by Darrell Bain
Maria ran to the door of the floater and disappeared inside. She didn't know that the two men had been watching her and Gary play in the water through one of the windows; or rather that they had been watching her almost exclusively, especially when they got a frontal view of her breasts with the down covering them slick with water and her nipples partially erect.
Gary kept his eyes on the nearby forest, but he wasn't too worried, especially with his pet nearby listening with his acute hearing for possible danger. Jake and Lea were in the midst of their own play. Gary had noticed it with a bit of amusement; it appeared that the two of them were getting along very well. He was glad. He liked Lea and Jake both the more he got to know them. Jake was an obvious free thinker and cynical almost to a fault. He intended to ask him to help him and Maria out once they made it to Dallas. He thought of Maria again and smiled to himself with anticipation. He didn't give a damn what her past had been; he knew he was falling in love with her—and she had as much as said that she loved him, or at least cared for him, over and above any other men she had known.
Booger Bear's ears suddenly twitched. He turned halfway around and they twitched some more. “Bad men. Hurt Maria,” he said, and bounded toward the door of the floater. Gary cursed and followed, running without a thought about the two he was supposed to be guarding.
Booger Bear was halted by the closed door of the floater. Gary pressed the recessed latch and the entrance sprang open. From inside he heard Maria scream, sounding almost like a cat herself, then the sound of a human voice followed, growling in pain and frustration. “Shut up you bitch, or I'll kill you right now! Hold her damn it!” A thud followed and another scream. Gary was already racing down the aisle between the seats. From the narrowed opening into the passenger lounge he could see a struggle taking place. Both men were attempting to subdue Maria. Hedgeworth was holding a bloodied knife from the galley in one hand and trying to press it against Maria's throat. She already bore several shallow cuts from previous attempts. Copeland was behind her, his face grimaced with the tension of trying to get one of her arms up behind her back. His neck had four deep parallel cuts where Maria's unsheathed claws had tried to rip open his throat. She was still trying, while Hedgeworth was tearing at her jumpsuit, already cut open down the middle.
Gary couldn't shoot from where he was for fear of hitting Maria. He ran up and grabbed Hedgeworth by the back of his collar and jerked backward as hard as he could. Cursing furiously, both at the men and at himself for letting her go back into the floater with them by herself. Hedgeworth let go and they both fell backward. He was still clutching the knife and after they landed, he tried to twist it around to drive it into Gary's side. Gary twisted to avoid it and suddenly had a clear shot at the man's head. He took it. The shot was so close to his own head that the explosion of blood splattered his face, blinding him. He flexed his body in an effort to roll the dead weight of his victim from him. He got it off and came to his knees, wiping furiously at his eyes and nearly deafened from the explosion from the gun shot.
Booger Bear had attacked too, and now Copeland was cowering and trying to cover his face from the claws of the suddenly released Maria and the cat both. He screamed as Maria’ sharp cat-like nails found his ear and ripped it to shreds; at the same time, the cat clawed at his exposed hands. He screamed again and finally Gary got enough of the blood away from his face to see what was happening. He couldn't shoot at the mixture of struggling man and woman and cat but he got to his feet and took two steps forward. He started to kill Copeland too, as soon as he was able, but by this time the man was moaning and curled into a fetal ball.
“Enough, Booger! Maria, let him be. We'll tend to him in a minute."
Maria reluctantly stopped and backed away at the sound of Gary's voice, but was still baring her canines. Booger Bear looked at Gary, plainly wanting to know why he should stop when things were so clearly going their way—and when the men had so obviously attacked and hurt his friend.
“Calm down, Booger,” He commanded, drawing Maria into his arms but keeping his gun pointed at Copeland.
“Who started it, sweetheart?” Gary asked, hoping it was Copeland so that he would have an excuse to kill the man. Outwardly he had calmed down, but inside he was still raging.
“Both of them. As soon as I came back to get my comb, they were on me. They wanted to ... to..."
“I know what they wanted."
“So do I,” Jake said as he arrived, totally naked and still dripping. “What a poor excuse for humans those two make. Go ahead, take this one outside and kill him. No sense messing up Betsy any more than she already is."
Gary heard the man begin crying. “It was Hedgeworth's idea,” He sobbed. “He made me do it."
“Uh huh. Get up."
When Copeland didn't move, Jake reached for him and yanked him to his feet. “Would you rather me do the honors?” He asked, looking at Gary.
Gary thought a moment. “I hate to kill an unarmed man. I've got a better idea."
“If you have, let's hear it."
“Why don't we make him walk back to Dallas?"
“No!” Copeland screamed. “That's as good as murdering me!"
“It's more than you deserve,” Gary said. “Can you and Lea handle him, Jake?"
“We'll take care of it. Stay here."
Jake and Lea manhandled Copeland back up the aisle and out the door. Jake pointed north. “Dallas is that way. Get going."
“No, I won't!"
“You've got about ten seconds to get moving or I guarantee you'll never move again. And if you try hanging around here, we'll kill you for sure. Go."
Reluctantly, Copeland wiped at his bleeding wounds and walked slowly away. After a moment Jake sent a laser beam that scorched the tarmac near his feet and hurried him along. After that, he and Lea went back to the river to get dressed.
Inside, Gary was pressing a cloth to the shallow cuts on Maria's neck and trying to still her sobbing.
“They ... they wouldn't leave me alone. Th ... then they grabbed me. I told them it ... was rape and that big man said ... said it couldn't be rape b ... because I wasn't human.” She broke into fresh spate of crying.
“Hush, sweetheart, hush. You're as human as I am and far more human than either of those sorry bastards."
“I was s ... scared they were going to..."
“Hush, love. It's all right now. I love you."
That caused her to gulp and press her head against his chest. “Do you? Do you really?"
“Yes. I love you. I'd marry you if I could."
“I don't care about that. Just so long as you love me and stay with me."
“I will sweetheart. I'll stay with you forever. No one is going to touch you like that again, not while I'm still living."
That brought on more crying, but this time it was tears of happiness, and even those stilled after a few minutes, completely stifled by Gary's warm embrace and continued words of assurance.
After he had given them time to recover, Lea and Jake returned. He looked down at Hedgeworth's body and shook his head. “You folks do have a knack for getting my aircraft all bloody."
“At least this time, we're close to the river. We can feed him to the fishes,” Lea said.
“Good idea. That way we won't be bothered by scavengers."
It took three of them to drag the body to the edge of the water and shove it into the current. It turned in a lazy circle, half submerged, then floated away, with fish already beginning to nibble at the remains.
“Good riddance,” Gary declared, bending to wash his hands.
* * *
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
As if the previous day's terror had been attached to the hovering clouds that began to dissipate, by morning Maria had already put the incident away in that part of her mind that no longer had a place in her new life. She had slept with Gary in one of the narrow beds but they had not made love. Without words, both decided to wait until there was a better time and place and
some degree of privacy, absent from danger.
They all went outside and Jake gazed at the morning sunlight with unalloyed pleasure. “Give us two days of this and we can be on our way. To Dallas anyhow,” he amended.
“And what then?” Gary asked.
Jake started to speak, then suddenly closed his mouth realizing that he didn't have anything to say. All his passengers were dead. Finally he shrugged and said “You know, I really don't have any idea what's going to happen. I was supposed to carry them all the way to Sacramento. They didn't tell me why, so didn't ask."
“Hedgeworth mentioned something about a new seat of government."
“Yeah, I heard that too, but I don't really know a damned thing. And even when we get juiced up enough to leave here, the radio still isn't working. I think we can safely say that Bradshaw won the election though. And you know what that means."
“All too well,” Gary said. “Even if I wasn't wanted for murder, I'd still have to register and work for the government. If I heard right."
“You're a genetic engineer right?"
“Yes. That's all I've ever done. And I specialized in mammalian genetics, so I might not have had a job anyway."
“Aren't the principles the same?"
“Yes, but the techniques aren't. I studied all the fields in undergrad school but I'd have to go over everything again if I did any agriculture work. I have had some thoughts about inserting mammalian protein genes into edible crops, though that would increase their food value a lot. Not that I'll ever have a chance to work on the idea."
“Well, you never know. The aliens may have landed by the time we're back in contact with our fellow man and want to hire you. Let's wait and see how it plays out."
“I don't want you to put yourself in danger for harboring us."
Jake laughed. “We'll figure something out. Hell, I'll probably be out of a job too after losing all my passengers."
“I'm already out of a job,” Lea said.
“Tell you what,” Jake said. “I've got a place I keep on hold a bit south of Dallas. It's where I lay over on this route. We usually stop at Dallas, the halfway point from east to west for maintenance and resupply and so forth. The place is secure and I've got an extra bedroom. We can all stay there while we sort things out. If you want to that is.” He raised questioning eyebrows.
“We'll take you up on it Jake. And thanks. You're a real friend."
“Aw man, no need for thanks. You saved my life remember? Besides, I always like good company. We can have a party and think up bad things to say about the government."
“Bad men?” Booger Bear asked, trying to follow the conversation.
Gary chuckled. “Yep, bad men in government Booger. Almost always."
* * * *
The rest of the day and the next were almost idyllic. The only sign of how enhanced animals were taking over the countryside came the morning of the second day, when Booger Bear made friends with a pair of half grown cats who had either just left their mother or had lost her to a larger predator. The feral cats had high-domed heads like Booger Bear and were much too intelligent to come close to the humans. They stayed upriver, giving the humans only a glance now and then to make sure they kept their distance. Gary's pet had fun teaching them to fish from the limestone outcropping, remembering what his human had told him about refraction. He didn't understand the theory, but a little experimentation showed him how to judge the depth and position of the small fish and minnows. After a while he left the feral cats and came back to doze in the sun. He really liked humans better. Except for maybe a nice female cat. Now that.... he dozed off again with the thought.
Gary and Maria bathed again after the sun was well up and had warmed the water a bit. He was so entranced that he found it almost impossible to keep his hands off her while they frolicked. They washed their clothes and spread them on the rocks to dry and used the wraps Jake had provided to partially cover themselves.
“We'll guard if you want to bathe,” Gary offered.
Jake had seen how they were enamored with each other. He remembered some of his younger days when his girl friend had been altered by her parents to conform to a standard of beauty currently fashionable, a split tongue and shiny scales on her shoulders and buttocks. She had grown to hate her differences, though Jake didn't mind. He thought Gary was lucky in that Maria seemed to be entirely comfortable with her appearance, even though she hadn't asked for it. “No, I'm not ready yet. Why don't you kids go take a nap. We'll go in when you wake up."
Maria gazed at Gary with a look that would have melted a statue's heart. He stood up and reached his hand out to help her to her feet. They left their garments drying, the crude stitching of the repairs made to Maria's suit looking like some errant fashion statement. Holding hands, they walked slowly back to the floater. Maria sensed that whether Gary had caught the nuance or not, Jake was advising them that if they wanted privacy for a period of time, neither he nor Lea would bother them.
Inside they walked single file down the narrow aisle to the lounge then into the bedroom. Gary closed the door behind them and waited to see what Maria wanted. She shrugged and her wrap dropped to the floor, exposing all of her slimly curved body. She came to him and gently took his hands away from his wrap. It fell in a puddle at his feet but he never noticed. All of his attention was focused on Maria, thinking how beautiful and how desirable she was. He reached for her and they sank to one of the narrow beds together.
Maria was eager, compliant and enthusiastic all at the same time, wanting nothing more than to please him and be pleased. There was nothing she wouldn't have done for him at this point.
Gary was feeling the same emotions, wanting her to enjoy their union, wanting more than anything to please and satisfy her. Her lips parted readily for his tongue, then even as their lips were locked together she couldn't help but gasp as his hand closed firmly over her young, resilient breast, molding it in his hand and holding her captive to the thrill of his touch, a touch that sent waves of pleasure through her body and dissolved any last hint of reluctance to join with a man again, most particularly this man. She reached for him, felt his readiness and drew her over him. She guided him inside with one easy motion of her body and then surrendered to the weight of his body that really was no weight at all, only a continued surge and retreat that she wanted to never end. She held him tighter with her arms and legs and when she thought she could stand it no longer the shuddering release of a fiercely intense orgasm swept over her.
From what seemed like a far distance Gary heard her scream with the release of pent up passion just as he finally vented himself into her, feeling as though he was pouring his whole body into hers. A long time later, how long he was never sure, he raised his head up to look at her. “I just thought I was in love before,” he said. “Now I know what it really is."
Maria was so happy and drained that she couldn't talk at all; she simply clutched him to her, not wanting his weight to leave her even after their co-joined bodies finally slipped apart.
* * * *
“Do you think maybe our clothes are dry by now?” Maria murmured huskily.
“I don't know, but even if they're not, we probably need another bath,” Gary said. He caressed her breast, loving the feel of the soft down against his hand, making the contrast between it and her bare nipple all the more enticing. Her breasts were firm under his hands; in fact her whole body was taut and sleekly muscled, like a young cat just coming into its full strength.
She laughed and lifted her head to kiss him one final time then reluctantly separated herself from him. “I think we really ought to give Lea and Jake a turn, don't you?"
“It seems only fair, but remember, they're both 20 years ahead of us in experience. We should get more time so we can catch up to them."
“I doubt that they'll see it that way."
“Oh well, I'm getting hungry anyway. How about you?"
“Ummm. Hungry for you, but we can go eat anyway."
&n
bsp; Gary rolled off the bed and reached for the wrap and his gun.
* * * *
Lea and Jake were waiting patiently, sitting together with one of them watching the woods and the other keeping an eye open for anything untoward that might occur up or down river.
“Hi kids,” Lea said. “Nice nap?"
“Um, yes,” Gary said. “Anything going on?"
“No, except we were getting hungry. I was about ready to go wake you up."
Neither of them admitted that they hadn't been asleep, though Gary suspected it was pretty obvious without a word being said. He gathered their jump suits and handed Maria hers. “I'll buy you some new clothes soon as we get a chance,” he said, eyeing the crude repair job they had done on her suit.
The four of them walked back to the floater together, along with the yawning Booger Bear, who had to be awakened before they left.
Back inside the floater, Jake passed out water and the ubiquitous food bars, a staple fare for travelers and also produced in quantity (though in a less flavorful variety) to keep hungry refugees fed enough to prevent rioting or looting in cities.
While they were eating, Jake brought up the subject of what to do again. “It's like this folks; without passengers I think I'll be grounded in Dallas until I'm assigned another flight, and that's assuming I still have a job. If it weren't for that, I could just keep you under wraps in the floater while it's worked on, then take you on to Sacramento. No one would suspect that you could get that far without getting caught, and there's even a chance that you aren't even wanted that far west. I know the government pays lip service to the anti-genetics crowd, but the election is over with now. They'll be so busy trying to figure out how to keep the country from falling apart like China and Russia have that if I could get you out there, chances are good that you'd never be caught. Of course we still have to figure out how to smuggle you out of the floater in Dallas. Ideas anyone?"
Lea rubbed her chin pensively. “How do the officials know how many passengers you have, if any? When I haul someone, like a routine government courier, they tap into my console, same as I have to.” She looked crafty and grinned. “Of course we know ways around that, but never mind. Do the floaters do it the same way?"