by Elin Wyn
Whenever they reviewed my work, most of my teachers said it was a good thing to be obsessed, but they quickly backtracked on those observations when I shifted gears and my obsession became the open skies.
They believed I could become a renowned expert in the field, and that I was throwing it all away just because I wanted to try my hand at being a pilot.
Then the Xathi came.
And that simplified those career choices.
But things were different now. Long unused skills were popping up, as if they’d just been waiting for me to call on them.
Except now that I needed to sleep, there was a minor problem.
Whenever I closed my eyes, those damn characters and symbols insisted on floating up to my mind’s surface, keeping me awake while the rest of the world slept.
To make matters worse, Leena had enlisted Sa'lok’s help to oversee the lab’s night shift. While I worked with Maki and Mariella, he slept. Then it was the opposite: he was up all night, overseeing the production of the serum throughout the night, and I was tossing and turning in his bed. That kiss we’d shared still lingered in my mind, and I was dying for more.
So much more.
Whenever I wasn’t thinking of the Gorgos and their indecipherable alphabet, I was thinking of Sa'lok.
Sighing, I kicked the sheets back and sprawled myself on the bed. I opened my eyes and stared at the ceiling for a long time, allowing my mind to wander freely.
It was all so frustrating, but there was nothing I could do about it. Sa'lok and I were impossibly busy, and that meant whatever we felt toward each other would simply have to wait.
“Teisha, are you awake?” My comms unit crackled all of a sudden, startling me. I had the habit of muting it during the night, but I had stopped doing it once I started working with the runes, just in case something came up.
“Yeah, I’m here,” I replied, swinging my legs off the bed and grabbing the comms unit. “What’s up?”
“We just got a response from Fen,” Maki said, and the excitement in her voice was palpable. “I’ve got a stack of files from her.”
“Perfect.” Jumping to my feet, I started getting dressed as fast as I could, not even bothering with combing my unruly hair. “I’ll be there in ten,” I continued, putting my boots on and rushing out of Sa'lok’s bedroom.
Fen, our liaison with the Urai, had been assisting us with cracking the Gorgo script.
On a hunch, I had decided to ask Fen for a lexicon of languages that were similar to the one we were working on, and it seemed like it had finally come through.
I made my way from the soldiers’ quarters to the labs in a hurry and found Mariella and Maki hunched over our workstation with disheveled hair and bags under their eyes.
Apparently, I hadn’t been the only that had been dragged out of bed in the early hours of the morning.
“We didn’t wake you, did we?” Mariella asked me, a teasing smile dancing on her lips. “I hoped at least one of us was having a restful night of sleep.”
“Yeah, right,” I laughed. “That’s me. What do we have?”
“Just like you requested, Fen sent over the lexicon of similar languages,” Maki replied. Like always, she was eager to cut the bullshit and get down to work. “I printed it out for you.”
Holding a thick stack of papers, she waited until I had grabbed my seat before she pushed the documents into my hands. “I still don’t know what you’re trying to do, Teisha. If you’re trying to look for any similarities between the Gorgos’ language and—”
“It’s not just that,” I cut her short, holding one finger up in the air as I leafed through the lexicon, doing my best to take in as much as I could.
“I think we’ve been looking at this the wrong way. We’re trying to extrapolate meaning out of the Gorgos’ script by working on other languages because we assume it must function just like any other language. But what if it’s the other way around?” I shook my head, trying to reframe my thoughts. “What if the other languages are playing by a set of rules designed by the Gorgos?”
“What are you trying to say?” Maki frowned, peering over my shoulder. I didn’t reply, at least not immediately. I continued leafing through the documents in my hand until a pattern emerged, and then I placed a few of the pages down on the table.
“Look at this,” I started, jabbing my finger at a couple of runes on the lexicon. “According to the Urai, this passage belongs to a race that became civilized a couple thousand years after the Gorgos. See the similarities?”
“I’m not sure I do,” Mariella said, but then she narrowed her eyes as I pointed out a couple of other runes. “Are you trying to say that the Gorgos’ language is a root language, like Latin was back on Earth?”
“Yeah,” I smiled. “That’s exactly it. The language looks so complex because we’re trying to fit it backwards into patterns that evolved from it. Thing is, those patterns only exist because the Gorgos created them. I’d bet my hovercraft that this language right here,” I continued, once more jabbing my finger at the document with all the Gorgo runes, “is the source language. A lot of the languages the Urai have compiled derive from it.”
“Holy shit,” Maki breathed out. She leaned back in her seat and raked one hand over her face. “I can’t believe it. It’s so damn obvious. You’re a freaking genius, Teisha.”
“Not at all,” I laughed somewhat uncomfortably. I didn’t feel like a genius.
I felt exhausted.
Sure, out of the three of us, I was the one with the most formal training when it came to languages, but I didn’t consider myself to be as smart as Maki, and Mariella had made the original breakthrough that led us to the Urai and even the rift technology.
I was surrounded by genius and was just trying to keep up.
“It was just a hunch. I was lucky to be right.”
“Yeah, right,” Mariella said, rolling her eyes. “Are we playing the humble game now?”
“Seriously,” I continued, “even though we’re sure the Gorgos’ language might be a root language, we still have a lot of work ahead of us.”
“We’ve been at this for three straight days, barely any sleep at all between the three of us. I think we’ll manage,” Maki laughed, gently slapping my back in a friendly gesture.
She was right.
We had been working almost obsessively on cracking the Gorgos’ script, and we showed no sign of slowing down.
As far as I was concerned, we made a great team. Sooner or later, we’d have some tangible results.
“Now, check this out,” I continued, rearranging the documents in front of me. “According to what we’ve tallied these past few days, these three specific runes always appear in the same sequence.” I leafed through the lexicon, and then laid a couple of pages next to the Gorgo alphabet. “If these other languages are anything to go by, we can surmise these three runes’ meaning as—”
“Home of thought,” Mariella whispered, her eyes wide. After spending so many hours trying to find a breakthrough, she could barely believe we had deciphered a small part of the puzzle. “That’s what they mean. I think we can translate it as ‘the mind’, the place where we house our thoughts. Or ‘the brain’, if you want to call it that.”
“What’s up with all the noise?” I heard a deep voice say right behind us, and I turned in my seat to find Sa'lok strolling into the room.
He was wearing a white lab coat over his massive frame, and his muscles showed under the fabric. In his hands was a tall cup of coffee. “I was about to head to my quarters, but I heard you might be in the neighborhood. Seems like you’re making progress, huh?”
“We believe we are,” I said with a smile, happy to see him. Ever since this whole madness had started, and especially after the cave-in at the Puppet Master’s lair, I was almost desperate to be around him. “We’ve managed to translate one of the most common expressions that appear in the ruins. We believe the Gorgos are referring to the brain.”
“That’s
impressive,” he nodded, taking a sip of his coffee. “The Urai couldn’t do it, but the three of you together...yeah, I’m impressed.”
Peering over my shoulder for a moment, he glanced at all the documents we had strewn across the table. “Oh, that’s interesting. Good work on noticing it.”
“Noticing what?” I frowned, having no idea what he was talking about.
“The intersection point.”
“What intersection point? What are you talking about?”
“Seriously?” Cocking one eyebrow up, he placed his coffee on the table and reached for the three pictures we had of the different ruins.
“Look at the coordinates,” he explained, grabbing a map and placing it under the pictures. “Do you see the way the different sites are arranged? They each come to a point at some part in their design.”
“Okay…” I muttered, and then suddenly it was clear, shining as if someone had put a spotlight on it.
“Look at this!” Grabbing a pen from my breast pocket, I drew lines over the map, all of them starting on the design points of the ruins.
“Do you see it now?” I asked Maki and Mariella, their faces alive with excitement.
We all did.
The lines I’d drawn intersected.
“Holy shit,” Maki muttered. “How did we miss this?”
“And what do we do about it?” I wondered.
Sa'lok
“This is great work,” the general said, the map with the three dig sites and their intersection point in his hands.
He didn’t look up from it as he spoke, his eyes still analyzing every detail. “I want you to gather a party and go see what’s there. Keep it close to you and don’t let it be known widely. Right now, the fewer people who know about this, the better.”
“We’re on it, sir,” Teisha spoke up. She was standing beside me, with Maki and Mariella occupying the two chairs in front of his desk. “I’ve sent word to the hangar, and my hovercraft will be ready for departure in about—”
“Easy there.” Putting the map away, the general finally looked up at us, his smart eyes immediately going to Teisha. There was a hint of a smile on his face. “You’ve all been working nonstop for the past three days, or so I’ve heard. I don’t want you going out there exhausted. I want to do it right. Take a day or two, and then go.”
“We really shouldn’t wait,” Teisha insisted, but the general was having none of it.
“That’s an order,” he said with an air of finality. “I’ll defer to Sa'lok, who’ll be taking point on this operation, but a day’s rest is non-negotiable.”
“I’ll make sure of it, General,” I said, trying to ignore the frown on Teisha’s face.
After the breakthrough we’d had, she was more than ready to take the pilot’s seat in her hovercraft. But the general had the right of it—everyone needed to rest, even if just for a night.
“That’s bullshit.” As we left the general’s office, Teisha turned to me and crossed her arms over her chest. “There might be something important in the mountains, we know exactly where it might be, and the general’s having us wait?”
“He’s right, though,” I said as patiently as I could. “You need to get some sleep.”
“I’m fine,” she protested. “Besides, you heard him. He said you can make the final call. So why don’t we just head out there right now? We can sleep once we’re back. I know Mariella and Maki are dying to get out there, as well.”
Looking over Teisha’s shoulder, I smiled at the two other women. Despite what Teisha was saying, the only thing that seemed to be on their minds was a warm meal and a warm bed. There were bags under their eyes, and their exhausted expressions countered Teisha’s words.
“Oh, fine,” she sighed, rolling her eyes. “I’ll just go there myself, snap a couple of pictures from overhead, and then get back.” With that, she turned on her heels and started marching down the hallway.
“You go get some rest,” I told Maki and Mariella, and the two of them sighed with relief. “I’ll deal with this.” I took off after Teisha, and I caught up to her right before she stepped into one of the elevators that led straight down to the hangar. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“I told you, I’m going to—”
“I don’t think so,” I laughed. Moving fast, I closed the distance between us and placed my hands on her hips.
Picking her up from the floor, I threw her over my shoulder and spun around, doubling back toward my quarters.
“Put me down,” Teisha cried out, punching my back with her little fists. “What the hell, Sa'lok?”
“Orders are orders,” I laughed again. “I’m just following protocol, ma’am.”
“Really freaking funny.” She didn’t sound amused. At all.
“Thank you, ma’am,” I continued, “I have always wanted to be a comedian.” That just earned me a couple more punches.
I didn’t really care. It felt good to be with Teisha, no one but us around.
After three days of intense work, I craved this closeness.
Once inside the bedroom, I put her down on the bed and placed my hands on my hips as I looked at her. “So, are you going to rest or will I have to tie you to the bed?”
“Is that a threat?” she smirked. “Or a promise?”
“What are you talking about?” I asked, and only then did I notice the innuendo in her voice.
Without my calling for it, adrenaline pumped through my bloodstream as I was hit with the vision of her tied beneath me, open, waiting...
“Oh, well,” she shrugged, her smirk turning into a grin. “I guess I can’t fight you on this, can I? If you want me to get into bed, then I’ll get into bed.” Still looking into my eyes, she took off her lab coat.
I wanted to turn around and give her some privacy, but my feet were glued to the floor.
I watched as she removed her tank top, her black bra hugging the perfect curve of her breasts in the most delicious way, and my body started boiling from the inside out.
Once she started swaying her hips and pushing her pants down, I realized I couldn’t even blink. I swallowed hard, my cock becoming as hard as a rock.
“Is this good?” Swinging her legs off the bed, she got to her feet and took one step toward me. My eyes were drawn to hers, my heart beating at a thousand miles an hour. “Or should I take the rest off?”
In that moment, I lost it.
“More than good,” I growled.
I reached for her, laying one hand on the nape of her neck and the other on her waist, and pushed her against the wall. She breathed out fast, her smile never leaving her lips, and I kissed her, ravaging her mouth, twining our tongues together as I thrust in and out, tasting her sweetness.
“I was dying for this,” she gasped as I released her mouth to nip and lick my way down her throat, the need in her voice the loveliest thing I had ever heard.
“Then that makes two of us,” I whispered, the hand I had on her waist traveling around the lush curves, my fingers taking in the perfect shape of her ass, pulling her tighter against me.
“Admit it.” Unfastening the top of my skinsuit, she pushed it over my shoulders, baring my chest. “You didn’t bring me here because you wanted me to rest. You brought me here because you wanted me.”
I didn’t answer with words.
Instead, I just kissed her again, surrendering to the moment.
I had wanted to do this so many times, my body and mind demanding it over and over again, and now that it was happening...I couldn’t even think straight.
It was a good thing I didn’t have to.
All I needed to do was follow my instincts.
Taken by lust, I slid one hand up her back and unclasped her bra. I pulled back from her just so I could look at her breasts, her nipples hard with excitement, and I leaned in and took one in my mouth.
I twirled my tongue around it, feeling it hardening even more inside my mouth, and that was when Teisha reached for me.
She flattened the palm of her right hand between my legs, then wrapped her fingers around my hardness and started stroking me over my pants.
“I want you,” she whispered against my lips. “I need you.”
“I’m right here.” Placing one hand between her legs, the drenched fabric of her thong against my palm, I pushed her back against the wall once more. “And I’m not going anywhere.”
Dropping to my knees, I ripped the thong off her, revealing the wetness between her legs.
With a groan, I pulled her hips towards me, flicking my tongue again and again through her slick folds until she shuddered.
“Sa’lok, please,” she begged, but I wasn’t finished tasting her, not by a long shot.
Lifting until her legs were over my shoulders so I could bear her weight, I resumed my oral assault on her clit, sucking and licking until it throbbed in my mouth.
“I’m going to…”
With one hand gripping her hip, I slid the other forward until I could drive one, then two, fingers deep into her tight channel while I continued devouring her honey.
With a shout, she stiffened, then shook, crying her release.
With that, I spun her around and dropped her on top of the bed, the mattress shifting under her weight. As I climbed in after her, she reached for my belt and unbuckled it, her desperate fingers tugging my pants down until my erection sprung free.
Grinning, she placed her hands on my chest and forced me down until I was lying on my back.
“Right where I want you,” she breathed out, climbing on top of me with cat-like movements. Without a moment’s hesitation, she grabbed my cock by the root and angled it up.
Her eyes never left mine as she pressed the tip of my hardness against her inner lips, my thickness pushing her inner walls back as I eased myself in.
“Don’t hold back,” she said as I rested my hands on her ass, my fingers digging into her flesh, and that was when she started rocking her hips.
Each movement of her body drove me one step closer to the edge, but she quickly realized she was right there with me. “I need you,” she mumbled. “I’m—”