Harvesting Rue

by Candace Smith

  “Yes. She tested you personally, to make sure you were a compatible pet for me,” he said proudly. For some reason, it seemed he needed to let his pet know how important her harvest had been to him.

  “Oh… I can’t wait to see her again.” Rue’s mind scrambled to all the choice things she had to say to the woman.

  As it turned out, Ebby was not a woman. At least, not that Rue could determine. Isari had brought her to a small cave-like structure to the north. It was a strange melding of primitive rock with mind-blowing technology built into it. Isari poured them each a glass of sharigan, and he pulled Rue onto his lap while he turned on the holograph screen. She tried to stand up, and he pulled her back down again. “Please, Rue.”

  It was the first time he had asked her permission for anything, and she realized it was a struggling compromise against his pride. She sat back down on his muscled thigh and watched his fingers play over transparent maps on the screen. “There it is.”

  “What are you doing?” Rue asked. She was intrigued by the system. There were dots… different colors… and some of them moving quickly.

  “It helps that I knew what quadrant her ship was in. I didn’t want to risk sending a search beacon and having the Royals stumble on it. The harvesting ships are green,” Isari informed her.

  Rue watched a silver dot shoot across the screen towards a black one that seemed to be hiding behind a blue one. It was very confusing. Isari saw what she was focused on and zoomed in. Rue saw a planet, and a spaceship hovering behind it. The ship had an ominous feel to it. Another ship was slowly circling the planet from the other side. “That is the Battleship Nidell. The planet is one that is used for supplies, and the other ship is a rogue vessel preparing to steal the resources.”

  Rue scooted forward and her eyes widened. “Is the Nidell going to blow it up?”

  Isari’s arm tightened around her. He was both pleased and perplexed that she should be interested in a battle. “Not if they don’t have to. Some of the rogue vessels are the last remnants of dying planets. It the people on board are stealing to survive instead of profit, Farvell will try to get them supplies and escort them to a Friton Union base. They work with Harvesting Procurement to register habitable planets for different species’ requirements. Some of the rogues have been on their own for so long and they are so mistrusting, integration can be impossible.”

  Rue watched guns ease out of the ships’ sides, and Isari saw her grip tighten on the table and tears filled her eyes. She did not want a battle after all. The rogue vessel’s guns pulled back into the hull, and he stroked a hand down her arm and whispered into her ear, “They were bluffing, Rue. If they had enough power to fire the guns, they would not have risked approaching the planet and staying in orbit when the Nidell showed up. They don’t even have enough fuel to run.” Isari smiled as a shadow of guilt lifted from his shoulders. Farvell was successfully guiding a third Janalin rogue, and Isari was relieved of the uncomfortable thought that he had been responsible for the species’ extinction.

  Rue collapsed back against him in relief, though why it seemed so important that the unknown creatures on the ship were not destroyed made no sense to her. Somehow, she was afraid that it would look like a mere video game, where ships blasted each other into fireballs in space.

  “We command battleships for protection, Rue. Whether it means to safely escort rogues to a more promising future, or destroying enemies.”

  Rue realized that the Lamerian warriors, in addition to their fierce fighting capabilities, were probably the best choice for the battleships. If anyone understood the devastating possibility of extinction, it was the brave race of warriors that had been living under the threat for centuries. As much as they might yearn to fight, their primary desire would always be to save a dying species. Rue looked up at Isari and she nodded towards the vial. “If the Royals were behind this, will it mean a war?”

  “That will be for the Frital Union to decide. They will probably insist that the Royals involved in the scheme and their lineage be exiled from the Realm.”

  “That doesn’t seem like much of a sentence, after what they did to Lameria,” Rue noted.

  “Exile is the harshest of sentences, Rue. They will be cut off from all the luxuries and protection they have been used to. They will be isolated on a planet with only the supplies necessary to ensure their continued existence.” Isari had been scanning the hologram for Ebby’s ship again. He zoomed in and hit another transparent dot, and a list of strange symbols appeared. The warrior tapped one, and a few minutes later a face appeared on the screen.

  “Commander Isari, how can I help you? I must thank you for a most enjoyable archive. How is your pet?”

  Rue remembered the tinny voice. She leaned in front of Isari and said to the pale featureless figure, “His pet is fine… no thanks to your torture chamber.”

  Ebby laughed. “You are the one he calls Rue? Your species continues to surprise me with its strength and determination. You are much more adaptable than we had originally considered, and thanks to you I have days worth of notes to add to our files on your species.”

  “You might add a note that we don’t like to be kidnapped and abused,” Rue huffed.

  “Has it not been exciting, Rue? Surely, the Commander’s saragus has dispersed enough to have you craving his cock by now.”

  Rue’s mouth dropped open at the blunt statement, but even the mention of craving had her squirming on the bronze thigh under her bottom. She sat back and let Isari take over, as she was positively speechless.

  “Rue is coming to terms and adapting to her situation quite well, Ebby. And you, what secrets are you working on?”

  Rue noticed a slight widening then narrowing of the black disc eyes on the screen. “Nothing of great importance.”

  “I was showing Rue different quadrants, and I noticed the Nidell bringing in a rogue. I just thought you would like a heads up that they might be joining the commissioning roster.”

  “Thank you, Isari. I’ll contact the Frital Union and have them send me their specifics.”

  The holograph went blank for a moment and Isari tapped more transparent buttons. Rue was sure that she would never be able to figure it out. “Is there some kind of a manual to that thing? How come you didn’t tell her about the vial?”

  “No, there is no manual. I can teach you how to use it. Ebby and I were on an easily hacked general communication channel. We’re searching for each other in a deeper security lock.”

  “Don’t you have some kind of pre-arranged code?” Rue asked.

  “You continue to amaze me, Rue. The battleships do, between each other, but there never really is a need for such secrecy with a harvesting vessel.” Isari waved his hand, scanning through lists. “There she is.”

  Ebby appeared on the screen again. “Please tell me you found it, Isari.” If the flat face held emotion, Rue would have thought that she looked concerned.

  “My pet found it,” Isari smiled.

  “Please stop calling me your pet,” Rue whispered.

  Isari ignored her. “Luckily, we did not archive today’s run or the Royals would know that the pets ran to the Birthing Temple. Imeria held a vial safely protected for all this time.” Isari held it up. “Can it be transported safely?”

  “Code your location and let me lock on.”

  Isari reached over Rue to tap a button on the transport chamber, and she felt her nipples tighten when his bicep brushed against her breasts. Suddenly, she was very aware of him. She closed her eyes and inhaled his scent… a unique, masculine smell that caused her pussy to tighten. Oh shit. She remembered the saragus, and the blue and gold marking began to pulse lightly against her labia, encouraging her arousal. Oh shit. What the hell is in that stuff? She felt a stiffening under her bottom, and as hard as she tried, she could not help squirming against him and slowly sliding from his thigh to the center of his lap.

  It’s about time, Isari thought. He was going crazy trying to control himself
. He placed the vial in the chamber and took Rue’s hand. She was trembling, and he lifted it to the side of the chamber. “Push the middle one,” he whispered.

  Rue gasped when his breath brushed her ear. Oh shit. She pushed the button and turned back to the screen. Ebby was already retrieving the vial. She turned it sideways and read the ancient code. “Those despicable bastards,” she hissed in shocked disbelief.

  “You know what it is?” Isari confirmed.

  “I do. It is a mixture between a female aggression inhibitor and a sterilization project we had been working on for Zillipias to bring back males on their planet and hopefully leave them unscathed. At the time, we could not control the virus, so the Frital Union blocked us from using it after the Royal’s review. Apparently, not all of the specimen made it back to the Frital Union disposal compound.”

  “You don’t think the Union was working with the Royals, do you?”

  “No chance. The Union needs the battleships to bring in the rogues. They’re out of business without you.” Ebby studied the vial again. “No. No, this was completely a Royal conspiracy.”

  Isari asked nervously, “How long does the plague remain active?”

  “Indefinitely,” Ebby said. She looked at Isari’s face, and added quickly, “which is why it is a good thing that I was on the original project.”

  “You made an antidote,” Isari smiled.

  “You bet I did. I don’t have the desire to play god, like some of my esteemed colleagues do. Check your transport in a couple of hours. No one knows that I saved it. I made it in conjunction with the original virus, and I want to wait a while in case someone is watching me. Break open the canister outside, and the bacteria will multiply and should have the planet clean within a few days. I feel so foolish for not figuring it out, but the Royals held onto it for three centuries before initiating this treachery.”

  Rue did not know it, but Isari was feeling an explosive confusion of emotional feelings combining with his desire for physical claiming. “Ebby, is there a chance some of our woman got away before succumbing to the plague?”

  Rue’s eyes were closed while she continued to breath him in. Damn… okay, one time. Just for this claiming thing, she decided. “Mmm,” she murmured. “Imeria said that five immune men and women were shuttled out of the Realm.”

  Isari’s hand froze from where he had been caressing her thigh. “Ebby?”

  “I’m on it,” she said. “Isari, if we’re right, you need to warn Varpin to protect his pet.”

  “I’m sending the Nidell to guard the primitive planet.”

  “You need to get approval from the Royals,” Ebby reminded him.

  “Fuck that,” Isari replied.

  Ebby smiled. She knew that the warriors would protect both the primitive planet and Lameria until the responsible parties were brought to trial. Justice would be swift, because most of the battleships were commanded by the Lamerians and all of them would want to be a part of ensuring their survival. It would leave the Realm unprotected.

  Isari continued to sit before the screen, rubbing his chin on the top of Rue’s head. She felt a cramping longing for the warrior, but she fought to keep her mind on the task at hand. Visions of Imeria and the other ancient mothers would crowd her thoughts when she began to slip into the mesmerizing stroking and scent of Isari.

  “Isari,” she said softly. “You need to contact Varpin to set up a defense in case the Royals attack.”

  “The Royals have no battleships without us.”

  “They have something. They were able to deliver the plague the first time, and they may have a virus even more damaging in their supplies. If everything Ebby’s group devises is sent to them before it can be disbursed, who knows what they have stockpiled?” Rue reasoned.

  Isari found it hard to concentrate. Varpin usually handled such strategy, but by now he would be in the full throws of his claiming… exactly where Isari wished to be. Rue was right, but Isari’s hand dropped to her breast and he turned his head into her neck.

  “Shit,” Rue gasped. She looked at the dots on the holograph and she spotted a silver dot sheltering a black one. They were moving slowly across the screen and she pointed to pull the Nidell into view. Isari’s hand slipped between her thighs and Rue squeezed them together. “Please, Isari,” she begged. Rue had never been so aroused in all her life.

  She managed to touch a translucent button on the bottom of the screen and a list appeared. The writing looked like Egyptian hieroglyphics, so she guessed that the Commander’s name would be listed first. Farvell had only recently returned from Lameria after the disappointing results with the Baranthas. He came onto the screen expecting to be laughing in commiseration at the failure of the exotics who had provided such an exciting archival chase. Instead, what filled the main screen on the deck of the Nidell was the blonde pet, her brown eyes fired with passion, and Isari obviously beginning a most heated claiming.

  “Farvell?” Rue gasped. “Ebby needs to speak with you about the rogue ship you’re escorting.”

  The Commander looked around the bridge and shrugged. He turned back to the pet, and his eyes narrowed when he realized that Isari had not bound her wrists together. “Isari? Isari, are you okay?”

  Isari heard his brother’s voice and lifted his head from Rue’s neck. The look in his eyes caused some of the junior officers to groan. “Farvell, Ebby needs to speak with you,” Isari confirmed.

  The last thing that was heard on the bridge of the Nidell was Rue’s gasp. “Hey, big guy. How the hell do I shut this damn thing off?” Isari was buried in her neck again, with one hand squeezing a plump breast. The other reached blindly for the holograph screen before it went blank. There was a record breaking nine Yatlins called to the bridge of the Nidell, while Farvell contacted Ebby.

  Chapter VII

  Claiming Rue

  Isari stood, lifting Rue in his arms and carrying her across the room to another alcove hidden towards the back of the cavern. Rue’s eyes were glazed with passion, and she slowly pulled her attention from Isari to the glittering lights around her. The rock was embedded with a frosty quartz that lit the room like a billion diamonds. In the center, a small pool rippled from water sluicing down a small waterfall and lit from below with the same rock. “What is this place?” she whispered.

  “It is the cleansing chamber. The quartz is the same that protects the mothers in the Temple.”

  “It’s beautiful,” Rue murmured.

  Isari lowered her to her feet, very pleased with her reaction. Every warrior sought to find his own chamber, and Isari and Varpin had traveled far north from those that their brothers had found. The others settled for smaller posts so that they could be nearer to the landing spot to claim their pets.

  Isari removed his vest and Rue’s hands floated to his bronze skin, caressed across his broad shoulders and down his ribs. The warrior leaned back against a wall to remove his boots while Rue’s hands continued to memorize the texture and warmth of his skin. This feeling was like nothing Isari had ever experienced before, and his eyes fixed on the hands stroking him while he worked to remove his pants. His terson breeches were sliding down his shins while he reached for the hem of Rue’s green shalu, and he pulled it over her head.

  His arms circled her and he pulled her close against him. Isari lifted her and carried her into the water, and Rue felt a million sparks of light stroke her nerve endings. The warrior sat on a rock and placed Rue straddling him on his thighs. Her pussy was spread open and a few seconds later she felt a nibbling sensation on her sex.

  “Oh… oh, Isari. Something’s biting me.” The light nips were extremely pleasurable.

  “It is the chatrons. They get excited by the release of the saragus and help with the claiming.”

  “I don’t think I need any more help,” Rue gasped. She threaded her hands through his unruly hair and pulled his mouth onto hers.

  Kissing had been a forgotten art on the planet once the women were gone and they were regulat
ed to using pets. When her tongue first jutted into his surprised mouth, he was afraid she was demanding control. This, a warrior could not compromise on. He thrust his tongue back, parrying into the warmth of her mouth, consuming her while she melded her breasts against his chest. His cock ached to be inside of her.

  His erection stood proud when he lifted her from the water and carried her through a rock archway and into the main room. There was a sleeping pallet in the corner, but it was the area with the restraining devices that he brought her to. Rue was so aroused that it took her a moment to realize that while she held herself against him he had locked her collar to a bolt in the rock wall. He peeled off her arms and secured her wrists over her head.

  “What? What are you doing?” she asked in a dreamy voice.

  “You must acknowledge me as your Master, Rue.”

  Rue struggled to clear her head. “Isari, we settled this.”

  “No, Rue. I cannot continue the claiming until you acknowledge that I am your Master. It is the only way I have the right to keep you safe.”

  “I don’t need you to keep me safe.”

  “Rue…”

  “This is bullshit,” she cried. Her arousal dissipated with each drip from her leaking pussy, and she tried to pull her wrists free from the wall. Rue’s body was aching for him to hold her and his demand seemed unfair. She bit her lip, lowered her head, and cried.

  Isari panicked and checked her restraints. “You are hurt?”

  “You know I won’t let you rule me,” she said softly.

  Isari smiled down at her and rested his head on top of hers. His big hands began stroking down her sides, massaging her breasts and pinching her nipples tightly, pulling and lengthening the tips until they were stiff protrusions. He felt her shift forward, pushing her face into his chest and softly panting. The seductive power of the warriors was legendary, and with such strong acceptance of his saragus, his little pet would surrender to him with confusing submission.

  “Stop,” she gasped. “This isn’t fair.”

  “Hush, Rue.” Isari absorbed her quivering, matching the pulsing beats in his shaft. His hand drifted to her pussy while he slid his fingers through her golden fur tail. The moisture excited him, and he wondered with her body so obviously accepting his Mastery, if the words were really necessary. Pride won out, and he was determined to continue the soft caresses until he heard the acknowledgment from her lips.