by Mark Wandrey
Most of the admonitions against Leavenworth her mother warned about turned out to be true, or at least based on some truth. The Dunes was a pleasure palace that catered to any needs you might have. Minu was taken around and shown what was available. Then the hostess who was assigned to them made it apparent that if anything wasn't to their liking, whatever they required would be provided. Minu and Christian settled in to do some gambling, something she'd never done before. She didn't find it terribly interesting, but Christian was having fun so she went along for a while.
As they bet small amounts on cards, then dice, Minu was thinking about many things. The weapons project her team was working on was forefront in her mind, and in the back was another thing, something she'd been working on for some time without luck. Sitting back in her room was a computer chip, encrypted in a way even Pip had never seen, and with a message she couldn't read.
As the morning gave way to afternoon the friends all went to see a show. Unlike the more outlandish alien entertainments found elsewhere in Leavenworth, The Dunes specialized in more conventional fair of song, dance, and scantily clad females. Gregg and Christian couldn't keep the grins from their faces as scantily clad went to unclad. Cherise caught her eye and shook her head at the boys reaction. Minu could see Gregg's arm around the girl, one hand cupping a breast. The breath caught in Minu’s throat.
As the sun was setting they were in the lushly appointed lounge. A woman was singing a mournful tune as a man played along on an old style piano. "This is more to my liking," Minu said with a big smile. Christian smiled back and she felt her neck get hot. The song finished and the woman picked up a guitar, the next number an instrumental. Cherise and Gregg got up and moved onto the floor.
"Dance?" Christian asked.
"I don't know how," she said, figuring that was that.
"I can change that," he said and took her hand. She tried to resist, though not very hard. Before she realized it his arm was around her waist and on they were on the dance floor. "We need to be a little closer for this to work," he said and she fitted against his body. Instantly she regretted that third glass of mead. He gently led her to put her arms around his neck. She could feel the tautness of the muscles there, the subtle but manly smell of his cologne, the intensity of his blue eyes all added up to make her heart race. He carefully guided them so her body was moving gracefully to the beat of the song.
"I think I like dancing," she whispered, laying her head against his muscular chest. He'd seemed so tall before, and now it just felt perfect. Her head fit nicely just under his chin.
"I know I like dancing with you," he replied, then took a hand from her waist and lifted her chin to his face. His lips were warm against hers. She opened her mouth and their tongues touched, just the tips. It felt like lightning bolts started in her belly and racing up through her head. She put her head back on his chest and continued the dance, listening to his steady beat and her heart thundering in her head.
It was several hours and many dances later when Minu realized their friends were gone. She didn't have to ask where they'd went. When the pair returned to the table they'd all shared she found a room key and a note.
Minu, have a great night. We'll see you at 07:00 to head back to Steven’s Pass.
Cherise.
"I guess we're on our own," Christian said and pocketed the key. Minu shivered slightly and nodded her head. "It's getting late."
"It is," she agreed and tried to talk calmly. "Looks like we already have a room.'
"Yeah," he said, and for the first time she saw that he looked nervous too. "You want to see what the room is like?"
"Yes, I would."
The waiter brought them another bottle of mead wrapped in a silver coolness retaining blanket and a pair of mead flutes. Christian offered his hand and Minu took it, afraid he'd feel how much she was shaking, as he led her to the lift. The room number was on the key, leading them to the top floor. Christian opened the door and they saw it was a suite with a panorama window overlooking the entirety of the Leavenworth strip. The twinkling lights were almost hypnotic as Minu stood staring in wonder, the half empty mead flute forgotten in one hand. Christian came up behind her, a hand going around her slim waist, his mouth teasing her neck.
"Can we have some of that mead?" she asked, her voice quavering slightly.
"Sure," he said and went to refill the glasses full. She took a deep breath and asked herself if she wanted to do this. He came back, a smile on his gentle face and two flutes of fine mead. The answer was yes, she did want this. The room turned out to have a premium sound system. Christian found some music similar to what they'd been listening to in the lounge and they danced for a little while. This time as they danced his hands touched her in ways she'd never been touched before. She shook so bad she almost couldn't stand and he finally broke away, the concern on his face.
"Are you okay?" he asked. Minu nodded, but then shook her head no. "Then what can I do to make it better?"
She reached behind her back, undoing the simple clasp on her bra then sweeping the bra and shirt over her head in one easy motion, just like she would when getting ready for bed. It took an act of will not to cover her naked breasts with her hands.
He looked at her and smiled softly, the way he appreciated her body making Minu feel like a precious sculpture. "You're beautiful," he whispered and came to her. They moved to the music for a minute as his hot hands caressed her breasts, teasing the nipples. A gasp escaped her lips. In another minute his shirt was off and she felt his well-muscled and nearly hairless chest, taunt stomach muscles, and hint of hair at his belt line. With much more confidence than she felt, she undid his belt and loosened his pants. He helped a little and his pants slid to the floor. His manhood stood rigid against her abdomen as they danced. With trembling hands she gently touched it. He leaned into the contact with a sigh. "Don't be afraid," he said and she gripped more firmly.
A short time later they lay on the bed, wrapped in each other’s arms as the subtle music played in the background and the lights of Leavenworth twinkled over the bed. Minu was breathing hard and no longer in control of her body as Christian’s expert hands made her feel things she didn’t think was possible. Then the moment was there and he was on top of her, kissing her neck and breasts, his hot breath coming quickly as she felt him press against the place she’d never allowed a man to be.
“Are you sure?” he asked huskily in her ear.
"Oooh, yes, please, now," she groaned, all reservations and fear gone. She wrapped her legs around his waist and then lost all coherent thought as passion crashed through her body.
Afterwards tears came unbidden to Minu’s eyes. Christian held her, stroking her hair and whispering into her ear as she sobbed and cried. He wouldn't understand why she was crying and neither did she. For her it was enough that he was there to hold her. "Thank you," she whispered finally as he lay against her.
***
April 30th, 518 AE
The Dunes Hotel, Leavenworth
It was ten minutes after seven before Minu and Christian ran out the front door hand in hand to find Gregg and Cherise already standing there, laughing and kissing lightly. "Well someone had fun," Cherise said at the appearance of her friends, their hair still wet and cheeks red with excitement.
"We went for an early swim," Minu said quickly. The unconscious attempt to cover up her night of carnal pleasure fell flat on its face.
"Is that what you're calling it?" Minu turned twelve shades of red and then started laughing. Christian grabbed her and pulled her into his powerful arms for a deep, long kiss. Minu molded her body against his without hesitating and realized with a shock that she wanted more. Oh no, what have I unleashed? Gregg and Cherise cheered her on, and though Minu blushed even brighter, she didn't stop the kiss.
The valet pulled her car up and the friends all piled in. A minute later Minu made an illegal takeoff from the strip, startling a number of Beezer tourists who shook their furry arms at her as she c
limbed away.
"That's a moving violation," Cherise chided as they accelerated up and away.
"Screw it," Minu laughed.
As they flew, Gregg and Cherise got in a few more minutes of kissing. Christian just leaned over the central column and held her hand. As the car began to descend to Steven’s Pass Christian leaned over to whisper in her ear.
"I don't have any expectations after last night. I know we're Chosen, and that makes things complicated."
"I'm glad you understand," Minu smiled at him and gave him a kiss. "But I know who I want to spend my next day off with." She blushed and batted her eyes at him, sucking on her lower lip in a demure smile. He grinned back like a little boy with a new toy. "It was wonderful, Christian. Thanks again."
"Oh, thank you."
"Yeah, thanks for the night of sin," Gregg said from the backseat, obviously eavesdropping. Cherise elbowed him in the ribs for being rude and he woofed out a lung full of air. Minu knew a long busy day was ahead of her, probably a lot of those kinds of days. For the first time in a long time, she didn't have a care in the world.
Chapter 8
May 14th, 518 AE
Science Branch, Chosen Headquarters, Steven’s Pass
"What the hell is that?" Pip asked when he came into the lab. He handed her a metal case full of still more sifted contraband Concordia data and stared at the intricate schematic. For two weeks Minu had been spending every spare minute in her office working alone. Her team had more than enough to do without her taking away their time with personal projects. Besides, she wasn't a real scientist or engineer like they were. What she did have was exabytes of Concordia data, schematics, and manuals. She'd started messing around with preexisting designs and finished the idea all by herself. Of course, she'd stood on the shoulders of giants, many of whom were probably dead a million years.
"I'm going to call it a shockrifle," Minu said proudly. The stock was from a standard firearm design, the same one used by their slug throwers and the beamcasters. From there it looked nothing like the beamcaster, or a regular firearm. Shaped roughly like a rifle it was made of numerous metal conduits, tubing, electronic assemblies, and improvised metalwork holding it all together. As a whole it evoked a memory of what you would expect to see in an old Earth sci-fi movie.
"So this is what you've been working on in the dark of the night?" She grinned and nodded. "Well, that and Christian, anyway."
"Is my sex life public knowledge?" she moaned.
"Every Chosen's sex life is public knowledge." She glared at him. "Well, what do you expect? We're a closed community of only a thousand or so, and ninety-nine percent male. Sex is about all there is to talk about, since most of us aren't getting any. When the youngest, most beautiful, most eligible, most famous female Chosen ever finally decides to take a lover...” Pip shrugged and she scowled even deeper, “it's front page news." Minu managed to turn red, glower, and giggle all at the same time. It was funny enough to make Pip laugh as well. Most famous?
"Well, what's a girl supposed to do?"
"Have fun once in a while," he said and patted her hand. "I've been dating that girl in Chelan. You know, the chubby girl at the movie theater?"
"The one with acne? Pip, you can do better than that."
Now it was his turn to look mad. "Don't talk like that about Cynthia," he said, "I like her a lot."
"Got lucky, eh?" she said, unable to resist a jab at his expense. He looked sheepish and nodded his head. "Good for you. She's kind of pretty. Probably needs a boy as bad as you needed a girl."
"Thanks, I think. Well, anyway, explain this Frankenstein you've got here."
"What's a Frankenstein?” Pip looked frustrated so she went on. “Well, you downloaded so much stuff I'm never getting through it all, so I started looking for specifics. We're after an infantry weapon, so I searched for successful infantry weapons."
"You found a million designs, I bet."
"Sure did. I realized that I was wasting my time because most engineers are in love with their own work."
"Don't I know it?"
"So instead I searched on despised designs. I only found a few. After cross-referencing negative comments with positive results, I came up with this. It was widely liked by the engineers, and hated by soldiers. Enemy soldiers, to be precise. The down side? The only species to deploy it was wiped out a long time ago. I can't even find out what they looked like.”
“Probably wiped out because they invented the gun.”
Minu shrugged. “Anyway, this is similar to that weapon, with a few little changes I came up with."
"I would have never thought of that approach."
"Sometimes it takes a woman."
"Oh, I whole heartedly agree."
"Really?"
"Sure, why do you think Mandi is on the team? Don't give me that look; you agree that she's brilliant. I've seen your performance review, notwithstanding her screwing the First in the armory. Women have different thought process, often coming to the same or better conclusions through entirely different approaches. I realized that early in life. It's why I latched onto you in the Trials, and Mandi for this team."
"Pip, you never cease to amaze me."
"That's exactly what Cynthia said last night." Minu punched him in the arm, not too hard. He still looked annoyed and rubbed the offended arm.
"The weapon combines laser and plasma technology," she explained.
"Plasma weapons are even more wasteful of power than beamcasters," Pip complained. "Remember all the workups on them we read last month? It's the principle reason particle accelerators became the norm, despite the fact that they are larger and more complex."
"Sure, but this isn't a normal plasma gun. Those kinds of weapons just spray the stuff around in great messy globs. There isn't much of a defense against a few million degrees of star-stuff. An EPC small enough to carry doesn't hold a lot of power, not when you use them like that. Now the Shock Rifle is a hybrid." She used her computer to bring up a display on the lab's wall. A computer animation of a woman holding the weapon came into view. She brought it up from port arms to her shoulder and pulled the trigger. The view zoomed in to show the weapon in cutaway view.
"You've been busy," Pip said distractedly.
"You like it? One of the Command classes was in animation presentation. I figured it was the biggest waste of my time, until this. So, as you can see the system energizes a targeting laser. Once the user triggers the firing sequence, the targeting laser pumps to a thousand watts for a millisecond pulse, then uses a beam splitter to spread focus to a millimeter wide, hollow circular beam. A plasma stream is injected through the laser tunnel which travels down by negative attraction from the ionized channel." The graphic showed an unnamed hideously snarling alien. The laser caused a tiny burn on its chest, and then the plasma was injected down the laser tunnel. The plasma hit the alien, instantly and explosively causing living flesh to flash boil, and explode. The results were animated and gruesome. "Boom," she said as the graphic completed showing the female gunner holding her weapon with a huge grin and flashing a thumbs-up at them.
"Damn," Pip said. He reached for one of his tablets and she handed him one preloaded with all the guns details. The prototype was almost as heavy and unwieldy as the beamcaster, though she'd been forced to use salvaged parts and other components pressed into service that were never intended to be used for a weapon. The computer showed a slicker and finished looking weapon using designed components. It weighed a third of the beamcaster, and used 1/10th the power. "Damn," he said again.
They sat next to each other and Pip worked with the design a little. "What are you up to?" she asked.
"Look," he said, "the laser can be used as a weapon itself."
"I know, though it isn't as widely useful as the punch the plasma delivers."
"Agreed, but if we increase the pumped output of the laser, say to ten thousand watts, and provide a control for the user, it can be used in a pinch as an extreme long range snip
er weapon. Doing that gives us a little advantage in armored combat too."
"How?"
"Well, the common Concordia combat armor is resistant to plasma to some degree. At least against the small amount your using."
"I know it's the only shortcoming of this design."
"Well, it isn't as resistant to lasers. The problem with a laser is that it lacks the punch to do anything real serious after getting through the armor."
"Less lethality too," Minu agreed, "even a good penetration just tends to drill a hole through someone and leaves them operational."
"Right. But if you pump up the laser enough to penetrate the armor, then discharge a plasma bolt?"
"Oh, damn!" she exclaimed, hijacking his turn of phrase.
"Yep. Zip, zam, splat."
"I'm glad you're on our side."
"Me too!"
The others team members arrived together carrying coffee and doughnuts. They were quickly at the table looking at the new gun.
"What did you come up with, Pip?" Alijah asked.
"Not me this time, that is a Minu Alma special." None of them looked more surprised than Mandi. Minu sat serenely and drank it all in, a half smile on her face. She'd never been gladder that she'd started college classes. As the team settled in, she began describing her design, already incorporating the improvements Pip suggested. It was clear by the looks on all their faces that it was a good idea. Now they just needed to build it.
***
May 21st, 518 AE
HERT, Chosen Headquarters, Steven’s Pass
It was late afternoon and the HERT was deserted, just as Minu intended. She didn't want any curious Chosen to witness the coming test, or be victims of an unintended outcome. The teams preferred testers both showed in the persons of Gregg and Aaron. When Minu saw Aaron she suddenly felt strange. When he spotted her he said “Hi,” with a broad smile. She returned the greeting and turned toward the control room. Once inside and the door closed she suddenly broke into tears. "What the fuck is wrong with me?" she asked the empty room. When Aaron appeared at the door she gasped and did her best to pull off a two second recovery.