by Fox, Jaide
Finally, both Damon and Fallon seemed to have had enough. Fallon had been the last one to mount and enter her, and after that last time Damon had made no move to try again. They slowly stood up and began reaching for their discarded clothes while Ebony simply lay flat on her back on the bed and tried to catch her breath. She was light-headed and dizzy and feeling very silly...and then she simply dozed off.
When she woke up again, she found both men looking down at her. They seemed puzzled. Ebony blinked, and tried to rouse herself, but only lay back on the mattress again and began giggling.
“Why are you laughing?” asked Fallon.
“Oh, my God,” Ebony said, and giggled again. “It’s like--it’s like I’m drunk!”
“Drunk?” asked Damon.
“Where did you get alcohol in this place?” asked Fallon. “Especially with all of us leaving tonight.”
“Oh, no, no, no, not that kind of drunk,” Ebony answered, still laughing. She managed to look up at them and saw the bewilderment on their faces. “You see, guys,” she began, “back on good ol’ Earth we have a name for this kind of thing.”
“A name,” said Damon.
“Yeah. It’s called ‘dick drunk.’ Lovely term, don’t you think?”
“What?” said Fallon. “What are you talking about?”
Ebony giggled again. “I’ve heard of this sort of thing, but I wasn’t sure I believed it...but boy, do I believe it now!”
“How does a woman become drunk from--”
“From screwing?” She raised her head and looked at the two of them, and their baffled expressions made her start laughing all over again. “Well, my dears,” she said, allowing her head to drop back onto the mattress again, “it’s not just from any old screwing. It’s from being brought to mind-blowing orgasm multiple times. Takes all the blood from the brain and re-routes it--elsewhere.” Slowly she rolled over onto her belly, and giggled some more. “That’s why I’m sooo dizzy. That’s why this mattress keeps trying to turn over on me. Boy, have I ever been re-routed!”
Ebony rolled over once again and allowed herself to slide down to the floor, breathless with laughter. “Okay, spaceship, take me away! The way I feel right now, I don’t care what anybody does with me!”
***
A few hours later, after the most deeply relaxed sleep Ebony had ever had, she was awakened by a knock at the door of the small room. It was Damon, and he had a heavy length of fabric over one arm.
“I’m coming, I’m coming,” Ebony said with a yawn, and slowly sat up. “I mean--not right now, I’m not, because this evening was more than enough even for me--I mean, I’ll be there in just a minute.” She swung her feet down to the floor and stood up, straightening her blue scrubs as she did. “Wish I had something a little nicer for the trip, but at least it’s not a see-through sari--hey!”
She suddenly noticed that he had unfolded the fabric and was now holding it up for her to see. “What is that?” Ebony whispered, and could not help but reach out and touch it.
“That is a gown,” Damon said. “A fine gown such as true ladies wear. It is--”
Ebony grabbed it out of his fingers, turned around, and held it up. It was a simple but beautifully made long, full gown that was fitted in the bodice and had long sleeves and a long, full skirt. The material seemed to be something between pure silk and the finest wool and was in a lovely deep cobalt blue color. And it was heavy--no see-through fabric here!
“And it’s for me, right?” she said to Damon. “Please tell me it’s for me. Because if it isn’t, I may just have to fight you for it.”
Damon laughed a little. “Yes, Ebony, it is for you. All of the women are getting one. We had them specially made for your comfort on the trip, and for the place where we are going.”
She held it against her body, marveling at the perfect length, and then shrugged. “I can’t wait. Here goes.” Ebony pulled the soft, heavy gown over her head, and sighed as it dropped into place around her waist and over her shoulders. “Perfect fit,” she breathed, loving the feel of the soft thick fabric swirling around her ankles.
“There’s more,” said Damon. “Turn this way.”
She turned around to face him, and he placed a necklace over her head and let it rest just above her cleavage. “Oh! So, so pretty--let me see!” Ebony hurried into the shower room and looked into the small mirror there above the sink, and saw that the necklace was made of egg-sized translucent stones in soft pale shades of blue and green.
“It’s a perfect match with this gown! Oh, thank you, thank you so much!”
“I am glad you like the gown and the jewels, Ebony,” Damon said from the doorway of the shower room. “All of the other women received a necklace of polished chalcedonite, too, though no two necklaces are alike.” He paused, and she was aware that he was studying her. Let him, she thought. I feel so much better now! He can stare at me all he wants. Hell, even I’d stare at me right now, good as I look! But she merely smiled at him, and then he stepped back to allow her to leave the shower room.
“Take your bag, Ebony. It’s time to go.”
She nodded at him, and picked up the two canvas bags which held everything she owned. Then she left the little sleeping room for what she hoped would be the last time.
***
Ebony walked out into the corridor and immediately felt the tension in the air. The first of the two flyers sat waiting on the floor of the great corridor not far from the entrance to the cave. Its own blue and red and white running lights were on, and a couple of spotlights from somewhere high up above them shone brightly on the silvery surface of the bus-sized cube that was their craft. And everywhere the men ran about to work on the flyer, constantly shouting out to one another and barking orders and demanding that this or that be done right away.
She stayed close to Damon until they reached the front of the craft, and then she broke away and hurried over to the other three women who had gathered there. “Cassie! Jane! Famke!” she cried, setting down her canvas bags. “I see you got new dresses, too!”
They all gathered close, laughing and then crying a little all at once, and Ebony got a good look at them. Little blonde Cassie wore a soft red gown with a necklace of pink and cream-colored stones; tall, fair Famke wore a purple gown with a necklace of blue and pink stones; and dark blonde Jane wore a pink gown with blue and cream stones.
“I would have picked some nice jeans if anybody had asked, but it’ll do,” said Ebony.
“At least we’re not freezing in see-through rags!” said Cassie.
“And we’re not barefoot,” said Famke.
“And we’re leaving this place,” said Jane, and all of them laughed. “I’d walk out of here naked if it would get me to something like civilization,” Jane added, and the rest nodded.
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that again,” muttered Ebony, and then they all looked up as Fallon approached them.
“Good evening to you, ladies,” he said, and actually gave them a small nod of his head. “We’ll be putting you on the flyer in just a moment. The crew is almost done preparing it.”
Two men walked past and picked up their bags, carrying them around to the back of the flyer. Suddenly Cassie looked afraid. She clutched Ebony’s arm as she glanced up at Fallon. “Why do we have to go first?” she asked, her voice shaking. “You don’t know what’s out there--or even if this flyer thing works--I don’t want to do this!”
Fallon looked down at Cassie, and at the other three women. “You are all going first because we want our most vulnerable safely out of here before King Kore knows we have these flyers--before the Zhala riders can mount an attack. The other four women will depart on the other flyer the moment you land in New Chalcydon. Only then will the rest of the men be flown out.”
He glanced over them, smiled briefly. “Allow me to say that you all look beautiful. I hope you liked the gowns and the necklaces.”
“Yes, yes, thank you!” said Cassie, smiling once more.
“Good to ha
ve clothes again, even if it is another skirt,” said Jane.
“There’s a lot to be said for being decently dressed, no matter what it is,” said Ebony.
“And shod,” added Famke.
“I am glad that you are pleased,” Fallon said. Then there was a slight whining sound just above them, coming from the wall of the flyer. Ebony looked up to see a door sliding open in the silvery side of the flyer. The door reached nearly to the ground and revealed steps going up and into the craft.
“Just like the bus back home,” muttered Ebony. “All right, girls, let’s go. With any luck, there’ll be chocolate bars and cable TV where we’re going. Let’s go!”
Slowly, hesitantly, the other three women stepped up onto the stairway and walked inside the flyer. Ebony went last, making sure they all got aboard, and then was rather relieved to see that the inside looked much like a modern airliner the way she remembered it back on Earth--or even a city bus. There was a center aisle with rows of two seats on either side--large, comfortable looking seats, she thought--but it made her uneasy to see that there were no windows anywhere inside and nothing to look at but blank silver wall. Then again, she thought, as she took a seat in the first row next to that wall, maybe it was better that they didn’t know what was out there as the pilots flew their unfamiliar craft through the night.
Ebony sat down, and the seat was indeed very soft and roomy. Cassie sat down next to her, while Famke and Jane were across the aisle in the same first row. Then the men who were the mates of the four women aboard--Ryan, Brenzir, Vin, and Damon--sat down directly behind their women. And finally, the men whom Fallon had chosen to go on this first trip filled up the rest of the seats.
“I thought you were waiting to go last?” Ebony asked Damon, craning around to look at him.
“A slight change of plans,” he said.
A low hum seemed to rise up through the decks and walls of the flyer, quickly becoming so high-pitched that it was impossible to hear. Ebony shut her eyes as the flyer seemed to rise up and sway left and right for just a moment, and then she sat back as the craft began to move forward at a faster and faster pace.
Suddenly the entire seat clamped itself around her legs and shoulders, holding her more firmly than any safety belt could; and then the flyer tilted back and shot forward into the sky.
After the initial fright of the launch, the flyer leveled off and flew very smoothly, and the seats relaxed their grip and went back to their normal shape. Ebony and the other women found themselves resting quite comfortably in the big soft seats, and it wasn’t long before Ebony actually found herself dozing off. She was, though, still awake enough to smile at the thought. Perhaps she was still feeling the effects of her “drunkenness” from earlier that evening!
Ebony did not know how long she slept...but she was suddenly awakened when the seat clamped down and the flyer made a violent dive and a sickening turn, and all the other women screamed. She saw Damon run past her to the cockpit door and pull it open. The craft continued to rise up and dive again, and Ebony was afraid she might actually be sick.
Damon came back, holding on to the side of the seats as he continued to stand during the craft’s wild and bumpy flight. “What is it? What’s happening?” cried Ebony, over the cries and screams of Cassie, Jane, and Famke.
He shook his head. “We’ve been spotted,” he said, through gritted teeth.
“Spotted? By who? Or what?”
“Zhala riders. Our pilots are trying to evade them. Hold on!” The craft bucked and then dove yet again, and Damon threw himself back in his seat.
Ebony turned to look at Damon. “Hey, screw these evasions! What about that big freakin’ weapons system we saw? Why not use that instead of diving like a drunken sparrow?”
Damon glared at her. “Hold on! All of you!” he ordered the women.
In the seat beside Ebony, Cassie began to weep. Ebony put her arm around her. “Look, we’re all scared,” she whispered, “but you’ve got to get it together. Now. We’re gonna need all the help we can get, and that help might only come from us. We’ve got to help each other. There’s really nobody else.”
Cassie clutched Ebony’s hand and shut her eyes tight.
The flyer made one more drop and dive--and then suddenly there was a tremendous noise and the whole craft shook. For a moment Ebony thought something had hit them, and the other women screamed louder than ever. Then she twisted around to look at Damon and saw the look of cold satisfaction on his face. “Well, it’s about fucking time somebody fired the fucking weapons!” Ebony yelled, in both anger and relief.
But there was no way for anyone inside the cabin to see anything except the solid silver walls. All they knew was that the shooting and the evasions continued for what seemed like hours.
Then there was a loud noise above the flyer--a different noise, as though something had slapped it hard. The women screamed again as the lights inside the cabin went out, leaving only the faintest glow from the panels set in the walls.
Ebony cried out, too, as the front end of the flyer pulled up and the whole craft made a sickening drop--far worse than any roller coaster. Then the back end struck the ground hard, bounced a couple of times, and went sliding and spinning into what could only be oblivion.
She did not know how long it was before the flyer finally jerked to a stop. Slowly Ebony raised her head and saw that the cabin was very dark. There was dust or smoke swirling in the air, faintly outlined by the dim glowing light from the wall panels. She could hear coughing from the men in the rows behind her, but otherwise it was quiet inside the downed flyer.
There was a hard pull on the back of her seat. Damon hauled himself up and stood right behind her, looking around. “Is anyone hurt? Look at yourselves. Then look at the one next to you. Help the ones who need it. And wait here!” He stepped out into the aisle and pushed open the door to the cockpit.
The three other women were crying, but unhurt, and Ebony was more shaken than she’d ever been in her life. “I think this is worse than getting grabbed by the Grays,” she said, leaning forward and looking at Cassie and Jane and Famke. “At least the Grays drugged us up before the trip.”
“Yeah, I think I’m going to suggest that for the next trip on this airline,” said Jane nervously. She wiped her eyes before twisting around in her seat and peering towards the back of the craft. “Nobody’s hurt, though--not that I can see.”
“But what do we do now?” wailed Cassie.
“Be quiet. Wait. See what Damon says,” ordered Famke, and the four women and all of the men sat and waited in tense silence.
Suddenly there was a roaring sound and a great rush of air from outside the craft. Then the same sounds repeated on the other side, and Ebony and everyone else inside the craft felt pure terror at hearing the same sounds again from the directly above them.
“What is that?” Ebony cried, as Damon came back inside the cabin. “What’s going on?”
His face was very still, but his eyes held the same fear as the rest of the passengers. “Zhala,” he whispered. “Many Zhala. They are landing right outside.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Ebony forced away the restraining armrests of her seat and jumped up. The others did the same. “Zhala!” she whispered. “Then--we’ve been caught? We’re all Kore’s prisoners again?”
The women wept openly at that, clutching each other, and all of the men behind them began talking and muttering among themselves. They started to get up out of their seats, but Damon quickly took control.
“Listen to me!” he barked. “Sit down! All of you! You must not panic. Yes, there are Zhala riders outside--ten, perhaps twelve. That loud noise you heard during flight was a direct hit on the roof from an acid-breathing Zhala. It was enough to break the controls and force us down.”
Ebony closed her eyes and sat down, and Cassie grabbed her arm and held tight to it. The cabin fell silent. Ebony realized it was because everyone was too frightened to say a word--too frightened to bre
athe--and so was she.
“The flyer is badly damaged and cannot fly again without significant repairs,” Damon went on. “But even if we could repair it, we are surrounded by the riders and we are not far from the City of Anetahr and Auresial Palace--maybe fifty miles, at most.”
“Can Fallon send the other flyer for us?” asked one of the men in the back.
Damon shook his head. “It is too far. One flyer cannot fight off that many Zhala alone--as you have seen.”
“Yeah, just how did those goddam things get through the weapon systems?” Ebony demanded, sitting up. “When you gave us that little demonstration back at the cave, I saw just one shot blow up a whole stand of trees!”
Damon shot her a cold stare. “Zhala can fly with absolutely no lights or sound. They are alive. They are not machines. A couple of them were destroyed by our weapons, but that was not enough. One direct spray of acid was enough to disable our flyer.”