by Grace White
“I told him you’d say that.” Kyan smirked. “I’ll catch you later, I have a date with the chick from the club.”
“Nice. Be careful she doesn’t have a tail or fangs before you get her in the sack.”
“Jackass,” he grumbled as his hologram flickered and then disappeared.
I stripped out of my scrubs and headed for the small shower servicing my block of rooms. Four rooms, with one waste disposal and one shower. Luckily for me, it was empty. The water temperature never got above tepid so I hit cold and stood under the jets letting it sluice down my body, washing away the feel of her hands on my skin.
Something had changed in her when she touched my scars. Her touch became feather light, and for a second, I’d relished it. It was a far cry from the firm pressure I usually required, but I’d enjoyed it—more than that, it had awakened the fire in my belly that had been long extinguished. Meta or not, Alora had the power to ruin me.
And that couldn’t happen. Not if I was to complete my sentence here in the Complex and return to Wreston to pay my debts. Only then would I finally be free.
To die.
~
"Denegred, a minute?" Gardener called me over and I dropped the two buckets and strolled in his direction.
"S'up boss?"
"Did Kyan give you the lowdown on the sand?"
I nodded.
"It could be an all-night job. Boss wants the seabed dragging and resurfacing without affecting business as usual, so I've roped in a few of the guys to pull an all-nighter. You game?"
I nodded again and he tipped his chin. "Good. Take ten, and then at five take half an hour before the zippers arrive with the sand."
"Got it, boss," I said and a deep frown creased his forehead.
"I mean it, Denegred, take your breaks. I don't want you dropping down dead in the middle of the night because you refused to take your breaks like the rest of us."
"Got it." The hairs along the back of my neck bristled. It wasn’t bad enough these fuckers barked orders at us all day long, they thought they controlled when we drank, ate, and pissed too.
He shook his head as I walked back to my post, fully aware I probably wouldn't take my breaks. Breaks were unnecessary unless I needed to piss or grab a drink. I didn't want to sit around and talk about this place, or our lives before the war. Everyone had a story, and mine was staying close to my chest. Not even Kyan knew much about the man behind the name.
When I reached my area, a shiver ran across my spine and I glanced around. The aqua farm was vast, overshadowed on one side by the high-rise housing dome, and the other by the tranlucite—a material much similar to glass—of the dome. I held up my hand to shield my eyes from the sun and swept my gaze over the housing dome. It was impossible to see anything more than the hundreds of glass windows of the suites reserved for the richer, luckier residents of the Complex. It hadn't occurred to me before now that they could see us, slaving away, day in day out.
"Denegred, get back to it."
I grunted under my breath and hoisted the buckets up. Who was I kidding? No one was watching. No one except for the Presidents responsible for this fucked up experiment. But even they didn’t want front row seats, preferring to watch from the safety of the giant orb that hovered above Main City, known as the presidential eye-in-the-sky.
For the next three hours, I moved buckets full of stinking fish to the weigh station and then on to the sorting bins. When daylight finally started to fade into darkness, the men thinned out, leaving only those that Gardener trusted enough to get the job done.
Kyan approached me, holding out a bottle of water. “Here, you look like you need it.”
“Thanks,” I said taking it off him. I unscrewed it and chugged it down. The temperature in the aqua zone ran slightly warmer than other areas of the Complex to cultivate the flora and fauna growing in and around the pools.
“All set? It’s going to be a killer.” He glanced out at the sea. It was called a sea but was more like a vast lake. Whatever it was, it was going to take some muscle to drag it and get the new sand in before sunrise.
There were around fifty guys hanging around, including some AS workers that were here to no doubt oversee the job. Four zippers arrived, hovering low enough to open their hatches and pour out the sand. Another zipper landed and the AS guys unloaded the various equipment we would be using, including two small dredging machines.
“Kyan, Denegred, Shilva, Peters, Patroni, Dez, and Tamrick, you guys are with me.” Gardener motioned for us to join him near a pile of rakes and nets. I’d avoided getting wet since working on the farm, but it looked like my luck had run out. “Suit up. Waders and gloves.”
“Time to get messy,” Kyan laughed in my ear and I shirked him off. The fucker knew how much I hated water.
~
Kyan and I worked one section of the shallow waters, dragging the net from one end to the other, depositing any foreign objects and stones in the bins lining the shore. It was tedious work, and after a couple of hours, the salt water began to stick to my skin.
When I'd arrived on Lorn, the barren planet we now inhabited, and stood in the long queues waiting for entry into the Complex, I'd imagined all the jobs they could give me. I hadn't anticipated being assigned to the aqua farm. Water was fine as long as it came out of shower jets or didn’t rise past my ankles, but deep waters were not my friend.
"How many times you think we've got to drag this?" Kyan said, pulling me from my thoughts.
I shrugged, shifting my grip on the net just as Gardener’s voice rang out.
"Kyan, Denegred, take the next section."
We lifted the net and moved further into the sea until the water submersed our waists. The small dredger machine had to do the areas too deep for us to stand, and I glanced over at it chugging away. When I twisted back around, my thick rubber boot hit something on the sea bed and I stumbled, dropping the net.
"Marcus?" Kyan called. "You good?"
"Yeah, yeah." I righted myself, but my eyes widened when a voice yelled, "Watch the ridge!"
Ridge?
What...
The ground slipped from beneath me and I went under. Saltwater invaded my nose and mouth and I spluttered and choked on the sharp taste. My arms clawed at nothing, in sheer panic, trying to break the surface, but the weight of the wading gear dragged me further down. I fumbled with the braces trying to get free of the heavy rubber but it was stuck.
Motherfucker.
I was being swallowed whole by a dark pool of saltwater. It rushed down my throat and into my lungs, slowly snuffing out my life. I’d always feared water, ever since I’d slipped and fell in one of the bathing pools back home. One and half minutes, I’d bobbed around before anyone realized and hauled me out of there. They said I stopped breathing for thirty seconds. I’d been terrified ever since. But as I drifted down now, I realized there were far worse ways to go. My mother and father's faces flashed before my eyes. A gun aimed at both of their heads. Tears dripping from my mother's face. My father's head hung low with defeat and disappointment. The threat that if I didn't complete my sentence in the Complex and bring home the one-hundred thousand S-Co, they would be executed for my mistakes.
I'm so sorry… for everything.
I stilled, letting the water take me. It would be swift, painless. I could already feel my life force draining from my body. At least I wouldn't be around to watch him take away the only family I had. There was some peace in that.
Alora
I saw him disappear under the water and my immortal heart stopped beating.
I wasn’t supposed to be there, on the edge of the farm watching him work. But meeting him in person, touching his skin, had ignited something inside of me, and I needed more. Watching him through the optho-visor no longer satisfied my curiosity. If I could just be near him, observe him up close, maybe I could understand his motivation, learn what made Mr Denegred tick. That’s how I found myself sneaking through the cemetery after sundown to the e
dge of the farm.
Everything moved in slow motion as I leapt up and started running through the farm. It was taking too long, I wouldn’t reach him in time. Eventually, the sea came into view and I didn’t wait. Thrusting my hands into the air, I felt the connection snap between the water and my life-force. I pulled it to me, visualizing a great wave carrying him to safety. I didn’t consider the consequences, my mind consumed with thoughts of his form slipping under the dark pool and the overwhelming need to save him.
The wave I had conjured began to build momentum from the far end of the water, travelling towards the direction of where Mr Denegred had disappeared. The other men were scrambling out of the lake and onto dry land before the wave propelled forward washing up everything in its path.
I came to a halt a few feet away from the shore, my palms high, guiding the wave in. A lifeless body appeared on the crest, suspended by the white froth riding the wave. It broke with force, splashing around us, washing up debris and his body.
Everyone stared at me and I felt my cheeks heat as I lowered my arms to my side.
“That was so fucking cool,” a faceless voice said, breaking some of the tension that had descended over the farm.
Ignoring the men, I rushed up to Mr Denegred’s motionless body and crouched down to him. “Is he going to be okay?” I asked no one in particular.
The AS worker that reached him first was checking his vitals. “He needs medical, but he should be fine. Thanks to you.”
Thanks to me.
“I should call this in. It’s quite a mess back there.” He glanced back at the scene of devastation behind us and I cringed. I hadn’t meant to make such a big wave, but when I’d seen him go under, I’d panicked.
“We can clean it up. No need to involve the Intra.” A man stepped forward. “As long as Marcus is okay, and everyone agrees to stay and help get this shit cleared up, we’re good, right?” He addressed the group of men and they grumbled their agreement, but I was stuck on the part where he’d referred to Mr Denegred as Marcus.
Marcus. I rolled his name around on my tongue.
It suited him.
“Thank you.” My voice was small as my fingers hovered over his face, tracing the outline of his cheekbones and jaw. When I realized the AS officer was watching me, I snatched my hand away and stood up. “May I go?”
He nodded, waving someone over. I stepped back, giving them space to load Marcus onto a trolley. I wanted to go with him, to make sure he was okay, but that would look weird and no doubt incite more rumors. And if Allegra found out…I didn’t want to consider the consequences.
So, I rode the glyder back to the housing dome, stealing discreet glances at his shrinking form. At Marcus. Saying a silent prayer to the gods that he was okay.
By the time I got back to my suite, I was shaking. What had I done? Such overt use of my powers was unacceptable, and all to save a Human.
A Human I couldn't stop thinking about.
It hadn't started off being about him—I was merely curious. What it must feel like to know that one day your life would cease to be. To spend your years loving and losing and loving again. To meet that one person and settle down and start a family. Before coming here, into the Complex, I'd never given much thought to what mortality meant for Humans but, somewhere over the last year, watching them interact and find their place in this experiment, my curiosity had turned into something else.
As a daughter of Elemental royalty, I would one day be required to choose an Undine mate. Of course, there had already been a handful of suitors. I might have been the apple of my father's eye, but I wasn't completely innocent. I had needs as much as the next female Undine. But I hadn't connected with any of them. Not in the way that made my heart beat that little bit faster.
Not in the way that Marcus Denegred did.
I rushed to the window, snatching the optho-visor up, hoping to catch a glimpse of him before he was hauled off to the Uni Medical Centre, but he was already gone.
~
The rest of the week passed by with no sign of Marcus. He didn't return to the farm and I had no way of finding out if he was okay. Life inside the Complex went on. Allendra continued her explorations with the Salamander, Clint; and Allegra complained about anything she could. Everything was exactly the same as before.
Except it wasn't.
More and more, I found myself questioning things. Pondering the meaning of it all. The war. The peace agreement and subsequent designation of three planets to Metas and three to Humans. Leaving one planet for the great Meta-Human experiment. The Ama Seldova wanted us to mix, to integrate, yet Meta-Human relationships were greatly frowned upon. Forbidden for most species.
"Alora, are you coming?" My sister knocked the door a little too eagerly.
"I'll be right there." I checked my reflection in the mirror. My long waves hung down my back and my eyes sparkled with the touch of crystal powder I'd dabbed there earlier. The ugly scrubs hung off my figure like a sack, but at least everyone wore them.
"What took you so long?" Allendra said, as I slipped out of my suite.
"I was just thinking."
She rolled her eyes. "Not again."
"Ssh, I'm here, aren’t I? Let's go."
"I'm so excited. Clint is meeting us at the club. He's bringing a friend. A Gnome. He's hot."
"Not interested," I groaned.
"You haven't even laid eyes on him yet."
"Len, I'm not looking for a quick hook-up."
"I know." She flashed me a smile as we stepped into the fasttrans lift. "But it might be fun."
It was my turn to roll my eyes. “I’m surprised Allegra isn’t here.”
Allendra shrugged. “She has to let us live eventually. I mean, just how much trouble does she think we can get into in this place?”
He flashed into my mind. His lifeless body. The bolt of pain I’d felt seeing him like that. Oh, I was pretty certain I could get into plenty of trouble if I pursued this thing with Marcus Denegred. It was probably a good thing he’d disappeared off the face of the Complex.
You don’t mean that.
Outside of the housing dome we waited for a zipper to take us to Uni Aqua Nightclub. I didn’t really enjoy being crammed in a room full of Metas and Humans all off their faces on the vile drink Humans called beer, or one of the Meta concoctions they brewed, but Allendra loved to party, and I needed to keep myself busy.
“By the gods I miss my clothes,” she sighed beside me as we waited for the zipper to stop. “What I wouldn’t give right now to be in one of my gowns. I heard there’s a Fairy in Main City that will make custom outfits for private occasions…for the right amount of S-Co, of course.” Allendra’s eyes sparkled with mischief.
“Len,” I warned.
“What? It’s not like I’d parade around in it. Just wear it in my suite, maybe invite Clint over and…” She waggled her eyebrows.
“Okay, okay, enough. I don’t need to know what you plan on doing with your gown and Clint.”
Allendra let out a hearty laugh. “Sister, you need some fun. All work and no play makes Alora a dull Undine. Allegra said—”
The zipper doors opened and I hopped up not wanting to hear any more talk of our elder or how I needed to live my life. We smiled at the door security, a couple of Giants, and slipped inside the club, immediately assaulted by the smell of sweat and lust.
“This place is gross,” I grumbled under my breath, but Allendra was already weaving her way through the crowd, searching for Clint. She squealed with excitement when a tall bronze-skinned man waved her over. His eyes burned a fiery red and when he said hello, a forked tongue slipped from his mouth. Unlike Undine’s who were, for the most part, Human in appearance, Salamander traits were more obvious. Our traits only manifested when submersed in water for long periods of time.
“Alora, come and meet Clint. Clint,” she beamed at him. “This is my sister, Alora.”
“Nice to meet you, Alora,” he said. “This is my friend
, Stanwick.”
The other guy nodded as he extended a hand. “Nice to meet you, Alora.”
“Hi.”
Sensing my discomfort, Allendra said, “Let’s get drinks.”
Stanwick hovered by my side, his hand precariously close to my ass. I hurried, trying to avoid any awkward touching. Despite my sister’s good intentions, I wasn’t here to ‘hook-up’.
“So, Alora.” Warm breath hit my neck and I shuddered. “How are you liking the Complex so far?”
I ducked away from him. “Hmm, it’s okay, I guess.”
“It’s full of little delights.” He flashed me a wicked grin. “You just have to know where to look.”
“Excuse me, I need to freshen up.” I hurried toward the far end of the club. I’d met men like Stanwick before; self-assured and confident. Usually I didn’t get so agitated, but then usually I was in my homeland surrounded by my father’s court.
I meandered through the crowd, careful not to draw any unwanted attention, when a hand caught my wrist and yanked me into a darkened corner of the room. My mouth opened to yell for help when my eyes landed on Marcus Denegred.
"You saved me,” he rasped.
"I..."
"Why?" Marcus crowded me until my back hit the wall, stealing the air from my lungs. "Why did you save me?"
"I... I couldn't let you die."
He raked a hand through his silver hair and it fell over his eyes a little. It made him look even more menacing, if that was possible. "Why. Did. You. Save. Me?" His eyes pinned me to the spot, his words seeping into me.
Why had I saved him?
Why had I risked getting into trouble with the Intra for him? A man I hardly knew...a Human?
"I..." I gulped. "I don't know."
His eyes narrowed, flashing with disappointment, and the corner of his mouth lifted in a smirk. "You're lying."
"I am not." I straightened, almost coming nose to nose with him. His cockiness sparked something in me. Even if he was right, I didn't want him to know the power he held over me. My gaze remained locked on his, neither of us willing to back down.