by Calista Skye
I give him a sweet smile. These guys trust me more now. “Thank you.”
There’s only five of us gathered around the Lifegiver. Its long vines are waving in the air in a way that to me looks tired, while the whole creature has a bloated look compared to the other ones around it.
I was prepared for the Lifegiver being pretty weird, but this has to be the most alien thing I’ve ever seen. It’s hard to tell if it is a plant or an animal or something completely different. It moves and pulsates like an animal, and I’m pretty sure I can see strange muscles here and there. But it’s rooted to the ground and has stalks and buds like an exotic plant. It makes me confident in my conclusion that this thing didn’t evolve naturally. No, this is the result of genetic engineering at a very high level. Why would you make beings like this that can gestate the young of other species with no obvious gain for itself?
“To have complete control,” I whisper to myself. The picture is pretty clear to me now.
“What?” Brax’tan looks at me.
I put my hand on his arm. “I said, it’s a fantastic occasion. Look how excited Beri’tex is!”
“It is my first son,” the tribesman says, standing ready with towels and buckets of water. “And we only ever have one. Nobody has two sons.”
I have an impulse to ask how often these things go wrong, but I don’t think that would be the most tactful question right now.
The oldest man here busies himself with the Lifegiver, stroking it and probably helping it along.
“How does it look, Cor’ex?” Brax’tan asks.
“It looks good, Chief. All the signs are of a painless process. The leaves are going transparent even now.”
He’s right. Five minutes later, a clear fluid runs out of the pod and the outer leaves of the Lifegiver open and reveal a baby under them.
Cor’ex calmly picks up the new member of the tribe. “Your son, Beri’tex. Looking quite perfect. The water, please.”
“Wonderful,” Beri’tex says with eyes that are clearly overflowing, and the baby boy responds with a thin, mewling cry.
The midhusband and the new father gently clean the baby and cut the umbilical, and then the boy is presented to the chief, carefully wrapped in a soft not-sheep fur.
“Thank you for letting me have a son with the tribe’s Lifegivers,” Beri’tex says, moved, while Brax’tan gently strokes the little cheek of the baby held out to him.
“You are a worthy warrior, Beri’tex. And I’m sure this young one will be, too. But only if he gets enough nutrition.”
Beri’tex hurries off to feed his son, and Cor’ex calmly checks on the Lifegiver, still stroking it and even talking softly to it.
“Are all births this easy?” I ask.
“Mostly,” the old man says without taking his eyes off the work. “Sometimes, minor things go wrong. But we haven’t lost a baby for six years now. Before then, we were sometimes not good enough at caring for the developing young in their pods.”
“Sure beats the ordinary way,” I agree, and Cor’ex and Brax’tan exchange mystified glances.
- - -
It takes another few days for my mortar project to start to move along without my supervision. The cavemen coat the insides of some tunnels with the stuff, and it seems to work. It doesn’t fall off, at least.
Brax’tan and I are invited to Trui’rex for a private evening meal, and it’s a very delicious course of delicately fried and seasoned turkeypig as well as vegetables prepared in a way that I hadn’t seen before.
Brax’tan has been absent-minded all day, and Trui’rex and I do pretty much all of the talking.
“And how do you like our tribe, Delyah? After having been here for a while?”
“It’s a really great tribe,” I say sincerely. “Of course I only know this tribe and my own first-hand. But the other girls in the tribe have been to visit other tribes, and they’re nowhere near as organized as this one.”
“All because of Brax’tan,” Trui’rex says with so much pride that you’d think it was himself he meant. “He turned it around in a very short time.”
“I don’t think he could do it alone,” I offer. “The tribe had to support him. Right, Brax’tan? Brax’tan?”
For a split second, he looks at me with glassy eyes, and it creeps me out. Then he blinks, and the light is back. “Yes?”
“Are you falling asleep?”
“No, no. No, just… thinking.”
“Uh-huh. I said, the tribe supported the changes you made after you became chief, right?”
“Right.” He picks at his food.
“Oooh-kay. Thank you for your contribution. Is this your idea of exuberance? No, don’t answer that. Go back to sleep.”
“A chief needs his rest,” Trui’rex says. “Does your tribe know you’re here, Delyah?”
I see no problem in telling him the truth. “No, they don’t. They must be worried about me now. I’ll have to go back very soon.”
“I’m sure Brax’tan will give you an escort for safety.”
“I was actually hoping he might come himself.” I glance at Brax’tan, but he’s not all here. At least there’s still light in his eyes.
“Yes,” the old man says, “that would probably be the best idea.”
When we’re done, Trui’rex climbs up from his tunnel with us. “Thank you for a wonderful evening, Delyah. We tribesmen would long even more for women if we knew how delightful they can be. But they can’t possibly all be as charming as you.”
I blush a little, then think of something I wanted to ask him. “Trui’rex, that time when Brax’tan challenged you to a duel — what did he whisper to you when he embraced you right after?”
The old man arches his eyebrows. “He said ‘Bune wishes this’. Right then, it made quite an impact on me. But I suppose anything would have, when spoken with such conviction.”
I kiss him on one wrinkled old cheek. “Thank you.”
Back at the penthouse cave with the picture windows, Brax’tan is still not very responsive. It’s genuinely starting to worry me. He stands staring out the window with his arms crossed on his chest.
“You okay there, warrior?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Because we have to talk. About what happens now.”
“Yes.”
“I’m going home to my tribe, probably tomorrow. Will you keep me company?”
“We will go to your tribe tomorrow.” He says it flatly and without emotion.
That was easy. “Yes? You will? Good. We need an early start.”
He stares emptily out the window. “Yes.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
He blinks a couple of times, then turns around and comes up to me, embracing me and sniffing my hair the way he likes. “I’m sure. I have many things to think about. Don’t worry. Yes, we’ll need an early start. It’s a long way to go.”
“And we have to plan how to attack Bune.”
I swear it’s instantaneous. His cock goes hard against my side and his hands slide down my body to find my breasts. “Yes.”
I grin. “You really like that idea, don’t you?”
He growls against my neck. “I like my woman more.”
His expert caresses and touches jumpstart my own arousal, and soon he’s fucking me and bringing me to yet another incredible climax with his alien cocks.
“You know,” I purr when I curl up next to him, “at some point we have to do some planning about it. How many of your men we need. What kind of tools we’ll bring. We have to find a way to force that evil alien out of its hiding place.”
“That thing has no chance when Chief Delyah puts her mind to bringing it down. We’ll take it as it comes.”
It’s the middle of the night when I wake up from a strange light on the cave wall. It’s far too early for it to be the first sunlight.
Then I sit up, and it’s immediately obvious where the light comes from. Bune is doing its light show again. Except this time, it’
s just one red beam rotating like a lighthouse, sending a flash of red light through the light mist of the atmosphere twice a second. It looks so much like the emergency lights on an ambulance that it triggers a latent negative reaction in me. This is bad.
And Brax’tan is gone.
His side of the heap of furs is cold. He’s been gone for a long time.
The light gives me an ominous feeling, and there’s no way I’ll be able to sleep after this. I want to find him.
I put my dress on and go out on the ledge. The eerie light from Bune pierces the mist like a rusty needle, and a shiver goes down my back. I’ve never seen it do that before. That alien entity is up to something, and I have a heavy feeling it’s about me.
I climb down the ladder and look around. The village is dark, but somehow seems tense. As if everyone is up, waiting for something.
Or maybe it’s just me.
I’m not sure what to do. I doubt Brax’tan is outside the gates inspecting the guards. He’s in the village somewhere.
I walk away from the white cliff with the caves, checking to see if there’s light coming from any of the tunnels. I could go to Trui’rex’s hole and wake him up to show him the red light from Bune. He might have seen it before.
When I glance back, I see there’s yellow, flickering light from one of the caves below Brax’tan’s. Probably Deputy Chief Sas'tar’s cave. That’s probably where Brax’tan is.
I make my way over there and peek inside.
Brax’tan is there, sitting there with his back to me.
And there are five other cavemen.
But they don’t have black stripes. They all have stripes of different colors. Purple, yellow, light blue. Silver. Turquoise.
These are all caveman from other tribes.
And Brax’tan is talking to them.
“... only the lightest of resistance. There are no fortifications, the scouts tell me. Two men on guard at night. One cave and a couple of huts spread out over a large clearing.”
“It is said,” one of the other says, “that these aliens have a special way to charm Bigs. That they even fly on irox. Yes, I know, clearly false. But still with a grain of truth?”
“It is true,” Brax’tan says, his voice monotonous and lifeless. “They keep one or two slave irox. It is of no concern. We can easily kill them. And we will have Bigs of our own to counter the threat.”
“We will?” one of the others says. “You know how to tame Bigs?”
“We will have them,” Brax’tan repeats.
My heart sinks in my chest, and I want to cry. That has to be our cave they’re talking about.
“How many women are there?” the yellow-striped man asks.
“There are seventeen. And two young who will grow up to become women.”
“Seventeen women for six tribes. Nearly three for each tribe. Plus the young.”
“This tribe will only take two,” Brax’tan states. “We have one from before.”
The blue-striped one rubs his hands and grins. “A full three women for each tribe. This will be a momentous occasion for all of us.”
“Yes,” Brax’tan agrees flatly.
My knees buckle under me, and I have to support myself on the side of the cliff.
Fuck. They’re going to attack the girls! Brax’tan is going to attack my tribe! They’re going to take the girls as their slaves! And the babies!
The severity of the betrayal hits me so hard, it just about knocks the breath out of me. Bitter tears burn in my eyes, everything goes misty and the whole world spins around me, making me nauseous.
Then I pull myself together. I have to warn the girls. I have to go home. Now.
I turn to leave, but there’s a large shadow right behind me, and strong hands grab my arms.
27
- Delyah -
Sas'tar grins down at me. “The alien is spying. It is as expected.”
“Let me go!” I demand with all the authority I can muster, which is not much.
“Brax’tan,” Sas'tar says and drags me inside the cave. “See what I found eavesdropping.”
Brax’tan slowly turns around.
Except that’s not Brax’tan. It’s his body, certainly. But the eyes — there’s no light in them. It’s the same glassy stare I’ve seen in him before, but only for so short instances that I can imagine I’ve seen wrong. But now I know I’m right. The light has gone out of his eyes, and whatever’s looking at me from inside them is not Brax’tan.
“Honored chiefs,” Sas'tar says, “this is what the women look like that you will soon add to your villages. Believe me when I say that they make the most interesting noises when they Mate.”
The tribal chiefs stare at me with barely contained lust.
“Brax’tan,” I plead with a voice that doesn’t quite carry, “what are you doing? You’re scaring me!”
Sas'tar abruptly pulls me back, throws me over his shoulder and walks out of the cave. “Better not to distract Brax’tan at this time. He has important things to do. Don’t worry, we’ll keep you safe.”
I kick and writhe and try to slap him, but he’s holding me firmly, and he hardly seems to notice. He carries me across the village, climbs down a short ladder into a newly dug tunnel and dumps me onto the humid dirt. Then he climbs back up again and pulls the ladder up with him.
The deputy chief who I thought seemed so nice grins down at me. “You’ll be comfortable here. Brax’tan can’t see you for a while, but if you want company, I’m sure I can be of service. Just yell.”
He gives a short laugh and walks away.
It’s suddenly very quiet.
I plop down onto the dirt and hide my face in my hands, trying to keep the tears at bay. Against the warriors of six tribes, the girls have no chance. Sure, Heidi and Dar’ax flying on dactyls could even the score a little, but they’ll be attacked by hundreds of warriors, some of which have killed many dactyls before. It just won’t be enough.
We all knew this would happen. We all knew that at some point, bad people would discover us and attack us. I talked about it all the time. I had nightmares about it.
I know with the pain of a needle piercing my stomach that we’re not ready.
We’ve had almost a year. And what have I, the leader of our group, done to prepare for this? Basically nothing. No diplomatic trips to tribes we already know about to ask for their protection. No massive projects to build fortifications. No attempt to tame more dinosaurs for all of us to ride on, so we might have a tiny chance in a battle or so that we could evacuate pretty easily.
To top it all off, the leader of the attack on our cave is the man I thought was my boyfriend. The man I thought loved me. And I’ve told him everything about our tribe.
I might as well have just asked him to attack us myself. It would have been more efficient.
Of all the leaders there have ever been in the universe, none has been as disastrous as me.
Chief Delyah. What a fucking joke.
Oh God. The old girls. The dragon girls. The babies! Little Jaxia Aurelia and Ariana Carol. And pregnant Heidi and Aurora and Caroline… their husbands will never stop fighting until they’re either dead or have chased the attackers away. If these guys think the girls will go with them willingly in exchange for not being killed, they’re wrong. This will be a freaking bloodbath.
All because of me.
My stomach churns and I throw up violently against one dirt wall.
I won’t even be there to die with them. They’ll think I abandoned them to their fate. Or they’ll think I’m behind it all!
I can hear myself wailing, but I can’t stop it.
I don’t know how many hours pass, and I don’t really care. As soon as I see any kind of edged weapon, I’m slitting my wrists. Or I’ll bash my head in with a fucking rock—
A ladder comes down into the hole. A new wave of terror hits me and I scurry to the far end of the little hole. I have no illusions that this is Brax’tan coming to rescue me.
And it isn’t.
It’s Jur’nex, the shaman. The man who never liked me. The man who’s about to lose all his power in the tribe because of me. Now he’s got me cornered. Trapped like a fat little rat.
He towers over me, looking down on me with eyes that glow.
And his sword is drawn.
I get to my feet while my knees tremble. Whatever this is, I’ll meet it standing up.
Well, I wanted to die. This might be the best way out.
28
- Sophia -
“Yes, I got you. Mommy’s here.”
I pick little Jaxia Aurelia up from her crib and carry her outside, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. These days, it’s like I can sense when the little rascal needs feeding, so I wake up one second before she starts making noises. Or so it seems to me.
The night is balmy as usual, with just a hint of night chill. The fresh air will wake me up more and put Jaxia to sleep as soon as she’s done with her snack.
I sit down on a not-sheep fur on my usual rock outside. It’s pretty dark, and it looks like it’s overcast.
I’m not alone out here. Dar’ax and Xark’on are on night watch duty tonight, and I can be sure they’ve seen me. I can’t see them, though. They make sure to keep out of sight of everyone.
I start feeding my little daughter, enjoying the closeness. I feel an urge to sing to her while she sucks at my breast, but at night I feel it’s better not to. You don’t know what you might attract.
The two huts we’ve built for the dragon girls are dark and quiet. We really have to make more suitable accommodation for them. They’re starting to grumble.
“Huh. Never saw it do that before.” Emilia sits down beside me and starts feeding little Ariana. “Think it has something to do with Delyah?”
She nods towards the strange red light flashing from Bune.
“Probably,” I say. “I’m sure she’s taken over the whole thing and is now pressing all the buttons to find out what they do.”
“Looks like a damn fire truck,” Emily suggests sleepily. “She’ll be coming here now, just as soon as she can find the siren. She might be starting the engines soon. Or it’s like those red lights on airliners. Making it ready for the flight back to Earth. Preparing inflight meals. Making coffee. Do you think she’ll find those cute little Coke cans that contain about a tablespoon?”