Depths of Blue

by Lisa MacTague

  “Why are you so down on the League?” Jak asked.

  “For good reason, as it turns out. They come into situations like yours in Fringe space and wait until they see which side is going to come out on top. Then they throw in their support with that side. When peace is restored, the grateful populace soon decides to join the League because they promise peace and prosperity. And they get complacent, but they also get cultivated by the merchant families of the inner systems, and before you know it, any viable businesses or industries are bought out by those families and they become the only game in town. And the best part is it’s those damn merchants who are usually responsible for the destabilization of the planet in the first place. They put people’s lives at stake simply to make a few bucks, and it’s disgusting. They refuse to help anyone if it doesn’t advance their own interests.”

  “Well, they didn’t have anything to do with what happened here,” Jak told her, taken aback by Torrin’s vehemence. “The Orthodoxans started this mess on their own, and the only reason it’s still grinding on is because we decided we weren’t going to roll over for them.”

  “Are you so sure of that?” Torrin asked. “The League is sneaky and underhanded. Any kind of financial shenanigans are a sure sign that they were involved.”

  Jak laughed hollowly. “Financial shenanigans? You think that’s what started all this?” She shook her head. “Far from it. The Orthodoxans decided after decades of treating their women like crap that everyone should be treating females like livestock. My people had been doing well for themselves in our own territory, and we weren’t about to go following in the Orthodoxans’ footsteps. The first sign that things were going seriously wrong was when the Orthodoxans attacked the Devonite settlements in the east and took all our women. They shot anybody who resisted—men, women, even children who were only trying to get back to their moms. They took anyone female, down to and including infants, and turned the men out of their own cities, naked and without any supplies. I guess they hoped the wilderness would finish them off. Well, some of the men made it back to the west in time and told them what had happened. When the Orthodoxans showed up with their army and tried to get past the isthmus into our lands, we stopped them and turned them back. They didn’t expect our men to fight so hard to keep them out. I think they thought our men would see the rightness of their path and fall right in line. They have some whacked-out religious beliefs that came when our ancestors first settled the planet. On their own, their beliefs kept getting weirder until they felt their best option was enslavement of half the population to their wants and needs. When that didn’t work, they settled for making us pay.”

  She smiled bitterly. “Well, look who’s paying now. We still have all our lands and our laws. They poke and prod at us, but they can’t break us. I’m pretty sure that they die faster than we do, but with their breeding pens, they can bring in new men faster than we can. So if the League comes to us and says they can help us out and that’s what they want in return, it’s better than the alternative.”

  Torrin stared at her in horror. “So all Orthodoxan women are slaves?”

  “That’s right. The ‘lucky’ ones get bought by a man and only have to service him and bear him children. But getting your own woman is expensive, so most men go to the breeding pens where hundreds of women are kept for the sole purpose of having babies. They’re forced to have sex with man after man until they become pregnant. Once they give birth, they go back to the pens to start over. The boy children of the breeding pens go to the army, the girl children grow up and go into the pens unless they’re lucky enough to be bought as a ‘wife.’ The girl children of married unions are confiscated at birth and brought up for the breeding pens. The boy children grow up to become craftsmen, merchants or officers.”

  “That’s…insane! It’s barbaric and just…” Torrin’s words failed her and she struggled with the truths Jak had thrust upon her. “I’ve been to some pretty backward places,” she said slowly, “but this place wins the prize by a long shot. I’ve seen women mistreated and called property, but never on such a massive scale or with such, such…mass production.”

  “The League doesn’t seem so bad now, does it?” Jak asked.

  Torrin looked at her. She looked like she might throw up. “The League might be a better alternative, but it’s not the only alternative.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “If you have two choices and they’re both crap, it’s time to look for a third one. If you can kick some sense into the Orthodoxans without getting League help, then your people won’t feel beholden to them. They have a blockade around this planet because they don’t want anyone else tipping the balance. Well, I can tip the balance. I can get your people the supplies and technology that you need to finish them off.”

  Jak stopped in her tracks and eyed the other woman. She’d been hoping that Torrin would see her way to dealing with them instead of the Orthodoxans. Hoping that what Torrin could offer would make up for the fact that Jak had broken from her mission and hadn’t taken out her target. Not that anyone would mind that she took Hutchinson out instead.

  “That would be really helpful. It could be a hard sell, but I know you don’t like to give up. But just so’s you know, it’s not all sunshine and roses for women with the Devonites.”

  “Oh?” Torrin drew her eyebrows down and stared at Jak through them.

  “It’s not like that,” she protested. “We don’t enslave our women, but they don’t have all the rights that the men do either. They can choose who they want to marry, and no one is allowed to force themselves on them.” She hated the way she was describing the social dynamics of her people. The fact that she kept on referring to the women as “them” made her feel like a giant hypocrite. “They can’t own property, and there are only certain jobs that are considered suitable for them.”

  “I see.” Torrin eyed her dangerously. “Women can’t be trusted with important jobs, I take it? No head for numbers, and who knows about their judgment. It’s probably better if you big, strong, so-much-more-intelligent men take all that on.”

  “Look, I didn’t make the rules. I don’t even agree with them,” Jak assured Torrin earnestly. She wondered where she had lost control of the conversation. It was no surprise that Torrin had reacted badly to the realities of the situation, but she needed to get her back on track. “I can’t change the way things are, but I wanted you to know what you’re up against before you got neck deep in it.”

  “Thanks, I guess,” Torrin replied. “I wouldn’t go about getting any ideas about asking me to do your laundry or cook your food. I know what kind of tasks men think women are good for, and you won’t catch me doing any of them, especially not for you.” She shook her head. “It’s not as if I’m not used to having to come in and be better than everyone else, just to level the playing field. And when it comes to this, I’m definitely good at being better than anyone else.” Torrin laughed. “Your bosses won’t know what hit them.”

  No, they probably won’t, Jak thought. I really hope I’m there to see it.

  Chapter Ten

  “We should start looking for a place to spend the night.” Jak squinted. The sun was nearing the horizon. “It looks like we have about an hour of light left. It hasn’t rained today, so it probably will tonight. I want to get under some shelter before that happens.” The tightness in her chest hadn’t improved much, and she didn’t want to spend any more time out in the elements than she had to.

  They continued on for another twenty minutes before they came to a river. Jak tossed a twig into the water and watched as it was whisked downstream.

  “Current’s too strong here,” she said. “We’ll have to follow it until we find someplace we can cross.”

  Torrin just nodded and kept plodding forward. Jak could tell her strength was flagging. She hated to keep driving her forward, but they really needed to find somewhere to bed down for the night. The forest was much sparser in this area, so finding a well-conceal
ed site to hunker down in was of utmost import. Unfortunately, it also meant that a fire would be extremely ill-advised. For herself, she was much more comfortable in deep woods with majestic trees and deep shadows, but there was no help for that now.

  As they continued along the river’s edge, Jak noticed bushes with edible berries. She picked as many as she could without slowing. The dark berries nestled amidst long thorns and by the time she had a decent handful she was nursing the effects of multiple thorn-pricks to her fingertips. They rounded a bend, and she saw a taller stand of trees a little way in from the river’s edge.

  “Over there,” she said, pointing. “We should be able to find some decent shelter in that stand.”

  Torrin stopped in her tracks and turned woodenly. Exhaustion was obvious in every line of her body.

  “Here, have some of these,” Jak said, taking one of Torrin’s hands in her own. She turned Torrin’s hand over and poured most of the berries into the woman’s palm, saving a few for herself. Butterflies mated madly in her stomach at the contact. “They’re perfectly safe to eat,” she said and popped a few into her mouth. The sweetness of the juice was so welcome her tongue practically tingled in tastebud overload. Torrin popped a few in her own mouth, and her eyes widened in appreciation.

  “These are really good!” She gobbled down the rest of the handful. Her tongue flicked out to lick the dark juice that stained her lips. “Do you have any more?”

  Jak stared at Torrin’s tongue for a moment. “Sorry, those are all I could pick on the move. We’ll probably find more tomorrow. There’re usually bunches of them along the river.”

  “Pity. I suppose we have more meat for dinner.”

  “You got it, but we won’t be getting any dinner at all if we don’t get moving.”

  “Picky, picky.” With renewed vigor Torrin struck out toward the small copse of trees.

  The stand of trees provided some protection from prying eyes but not nearly enough protection from the elements. There were no conveniently downed trees for Jak to use as the basis of a shelter. She settled for stripping some of the scrubbier saplings and branches to create a woven mat. She lashed one end to a couple of small shrubs and let the other drag on the ground. The last time she had created a blind like that had been in the company of her brother, and she felt the usual pang of sadness when she thought of him. Torrin watched her intently as she worked.

  “If you want to help out, put the branches I cut off the saplings over the open sides of the blind,” Jak called to her.

  “Sure thing.” Torrin picked up the branches and closed off the sides of their shelter.

  “No fire tonight. We’re too exposed. We might as well send up a flare for the Orthodoxans.”

  Torrin nodded. “You know how much I’ve been looking forward to a meal of cold meat. Thanks for not disappointing!”

  “That handful of berries is the highlight of tonight’s offerings. Don’t forget to tip your server.”

  “Oh, I’ll tip my server!” Torrin cut herself off and looked mortified. “Uhhh, never mind.” She blushed and bent over, tidying up the edges of their shelter unnecessarily.

  What had that been all about? Jak studied Torrin, who glanced over at her from where she crouched. When she met Jak’s eyes, she gave a little start and blushed even brighter. Jak was surprised at her embarrassment. If Torrin blushed any harder she would set the nearby trees alight. Not sure what to make of Torrin’s mood, she fell back to what she knew and unslung her rifle from her shoulder. She took up a spot in front of the shelter where she could keep watch in the direction of the river and started dismantling her rifle.

  Torrin kept herself busy for a little time longer, then slithered under the blind. Jak could feel the weight of her eyes on her back while she worked.

  “Your night vision must make caring for your weapon much easier at night,” Torrin ventured after a long silence.

  “I haven’t turned on my night vision yet. It’s kind of nice to do this by feel. In sniper school we were expected to be able to do this blindfolded. Night vision doesn’t help much then.” Jak continued to field strip her rifle.

  “Do you have to do that every night?” Torrin asked before a massive yawn cracked her jaws.

  “It doesn’t hurt anything. All I have to count on out here is my rifle and my wits. Stripping and cleaning it puts my mind at ease that I’ll be able to continue to count on it.”

  Torrin flipped over onto her back and slid an arm over her eyes. Her breathing was already slipping into the steady rhythms of sleep.

  “That sounds really lonely,” she said so quietly Jak had to strain to hear her.

  It is, Jak thought, it really is. She finished cleaning her rifle in silence and slid into the blind next to Torrin as rain began to fall. The other woman sighed and snuggled up against her, throwing an arm over Jak’s back. At her touch Jak felt the now familiar warmth spreading through her body, kindling an ache between her thighs. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the package of stim pills and deposited one under her tongue. Sliding her rifle up in front of her, she kept an eye on the trees outside of the shelter. She ached to touch Torrin back, to run fingers through her hair, to slide her thumbs across those full lips. Peering through the scope, she settled in for a long night.

  When morning came, she slipped out of the blind and headed down to the river to fill up her canteen. It was good to get out of there. Torrin had spent most of the night snuggled up against her, often with an arm, leg or both thrown over her. Jak had spent most of the night burning for the other woman and hating herself for it. When the canteen was full, she headed back to the berry bushes. She filled as many of her pockets as she could. The inch-long thorns caused her some problems, and as she headed back to their camp, she sucked on one of many holes on her fingers.

  Torrin was already up and moving around the camp, pulling apart the blind and spreading the branches out across the copse of trees.

  “Good call,” Jak said.

  “You did it the other morning, so I figured I should return the favor. It gave me something to do while I waited for you to come back.”

  “You looked so peaceful, I couldn’t wake you. I went and got us some breakfast. Berries and water.”

  “That’s great. Better that than cold meat.” Torrin held out her hands, and Jak started pulling berries out of the various pockets in her jacket and pants. “That’s an interesting way to carry food.”

  Jak shrugged. “It worked. Have some water.”

  Torrin drank her fill and handed the flask back to Jak, who took a drink and started in on her own breakfast of berries. She accessed her maps of the area to check on their progress. They’d actually done better than she’d anticipated. There was still a long distance to cover, but they were about halfway back to the front.

  “Following the river to the coast is our best bet, but we need to cross somewhere. The river widens a lot more the further out it goes. By the time it gets to the ocean, it’ll be too wide to cross. Our goal for today is to cross the river, then get as close to the coast as we’re able.”

  Torrin nodded and gulped down the last of her berries. Jak stood, shouldered her rifle and scarfed downed her last few berries. They left the small stand of trees and made their way back to the river, where Jak refilled the flask, and they struck out, following the river’s bank north.

  By noon the river was considerably wider than it had been where they’d made camp the previous night. They took a quick break to rest their legs. The terrain wasn’t nearly as challenging as the mountains they’d encountered around Hutchinson’s compound, but they also weren’t nearly as well fed. Jak was starting to tire more rapidly than normal, and she suspected that Torrin had similar issues. She chafed at any delay to their progress but also knew they had to conserve their energy. They needed to shorten their route, and the easiest way to do that was to walk in a straight line between the loops of the river as it meandered through the foothills. When they started out again after a
breather, she walked with her rifle held at the ready in front of her chest. If they saw anything resembling game, she would bring it down.

  As they ventured further north, however, the terrain got flatter and flatter, the trees became shorter and sparser and by early afternoon they were trudging across rolling grasslands. Jak felt exposed without her woods around her. The skin between her shoulder blades itched. The grasslands were showing signs of cultivation, which made her even more nervous. All they needed now was to be seen by some farmer who would alert the Orthodoxan forces to their presence. Whenever they crested a hill, she hunkered down to survey the area before allowing them to proceed. If they stood at the top of a hill, they would be perfectly silhouetted, immediately visible to anyone looking their direction. Torrin responded well to her whispered instructions, not arguing or questioning the need for caution. A few hours before sunset, Jak discovered their way across the river and the first sign of human habitation.

  They crested another low, rolling hill near a bend in the river, and Jak quickly hunkered down, motioning to Torrin to get down as well. Below them was a road which led to a bridge across the river. The river was fairly wide, and there were low buildings on either side of the bridge. Jak surveyed the structures through her scope. Each structure was built just to one side of the road, and a barrier extended from the side of the building across the road. On their side of the river, beyond the small building with the barrier, was a bigger building. Jak watched as a door opened in the side of the larger structure and a uniformed man exited, closing the door behind him.

  “Shit,” she hissed.

  “What is it?” Torrin whispered, concerned, sliding in next to her.

  “Orthodoxan military post. I think it’s a toll bridge.” Jak pulled away from the crest of the hill a bit and rolled onto her back. “We need to get across that bridge, and I have no idea how many of their men we’re up against.”