Prophet: Bridge & Sword

by JC Andrijeski

  I followed the prodding of his hands, nodding when he gestured we had to watch the bubbles we emitted now, at least while we were in view of the pier.

  He had us under the dock a few seconds later, where we had a bit of breathing room. Once we were far enough under it, and away from any of the mapped surveillance, we breached, making as little noise as possible.

  Luckily, the dock itself was loud.

  As soon as I breached, even with the suit covering my head, I heard announcements echoing over loudspeakers, heavy equipment running above us, probably unloading cargo from the ship we’d just ridden in on. Electronic winches operated somewhere overhead, some humming smoothly and sounding more high-tech, some grinding through rust and salt like they’d been sitting there a lot longer.

  I heard voices, too. Most spoke Arabic.

  Revik pulled the regulator out of his mouth, motioning for me to do the same. Then, before he dealt with his own, he caught hold of the tank harness around me and started to unbuckle the front of it, meaning the part that held the oxygen tank to my back. He had everything unlocked in a matter of seconds, then pulled me around so that my back faced him, and worked to get the tank off me entirely, which was no mean feat, bobbing in the water.

  Once he had it off, he weighted it, and let it drop.

  I watched it sink below the dock through the dark water.

  I pulled my goggles off then, too, weighted those with the pebble-sized organics Dante provided us, and let those go as well, tugging the hood of the wetsuit off my head before I started to writhe out of the rest of it. Revik held on to the waterproof pack I’d worn under the oxygen tanks while I got the suit off.

  Then I was only wearing black biker shorts and a sports bra-like top.

  Once I’d clicked the waterproof pack back around my body, we repeated the whole exercise on him. By then, a lot of pain was coming off both of our lights.

  I had to smack his hands off me a few times as he took the opportunity to caress my bare skin under the water while I was fighting to get all the equipment off him. Fighting not to laugh, in nerves as much as anything, I shoved at his shoulder to get him to turn around, and wrangled the oxygen tank off him, too.

  He tugged and struggled his way out of the wetsuit while I held his pack, and then he was only wearing shorts. And yeah, it was distracting, even with him wearing prosthetics so that I could barely make out the real outline of his face. The blond hair was a trip, and kept making me stare, even as I checked his body while he got out of the last of the wetsuit, making sure he hadn’t rubbed off any of the prosthetics covering scars and other identifying marks.

  The prep team had done a good job.

  His back looked so smooth and unblemished it didn’t look like his at all.

  I wasn’t even wearing the ring he’d given me. I’d given it to Lily to wear for me, before she left with her grandparents.

  Thinking about her brought a tightness to my throat, so I shoved her out of my mind, even as Revik clicked his own pack around him, motioning for me to follow as he swam deeper under the pier.

  Surli and Stanley mapped this area extensively, mainly for surveillance and infrared, although we had a pretty good idea of the physical layout. Motion detectors and image captures littered the length of the pier, but they had nothing under the docks. Surli and Stanley were tasked with clearing out a portion of the south-side docks the night before, so we could slip through.

  By now, they should have help. More seers were scheduled to join them yesterday, including Dalejem and Chinja.

  I wasn’t thrilled about Dalejem’s inclusion, but Dalejem knew Dubai.

  We got to the far southwestern end of the complex a few minutes and a number of swims later, including a riskier one that took us out into open water and across the bows of several docked ships. The route we took should have been in a line absent of any direct surveillance according to the specs we’d been given, but yeah, it was still unnerving.

  Doing it without the gear made sense, in case we were spotted and needed to get on land and out of there in a hurry––but it also made it harder, in that we had to stop in the shadow of one of the larger bows to catch our breath, huddled on the side facing away from the nearest docks.

  Both of us were panting by the time we made it to the opposite pier.

  I found the ladder, and we both caught hold of the metal rungs. Revik nudged me to go first, so I began climbing up as carefully and as quietly as I could, hoping no one would be in the section of dock directly above.

  Luckily, another ship was being unloaded on that side, one that looked like it had docked not long before ours, so there was plenty of camouflage. When I poked my head above the edge of the pier, the closest dock workers I saw were busy unloading crates a few dozen yards away, and not looking in our direction.

  We’d been told by Surli and Dalejem that a good chunk of this landing area existed as a regular, old-school, open-air dry dock prior to Dubai becoming a quarantine city. As part of the so-called improvements undertaken by Shadow, they’d covered the dock to make the port more secure. They’d also expanded it to about five times the original size and cleared a swath of land behind it to function as a security perimeter. That perimeter included a fenced off section of beach armed with organic binary electric grids and land mines.

  The dock was accessible from the mainland only by train.

  Dubai had always been as much a fabrication as a reality, but there was very little “real” habitable environment here at all anymore. The water all came from purified and desalinated seawater. All crops grown came from underground fields of reconstructed soil and genetically-enhanced seeds designed to survive on simulated sunlight and drought-level irrigation. All lakes, lawns and golf courses were entirely man-made, of course, and would have dried to dust in days without the extensive atmosphere-adjustment fields, crazy amounts of watering by the desalination plants, and constant additions of both real and artificial topsoil.

  Shaded concourses graced most of the man-made structures, misting water down on the land and people below, pretty much 24/7.

  Really, it was more of an amusement park than a city.

  Now, with Shadow at the helm, it was a fortress in many ways, as well.

  During a planning session we’d discussed why Shadow would choose so many coastal and island cities as the focal points of his quarantine zones, given the amount of maintenance involved just to keep them viable.

  Revik believed the choice was deliberate. He said Shadow would prefer that, since the residents of those cities would forever be dependent on whoever owned the infrastructure.

  It would give him more control.

  Surli told us they were bringing human and seer slaves in by the boatload, mostly from India and other parts of Asia, but also from the West and Africa. With the increase in construction projects, those shipments had grown more frequent.

  I peered over the top of the ladder, spotting the surveillance camera as soon as I looked up.

  I stared at it, frozen, then realized the light was off.

  Surli and Stanley did their end.

  Taking another breath, even as Revik’s fingers circled my ankle in a silent question, I began to move, disentangling my foot from his hold carefully so I wouldn’t accidentally kick him in the face. Once I got to the top, I walked deep into the nearest row of storage crates, to get out of view of the open stretch of pier.

  Looking back to make sure Revik followed me, I unhooked the waterproof pack and set it on the ledge of the nearest container. I unzipped the bag to get at my regular street clothes, along with a headset, jewelry and the small gun I planned to carry. I’d already pulled the wet tank top over my head by the time Revik had his own backpack off.

  He was staring at my bare upper body when I glanced up.

  I smacked him in the chest, clicking softly.

  “Come on, pervert,” I whispered. “Mind on the job.”

  He smiled faintly, but shrugged, then slid out of his shorts, tur
ning me into a hypocrite when I paused long enough to stare at him.

  “Mind on the job,” he said softly, mimicking my voice.

  I laughed, quietly, but kicked off my own wet shorts.

  I used the small but highly-absorbent towel I’d shoved into my bag to get off the excess water, then tossed it on the edge of the metal crate. Reaching back into the bag, I fished out a black, camisole-style top. It’d just pulled it over my head and arranged it awkwardly over my still-damp body when Revik moved suddenly, the motion sharp enough to jerk my eyes to the opening on the other side of the storage crates.

  Seeing who stood there, I stiffened, even before I saw him staring at Revik’s naked body. I was still watching when he clenched his jaw, looking away.

  Revik continued to stand in front of me, shielding me as Dalejem approached where we stood. The long-haired seer still hadn’t spoken. I saw his eyes flicker down Revik a second time. Watching him stare at Revik’s bare ass and cock more heatedly, I jabbed my husband pointedly in the back with my fingers.

  Jumping a little, Revik turned, glancing at me.

  Watching me finish pulling up my underwear, he colored at my glare and turned to block his own body at least partly from view.

  Without looking at either of us, he tossed the towel he’d been using on the edge of the container and reached into his bag, pulling out a pair of boxer-briefs and tugging them on hastily. I continued to watch as he found a dark T-shirt and yanked that over his head and back.

  I pulled my hair into a ponytail once I had my skirt on, squeezing it out as hard as I could, then winding it up into a tighter bun at the back of my head, to make it less obvious that it was wet.

  When I saw Dalejem watching Revik again, I almost said something.

  Before I could open my mouth, the other seer stiffened, looking over his shoulder at the end of the aisle of storage crates.

  I barely had time to comprehend what he was reacting to, when Dalejem moved swiftly. I was still tugging a shirt over my head when he appeared by my side. I looked up at him right as his muscular arm wrapped firmly around my waist, his hand squeezing my side once he had ahold of me.

  “Go with this, Esteemed Bridge, I beg you,” he muttered.

  I turned, giving him a hard look, about to speak, when a shout rose from the other end of the crates. My eyes shifted in the direction of the sound.

  Before Dalejem caught hold of me, I’d been tugging the stretchy shirt around my back, a shirt that still left my midriff bare under the cami, and now I realized I still looked half-dressed, given my lack of shoes and the short skirt.

  Revik’s pants were half undone, too, but he seemed to be on board with whatever Dalejem was up to. I saw him move deliberately to block us from view, right before Dalejem used the hand and arm out of sight behind Revik’s body to shove our bags deep into the cracks between the storage crates, presumably so they wouldn’t be seen.

  Once he had, Dalejem grasped hold of me tighter, and dragged me with him towards the opening in the aisle, where three uniformed guards now stood, along with a man in local civilian clothes who scowled at us.

  “What the fuck are you doing down there?” he said, speaking Arabic.

  “Brother, brother…” Dalejem raised his hand, speaking lazily in Arabic. “Do not get excited, brother. We were only testing some of the merchandise. It is a small thing. And here she is back with you, safe and sound.”

  I stiffened for a single beat of my heart, then softened all at once, melting my body into Dalejem’s side. I felt his light react sharply––and Revik’s flare from behind me.

  Before I could adjust to either of them, Dalejem’s hand wrapped possessively around my ass. It made me jump a little, and his light flared a second time. That time, I couldn’t stop a corresponding flush of pain off my own light. I felt Dalejem feeding more light into mine as soon as I opened enough to give him the opportunity, likely to mimic that we’d shared light recently––which in no way made it any less unnerving.

  Revik liked that even less.

  I felt a flush of real anger off him, but the fact that we shared a connection made it difficult to tell how visible it was to anyone else.

  Either way, Dalejem didn’t withdraw his light, and I kept mine open, too, which caused me to react to what Dalejem was doing even more. I felt Revik fighting to remain silent as Dalejem’s arm squeezed me tighter against him.

  The male seer leading the soldiers––for he was a seer, I could see now, from his dark blue eyes with their odd, white flecks, and his height as we approached him––stared at us from the opening between storage crates. I saw him sum up the situation, right before he frowned, placing tanned hands on his hips. He wore a spotless white robe, like something out of a movie about sheik princes.

  “Who are you?” he demanded of Dalejem, still speaking Arabic. “I could have you arrested, do you know this? You do not simply ‘borrow’ merchandise meant for the markets… brother.”

  Dalejem smiled, gesturing an apology, but he didn’t look or feel apologetic.

  “We thought there was no harm.” He glanced at me, using the fingers of his free hand to tug at the loose neck of my shirt. He pulled the thin fabric up over my shoulder, sliding a few stray wet locks of my hair behind my ear, right before he caressed my collarbone with those same fingers, pulling at my light. “We intended to return her very shortly, my brother. As you can see us doing now.”

  Behind him, Revik let out a laugh.

  I was probably the only one to hear the anger in it.

  On the outside, it sounded almost like he was drunk.

  “A few more minutes would have been better,” he muttered in Arabic.

  I glanced at him, and saw him finish fastening up the front of his pants.

  His light exuded a pulse of post-coital heat that caused a flare of reaction in mine, even given where we were. Dalejem’s arm squeezed my waist, his hand gripping my ass harder. His own light exuded a dense whisper of the same frequency I’d briefly felt on Revik’s. I felt that heat, enough to react to it.

  Which of course brought another flare of reaction off Revik.

  Clearly, the sheik-guy in front of us felt most of that, as well, although Dalejem managed to make it seem as if he was attempting to shield his reactions to me, either out of politeness or embarrassment for letting me get to him.

  “Surely you must have noticed this one, brother?” Dalejem said to white robe. “Can you blame us, really, for taking a small taste? And everyone else was so busy…” he added, grinning as he motioned vaguely over the pier.

  While Dalejem continued to caress my neck and rear, using both of his hands now, I subtly highlighted several structures in my light that I’d gained from working for the Lao Hu. I tried not to be too heavy-handed about it, more using them to pull gently on Dalejem’s aleimi as he touched me.

  Once I had, I felt a flare of reaction off him again, and that time, it didn’t feel quite as scripted. When he pressed against me the next time, I realized he was getting turned on for real––enough that I looked down before I’d thought about whether I should do that, either.

  Yep. Definitely getting turned on.

  A more cynical, or maybe just a more possessive side of me wondered if it was from me, or from the fact Revik was watching this.

  Behind me, Revik’s light had gone unnervingly still.

  In any case, the seer in front of us, the one wearing the robe, blinked up at the space above my head not long after I highlighted the Lao Hu structures.

  I saw him notice those structures for the first time.

  Once he had, his light sparked in interest.

  “Ah,” he grunted. Understanding reached his voice, even as he switched to Prexci, the seer tongue. “She is one of those Lao Hu bitches. I heard we had some in this shipment.”

  Shipment?

  But my mind understood the word just fine.

  As it turned out, the rage that must have risen to my eyes or light wasn’t an unusual sentimen
t for seers in my position.

  “Your sexy little bauble does not like this,” the seer sheik said, smiling at me knowingly. He waggled a finger in my face, clicking in mock admonition. “Get used to it, sister. This is a new world we are in. Chinese whores like you don’t get to play high and mighty to the rest of us anymore. No matter how good they are with their tongues.”

  My mouth twisted into a darker frown.

  “Yes, this is, indeed, a brave new world,” I retorted, using the more formal version of Prexci, the same version I’d learned as a consort of the Lao Hu. “Where seers enslave other seers… after fighting for generations against our human cousins for doing the same.”

  The robed seer laughed, his light exuding indifference.

  Clearly, I wasn’t the first seer to lob those words at him.

  Glancing at the soldiers behind him, the sheik clicked his tongue, looking at Dalejem and then at Revik. His eyes held sympathy now.

  “I see why you took her,” he said, patient. “I do, my brothers. But do not do this again.” Making his mouth firm, he gestured sharply with his hands to reinforce the point. “The bosses, they do not like this. If they caught you at it again, you might receive more than my gentle rebuke. More than a loss of your jobs, even,” he added darkly. “They want the cargo to go right to the markets––especially the expensive ones. It is my own ass on the line, you see. And these Lao Hu cunts may be difficult to train in manners, but they are also very rare. Especially now.”

  I found myself pausing on his last words, turning them over in my mind.

  I didn’t have long to do that, though.

  As soon as he finished speaking, he motioned with his head and eyes to the waiting soldiers. Two stepped forward at once and caught hold of me, one at each arm. They pulled me away from Dalejem without so much as an apologetic look to either of us.

  Dalejem released me when their pull grew insistent, but I felt the reluctance in his light.

  I wondered how much of that was put-on, too.