Keeping With Destiny

by Stephan Knox

  He sat up in his chair and gave her as about a reassuring look as he was capable of giving. As part of the Outlanders, she was under his direct command, anything more between them would be frowned upon, and she knew it. But she liked knowing he had a soft spot for her, even if she could never allow herself to have pleasure with it or him. “No. There’s no point. I just want to be sure you’re okay and if you ever need anything— even to just talk, I want you to know you can come to me.”

  “Thank you, sir,” she said with a nod.

  He gave a light get out of here wave and she got up but paused at the door. Gage glanced up, sensing there was something else.

  “If I asked something, would it be kept in confidence?”

  “Of course. What’s on your mind?”

  “The Symbiote— do you think maybe some of them have survived?”

  His gaze still on her, but no signal of disapproving narrowing. His body going from stressed to slumped. “Destiny save them if they have. Only they and the gods know we’ve killed too many.” He let out a sigh. One that told her he wasn’t proud of what his militia had been ordered to do. It was a small respite for her. Even if it brought the puzzled, concerning expression back to his face, it was one she needed to hear. That there was at least one person inside the Skaddary that didn’t hate the Symbiote. Who wouldn’t hate her. She nodded as if to thank him and slipped out of his office.

  Aari returned to her quarters and it was no surprise that her roommate, Axey, had company. The clothes crumpled on the floor were a clear indication the dead lump of flesh under the pile of blankets was Trooper. She didn’t bother turn the lights on and slipped quietly into their adjacent bathroom. When the telltale moaning started up in the room as she showered, it confirmed it was Trooper. He was the only guy she knew that stayed; all the other visitors Axey had over, came, tossed the sheets, and then left. Trooper was notorious for staying all night.

  In a way, Aari was glad Trooper was there. She didn’t really want to get into a conversation with Axey. Her roommate would most likely have a gazillion questions about her transport, wanting every detail of how Lexter died. Then, Axey would reciprocate with every gossipy detail that circulated about the prisoner in ISO along with anything else that took place during the six days Aari was gone.

  She dried and dressed inside the shower stall, pausing to stare at her reflection in the chrome mirror. She made a better attempt to comb out the tangles than she usually did, but one knot won out and she resolved to cut it with the shears. Adding yet another chopped section to her already atrocious-looking head of hair. She ran her fingers through the mix of short and long wavy black strands. She would give anything to feel pretty, but she couldn’t afford to be attractive either. She thought about the lieutenant commander and wondered if he ever wondered about her. If secretly, despite her efforts to conceal it, he still found her attractive. She certainly found him to be handsome, not a tall man, but for her it didn’t really matter; everyone towered over her. His dark brown hair was kept neat and he had a well-groomed beard. He was firm yet gentle mannered and she could just imagine the brush of his lips being as sweet and masculine as anything she’d ever tasted. The touch of his hands as they reached around her body to hold her must have been a warm comfort to any woman willing to sleep with him. Unfortunately, she couldn’t have one without the other. She also couldn’t afford to draw any more attention to herself than what she already got.

  She dismissed the thoughts and gave her eye a closer inspection for color hold then stepped out. Trooper and Axey simply didn’t notice. Or didn’t care.

  Aari crawled into her bed and pulled the covers over her head, then added her pillow, trying to snuff out the moaning that was beginning to pick up in volume and frequency as Trooper slid into her roommate like a stevedore. Though she was somewhat grateful he kept Axey occupied, it sucked not even having a wall between her and them. Not even a curtain. Their quarters just weren’t that big. Quite frankly, the prisoner in Isolation cell-15 had far more room than she did.

  Bad enough listening to the two as they took pleasure with each other, but the sound of Trooper’s ragged breaths excited Aari’s own body, making her tingle inside. She liked how he sounded. Deep, husky growls of contented love-making. She wondered if the lieutenant commander sounded just as sexy when he pleasured the women from the nearby mesa camp of colonists.

  A chill rippled through her that turned into a shiver and she pulled her pillow even tighter over her ears to muffle out the sound. But the pillow did nothing to blot out the visions of Trooper crooning over her instead of Axey. She had never felt the touch of the commander’s hand, but she’d felt Trooper’s. His large, rough hands caressing the sides of her arms to warm her. And he kissed her so slow and tenderly. So many times, she’d wanted to give in. To feel him between her legs. To moan as Axey did underneath the weight of his body. But Aari couldn’t. She couldn’t even allow him to slip his hands down her pants. Her hairless body was another giveaway of her mutation. If she caved even once, the union with her sym would be made, her secret would be out, and they would both be killed. Now Trooper was in the bed of another and Aari was stuck listening.

  Next to the alluring sound of Trooper, Axey’s howling only bristled her insides. Bringing Aari’s thoughts back to what Tannin had said about the lieutenant, growing further agitated imagining Lt. Sora sneaking down to his cell to ride his cock— when she herself could not.

  Ugh, she mentally berated herself. Sleep just didn’t come quickly enough for her. Thoughts that refused to give into exhaustion just yet. She wasn’t certain why it bothered her so, but it did. Some little girl’s notion that the strange and powerful prisoner man was all hers, and no one else had access to him. That it didn’t even come close to being true, made her chest feel like it was caving in, and she felt the stinging burn in her eyes. “Knock it off,” she growled to her sym. There was no room for such things in her life. He’d be gone soon and the sooner the better for her.

  SEVERAL WOOLS OF BETRAYAL

  “You wished to see me, Commander?” Aari poked her head into the office of their head commander.

  “Aari.” Commander Ferro glanced up as she stood at the doorway of his office, then back to his desk. He closed down the viewer screen patched into the data feed that came from sub-terrain storage crystals beneath station Epic-9 and waved her in. “Have a seat.”

  Aari swallowed hard but did as she was instructed. Noting that Lieutenant Commander Gage sat in the office as well when she stepped inside. If she’d done anything wrong or was being accused of anything, the MP’s would have simply dragged her from her room rather than deliver a wakeup call to report in. Certainly not just inviting her to have a seat. But that both commanding officers were waiting on her was still disturbing enough.

  “I have a transport for you tomorrow and I want to be sure you’re ready for this.”

  Aari kept silent. There was no need to ask what he meant, he was about to explain. He always did.

  “As you may have heard, we have a rogue prisoner down below. For some reason, top officials think he could do our side some good, but he needs to be conditioned and retrained. Therefore, I’m assigning you to transport him to the Delta-Seven lab bunker in Brika up north of the mountains. Now mind you, it’s a nine, ten day hard-run journey there and a repeat on the return back; so, you best have your scamper prepped and well stocked with supplies. For both you and your shotgun, and for the prisoner.” He added. “You need to be on the ready for deployment at eighteen-hundred hours. Any questions?”

  “Why me, sir?” She knew the route belonged to the now deceased Lancey, but she played naive to the inner workings of command, it usually got her extra intel without being deemed insubordinate.

  “Because, the prisoner has already killed Lancey and his gunner, day before yesterday while you were still en route from the med field site.”

  “I’m out a driver, too, sir. Is there someone I should recruit?”r />
  Commander Ferro glanced at Lt. Cdr. who pushed a static board towards him with a finger and glanced at the scribbled notes on it, “A transfer from one of the labor teams is being brought in tomorrow morning. A feller by the name of Stew. It’ll be his charge to tend to the prisoner, not yours. Now, I’ll be frank with you, Gunner Aari, he’s nothing more than a labor pigeon from the fields. And on occasion gets put on the scavenge demolitions. Never been off base, no military might in him at all. Just bronze, but a whole hell a lot of it. He’s yours on account for might for might on your prisoner. So, if you let him drive, don’t let him get you lost. Are we clear here?”

  Aari straightened. “Yes, sir”

  “Anything else?”

  “No, sir.”

  “Aari, it’s a huge undertaking, but we’re confident you’ll manage,” Lieutenant Commander Gage offered some reassurance. One she didn’t need. Eighteen days off base was a near blessing, but that also put her out in dangerous territory on her own with one prisoner and only one man to handle him. The odds weren’t good. But she wasn’t about to tell them that.

  “Dismissed.” Comm. Ferro waved her out and right away his attention shifted to other more important tasks than the transfer of one meddlesome prisoner.

  Aari spent the better half of the morning gearing up her scamper, gathering most from the stock holds, a few things she had to barter for to get extra rations not typically available. Then stuffed everything all into the cargo holds. Sparing only a few minutes to marvel at her secret treasure stashed away in a compartment under the floor boards of her truck. If it had ever gone noticed and reported missing, the news of it never trickled down to her ears. And the only one who had caught her with the unusual load was Trooper and she didn’t reckon much that he might rat her out. Being that she never put out, Aari was one of the poorest enlisted on the Skaddary base. So, if she had managed to swindle a prize, Trooper wasn’t going to go out of his way to deny her the chance to keep it. Though she wasn’t entirely sure what she could possibly do with it. It was far too big for her to wield, but it was also one of the strangest and most beautiful things she’d ever seen, so keeping it, she was.

  She tucked it back away and replaced the panel then covered it with a rubber floor mat. She glanced over her supplies and the scamper in general. It wasn’t much compared to some of the other armored vehicles at the base, but then theirs were made to go into combat. Hers was just to get from one place to another. Still, it had enough armor, including an underside shield to protect the belly of the vehicle. Just one more added safety feature that aided her getting to and from her destination in one piece. It was also capable of handling some of the roughest terrain with six wheels, two in front and four in back made for better traction and less tossing her out of her seat. The front cab was roomy, as was the back. Originally designed to carry twelve men, hers had been modified with most of the seats yanked and replaced with space for injured men to lay out comfortably, plus a small cage for transporting prisoners.

  Fueling was usually easy enough. The hydro-combustion engine only needed water to run on. And it held enough to get across most desert regions. There was also a rack up top for carrying fuel cans. Or in this case water tanks.

  It was mid-day by the time she’d finished packing her scamper. Most everyone in the hangar had broken off for the afternoon meal and headed for the mess hall. Aari, however, slipped into the small utility hallway for the air ducts.

  Tannin was waiting as usual.

  “They’re transporting you out tomorrow evening.”

  The prisoner for the first time ever, looked away and began to pace his cell. During her other two visits he stayed in place, always looking up at her, always that slight grin. But right now, deep concentration placed lines around his eyes and across his brow. Apparently leaving was bad for his plans. She waited quietly, wondering if he would tell her what he had come for. He said he would if she visited him again. So, she waited quietly, perhaps he could give her a hint as to how she could help.

  Tannin paced his cell. If they were going to try shipping him out again tomorrow that didn’t give him much time to work on an escape that included finding the breeder someplace other than the air vent over his head. He couldn’t let this happen and drenn if he was going to walk out of here without her. He stopped, glancing up; there was still no face for his pleasure. As always, he could only make out the tips of black hair touching over the bars like a fine paint brush.

  What if he escaped through the air duct? After all, she was here, right now. If he let her leave, he might not see her again for several days. By then it would be too late. “Time for us to go, old man,” he whispered and without warning he leapt up, his fingers catching the bars on the vent.

  The breeder inside the duct let out a surprised yelp. Okay that wasn’t helpful.

  Tannin kicked his feet up so that they caught the ceiling and he began pulling on the bars using the force of his legs as leverage until the bars started to bend.

  Gate locks on the other side of the cell wall clacked open, alerting him of approaching guards. Drenn, they must have heard her and now they were coming. He could hear his mouse shuffling down the air duct making her own haste escape. She was moving too fast and he feared the ones approaching were also going to hear her.

  Tannin dropped to the floor, landing on his feet and immediately began pounding on the walls of his cell, “By drenn, when is someone going to bring me some water? And I need a better pillow!” He shouted, cursing up a storm to drown out the noise of her retreat. His escape would come well enough, but right now her safety was more important.

  He didn’t let up until he heard the three tones of the code to his cell entered into the control panel on the other side. The very same code Camber had used several days ago. Confirming to Tannin they didn’t change the codes as regularly as they should. Their mistake. The shuffling up in the air duct stopped and he felt some relief that they might not have heard her.

  The steel wall clicked then began the slow climb up its groves to vanish into the recess above.

  “What’s the meaning of all the racket in here, prisoner?” Lt. Sora barked as she stood rigid in her stance, both annoyed and sexually frustrated. Perhaps there had been something between her and the man he partially disassembled after all. Now the poor female had had to go more than a few nights without her prowess being serviced. Poor kitten. Be that as it may, it didn’t take more than a second to notice the newest member of her followers and how his eyes watched her from underneath the desert attire shemagh, he was wearing.

  Tannin turned his attention to the lieutenant. “Someone forgot to bring me my water. I thought I heard voices nearby, so I wanted to send a message.” Tannin gave her an intense glance. He wanted her to feel like he could see right through her clothes even though it was the last thing he wanted to have. What he wanted just went scurrying away again.

  Without ever having seen her face, he wanted her on scent alone, and she was driving him crazy with lust. Lust that was getting in the way of his plans. Plans that had no room for anything but the gift the breeder would provide him. But his sym never ceased in the release of its emotional chemistry that made all too well and clear it wanted far more from the breeder. Particularly troublesome was this want for the breeder came with a chemical reaction in Tannin’s body made anyone else that came within sensory detection, including the lieutenant, taste bitter on his tongue like a foul scent. Howbeit, Tannin forced himself to accept the disdainful scent if it would open the door for an escape. One that would give him the chance to hunt down the woman he came for and take her with him.

  The lieutenant pulled a bottle of water from a bag and passed it through the bars.

  Tannin readily accepted, and he purposely let his fingers touch hers in a sensual, glancing touch. “Who’s the new pet?” He indicated his head towards the man shadowing her.

  “He’s here to make sure you behave this time.”

  “T
his time?” He faked a smirk.

  She stayed cool. No humor at all. “You’re to be transported again.”

  “I came back, how much more behaved must I be?”

  “Except, here isn’t where you’re to stay. And Stew is going to see to it you make your destination point this next trip.”

  Tannin shifted his gaze to Stew to size the man up. There was no getting a good look at him since most of his face was obscured by the shemagh cloth wrapped around his neck and lower jaw. The end piece draped over his head like a hood, much the way the men of his tribe did rather than the common turban. But the man was tall, almost as tall as Tannin was, and nearly as big if not exactly in the same places, such as, Stew’s middle was only a match for Tannin’s shoulders. Regardless, Tannin was already calculating a plan using his good pal Stew to help him— misbehave.

  “You can go now, Stew,” the lieutenant shot a sided glance the man’s way along with her command. Her eyes slowly sliding back to Tannin. It was now clear, she had come for something completely unrelated to announcing his transfer.

  “Lieutenant?” Stew questioned her judgment with an expression of weariness in his eyes.

  “I said go,” she snapped coolly, not once taking her eyes off of Tannin.

  She scarcely waited for the man to leave when she ordered Tannin to strip in front of her and she dropped down into the metal chair across from him, watching intently as he followed her commands. Her watchful gaze licked over his skin as he exposed his body for her burning lust.

  Once the last article of clothing lay on the floor, Tannin stood stoutly in front of the bars, stretching his arms overhead to give her the view she was looking for, though his cock wasn’t in the game, Indignant, it hung flaccid along his thigh. Not at all aroused by her presence. He bit back silent curses for the lack of readiness that he normally would have displayed, given his Symbiotai-tag-a-long usually had him hard as a rock anytime they were in vicinity of a female. Any female.