vid-screen. If she could get to the safety of that structure and an interface, she might be able to figure out a way to avert the AIs’ mission to return her to Bishop. The man in the shuttle wouldn’t be using her capture to fund any of his illustrious enterprises. The oxygen content was higher on Malta than on the planetoid on which she had spent much of her life. It made running easier. The structure came into view. It was an operational mine. Someone in a roller was driving out to meet her.
“What are you doing out here alone?” the man asked.
“Shuttle accident…I was ejected….” Sparrow bent over and tried to catch her breath.
The man called someone on his vid-screen. Soon, a large land transport sped past to render assistance to the shuttle passengers. “Here. Let me help you. I’ll give you a lift to town.”
“How long will that take?”
“About an hour,” he answered.
If she were out in the open with only two blasters in a roller, the AIs would overtake them and recapture her. “Is there somewhere I can rest at your mine until my husband comes for me?”
“Yes, ma’am. We’ve already called to alert the Enforcers. Climb on in.”
Sparrow took the seat beside the miner and watched as the facility zoomed into view. They got there just in time. In the distance, two blurs of white with glowing yellow eyes were leaving clouds of dust behind them.
“Are you alright, miss? Can I get you anything?”
“What kind of weapons do you have?”
He turned and followed her gaze. “Shit! Sound the alarms!” he yelled to the other men around who looked where he pointed at the AIs. “Get inside!” he yelled at Sparrow while gesturing at a door.
She ran for it and found herself inside of an office with a frazzled-looking accountant. She pulled out the vid-screen. “Oh, no.”
Xavier: An Omnes Videntes Novel Page 9