Harvesting Rue

by Candace Smith

  Rue did not want to waste any of the time she would have to learn what she could about the place they were being sent to, and she walked to the desk, picked up the leash, and hooked it onto the front of her collar. She held the end out to the wild man who stood gaping at her with his mouth open. “Come on, big guy. Let’s get my movie going.” She narrowed her eyes at Varpin. “If so much as a hair on her head is disturbed…”

  Varpin had no idea what she was talking about. Why would he want to disturb his pet’s fur? He glanced at his pet’s brown pelt, and then back at his Commander’s more brazen, yellow furred pet. Maybe they considered their fur important. So far, Isari’s pet had kept his commission calm enough to deal with… and she had gotten her to come out from under the sleeping pallet. Varpin turned back to Dawn and he watched his pet gingerly making her way through the fruit bowl, eyeing him suspiciously.

  Rue gave one more parting warning to Varpin. “A single hair…” She turned and pounded the door pad a few times, and then sighed and rolled her eyes when Isari reached around and tapped the door open.

  Chapter V

  The Chase

  Rue was led back to the Commander’s quarters, and she unhooked the leash and climbed into the cage. She ate fruit after studying the color and shape while she watched a strange landscape of cliffs, deserts, and thinly wooded areas with lakes and streams running through it. Isari watched from the desk while he finished up the final reports for the Commander who would be replacing him.

  Rue reached for the bar that fed the holographic display to see if there were buttons to freeze or slow things she was looking at. Back home, she was always quick to figure out how to work DVRs, and she had even taught Betts how to program hers. Her hand inadvertently ran over the image, and that was how she discovered that the motion of her hand near transparent picture would freeze, re-wind, or fast-forward the frames. It was not until the next afternoon that she discovered if she pointed to a particular object it would be singled out and she could examine it in greater detail.

  Other than replacing her fruit bowl, Isari left her alone. At the end of the second night, Rue looked up and asked, “We get released tomorrow?” The saragus was still transmuting and coursing through her system, rewiring her programming to a point that she instinctively understood the warrior would not hurt her. Most species considered the unusual acceptance as a threat and they fought the bond, making it impossible for them to fully assimilate. Rue did not recognize the slow change in her, and she did not think it was odd to find herself looking forward to the chase. As the pictures of Lameria had flashed by, she felt a strange yearning and an even bigger need to be on the planet than back on Earth.

  “We will be within transport distance before noon,” Isari informed her. She had been asking questions occasionally since he had laid the holograph bar in front of her cage. He was so filled with aroused need for her that he had struggled to keep his distance.

  “Do we get weapons?” Rue asked.

  “No,” Isari answered with a slightly surprised expression. “We do not use weapons for the chase. It is stealth and strength we use for the claiming.”

  It is brains and strategy that we will use, big guy. “What do we wear?” Rue asked.

  “Most pets run the chase in their skins and fur. They are more accustomed to this.” Isari wondered if it had been a mistake to remove her fur, and if she would always feel chilled.

  “Yeah, well, I’ll keep this miniskirt, but I want some shoes. There’s a lot of sharp looking rocks down there.”

  Isari thought his pet was cute. He had been watching her concentrate and she continued to surprise him with her discoveries. He had left her cage unlocked to see what she would do. Occasionally, she would walk around the room and stretch, and then return to the holograph. “We have no footwear for pets.”

  “Stop calling me your pet and get me one of your vests,” Rue demanded.

  Isari laughed, “My vest is almost as big as the shalu you are wearing.”

  “I thought you wanted an ‘invigorating’ chase. If our feet get cut-up, you will be bored rather quickly,” Rue baited.

  “You wish to wear one of my vests on your feet?” Isari was almost relieved that his pet was not able to reason it out. Logically, his vest was the smallest garment she had seen of the tough material, so it would make sense for her to think it might fit her feet. He rose to his wardrobe and returned with a vest and slid it between the bars. Isari sat back down to watch the disappointment when she discovered it would not work. What she did next astounded him.

  Rue pulled at the leather-like material, and she was pleased to note that it was as tough as she had hoped. She covered the empty fruit bowl in the vest, and smashed it against the bars. Ignoring the warrior’s astonished expression, she wrapped a sharp shard of the bowl in the leather and began slicing four large squares and long strips from the vest. She placed her foot inside a square, bunched the leather up by her ankle, and tied it securely with a strip. She did the same with her other foot, and packaged the remaining material for Dawn. Rue glanced up and saw the warrior staring at her new boots… and she tucked two long shards of the bowl in with Dawn’s footwear.

  Rue forced herself away from the hologram and closed her eyes to try to get a good night’s rest. She hoped Dawn was trying to sleep, because she had an idea they might not get a chance to close their eyes again for a while.

  In the morning, Varpin brought Dawn to the Isari’s room. He had grinned the whole way down the corridors, proudly nodding to warriors they passed. He had been slightly nervous that his pet would not have Rue’s instinctive ability to lead. While the two men discussed the final details of turning the ship over to new command, Rue and Dawn thumbed through the holograph some more. Rue was smiling at something Dawn said, and it made the two warriors slightly nervous.

  “They’re smart, Isari,” Varpin whispered. “I did not think to put a tracking band on what Dawn was watching until last night. There were several things she picked out to study, but they made no sense to me. Mostly sticks and stones it seemed, a few animals, and some of the plants she recognized as bearing the fruit she was eating.”

  “They may give us a worthy chase.” Isari was distractedly rubbing his thickening cock. “I’m considering having the Temple record it.”

  Varpin inhaled a gasp, and said nervously, “It has been centuries since a chase was archived. We could appear foolish when we catch them quickly. No matter what the Primitives have learned, they’re too small to move fast.”

  “They are visually appealing, so our brothers will enjoy that, at least.”

  The time had come, and Rue and Dawn stood silently to have their leashes attached. “You are not going to wear your boots?” Varpin asked Dawn. Maybe she did not know how the other pet had attached them.

  “I’ll put them on when we get there,” Dawn replied. The girls could not figure out another way to sneak the shards of the bowl down to the surface of the planet. Dawn had calmed around the big man when she decided he really would not touch her until after this running contest was finished. She had even allowed him to change her restraints into the more practical leather bands.

  “Why aren’t we more nervous?” Rue asked. She should be scared to death with everything that was going on, but she found herself easily capable of working on their strategy.

  “It is the saragus from your marking. Too many pets went crazy until the Harvesters discovered it would dull their anxiety.” Isari continued to be surprised with the girl’s curious nature, and most of her questions were valid.

  As they were led down the hall, warriors parted with their ugly pets resting beside them and they wished the departing command good luck. Several had wishes stuck in their throats when they watched the two new pets follow quietly behind Varpin and Isari, and when the yellow furred pet actually spoke to the Commander there were hushed murmurs relayed through wrist communicators.

  “So, big guy, how do we win the contest? Do we get to go back home if we
pass some kind of finish line?” Rue asked. For some reason, the thought made her uneasy.

  “No. Pets do not win,” Isari replied incredulously. “Warriors chase them until the claiming.”

  “Which you said lasts a year. I’m presuming your year is the same as ours, so… do we have to keep away from you for a year before we win?” Rue persisted.

  “You can not outrun us, pet. In the old days, they say our women would run until they allowed themselves to deliberately be caught by the warrior of her choice. Even the saragus will only serve to dull your anxiety to some point. When you see the strange things on planet, you will undoubtedly freeze or run back to us for our protection.” Isari’s tone was almost that of an adult talking to a child.

  “That’s bullshit, big guy. You’re telling us we can run all over the damn planet with you chasing us, and it never ends?” Rue questioned.

  “Well, except the Birthing Temple. Only the mothers and warriors protecting it can go in there. But every place else… yes, not that you will make it too far.”

  “What happens if you catch us?”

  “We take you back to our planet shelters and train you until the year is up, and then we re-commission to the battleship.”

  “So basically, we end up here… right where we started,” Rue asserted. She turned to Dawn. “Sounds like a stupid ass contest to me.”

  Varpin was totally confused by the pet’s logic that seemed to make a strange sort of sense, and he was relieved they were in the transport room.

  “Do we get a head start?” Rue asked.

  Isari replied, “Varpin and I will meet with our on planet friends for a few hours, but if you just stay by the rocks you should be safe until we come get you.”

  “Right,” Rue answered.

  Isari was a little disappointed. It seemed that his feisty commission had decided the contest did not have merit and she was not going to run after all. Varpin shrugged his shoulders. He was relieved. The thought of his timid pet on the surface alone before he could claim her terrified him.

  They were standing in the middle of a white disk, and suddenly Rue got the tingly feeling. “Oh, shit. Not this again.”

  When they reassembled on the surface of Lameria, the feeling seemed to go away quickly. “Does that thing ever screw up? You know, put your eyes back in weird places or anything?”

  Varpin clutched his cock in panic, and Isari laughed. “Not too often.” He unhooked her leash. “The rocks are over there,” he placed his big hands on her shoulders and turned her, “and if you get too scared, we’ll be in there.” He pointed to a cave with loud laughter coming from it.

  “A bar?” Rue needed a drink badly all of a sudden.

  “Yes, but no one else will bother you while you are wearing my mark and collar.”

  “No one?” Rue questioned.

  “Except the rebels, but they stay far south, down river,” Varpin assured them.

  It was two hours before the warriors were permitted to begin the chase, and Varpin was still reluctant to unleash Dawn. Finally, Rue reached over and unhooked it. “Bye, big guy.”

  “Master,” Isari automatically corrected.

  “I don’t think so, big guy. Not on your best day.” Rue never even bothered to turn around, which was sort of okay with Isari. While she walked up the hill towards the rocks, her bottom bounced below the hem of her shalu.

  “This will be a quick chase,” Isari predicted, rubbing his straining cock. Even the waiting was part of the claiming to encourage a solid union.

  “Are they gone?” Rue asked.

  Dawn turned to look. “Yes, Varpin just walked into the cave.”

  “Come on,” Rue turned right at the base of the rocks and they jogged for a few hundred feet. They sat down in some grass and Dawn handed her the glass shards while she put on her boots. “You sure about this, Dawn?”

  “It’s the quickest way to get away from them. That bit about the rebels has me worried, though. They weren’t shown on the hologram, so we have no idea how many men they have or how far south they are.”

  “We’ll think about how to deal with that if we come to it. I’m more worried about those damn fish. They remind me of the killer whales at an aquarium back home.”

  “No. We just need to find some of that purple fruit. I guess they really like it. When you climb on, put your hand through the blow hole and they should take off. They move in an arch to breathe, so we should only be underwater a few seconds. They might even swim shallow enough so we don’t go under.”

  “And they don’t bite?”

  “Nope. And they’re so big that nothing else gets near them.”

  “Until we have to get off,” Rue reminded her.

  “Yes, until we have to get off,” Dawn said nervously.

  They jogged towards where the hologram indicated that the river was located, and Rue knelt by the bank. “Remember that big curve?” She drew an outline in the sand. “I think if the rebels are anywhere, they’d be south of that, where the caves are.”

  “How come the hologram didn’t show them?”

  Rue shrugged. “Who the hell knows? Maybe they didn’t want to scare their ‘fragile pets’ or maybe the big guy is lying to keep us up by the rocks. Shit, every time I look at him he’s staring at me and rubbing his crotch.”

  “Rue, do you think we’ll ever get back home?”

  “I think the first thing we need to do, Dawn, is get away from the warriors. We can try to figure the rest out after that.” Rue stood up and stretched, and she tried to ignore a lancing twinge in her chest at the thought of escaping her warrior. “Let’s find some fruit.”

  While the girls stood on the bank of the river trying to coax two of the herd of vistans towards them, Varpin and Isari were scouring the rocks.

  “Where the hell are they?” Isari demanded of a boulder.

  “I never should have unleashed her,” Varpin complained. “My poor little pet is probably out there, too scared to even cry for me.”

  A few of their friends had come out of the bar to see the two exotic pets the warriors had been bragging about. Anything other than an Alidan would be a welcome sight, though they figured that this new species would end up being as big a disappointment as the Baranthas had been. “I thought the chase was going to be quick,” Telan shouted, as he walked up towards the rocks with a few other men.

  “We told you they were small. Fuck, they could be hiding anywhere,” Isari called back down. “Varpin’s pet hid under his sleeping pallet.”

  One of the less drunken men was looking towards the east. “Or, maybe not.” He looked down at the footprints in the dirt. “Varpin, do your pets know how to swim? You didn’t mention gills.”

  Varpin’s face paled and he ran down the rocks, scattering mini-avalanches in his wake. He did not bother waiting for his Commander as he took off at a run, envisioning his little pet face down in the river. Isari walked down and knelt by the tracks. “Dammit, Rue,” he muttered. He took off after Varpin with the men laughing behind him.

  “It’s the first species that hasn’t headed for the rocks to hide,” one of the men noted while they walked back to the bar.

  “Shit, you don’t suppose they’d make it south to the rebels, do you?” Telan queried.

  Maripan smiled maliciously. “Been a while since we stirred things up down south. It might not be a bad idea to make sure our brothers’ pets don’t get into trouble down there.”

  “Hell, count me in,” Shanalpin called out.

  “Me too,” came a chorus of voices. The new young warriors were bored, after five years of their mandatory ten year service on planet before they were considered trained enough to commission to a battleship.

  Telan turned to the bartender and pushed some coins at him. “Feed the Alidans until we get back.”

  “Will do.” The lumpy pets still gave him the shivers.

  The on-planet warriors rounded up their hizbins and saddled them. The two legged birds were half again the size of an os
trich, with rugged clawed feet that could handle the rocks. They headed south, with one man riding east towards the river and trailing two birds for their brothers in case they needed them.

  * * * * *

  “I don’t know about this, Dawn.” Rue was stroking the soft skin of the pink beast, and its blue eyes gazed up at her in adoration as she handed over another piece of fruit.

  “Rue, they’re as gentle as lambs. Aren’t you, baby?” Dawn stroked down the broad forehead and between the wide eyes.

  “Dawn? Dawn?” a panicked voice called.

  A louder boom yelled, “Rue, dammit. You better not be in that river.”

  “Well, shit. Guess we’re going for a ride, girl,” Rue told her beast. She waded into the water with Dawn. “Remember to get off before the curve and swim to the far side.”

  “No problem,” Dawn grinned. The only things Dawn was very comfortable with were animals and nature. She had camped since she was five, and the outdoors was more a home to her than her apartment had been.

  The warriors rounded the hill to the bank of the river just as their pets waded into the water and straddled two huge vistans. Their eyes widened, and Varpin shouted, “Don’t move, pet. I’m right here.”

  Rue looked up at Isari’s shocked face, and she raised a finger on the hand not gripping the blowhole. “Chase this. See ya’, big guy.” As if it were a signal, the beasts took off with the cows they were riding moving towards the center of the herd. As Dawn had suggested they did not dip low, and Rue found herself in a steady roll in the cool water from her thighs to just under her breasts. She looked up at the bank where the two warriors were running along the edge of the water, yelling and waving their arms.

  The girls reached forward occasionally, stroking the beasts’ foreheads. They seemed calm and were not trying to buck them off, so they relaxed into the ride. “Okay, you were right,” Rue admitted. “Way cooler than walking.”