Isan appeared, dressed in tan colored pants made from what looked like a thick woven material, and a tunic held at the waist by a braided rope. It was similar to what Pierre wore.
“Man alive, I can feel my skin again,” he said while sitting on the floor in front of the fire. Danielle quickly handed him a bowl of soup and he began eating greedily.
“Your turn?” Josias looked at Haven.
“Please! I can hardly wait to wash the stench off my body and out of my hair!”
Haven followed Danielle to the bathroom. “Do you have a ship,” she heard Josias ask just before their hostess closed the door to the living room.
The water pressure was terrific and the large wooden tub filled up fast. The bar of soap she saw sitting on the side of the tub looked homemade. No shampoo. The soap would have to do. Haven sniffed it. No flowery scent, but it smelled fresh and clean. It would cleanse her and that was most important to her.
She relaxed in the water allowing it to soothe and calm her. The authorities could still send the space patrol after them. What if they’d endangered these peaceful people? She tried to put the thoughts out of her mind, but pangs of apprehension wouldn’t leave her. Her gut told her that it wasn’t over. How were they ever going to fight against what was going on? They needed a ship, a pilot. They needed help. They couldn’t tackle the Dahkhar fleet on their own. How were they going to handle their fight against the slag dumps?
So far, they hadn’t had a chance to discuss much of it, but Haven was sure Josias and Isan were of like minds. They had to stop the insanity. Because of their successful escape, they’d become humanity’s only hope. No one else had ever managed to escape from the Dahkhar prison.
Chapter Six
Pierre and his wife had offered them the hospitality of their home and they’d gladly accepted. Haven longed for the arms of her men, but Danielle had given her a room of her own. Josias and Isan shared another and she couldn’t abuse their hospitality by sneaking into their room at night. She realized they couldn’t stay with them indefinitely.
She finally got her wish when Pierre and Danielle, apologizing profusely, told them they had to attend a function and would be gone a few hours.
“Finally alone for a bit,” she said and looked at her men.
“Is that a hint?” Josias asked, grinning from ear to ear.
Isan had already joined her on the floor before the fireplace and Josias joined them. The men had their clothes off in seconds.
It was weird. Suddenly she felt shy. When they’d made love before, it was in darkness. Sure, she’d seen them naked, but the setting now was so different, so real. The flames sent their glow over the men’s bodies accentuating their muscularity, their almost perfectly honed physique. Adonis, Haven thought. Two gods of love and they’re all mine.
Isan shifted around, sitting in front of her. He undid the cord around her waist and pulled the tunic over her head.
Josias stood and pulled her to her feet. The skirt slipped off easily and in no time she stood naked. Twirling her around to face him, he took her in his arms, his lips claiming hers. She opened them readily to accept his exploring tongue. Her fingers tangled in his long hair. She felt Isan near her legs. Gently, he prodded until she spread them. He ran his hands up and down her legs, caressing her calves, her thighs. One hand stroked her pussy then a finger slid up and down her slit. Her juices spilled as she climaxed. Isan sat between her legs his face against her pussy now, his tongue lapping at the juices trickling from her vagina. His hands were on her belly, stroking, fondling, a thumb on her clit. She throbbed with wanting them. She’d died and gone to Heaven.
A moan escaped her lips when Josias left her mouth to kiss her nose, her eyes, her forehead. He nibbled on the lobe of each ear, then bent to suck her nipples.
Isan licked her slit from front to back then entered a finger, his thumb on her anus. She startled for a second as he pushed hard on that unexplored territory, but pleasure soared through her.
Josias’ mouth and one hand still concentrated on her breasts and nipples, but his other hand stole downward. With Isan’s fingers inside her and on her anal opening, Josias hand and lips on her breasts and nipples, and now his other hand joining Isan in exploration of her nether parts, she was going to explode if they didn’t take her soon. Josias pressed hard on her clit, pinched it, until it throbbed. The ecstasy was unimaginable, something she never dreamed she could feel.
Josias eased her to the floor on her side. He lay in front of her and pulled her leg over his hip while his cock sought entrance.
Isan positioned himself behind her. Now she felt her anus invaded. His finger hurt at first and she stiffened but Josias stroked her, fondled, kissed, until her body completely relaxed and his finger slid into her easily.
Josias lay still, his cock inside her, his mouth on hers, while Isan prepared her backside. She had no idea where he got the lubrication, but when he pulled his finger out and entered her again, it felt slippery and slid in all the way easily. Another finger entered. Her anus stretched to accommodate him. He withdrew.
She stiffened again when she felt his cock against her opening pushing gently. He must have lathered his cock generously. Relaxing under Josias’s assault on her mouth then her breasts and nipples, she wriggled, wanting him, wanting Isan.
His cock entered her, a little, then some more. It hurt, but strangely enough, the pain only heightened her lust. Josias’ hand left her breast and stole down to her clit. He rubbed it, pushed on it, until she squirmed.
Yanking her lips away from his, she yelled, “Damn it, take me. Fuck me.”
“You have to be readied, my love,” Josias murmured against her lips.
“I’m ready. Dammit, I’m more ready than ever.”
“I love you, Haven Drew,” Josias whispered near her ear.
“I love you both, but stop torturing me,” she yelled.
Isan’s lips were on her shoulders, her neck. His hand grasped her hair. He pushed into her all the way and lay still until her anal canal expanded.
“I love you, too, blonde vixen,” Isan said softly.
It was then, as if an unspoken signal had passed between the two men, they started to move within her. Slowly, at first, torturously slow. The position she was in didn’t allow her to do a whole lot. She ached to touch them both, to take each into her mouth, to torture them as much as they tortured her.
Their tempo increased. Isan was now fully within her and so was Josias. Isan still moved slowly while Josias sped up. His balls smacked against her. Isan moved faster.
Two cocks moving in unison within her was exhilarating—it was out of this world intoxicating. She’d already come several times, but now she felt the ultimate release building, the crescendo. The men began to tremble. “Yes, fuck me, fuck me hard,” she shouted.
Josias came with a loud grunt. He didn’t pull out but stayed within her. His face close to hers, he lay breathing heavy.
Isan came at the same time and uttered a loud roar as he shot his seed. He collapsed behind her and flung his arm over her body pressing tight against her, his lips in her neck raining small kisses.
They lay quietly for a while until they’d caught their breaths.
“I hate to break this up, my darling, but we’ve been at this for a while. We can’t chance Pierre and Danielle walking in on us,” Josias said, a regretful expression on his face. He kissed her and withdrew his limp cock. She felt Isan pull out as well.
The men stood in all their naked glory gazing down at her as she lay on her back.
“Haven, you’re the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever seen,” Isan said. “Your body is perfection.”
“I wish—”
“As do we,” Josias interrupted her before she could say more. “But we’re not in our own home. There will be more opportunities for us to be together.”
Haven scrambled up and stood on her tiptoes to kiss each in turn. “I love you. I hardly believe how fast this has all happened, but our bo
nding is so solid, so soul touching, I feel one with you both.”
* * * *
During the next three days and nights on Anat, they learned a lot about the planet and its settlers. They found out there was only one small interplanetary ship the settlers used to travel to the closest planets to trade. They’d managed to snatch some brief time alone so Haven had a chance to probe her mates’ minds about fighting against the powers that be and to take a stand. They were in complete agreement with her, but they were also at a loss as to how to fight the Dahkhar authorities.
They needed to come up with a plan, a strategy. They were without enough weapons, manpower, and more important—high powered ships able to engage in a battle if necessary. Not forgetting, somehow, some way, they needed to find the pockets of resistance, she was sure, must be on each and every planet.
That day, Pierre had taken Isan and Josias to the mountains while she spent time with Danielle. The lovely French woman took her on a tour of the small village, its market and introduced her to various people. “Where do your children live, Danielle? How many do you have?”
Danielle held up her hand. “Five, and six grandchildren. They live in other village.”
“Wow, that’s a big family. Do you see…” Haven’s speech trailed off when she heard a very faint whistling sound high above her. Shading her eyes, she peered up at the sky and saw them using her enhanced vision chip. “Oh, my God! They’ve sent three fighters. We have to warn the men!” she shouted.
Danielle stopped and looked up. “I can’t see them. They must be very far.”
“They travel very fast, Danielle. They can travel faster than light. They will be here in a few hours.”
“Pierre will return soon.”
Danielle didn’t seem too worried, but Haven was terrified. The French woman had no idea what the fighters had the ability to do. They could flatten the village in a split second.
Will they land and search the planet? The settler’s village? Or will they destroy the settlements without caring how many lives are lost. After all, they care very little about this planet, and what do a handful of settlers matter? How many war drones are on those ships? She knew each ship could hold at least ten, plus weapons and buzzard gliders. How many human soldiers had they sent? Haven had seen their gliders in action. There was no escaping them. She calculated Anat time by looking at the hazy sun’s position. Darkness would fall in about two hours. Danielle was right, the men would be back very soon. “Let’s go to your house and wait for the men, Danielle,” she suggested.
“I just need to buy fish for le diner. We are at fish shop.”
“I’ll wait.” Haven waited impatiently. She noticed Danielle chatting amiably with the woman behind the counter and wished she’d hurry. When they arrived back at the Blanchet’s house, the men were already there waiting for them.
Haven ran to Isan and Josias. “Did you see them?”
“See what? What’s wrong? You’re awfully agitated,” Josias said. “Calm down, girl.”
“Deep space fighters. Three of them.”
The expressions on both the men’s faces became grim. They rushed outside and returned just as fast. “Yes, they’re a few hours away,” Josias said.
“What the hell do we do?”
“We have to hide. We can’t put these people in danger. Thank God the men who fumigate the slag found those cases. Remember the weapons I took from the storeroom? They’ll come in handy now,” Josias said.
Isan shook his head in doubt. “What if they don’t land, don’t ask questions? They could simply destroy the villages in minutes. And if they do land and get no answers, they might destroy them anyway. The powers that be have no interest in this planet. They don’t give a damn.”
“I’m sure they want us alive,” Josias said. “They’ll land and question the settlers and send the drones out to search for us.”
Pierre came into the living room. “What is this I hear? Danielle told me there are three fighters in the sky.”
“Yes. Can you warn everyone in the village? The other villages?”
Haven looked at Pierre’s worried face, at Danielle who looked panicked now. “We need to leave here and hide,” she told him. “Where can we go?”
“I can warn everyone quite fast. The settlers in the other settlements don’t even know of your arrival yet. I will contact some and they will contact others. I’ll get a chain going. I will warn them to say if questioned, we do not know of any strangers arriving on our planet.” Pierre took his outdated, though working communicator from his belt and stood before the window while he conversed with his friends and council members. When he was finished, he faced them. “There is a cave I can take you to but it is quite cold during the night. The temperature drops to below zero. I don’t know if you can survive such cold, even with suitable clothing and thermal blankets.”
“I can, but Isan and Josias can’t. They’d freeze to death,” Haven said.
“We could let you use our transport, but their scanners would pick up on it and they would blow it out of the sky. That is not an option either.”
“The sanctuary,” Danielle said.
“A church?” Josias asked. “I doubt they would respect holy ground.”
Haven noticed the hesitation mirrored in Pierre’s eyes and the frown on his face.
“We would need permission from the elders, if—”
“Not time,” Danielle interrupted. “It is only safe place.”
Again the hesitation but after a prod in his side from his wife, Pierre spoke. “There is a sanctuary in the mountains. That is where we get the, what we call, magic water. It is deep inside caves and it is beautiful, serene. There is a hot spring so it is warm inside. I could take you there.”
“How long does it take to get there?” Haven asked.
“We have two gliders. They malfunctioned and were left behind a long time ago, but we managed to repair them. We can only use them for emergency. The one is just a transport glider. The second one is a high altitude glider that only the elders know about. I would consider this an emergency. It will get us there very fast and scale the mountain easily.”
“And you can pilot it?” Isan asked.
“Yes. All the elders know how to pilot it.”
“Fantastic! Let’s go!” Josias shouted.
Danielle left the room and returned quickly carrying a bundle and blankets. “Here is some food and beverages for you and blankets.”
Haven gave the woman a hug. “Thank you, Danielle. I will ask the goddesses to watch over you. I hope to see you again soon.” Just as she was about to leave, she remembered their clothing. “Danielle, we need the clothing we wore when we arrived. If it is found—”
Danielle rushed to fetch the clothing, probably still in her laundry facility. Haven waited impatiently, with the men outside, prodding her to hurry. Danielle returned with the clothing bundled in a cloth bag.
“Thank you. I hope to see you soon, Danielle. Take care.” Haven sent the woman a reassuring smile before she closed the door.
“The high altitude glider is hidden behind the greenhouses in a barn. We must hurry,” Pierre urged them on. “We keep it well locked away because we don’t want our adventurous teenagers trying it out and going into the mountains. There are some dangerous creatures in the dark forests there.”
Haven couldn’t help but chuckle. “Youth is the same everywhere, it hasn’t changed throughout the ages,” she said. From a distance, the greenhouses had looked huge, but she had never realized how truly big they really were. Each greenhouse was at least the size of a farmer’s field. She wished they had time to stop and peek inside. Maybe one day Pierre could proudly show off their crops. Not tonight. Darkness had fallen and the barn loomed before them.
Pierre quickly opened its doors revealing a silver glider. “Come,” he beckoned, hurrying to it.
The glider seated four. After climbing in, Pierre started its engines and waited for his passengers to sit and put on their safe
ty straps. The dome closed over their heads and the glider silently rose and slid out of the barn.
Once outside, the ship rose and Pierre steered toward the mountains, the glider’s bright beam lighting the way.
Haven looked up and saw the three tiny specks had become bright stars in the sky. They had an hour, perhaps a bit more, to disappear from sight. “Will we have enough time?” she asked anxiously. “And how will you return, Pierre, without revealing the glider to them?”
“I will stay with you,” he said. “We cannot afford to lose the glider. We have little enough equipment as it is.”
His determination to help them surprised and gladdened her. She was touched because he was risking their very existence for them. They were, after all, three strangers who had landed on their doorstep just a few days before. The universe still had people in it that harbored kindness. Humanity wasn’t all lost. She was also surprised at how fast the glider moved, regardless of its age. Effortlessly Pierre navigated through the first mountain ridge. Before too long, they were far beyond civilization. Tall cliffs loomed ahead. They looked stark, dark and forbidden.
“A change of plans,” Pierre said. “To hide the glider we’ll need to use the mine instead.”
At first, Haven thought he was going to crash into the tall cliff straight ahead. Her heart climbed into her throat and she was on the verge of crying out when she spotted an opening wide enough for the glider to enter. It slowed. Its bright headlight displayed a long tunnel ahead. The walls, ceiling and floor resembled pink and white soap stone, darker rose veins creating an interesting network.
Pierre landed the glider at the entrance to a large cavern. On the walls, sconces hung about every eight feet apart. The glider’s doors opened and Haven stepped out, surprised at the immense size of the cave.
“This is where we mine the stones from which we make the compound to detoxify the slag. The stones have other uses as well. We’ve made some beautiful ornaments and lamps from it,” Pierre told them while lighting a torch then lighting each sconce hanging on the walls. They were similar to his torch, but imbedded in holes in the walls.
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