by Aubrey Ross
“How often will you be able to see her if you’re stationed in New Pompeii?”
“She’s at a boarding school, so I can only see her on weekends anyway. Anything was better than the options available on Outpost Nine. I don’t mind the rustic environment, but it’s no place to raise a little girl.”
Laetif closed her eyes and sighed as he rotated the pad of his thumb across the bottom of her foot, digging in just a little. “That feels so good.”
A few minutes passed in companionable silence. He rubbed her feet and she basked in the attention, obviously starved for a little pampering. “Do you and the fuckwad have children?”
She shook her head, pain sparking to life within her eyes. “I’m not able. A fact Mikko likes to remind me of as often as possible.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault. Unfortunately, it’s not Mikko’s either. No one is to blame but me. I’m defective.”
He squeezed her foot until she looked at him. “You are perfect just the way you are. Don’t let anyone tell you differently. You could always adopt. Lots of wonderful children are in need of a good home.”
“Which is why I’ve never considered it. Any home with Mikko in it is anything but good.”
His hands moved up her leg, squeezing her calf and then moving higher. “Keep mentioning his name and you’ll find yourself impaled on my cock again.”
She snickered and tossed back her hair. “Is that supposed to intimidate me?” She bent her knees and opened her legs. “Mikko. Mikko.”
He gazed at her flushed pussy and desire curled though his balls. Grasping the backs of her knees, he pulled her out of her chair and onto his lap. “You can’t say I didn’t warn you.” He lifted her, positioned himself at her entrance, then lowered her onto his cock.
* * * * *
Felicia fought the bonds of sleep, desperate to escape the hated memories. Perion stood beside her pallet, gaze dark and lecherous. His whispered lies echoed through her mind and then he was on top of her, holding her down and invading her body. She thrashed and bucked, screaming behind his clasped hand. “I’m inside you, part of you. You will never escape me now.”
She sat up in bed, her screams still ringing in her ears. Not her ears, her mind. The only sound in the darkened bedroom was her heavy breathing. Beside her, Aiden stirred but didn’t waken. As he’d said earlier, he was exhausted.
Why had she dreamed of Perion? It had been years since she succumbed to the nightmare. You will never escape me now. He had actually said the other hateful things, tormenting her verbally while he violated her physically, but the last part was new. And foreboding hung over her like a thundercloud.
Aiden touched her arm and she gasped. “Are you all right?”
“I had a nightmare. At least I think it was a nightmare.”
Sitting as well, he told the lights to illuminate fifty percent. He brushed the hair back from her face then took her hand. “Where you dreaming about the priest?”
She nodded. “The images were familiar, but one thing he said was odd. I do not think it was merely an unpleasant dream.”
“What did he say to you?”
Pulling her hand out of his, she crawled out of bed. “He said, ‘You’ll never escape me now.’ Did you process Perion before you woke me? I do not think he has come through since.”
“He could be on one of the other ships, or he might not have been found during the initial sweeps.”
It would be such a relief to be rid of him permanently. Somehow she didn’t think the fates would be so kind. She paced beside the bed, needing an outlet for her anxious energy. “How were the initial sweeps accomplished? I remember nothing at all about that day.”
“I wasn’t there for the actual evacuation. From what I understand, they gassed the entire city and then sent teams out to collect as many of the inhabitants as they could before the volcano blew.”
“Then those remaining would have been asleep when the destruction hit?”
“It’s a nice thought, but I suspect the Fedorans left themselves plenty of time to get the ships to safety before the sparks began to fly.”
Unfortunately she agreed with him. The Fedorans had been methodical, leaving nothing to chance. “You mentioned a roster. Can we search this list for Perion?”
“In the morning.” He patted the bed beside him. “It’s not even dawn. Come back to bed.”
“I cannot go back to sleep. I do not want to go back to sleep.” She shuddered, unwilling to consider making herself vulnerable to those images again. “I will read in your office until you arrive.” He threw back the covers with a loud sigh. She rushed forward and drew the covers over him again. “Shika is on duty. I will go directly there. Sleep. I insist.”
He paused, his gaze moving over her face. “Are you in danger? If this was a vision, we should take it seriously.”
Hearing him defend her abilities filled her with warmth and determination. He believed in her. Too often others sneered at her warnings. She had become accustomed to being dismissed and ignored by those in positions of power. “If the danger were imminent, the images would have been more specific. Perion is still out there. I am certain of it. All we need to do is find him.”
“If you locate him, you must not make a move without me.”
“I would never do something so foolish. If I discover anything of consequence, I will notify you.”
He hesitated a moment longer then rubbed his temples. “All right. Tell Shika to ping my cabin when you arrive. The companel will beep, letting me know you’re safe.”
“I will. I promise.” She dressed quickly in the dark and left the cabin, going immediately to the infirmary.
Shika looked up, her confusion obvious. “What time is it?”
“It is early yet. I was unable to sleep.”
“Ah, anything I can do?”
Felicia walked across the room, thinking of all the people who had come and gone in the last couple of days. “Aiden asked that you ping his cabin to let him know I arrived.”
“No problem. Make yourself at home.”
She went to Aiden’s office and stood before the triple row of books. What she really wanted was the list of names of the people who had been awakened. She went back into the infirmary and Shika looked up as she approached.
“Did you forget something?” Shika asked with a smile.
“I would like to review the list of people who have been through orientation.”
Shika hesitated. “Is Doc okay with this?”
“He told me he would help me search as soon as he arrives, but I would rather begin now.”
“Are you searching for someone in particular?”
She didn’t want to mistrust Shika, but she had yet to spend enough time with the young woman to determine her true loyalties. “I’m just interested in who we rescued from the explosion and who was left behind.”
Shika thought for a moment then shrugged. “I don’t see any harm in you looking over a bunch of names. All the details are in Fedoros, so it should be cool.”
“Anything would be helpful.”
Shika walked into Aiden’s office and slipped in behind his desk. She swept her hand from top to bottom across the desk and an intricate image manifested in front of her. Aiden had explained that this was the interface graphic, “A way of navigating the computer’s processes”. Felicia’s skin still chilled and her stomach tightened every time she saw someone manipulating something that wasn’t really there.
It took more faith to believe that machines could create these wonders than to accept the existence of the gods.
“Here you go. The list is on screen. As you reach the bottom of each page just go like this.” She ran her fingers upward from the bottom edge and the image followed her fingers.
“I appreciate your assistance.”
Shika nodded and pushed back from the desk. “If you need anything else, just let me know.”
Felicia took the seat Shika had vacated an
d gaped when she saw the roster. Not only had each name been recorded but they had captured an image of each person. This would make it so much easier to spot Perion! She scrolled through the list, skimming the names when she didn’t recognize the features. She quickly realized she knew more people by face than by name. How had they done this without the refugees’ knowledge? The device must have been concealed.
As Shika had said, much of the information had been entered in Fedoros, but Felicia recognized certain words and phrases. Too curious to concentrate entirely on the pictures, Felicia called out to Aiden’s assistant. “Shika, can you help me for a short time?”
The young woman returned to the office and pulled up a chair. “Shoot.”
It was a word Shika commonly used to indicate she was ready to continue. Felicia didn’t understand the context, but it didn’t matter. She centered a file in front of her face. “This is a street name and this lists his occupation. But what does this entry indicate?”
“I thought you just wanted to look at names.” Shika’s expression turned dubious.
“I hadn’t realized so much information had been collected about each person. If the evacuation was spontaneous, how did the ambassador learn this much about us in such a short period of time?”
“The original location of each person was documented by the evacuation teams. They gave each refugee a number and entered their physical description into the master log. We have been adding details to the log as we process each person. We’ve added their names, occupations and family members.”
“This is being done on all the ships?”
“Of course. The process is identical and all the info is uploaded to the same database.”
Felicia was unable to shake the feeling that something nefarious was at work here. “What will be done with this information?”
“As we update the master log, the Fedorans match each refugee with a location in the new city. Those who owned villas will be taken to a villa, shop owners will be given new shops and so on. Each refugee will gently awaken in their new home.”
She had wondered how offloading would be accomplished without the refugees seeing too much. “What if the refugee was a visitor to Pompeii? People travel to our city on holiday all the time.”
“Those who were not a permanent resident of the old city will be taken to the magistrate. He will determine how to assimilate them into the new population. He is also responsible for locating lost family members and so forth.”
“The magistrate is Fedoran?” Shika nodded, so Felicia sat back in her chair and stared at the image floating above the desktop. “I had not realized the process was so involved.”
“Yep. Every person had to be chipped and examined. That’s why we’ve been busting our butts since we left Earth.”
“Chipped? What does this mean?”
Shika suddenly stood and moved her chair back to the front of the desk. “Didn’t Doc explain it when he injected you?”
To her knowledge the only thing Aiden had injected her with was a vaccination and the mandatory contraceptive compound. “He has explained so many things I must have forgotten. What purpose does this chip serve?”
“It allows Fedorans to keep track of where everyone is at any given time.”
“I have heard of this before. The all-seeing machine that is known by letters.”
“GPS.” Shika relaxed enough to smile. “No one is allowed on Fedoros without a GPS chip. No exceptions. It’s the law.”
Shika returned to her work and Felicia continued through the log, determined to locate her nemesis.
“Is Aiden around?”
She looked up and found Caleb lounging in the doorway. It was easy to understand why Laetif was so taken with him. “He is still in bed.”
“Without you? Silly him.”
“Do you need to speak with him, or should I let him know you were looking for him?”
He shrugged then rolled his shoulders. “It’s nothing important. We’d been fighting intermittent temperature spikes in the…” He chuckled then shook his head. “Just tell him the problem with the ship is resolved. I’ll talk to him later.”
“Have you been up all night?”
“Guilty.” He rubbed the back of his neck and yawned. “I’m heading to bed now.” He surprised her with a playful wink. “Don’t suppose you want to join me?”
She recognized his banter for what it was—harmless flirtation. He had made it clear in the mess hall that he would not touch her as long as she belonged to his brother. “No Sir. I am more than happy with my situation.”
“Good to know he’s taking care of you.” He waved then departed.
Was Laetif waiting in his bed, all warm and sleepy? Would they enjoy a quick bout of love play before he joined her in sleep? Felicia was not tempted by Caleb, but she longed for the sort of freedom others enjoyed.
As Laetif predicted, Aiden was being patient and tender, but the restlessness inside Felicia was growing. Would surrendering to Aiden anchor her emotionally to this new reality, or would it add to the conflict twisting through her soul?
She smiled and turned back to the list of refugees. She’d never know the answer to those questions until Aiden deemed her ready to learn.
And in the meantime, she had to locate her enemy before her enemy found her.
* * * * *
“If half of what the priest told me is true, it is imperative that we find this priestess,” Mikko stressed.
“But the master log has her listed among the dead.” Prince Tarhee glanced up from his lavish breakfast as he waited for Mikko to explain.
“I don’t believe it and neither does the priest.”
Tarhee shrugged then continued eating. “My people are searching the stacks and you notified the other ships. There is nothing more to be done until she turns up. If she turns up.”
Mikko clenched his fists so his face remained calm. If they’d been in the same room, Mikko would have taken the prince by the shoulders and shaken him until the ignorant fool understood the urgency of the situation. “This woman is a legitimate clairvoyant. The priest is in awe of her abilities and he despises her.”
“Perhaps he has exaggerated her usefulness so you will be more motivated to find her. I have encountered clairvoyants before. Their abilities have never impressed me.”
“She warned the priest and the governor that Pompeii was about to be destroyed. If they had listened to her, we would have been robbed of our cargo.”
Tarhee stroked his chin, smoothing his close-cropped whiskers, apparently lost in thought. “Can she endanger our position? You seem intrigued by this girl. Would we be wiser to destroy her as soon as she’s located?”
“I want to interrogate her, determine the extent of her abilities. If she can be controlled, such gifts could be a real advantage.”
The prince scoffed. “That’s a big if.”
“I agree. She’ll be kept under lock and key until I’m absolutely sure she’s no danger to us.”
“We’ve both invested too much into this project to risk it on a woman. Our financial interests must come before your pleasure.”
“I have not lost sight of our objective. New Pompeii will be the most profitable venture on Fedoros within the year.”
“Is she beautiful?” Tarhee’s lips bowed in a lecherous smile. “Royal psychic has a rather nice ring to it, don’t you think?”
“She’s mine.” Mikko moved closer to the camera. Each of the priest’s wild stories had made him more determined to find Felicia. According to the priest, she was lovely, a willowy blonde with big blue eyes. The priest had tried to tame her, but Perion obviously lacked the skill. Mikko would train her slowly, bend her will without breaking her spirit. His cock stirred just thinking about all the challenges she would provide. “I learned of her existence and I’m conducting the search. I will not back down on this. Felicia is mine.”
“You’ll get no argument from me. No woman is worth compromising our partnership. Com me if yo
u find her. But remember, if she threatens our control over these people, she must be destroyed.” Tarhee closed the comlink and Mikko sighed.
When push came to shove, Tarhee had controlling interest in the city. Not to mention that he was the emperor’s son. Anytime he chose to exert his authority, Mikko would be forced to back down.
Refusing to dwell on the irritating detail, Mikko sent a quick text to Quade, directing him to check in as soon as possible. A few minutes later, Quade activated a private link.
“You wanted to speak with me?”
“Did you fuck her?” Mikko cut right to the chase.
His jaw clenched and defiance flashed in his dark eyes, but finally he ground out, “Yes Sir.”
Mikko chuckled. “I obviously chose the right man for the job.” He would have to make time in his busy schedule to watch Quade in action. He’d expected Laetif to keep Quade jumping through hoops for at least a week. “Keep her distracted. I want her so caught up in you that my actions don’t even enter her mind.”
“Is there anything else, Sir?”
The open hostility in Quade’s gaze concerned Mikko. Quade had performed flawlessly, but his attitude continued to hover on the verge of insubordination. No matter. Mikko held the key to Quade’s cooperation. Let him stomp and snarl. He could despise his orders all he liked. In the end he would always obey. A father’s love for his daughter was such a marvelous motivator.
“Not right now, Quade. Carry on.”
Chapter Ten
Needing a few minutes away from Quade’s captivating presences, Laetif took advantage of his momentary distraction and darted from the cabin. She had no doubt Mikko had comed her new bodyguard and Quade was updating his master on the developments.
Yes Sir, I fucked your wife twice last night. She came at least four times, so I’m confident we are underway. Quade’s report might not have been so detailed, but the result was the same. She had foolishly succumbed to Mikko’s spy, not once but twice. And it pissed her off to realize she was such an easy mark.